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

Chapter 507 Phoenix Clan Mark
At this moment, Zhang Haixing realized that the group of opponents who had arrived here first were a group of very strong opponents.

Zhang Haixing began to feel anxious. She didn't know the origins or background of this group of people, nor did she know their purpose. The only clue the Wang family had was this pictographic fire pattern whose specific meaning was unknown.

Judging from Feng's words, he seemed to have some understanding of this fire pattern.

Zhang Haixing composed herself and asked him calmly, "You just said this thing is a clue, why do you say that? Do you know who left this symbol?"

"I don't know who left the symbol, but this isn't the first time I've seen it."

Feng took out a waterproof resealable bag, about a quarter the size of a palm, from a hidden pocket inside his down jacket. He gestured for Zhang Haixing to hold up a rhinoceros horn candle and shine it on her. Then he opened the bag, poured out several one-inch pieces of paper from inside into his palm, and gestured for her to look at them.

“This is all the hieroglyphic fire patterns we have seen and collected so far,” Feng said. “Our headquarters’ experts specializing in graphic patterns speculate that this should be a very ancient warning script with a certain sacrificial meaning. The places where it appears are very dangerous and eerie, either where something horrific has happened or where something terrible is about to happen.”

Zhang Haixing was startled. Judging from Feng's words, the meaning expressed by these symbols seemed to be similar to the result of the mysterious deductions obtained by the core department of their Wang family.

Feng shrugged and concluded, "In short, wherever there's this symbol, people who go in will never have a good outcome."

Zhang Haixing carefully examined the one-inch-long pieces of paper. In fact, these were all photographs of individual fire patterns, drawn with lines resembling flames. There were four pictures in total, and none of the patterns were the same.

The year the photos were taken is marked in the corner. The earliest one is a black and white rubbing from the early 20th century. A thin sheet of paper was placed over the pattern, and a smear of ink was used to gently dab it. Because it was an engraved mark, the lines of the rubbing are white.

"1930..." Zhang Haixing murmured to herself. The remaining three photos were taken one by one, with a large gap between them. However, this time only refers to the time when the photos were taken and does not indicate when the marks were left.

"Where did your headquarters collect these symbols from?" Zhang Haixing asked.

"The headquarters cast a wide net all over the world in search of what our boss wants. The teams they sent out reached several places where some supernatural catastrophic events that could not be explained by science had occurred. Almost the entire team was wiped out. The last survivor, who had taken the clues out, suddenly vanished from the face of the earth one day."

Feng sighed and put the photos away. "Once such a large-scale disaster, like a plague, occurs, it is often accompanied by the loss of countless lives. No one knows exactly what took their lives."

Zhang Haixing pursed her lips and said, "Since this is a hint, then we just need to follow these symbols from now on."

“No, there’s one more thing needed.” Feng looked at her with deep eyes, “The clan markings on your body.”

Zhang Haixing's heart skipped a beat. She felt that Feng seemed to be implying something. She paused for a moment and carefully asked, "Clan markings? You mean the Qiongqi on our maternal relatives?"

Feng didn't speak, but just stared at Zhang Haixing. His gaze gave Zhang Haixing the illusion that she had been seen through.

“The tattoo on my body is not Qiongqi.” Zhang Haixing said this without any hesitation, after all, it was true. “In fact, unless necessary, very few members of our overseas branch of the Zhang family have Qiongqi tattoos.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Miss Zhang—or perhaps I should address you differently,” Feng said, a hint of mockery in his voice. “Right, Miss Wang?”

Zhang Haixing's expression instantly vanished. She stared coldly at Feng, her tone certain, "You knew all along that I wasn't a member of the Zhang family."

Feng smiled, unconcerned by the hostility she exuded. "Your family has been cooperating with Mr. Hendry since his time. We simply continued to use the same channels after taking over this project. Cooperation is the way to achieve a win-win situation."

Zhang Haixing was silent for a few seconds. No wonder this guy had always acted so confidently; his desire to get rid of Feng was growing stronger.

She paused for a moment, then asked, "What do you need my clan crest for?"

“Your family has a deep connection with the Khampa tribe. As far as I know, the origin of your clan's emblem was extracted from the Khampa totem. As Bai Ci mentioned before, every new clan chief goes into the bronze gate to take a look after taking office.”

Feng left it at that.

Zhang Haixing subconsciously touched her left shoulder. She did have a tattoo on her left back, but it wasn't a phoenix. Her existence was to replace the real "Zhang Haixing." From the very beginning of the replacement plan, she was not allowed to have any marks of her own.

After making up her mind, Zhang Haixing took out a piece of paper from her backpack and drew out the clan crest that should have belonged to her from memory.

Feng looked at the pattern on the paper that was gradually taking flight and was overjoyed. He murmured, "There is a bird on Dan Mountain, with five colors and patterns, nine buds responding to the spirit, singing in the Qi and Luo Rivers, with all birds paying homage, and the ten directions of the stars."

"It really is a phoenix." Feng's smile became much more sincere. "With this map, the journey ahead will be much smoother."

Zhang Haixing twitched the corner of her mouth, neither confirming nor denying.

"Let's go, stay close."

Feng took out a small lamp filled with rhinoceros horn wax from his pocket, lit it, glanced at the phoenix pattern one last time, put it away, and took the lead in walking forward, with Zhang Haixing following closely behind.

Darkness surged like waves, shifting with the lamplight. In the silence, only the soft rustling of their shoes against the ground as they deliberately walked lightly.

She didn't know how much time had passed when Zhang Haixing was about to glance at her watch when the blue flame in her hand suddenly flickered twice. She stopped abruptly and looked into the darkness on her right.

Something seemed to be hiding in the boundless, dense darkness. It had just flashed by and disappeared before Zhang Haixing could notice it, but it was still keeping a close eye on her and Feng.

Zhang Haixing called out to Feng, who was standing in front of her, "Have you noticed anything unusual?"

Feng didn't doubt her alertness. He turned and looked around, but seeing nothing unusual, he asked, "What did you find?"

“There seems to be something in the darkness here, moving very fast. We can’t see what it is.” Zhang Haixing looked around warily and said in a deep voice, “It seems to be following us, or rather, following the light in our hands.”

"Them?" Feng frowned. "Are there many?"

Because of the modifications to her blood, Zhang Haixing's senses were much sharper than Feng's.

Zhang Haixing's tone was harsh as she scolded, "Didn't you know that monsters might appear here?"

Feng's expression changed, and he retorted, "This is also my first time entering such a door. Without anyone venturing ahead, no one knows what might appear inside."

"Damn it," Zhang Haixing cursed under her breath, taking the rifle off her back and cocking it. "We're surrounded!" The most troublesome thing was that the two of them had no idea what was surrounding them. Zhang Haixing could only feel the air around them becoming increasingly viscous, and more and more unknown creatures were gathering in their direction, chasing the candlelight.

"Turn off the light!" Zhang Haixing immediately blew out the rhinoceros horn candle in her hand.

Countless gusts of wind whistled past his ears as the monsters launched their attack. Feng hurriedly dodged, and amidst a series of gunshots, he threw the bowl in his hand into the distance. The bowl made a crisp clanging sound, as if it had hit something resembling a stone wall before falling to the ground.

The blue flames scattered like fireflies, only to be quickly enveloped by the black gauze curtain.

The sound of the wind suddenly stopped for a second, and Feng immediately lowered his voice and said to Zhang Haixing, "Run!"

In the moment of crisis, they were only concerned with escaping for their lives. Afraid that the monsters would catch up, they dared not light any more lamps. They ran desperately like headless flies for a long time, when suddenly they lost their footing and, without any time to react, the two of them tumbled down the slope, one pulling the other.

Caught off guard, Feng stumbled and rolled, hitting his head on a rock. His head buzzed, and a dull pain swept over him. His vision blurred, and without time to think, his limbs instinctively reached out to try and support himself.

A sudden, heavy blow struck his back. Feng grunted and was thrown heavily downwards. He dared not relax his arms and legs, which rubbed against the rough cave walls as if they were rags. He desperately gripped the sides to stop his fall.

Feng felt pain all over his body. Zhang Haixing, who fell in behind him, had all her weight on him, which almost made him vomit blood.

After finally regaining his balance, he braced himself against the cave wall with his hands and feet and caught his breath before he had time to explore his surroundings.

The bowl in Zhang Haixing's hand had long been broken when she fell. It was pitch black here, and who knows where that little thing flew off to? There was no way she could find it now.

"How are you? Are you alright?" Zhang Haixing asked softly.

"He's not dead yet," Feng said through gritted teeth, his hands trembling as he pulled out the last rhinoceros horn candle from his pocket.

A lake-blue light shone forth, dispelling the darkness that enveloped them.

The two seemed to have fallen into a narrow tunnel, with a straight stone path leading up and down. They were lying on the tunnel wall with their buttocks sticking out, like turtles stretching.

Feng's palms were rubbed raw and bleeding from the rough cave walls, causing him to wince in pain and inwardly cry out that he was having the worst luck.

Zhang Haixing, who was above, was unharmed thanks to Feng below who acted as a buffer. She raised an eyebrow and gave a perfunctory thank you.

Feng chuckled twice, resigning himself to his bad luck.

Zhang Haixing adjusted her posture so that her hands and knees supported her on the same side, making it easier to move forward. Then she asked, "Our plan to move forward has been disrupted. We were running around in a daze and we don't even know where we bumped into. What should we do next? Should we climb up or continue down?"

Instead of jumping to conclusions, Feng asked her, "How far are we from where we fell?"

Zhang Haixing took the rhinoceros horn candle from his hand and shone it above her head, but unfortunately the candle's light had a limited range, and it was pitch black above, so she couldn't see anything.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "I feel it shouldn't be too far, but I don't recommend we go back up there. Don't forget the shadows lurking in the darkness."

They no longer had any extra rhinoceros horn lamps to waste.

Zhang Haixing thought of something, "Don't you still have the catalyst that can sense that kind of energy? That tower wrapped in red cloth, can we use it to find the right path?"

Feng nodded. "Okay, let's continue. I have a feeling that what we're looking for might be down there."

The cave walls were too rough; sliding down directly risked tearing his back. Feng changed to the same position as Zhang Haixing, supporting his body with his hands and knees, and slowly moved down.

The passage seemed like an endless, bottomless pit. After crawling along this steep stone path for a long time, both of them were exhausted and had to stop to rest.

"What time is it now?" Feng asked.

"About three hours have passed." Zhang Haixing estimated in her mind, took a couple of breaths, and then let go of one of her supporting hands to look at her watch.

Upon seeing this, she was immediately startled, and her breath caught in her throat.

"How is this possible?" she exclaimed in disbelief. "Why hasn't time changed?"

"The time hasn't changed?" Feng was equally shocked. "Could it be that your watch is broken? We've been inside the door for so long, how could the time not have changed?"

Zhang Haixing rummaged through her backpack and found that the time on the watch was the same as the watch itself, frozen at the moment they stepped through the bronze door. She even tried setting a time bomb, and the time on the watch face also froze the moment she pressed the trigger switch.

She suddenly remembered what Feng Yi had said at the beginning: "The world inside the door is a world that exists independently of time and space."

In other words, the time on the watch belongs only to the outside world, while the time inside the door cannot be discussed using the same concept as the time outside.

"Time" was originally a material concept proposed by humankind. Before this concept was proposed, "time" did not exist.

Some physicists have proposed that time has symmetry, meaning that time can not only move forward but also backward. The current position of Zhang Haixing and her group may be at a point between moving forward and backward, so time is frozen.

Or rather, the "still time" of the world inside the door is not completely still, but its flow is imperceptible because the remaining amount of the rhinoceros horn candle in Feng's hand is gradually decreasing.

Zhang Haixing explained her understanding to Feng, who composed himself and said, "Regardless of whether the time here is as you say, now that we're in, we absolutely cannot give up."

The two ate some food to replenish their energy, and then continued climbing down.

They silently counted the seconds in their minds, and finally, on the 6453rd second, their feet touched the ground.

good night