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

Chapter 509 Mirror Flowers and Moon in the Water
In front of the bronze gate—

After finishing their meal, Zhang Wuxun and the other two sat by the fire, chatting and warming themselves.

Zhang Wuxun showed the statue of the deity wrapped in red cloth to Wu Xie and Fatty, and then told them what he planned to do soon.

The fat man looked at the two small bells tied to his wrists, which had been solidified with rosin, and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. "These two little bells are so powerful, even more so than the tricks that old woman surnamed Zhang used to scheme against me and Tianzhen."

Zhang Wuxun shook his head. "It's just a matter of timing and location. Our environment is rather special, which amplifies the bell's effects."

Wu Xie wondered, "Is there something strange about the jade meteorite vein here?"

“Look up,” Zhang Wuxun pointed upwards and said, “and then tell me what you’ve found.”

The fat man craned his neck and looked up for a long time, while also stretching his stiff neck. "It's pitch black up there, I can't see anything. Hey, stop being so mysterious, just tell me what's going on."

Zhang Wuxun pulled out a flare gun, pointed it upwards, and fired a shot. "Let's see now."

A blazing white light streaked across the sky like a meteor. Wu Xie's gaze followed the ever-rising light. The beam exploded high in the sky, illuminating the entire space as if it were daytime. He finally saw the true nature of his surroundings.

The various crisscrossing patterns on the crystal-black cave walls were exactly the same as those in the Jade Meteor Cave outside, except that the overall space seemed to have been proportionally shrunk, and those eerie fire patterns were right above their heads, seemingly within reach.

Wu Xie stared in astonishment at the scene before him, opening his mouth to ask, "What's going on? Did you copy these fire patterns from the cave outside?"

“I don’t know about that. It looked just like this when I came here last time.” Zhang Wuxun shook his head. “However, the reason why this place amplifies the power of the illusion is essentially related to the topography of this place. Look closely at the overall shape of this cave. What does it resemble?”

Hearing this, Wu Xie stood up and, taking advantage of the last glimmer of light from the burning signal flare, took in the entire view of the cave.

A flash of inspiration struck him, and he suddenly realized, blurting out, "It's a bell!"

"This is a complete clock, right upside down on the ground!"

"What the heck?" the fat man exclaimed in surprise. "Striking the bell and knocking on the end is extremely unlucky."

Zhang Wuxun calmly said, "To be more precise, it's a pair of bells, the big bell and the small bell connected together."

And coincidentally, the octagonal bells in his hand were also of different sizes.

Wu Xie pondered, "No wonder we've been experiencing illusions almost constantly since we entered this place. It turns out that the hollow cave in this entire mountain is a huge jade bell."

The fat man clicked his tongue in amazement, "Clapping hands in the clouds for half a day, the person who built this place must be a master among masters, able to fight Wang Zanghai to a draw."

Zhang Wuxun smiled slightly but didn't reply.

Wu Xie looked at the two guys lying flat on the pile of corpses and grass, still somewhat doubtful. "How are we going to explain this to them when they come out of the illusion?"

Zhang Wuxun lit a lighter, held the flame close to the rosin at the bell's mouth, and slowly said, "Flowers in the mirror, the moon in the water, the circle on the rim of the cup, and the dreamer trapped within them."

"The only difference is whether the dream is real or not. Since dreams are illusions, why don't we make illusions into reality?"

Wu Xie was surprised, "You mean..."

"Whether it's true or false depends on what the people involved are thinking. We'll let them believe they can get what they want."

The red glow of the campfire flickered and danced in his eyes. Under the heat of the flames, the rosin quickly softened and flowed like honey into the small jar below. The seal was broken, and Zhang Wuxun adjusted the order in which the two octagonal copper bells were plucked, lightly touching them once in each direction before sealing them again with rosin.

Zhang Wuxun predicted that Zhang Haixing and the others would wake up in less than half an hour.

So Zhang Wuxun took out a jade box from his backpack and hid it under the stone pile in front of the bronze door.

Wu Xie and Fatty quickly tidied up the scene, then lay down in the pile of corpses and grass, grabbed a few long vines to tie their hands and feet together, and then closed their eyes, pretending to be trapped in the illusion as well.

In less than two minutes, the fat man started snoring, and Wu Xie disgustedly moved his head away a little.

Zhang Wuxun smiled helplessly and continued to tend the fire.

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Zhang Haixing was wrapped in blood-sucking vines, and she felt her body getting lighter and lighter, like a small boat drifting with the current, unable to find a place to land.

Suffocation... In a daze, blurry images flashed through my mind, and memories sealed away in the corners of my hippocampus for many years were unearthed.

She saw many hazy black figures surrounding her, tall and majestic, like towers, while many small white figures like her were being pushed out of iron cages by them.

The square is huge, the walls are so high, and the light in the very center is incredibly bright.

There were dark figures on the platform, wanting what they wanted.

The white shadows dwindled rapidly, until only a few remained, like kittens abandoned by a trash can after being abused by bad people, their bodies speckled with black spots.

Zhang Haixing looked down at herself and found that the black spots on her body had crawled up to her chest. She was tightly clutching another white figure in her hand.

A dark figure stepped forward to separate them. Zhang Haixing struggled, unwilling to let go. She couldn't remember who the white figure was, only that he must be a very, very important person.

The dark figure took a badge from the table and used it to exchange for the white figure that Zhang Haixing was holding. The black dots completely covered her neck, then her eyes, her brain, and everything turned black.

Zhang Haixing opened her eyes; her almost pure black pupils had only a slight bluish-white tinge around them.

Feng Xian sat up abruptly, looking at the familiar surroundings. His expression slowly changed from fear to shock. He took a few deep breaths, carefully avoiding the tiny bells hidden under the leaves of the corpse grass, and walked out from the large patch of corpse grass.

Zhang Wuxun had thought he was a bold and calm man, but before he knew it, Feng tripped over a stone and fell flat on his face, lying on the ground trembling like a cockroach.

I was rather curious about what he had experienced in the illusion, that his legs were shaking like that.

To wake him up, Zhang Wuxun kindly flicked a few water droplets onto his face.

Feng shivered from the cold, and slowly came to his senses. "I'm not dead!"

Zhang Haixing silently walked over and joined the fire, refusing to mention what she had seen in the illusion.

Wu Xie deliberately waited a few more minutes before "slowly waking up," and incidentally kicked the fat man awake.

Good night

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(End of this chapter)