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

Chapter 455 Seemingly Illusory Yet Real
Perhaps because he had faced death more than once, the concept of death did not pose any unique threat to him.

When a person comes into this world, there are only two things to do in their entire life: to be born and to die. Once one thing is almost done, the other thing is not far from ending.

In this protracted game of chess, those involved are both the strategist and the pawn.

Zhang Wuxun didn't care whether his identity changed or his fate was good or bad, as long as the game ended in the direction he wanted.

Zhang Wuxun just couldn't understand why he was in such a dreamlike and illusory state in the illusion, as if he could disappear with the wind at any moment.

He looked at his palm again, and sure enough, it wasn't an illusion. The further he fell, the more transparent his body became. If he drifted a little further down, he might melt away like the snow around him.

Vanished without a trace.

As soon as this thought arose, the surrounding scenery changed again.

This time he appeared on a snow slope. The winding mountain road was covered with thick snow. Halfway up the mountain from the path, there was a very small gate, like a long-abandoned Lama temple. The temple was much smaller than the houses where ordinary people lived.

The moment his eyes met it, a voice seemed to remind him that he had to go to that lama temple, or he would miss something very important.

Without much thought, Zhang Wuxun stepped up the snow, and although the road looked long, it felt like only a moment had passed before he was standing at the entrance of the Lama Temple.

He looked back at the path he had taken, only to be surprised to find that the snow covering the mountain path was still pristine and untouched.

As the sun rises from the valley, the entire snowfield is bathed in a hazy, rosy light, and one can almost smell the fragrance of snow.

Zhang Wuxun took a step back, staring at the footprints he had just made. He saw the two indentations that had been pressed down by gravity gradually grow back, but they returned to their original state in the blink of an eye.

It was as if an invisible force within this space was erasing the traces left by Zhang Wuxun, this outsider.

"System?" he called out in his mind.

After waiting for a while, the system did not respond, just like before.

Zhang Wuxun clicked his tongue lightly. Let him see what this realm he created himself will tell him.

He lifted his foot, turned sideways, and squeezed through the gap in the rickety wooden door, bending slightly at the waist.

In reality, there was no need for such a roundabout way; his body couldn't even touch the wooden door. But if he didn't do it this way, he felt it would be a bit strange to just pass through the wall.

Looking around, the furnishings inside matched the structure of the Lama temple itself perfectly, both being simple. The offering table and Buddha statues facing you were even crooked and twisted by the snow-laden roof. The cold wind was howling, and snow kept drifting in from the holes above, making it feel particularly desolate.

This Lama temple is truly abandoned.

But when Zhang Wuxun looked down just now, he knew that although this place was halfway up the mountain, it was not actually a very remote place in the snowfield. At least from the high point, one could see a few scattered yurts stretching for dozens of miles at the foot of the mountain, and hear dogs barking and sheep bleating.

In Tibetan traditional culture, lamas are religious figures with extremely high status and prestige. Tibetans usually have great respect and trust for lamas. Logically speaking, if there is a lama temple here, it should be maintained and repaired by the Tibetans at the foot of the mountain. How could the lama temple be allowed to be exposed to wind and snow and become covered in dust?
Most importantly, where have all the lamas gone?

Zhang Wuxun thought that unless some earth-shattering event had occurred in this lama temple, causing the Tibetans at the foot of the mountain to avoid this place like the plague. However, there was an unexpected surprise: Zhang Wuxun found some very shallow and regular barefoot footprints on the grayish-white snow layer on the ground. They were less than half a palm's size and were the footprints of a child. They stretched from behind the offering table to the doorway and then neatly returned to the original footprints, following the gaps between them.

Like a child waiting for their loved ones to return home, they would peek towards the door whenever they heard a noise.

Zhang Wuxun didn't know why such a thought suddenly arose in his mind. Strangely, this scene made him feel a bit eerie.

It's as if, once upon a time, he had been waiting for someone in the same way. It wasn't anticipation, but rather, there was nothing else besides waiting, which was something he wanted to do and that was worth doing.

Zhang Wuxun slowly walked towards the offering table following the footprints. Suddenly, he heard the wind rustle the wooden door behind him. He immediately turned around and saw a dark figure dressed in a robe standing at the door.

"Xiaomi Go?"

He heard someone call out at the door. The voice belonged to an older Tibetan woman, who was speaking an old-fashioned Pali language.

After a long silence, a Tibetan woman with a weathered face shone in, carrying an ebony food box.

"Xiaomi Go?"

The Tibetan woman stood awkwardly at the door, as if afraid of something, and dared not go forward. She called out again, and this time Zhang Wuxun clearly saw that she was calling the name while facing behind the offering table.

Zhang Wuxun was clearly standing in the middle of the distance between her and the offering table, but she obviously didn't see him. In fact, Zhang Wuxun's body had already solidified at this point.

Judging from this, Zhang Wuxun's premonition was correct; another primordial power in this space had erased the traces of his existence as an outsider.

Zhang Wuxun stood in this scene, yet he seemed like a spectator observing someone else's situation.

But that wasn't important; what he cared about was the name the Tibetan woman was calling out.

So, the child hiding in this temple is named "Xiaomige"?
It's a strange name. Migo doesn't have an auspicious meaning in Tibetan. Although it sounds cute in Chinese, its true meaning is actually "a monster like snow".

Could it be that there is something special about the child in the temple that makes people so afraid of his name?

Zhang Wuxun did not miss the deep fear in the Tibetan woman's eyes, but what prompted her to fight against her inner fear and still choose to come to this place?

After the Tibetan woman called out for the third time, she still didn't receive a response from behind the offering table.

A hint of resentment flashed in her eyes. She gritted her teeth and finally placed the food box on a stone slab with less snow near the door, then left, turning back every few steps.

Zhang Wuxun glanced behind the silent offering table, then turned and walked to the food box. Reaching out, he was surprised to find that he could move the food box.

He thought that this might be because he had become much more solid now.

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(End of this chapter)