Tomb Raiding: My Family's Last Clan Chief is Little Brother

Chapter 437 Will it be you?
"Come with me. You can ask me anything you want to know, as long as I know the answer."

“But you’re not him, so you’ll have to pay per question,” Chen Xuehan said bluntly.

After saying this, Chen Xuehan took Yueya's hand and turned to walk towards the boiler room.

"Okay." Wu Xie readily agreed; discussing money was always much simpler.

He beckoned Langka and the other man to follow him, and walking beside Chen Xuehan, he asked him, "You knew I was coming here, why?"

He was eager to know everything that "Wu Xie" had experienced in Motuo. It was easy to tell from Chen Xuehan's tone that he had a good relationship with that person.

Chen Xuehan made no attempt to hide anything and frankly said, "You are the third person destined to receive that oil painting. He asked me to wait here and give you something."

"What is it?" Wu Xie pressed.

"do not know."

Chen Xuehan went to the house in the backyard of the boiler room, opened a military green safe with a combination lock, took out an envelope, and handed it to Wu Xie, saying, "I haven't seen what's inside."

The envelope was bumpy and uneven, and it didn't contain any letter. Wu Xie couldn't wait to open it and pour out the contents.

It was a very old traditional Tibetan prayer bead bracelet worn during pilgrimages, with a carnelian bead set in half of the vermilion beads.

At the end of the woven rope of the bracelet hangs a Buddhist amulet the size of a one-yuan coin, with two "Wu Xie" characters engraved in the thin gold script, and a pictographic symbol of a flame on the back.

The handwriting was as familiar as ever, exactly the same as the handwriting on the roster he saw when he donated to the pagoda in Nepal.

Wu Xie stared at the flame, his eyes flickering slightly. He looked at Chen Xuehan and asked, "What's the name of the person who asked you to give this to me?"

Chen Xuehan raised an eyebrow slightly, her tone playful, "Aren't you twins? You don't even know his name."

"No," Wu Xie said calmly, without explaining why.

Chen Xuehan didn't press for details. "I don't know his Han Chinese name. He told me his Tibetan name is Baici Lanmu Yangcuo."

“Bai Ci Lan Mu Yang Cuo…” Wu Xie’s lips moved slightly as he murmured and repeated it, then he asked, “What did you mean by saying ‘that painting recognizes me’ earlier?”

Chen Xuehan gestured for him to sit down and talk, poured him a cup of hot tea and pushed it towards him, "I thought you, like him, came here for that painting. You are the third person who is connected to that painting, or rather, to the people in the painting."

Wu Xie keenly grasped the key point: since he was the third person destined for this world, there must have been two others before him, and judging from Chen Xuehan's words, he had already met those two people.

He then asked directly, "If the second person destined for this was Bai Ci, then who was the first?"

“I don’t know his name.” Chen Xuehan pointed to his face, “but they all have the same face as you.”

After Chen Xuehan finished speaking, she stared into Wu Xie's eyes and thought to herself that this kind of gaze was indeed more suitable for his face. That man's gaze was too oppressive. If he stared at you for a long time, it would make you feel embarrassed that your thoughts had nowhere to hide. What's worse, you just couldn't see through him.

Wu Xie pondered to himself, which meant that there were currently two people impersonating "Wu Xie" who had both appeared in Motuo.

So, will the first person destined to meet him be "Wu Xie," the one who once played tricks on him on the mountain outside the Zhang Family Ancient Building?

For some reason, he always had a feeling that the "Wu Xie" from back then and the "Wu Xie" who left his name in Nepal were not the same person.

"When did you paint that picture? Have you seen the person in the picture?" Wu Xie asked.

“I’ve never seen it.” Chen Xuehan shook her head and explained, “That painting is just a copy I made; the original is in a lama temple.”

Wu Xie beckoned with his finger, and Jin He stepped forward and took out ten bills from his wallet and placed them on the table.

Seeing that he was so cooperative, Chen Xuehan's smile became a little more sincere. She knew when to stop, otherwise she would suffer a loss.

He also knew that the man had told him all this without reservation in order to make him act as a messenger, so it was reasonable for him to accept a small reward.

He spent half an hour briefly recounting everything that happened a year ago, from the time he saw the oil painting to the time he led Bai Ci to the Lama Temple.

“I haven’t heard from him since he entered the snow-capped mountains with the German team,” Chen Xuehan sighed with some melancholy.

Wu Xie remained silent for a long time before asking, "Did he leave any other words?"

“He said that as long as I hand the envelope to you, he won’t die,” Chen Xuehan said.

Wu Xie was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Did that person foresee that he would be trapped on the snow mountain, so he left clues in advance so that he could also enter the snow mountain to rescue him?

Wu Xie thought no, so there was another possibility: that person wanted him to be their successor. He knew he would die in the snow mountain, so he needed someone to take his place and continue exploring the secrets.

His hands trembled slightly, unable to contain himself. This act of scheming his own life and making arrangements for his escape route inevitably reminded him of someone deeply buried in his memory, someone he dared not touch yet could not avoid.

There are very few people in this world who are both close friends and family to this guy.

He asked himself softly, "Could it be you?" (Wooden Fish)

Will you wait for me here?

“Take me to the Lama Temple,” he said in a deep voice.

Chen Xuehan had been waiting for him to say that. From his clothes and demeanor, she could tell that he was a big customer who didn't care about money. So she readily held up five fingers and said quietly, "That's a separate price."

Wu Xie's lips twitched. "You show this same face in front of him?"

Chen Xuehan waved her hand, "That's different. You're the trading partner, while he and I are friends. He even entrusted his daughter to my care."

Wu Xie was stunned. "Daughter? What daughter!"

After realizing what was happening, I was so shocked my jaw almost dropped. What the heck? When did Muyu suddenly have a daughter?!

Chen Xuehan turned her head and called out to the side, "Crescent Moon."

Then Wu Xie saw the wolf-dog lying on another soft chair twitch its ears, glance sideways at them, and close its eyelids indifferently.

Chen Xuehan smiled kindly, "Isn't it cute? It's over two years old, and its bad temper is just like its father's." Wu Xie twitched his lips, thinking to himself, "Damn it, that scared me half to death. I really want to punch him in the face."

Sensing that the big client's expression had turned sour, Chen Xuehan collected the money on the table, took the five hundred yuan that Jin He handed her, stood up, and patted the corner of her clothes. "It's getting late today. If you want to go up the mountain, come find me here tomorrow morning. You can't get into the Lama Temple without someone you know."

Wu Xie got up to say goodbye and walked out of the boiler room with Langka Jinhe.

Jinhe hesitated, then said, "Third Master, should I keep watch around here tonight in case he runs away?"

Wu Xie shook his head. "No need. He won't run away. No matter how much truth or falsehood there is in the clues he mentions, I can sense that he wants me to go into the snow mountain as well."

Motuo is the beginning of another scheme. Chen Xuehan is like an NPC providing guidance in the game. He deliberately mentioned that he had a good relationship with "Wu Xie" in order to make his words more credible.

Regardless of whose side Chen Xuehan is on, since his target is him, he won't leave until the mission is complete, especially since he has already cooperated so much.

The only thing that made him a little uneasy was that he didn't know what unknown things might be waiting for him in the Lama Temple.

After returning to the Tibetan grandmother's house, the three of them went to bed early after dinner.

Wu Xie fumbled for the Bodhi beads on his wrist in bed. His long-standing business of making rubbings had honed his eye, and he could easily see that the two characters "Wu Xie" in the thin gold script on the small Buddha amulet faintly reflected his own style in the strokes.

If that person really was a wooden fish, then everything makes sense.

He still remembered the first time he went to Banna to help Xiao Ge find his memories, the package that Mu Yu sent from Pingtang Prison included an SD card and a note with the handwriting in the "Slender Gold" style, though he hadn't practiced it properly yet.

He was quite certain that Muyu was imitating him, and there had been signs of it for a long time, but he had never paid attention to these details in his naivety.

After escaping death from Zhangjia Ancient Building, Muyu secretly arrived in Motuo, using Wu Xie's face and writing in Wu Xie's usual handwriting.

Wu Xie's doubts deepened. He kept reviewing and calculating in his mind why Mu Yu was imitating him. Was this behavior to avoid the force behind him? Mu Yu needed to make that force believe that the real "Zhang Wuxun" had died in the Zhang Family Ancient Building.

The problem returned to its starting point, and he couldn't help but think of the person in the video who looked exactly like him, with a crazy and bizarre appearance.

Is Muyu really imitating "Wu Xie"? And who is the person in the video?

Could Mu Yu's real purpose in impersonating "Wu Xie" be to become the person in the video? Does he want those behind the scenes to believe that he is the person in the video?
The heated kang bed inside was cozy and warm, but a chill still crept into his heart, running down his spine to his feet.

Wu Xie glanced at his watch. Unconsciously, it was already late at night. His eyelids were heavy and he felt drowsy, but the neurons in his brain were still transmitting stimulation, incredibly active and clear, even making his temples feel like they were throbbing.

Just as dawn was breaking, he had only dozed off for a short while when he heard the sound of snow being swept outside.

Wu Xie immediately woke up, his drowsiness vanishing. He turned over and woke up Langka and the other man.

The sky was overcast, and the snow from last night had accumulated into a thick layer on the ground, so deep that one could sink up to mid-calf with a single step.

The snow in the yard had only been half cleared when Chen Xuehan, holding Yueya's hand, came looking for them with heavy steps.

"We'll head up the mountain in half an hour," Chen Xuehan said.

Wu Xie nodded, took a bite of the brown sugar glutinous rice cake, and quickly filled his stomach with hot goat milk tea.

The group braved the wind and snow to reach the foot of the mountain. The snow on the stone steps was not as thick as elsewhere. Chen Xuehan explained that this was because lamas and Tibetans had cleared the snow from the road before dawn. However, the snow started falling again later, and the road was covered once more.

Jinhe stayed down the mountain to provide backup, while Wu Xie and Langka followed behind Chen Xuehan, who was carrying the wolfhound, and carefully made their way up the mountain step by step.

The roads were slippery due to the snow, and the group walked with extreme caution, as if they were dancing ballet on a knife's edge, working up a sweat.

It wasn't until late afternoon that they stood in front of the Lama temple with its wooden gate half-closed.

Wu Xie was currently experiencing the legendary extremes of ice and fire, like someone going into a state of demonic possession. His body was burning hot, while his skin was shivering from the cold. He felt as if his feet were no longer his own.

Eager to enter the temple, Chen Xuehan, familiar with the place, found the young lama meditating in the side hall and helped them arrange rooms.

The young lama rose from his prayer mat, and upon seeing Wu Xie, he was immediately taken aback. He then spoke a string of words in Tibetan with some surprise and delight, before raising his hand to guide Wu Xie up the stairs at the back of the main hall.

Wu Xie hurriedly asked Langka, "What did he say?"

Before Langka could answer, Chen Xuehan said, "The little master thought you were Bai Ci and wanted to take you to see the master. After he went to the snow mountain, not only am I waiting for news of him, but the master is also waiting."

At first, Wu Xie was quite annoyed when people always treated him as someone to reminisce about the past because of his resemblance to Wu Xie.

But ever since he suspected, based on clues, that Bai Ci might be Mu Yu, he couldn't wait to gather up everyone who had ever seen Bai Ci in Motuo.

Whether by coercion, bribery, or any other means, he just wanted to know everything that had happened to that person here, down to the smallest detail: how many breaths of air did that person take in a day?

He prayed in his heart that the young lama in front of him would talk more, since Chen Xuehan was mostly at the foot of the mountain and didn't know much about what happened between that person and the senior lama on the mountain.

However, after learning that he was not Bai Ci, the young lama lost interest in talking to them and simply led them to the guest room in a businesslike manner.

Wu Xie could only stare helplessly, because Master Deren was still meditating and it was inconvenient to disturb him.

According to Chen Xuehan, since Bai Ci entered the snow mountain a year ago, Master Deren has basically been in a state of refusing visitors, rarely leaving his home except for meditation.

Seeing Wu Xie fidgeting, Chen Xuehan comforted him, saying, "Don't worry, you are the destined person that the master said you are. The master will definitely see you."

Wu Xie sighed, knowing that his worries were in vain. He had been in the snow mountain for a year, and if Bai Ci came out safely, he would definitely contact his master who was waiting for him.

He could only hope to get more clues from his master in order to deduce Bai Ci's true purpose in sending him all the way to Motuo.

This situation is as tricky as ever, but Wu Xie is no longer the naive boy who used to be chased around by zombies.

He asked a question that had been lingering in his mind since yesterday: "Why did Bai Ci go into the snow mountain?"

“I asked him why he insisted on going to the snow mountain, and he said it was for a family mission,” Chen Xuehan said.

"A family mission?!"

Wu Xie was startled. What was deep in the snow-capped mountains of Motuo? Could this place also be connected to the Zhang family, an ancient clan that had long since perished?

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(End of this chapter)