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

Chapter 516 The Monster Is Still Here
Zhang Haixing made the cut without hesitation, and blood dripped from the outside of her palm into the groove.

At first, the blood did spread outwards along the groove, but soon, as if encountering some resistance, the blood flowed back along the original path.

The fat man chuckled to himself. This old woman's blood was the complete opposite of her personality; she was such a coward.

"What's going on? Why didn't your blood work?" Wu Xie looked at Zhang Haixing suspiciously. "Aren't you a member of the Zhang family?"

Zhang Haixing, her face dark, only managed a muffled explanation: "The Zhang family overseas has no rule against intermarriage with other ethnic groups; in fact, some members are completely unrelated by blood."

"What use are you?" the fat man taunted, then looked at Zhang Wuxun and Wu Xie and said, "Which of you two should go first? In the current situation, my blood will definitely turn into a mess. We need to keep a healthy person in case of future trouble."

"I come."

Zhang Wuxun glanced at the spot where the blood had been dripping and left a mark; the blood there had spread back into a wide fan shape.

After estimating the approximate location of the object, Zhang Wuxun went to a new spot and pretended to cut his hand, but in reality, he punctured the blood bag hidden in his sleeve and squeezed out the blood that had been prepared in advance.

Feng suddenly exclaimed, "Look!"

"Damn, they're fast! They're already on the wall." The fat man exclaimed incredulously, lighting a cold firework and throwing it against the cave wall.

These bloodstains seemed to have a life of their own, constantly searching for their own path. At each intersection, they would spontaneously branch out, like a thriving tree. Countless blood threads extended from Zhang Wuxun as the center, along the disc beneath everyone's feet, and eventually grew onto the surrounding cave walls.

Those intricate patterns actually served the same purpose as the blood-drawing groove. The blood threads had become extremely fine by this point, yet they still struggled to climb upwards. Twelve long, arched gates, recessed in opposite directions, appeared on the cave ceiling, like a colossal hand gently pressing a palm print onto the dome above.

The faces of everyone simultaneously showed fear.

The fat man muttered, "This is the big thing you were talking about. Could it have come out of that human cocoon in the first place? This place is as empty as a black hole. What did it eat to grow so big? And why can we only see the marks it left behind? Where did it go?"

Upon hearing this, everyone suddenly turned their heads to look in the direction of the hole that had been blown open in the bronze door. Could it be that the thing had already escaped?
“It’s not necessarily the thing inside the cocoon,” Zhang Haixing said. “Look at the chains around the disc, they’re so long. Maybe there were a lot of Zhang family members here at first, just like the jade cocoon. They used special methods to place them here, along with the blood-drawing groove, to create a mechanism to trap that thing. But something might have gone wrong with the cocoon. The corpse cocoon was eaten by the big thing that the Zhang family wanted to trap inside the bronze door.”

Damn, this is even more terrifying! This means that the big monster isn't afraid of the Zhang family at all; they couldn't even exploit the only bug.

The fat man slapped his thigh and shouted, "I knew it! That stinky mud was diarrhea from the diarrhea god!"

"Shut up!" Zhang Haixing glared at him angrily.

"Stop the bleeding quickly." Wu Xie rushed to Zhang Wuxun's side, took out his first-aid kit, and was about to bandage him. At this critical moment, their limited fighting strength could not be reduced in the slightest.

Zhang Wuxun opened his sleeve, revealing the edge of the empty blood bag inside, and winked at him discreetly.

Holy crap? Wu Xie was stunned for a second. Could it be that even that giant monster was something you planned all along?
He immediately realized what was happening, took out some gauze and pretended to wrap it around Zhang Wuxun's left hand, making the whole hand look like a rice dumpling. When tying the knot, he specially made a slipknot so that the whole gauze would fall off with a pull, which was very convenient.

The others paid no attention to this side, all raising any weapons they could find and peering towards the bronze door, constantly on guard against the large thing suddenly running back.

In Fatty's words, the fact that such a huge thing ran out without any of them noticing meant that it was many times more powerful than Bai Ci and the old woman, who were the strongest among them.

The reason it didn't attack them directly is probably because that thing had been trapped here for hundreds or thousands of years, feeling empty, lonely, and cold. As a result, the door was blown up by these hotheads, and it happily ran outside to have fun, not paying any attention to them at all.

However, since this cave is its lair, it will definitely return after it has had its fill of wandering. At that time, it will happen to run into those few human flesh particles and be able to devour them for a treat.

“But if we go back out, that thing will be outside, wouldn’t that be even more dangerous?” Wu Xie said.

Zhang Haixing made a quick decision, took out paper and pen and quickly sketched the frames on the dome, recording them all. Then she said, "I need to go find a place where I can detect the signal and send a telegram to my brother, explaining the situation here and asking him to bring more people in. We can't handle this place with just a few of us."

The fat man pondered the meaning behind her words and said unhappily, "What do we do? Stay here and use you as bait to buy time?"

Zhang Haixing looked at him coldly, "So you have another more efficient method? Tell me, I'm all ears."

The fat man angrily said, "Do you know how to get out? Our current location is different from before."

Zhang Haixing said confidently, "I'll have to trouble Mr. Feng for help with that."

"You guys found out, huh?" Feng smiled slyly, raised his arm and shook it, acting like a big shot as he waited for people to untie him.

"Go to hell!" The fat man kicked him. "You old bastard, you actually held back a trick. Tell me honestly, how are we getting out of here?"

Feng jumped forward to dodge, then snorted defiantly, "I won't talk to rude and uncouth people." He then gave the fat man a meaningful glance.

The fat man was about to curse loudly when Zhang Wuxun stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder to calm him down. Then he said to Feng indifferently, "We're all in this together now, there's no need to make things so tense. I can let you out, but just in case, I'll put some insurance on you."

"What kind of insurance?" Feng Wei took a barely perceptible step back.

Zhang Wuxun gave a signal, and Wu Xie and Fatty immediately rushed forward and grabbed Feng.

Feng had a bad feeling and was terrified. "What are you going to do? I'm warning you, only I can understand the marks left along the way. Without me, you will all be trapped here to die."

"It's just a little gadget." Zhang Wuxun pulled out a black bamboo tube from behind his waist, unscrewed the cap, poured a deep red pill the size of a glass marble into his palm, and gestured to the fat man, "Pry his mouth open."

The fat man grinned maliciously and snapped Feng's jaw off. "You're so arrogant in front of your father. You've really spoiled yourself."

Feng looked terrified as he watched the red pill pop into his mouth, and immediately tried to push it out with his tongue.

The fat man swiftly placed the pill under his chin, pulled it down his throat, and the pill was swallowed in one gulp.

Zhang Haixing watched coldly from the sidelines, making no attempt to stop it.

Feng vomited until her eyes were filled with tears, but it was no use; the pills had already gone down her throat. "Cough cough...cough, what did you give me to eat?"

"Don't worry, it's not poison, it won't kill you right away."

Zhang Wuxun kindly explained to him, "This thing is called a Corpse Beetle Pill. You claim to be an expert on China, so you should know that in ancient times, there was a kind of Gu worm that could be manipulated by humans in the Miao region." "But don't worry, I'm not that powerful yet. You can treat it as a slow-acting poison. The Corpse Beetle King inside is currently asleep. The outside is wrapped with medicine made from my blood and some special herbs, which can restrict the Corpse Beetle King's movements. As long as the outer pill doesn't melt, the Corpse Beetle King inside will never wake up."

"Oh, right," Zhang Wuxun remembered something and reminded him, "Don't try to induce vomiting. A sudden change in the external environment of the pill could also awaken the Corpse Beetle King."

Feng's lips trembled, unable to utter a single word, and the way he looked at Zhang Wuxun was as if he had seen a demon.

Zhang Wuxun coldly issued his final ultimatum, "You only have two days. That's just enough time for the two of you to come and go. I will then draw the worm out of your body."

As he spoke, he turned to look at Zhang Haixing, "You must be aware of the characteristics of the Corpse Beetle King. Once it is poisoned and turns into a blood corpse, it will be covered in poison, and you will be in danger then."

Zhang Haixing understood the meaning behind his words and was furious. "Are you doubting me?" The appearance of the Corpse Beetle Pill immediately put her and Feng on guard.

"It's just a matter of being prepared." Zhang Wuxun made no attempt to hide his wariness. "We're staying here risking our lives to buy you time, so you should at least show some appreciation."

Zhang Haixing gave him a cold look, grabbed Feng by the collar, dragged him up, and pushed him forward to prevent any sudden danger from ahead.

Poor Feng thought he could control Zhang Haixing and the others with his ability to give directions, but he didn't expect that they wouldn't fall for it at all.

"Hey, listen, you can't treat me like this!" Feng was genuinely frightened now and cried out, "I'm a useful prisoner, don't you want to leave here?"

"Bai, get that damned worm out of my stomach right now, and we can cooperate. I'm very sincere, and I can tell you everything I know..."

"...Don't you want to know why I'm searching for the Zan Shen Sect? This will never end, nothing will ever be over!"

Zhang Haixing ignored him and roughly dragged Feng out of the bronze door.

Feng's mournful cries gradually faded into the distance, until their figures disappeared from sight and could no longer be heard.

"I wish you good luck," Zhang Wuxun said softly.

Wu Xie and Fatty held their breath, cautiously glancing at Zhang Wuxun. Just now, the aura that Zhang Wuxun unconsciously exuded was terrifying, completely unlike the person they knew.

After a long silence, Wu Xie finally spoke when Zhang Wuxun turned to look at him, "What do we do now?"

They only knew that Zhang Wuxun had a plan, but they had no idea how it would be implemented. They simply followed Zhang Wuxun's hints step by step.

Zhang Wuxun put his index finger to his lips to signal the two to be quiet, then pointed to the backpack placed to the side.

"?" Wu Xie asked, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“We can hide at the entrance, which will make it easier to retreat, whether the big thing is inside or outside the cave.”

Zhang Wuxun deliberately lowered his voice, making it sound as if it were some distance from the backpack. Then, he quietly took out the flashlight inside, unscrewed the cover of the lamp head, and pointed to the small black piece hidden inside, which was only the size of a fingernail.

Wu Xie's eyes widened, and he gestured towards the bronze door with his lip.

Zhang Wuxun nodded slightly, then put the flashlight back exactly as it was, and gestured to Wu Xie in sign language, "The monster is still here."

The fat man understood too, cursed silently, and gestured anxiously at the two of them, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go, let's go!"

Zhang Wuxun waved his hand, "Not yet. Zhang Haixing has something on her that can attract that monster. I don't know where she's hiding it. She has to take it out herself."

Wu Xie snorted and pointed at him, muttering curses silently: "You dog, you just wait. We'll settle accounts with you later. This time, you're not getting away."

The fat man angrily made a whipping motion and pointed at Zhang Wuxun: Behave yourself later, don't expect to get away with this!

Zhang Wuxun was no longer guilty, but he was worried about how to explain. After thinking for a while, he flattened his right palm and bent the index and middle fingers of his left hand and knelt down in the palm of his right hand, his attitude very sincere: Please stop scolding me, please stop scolding me, I know I was wrong.

After that, he waved his hand, telling the two of them to get away quickly.

Wu Xie and Fatty immediately followed Zhang Wuxun's instructions, placing their backpacks to the right of the bronze door to prevent the bad guys from taking a stand and attacking them, while they crouched down and carefully hid on the left.

Zhang Wuxun untied the pretentious bandage wrapped around his left hand, cut a gash on his right palm with a dagger, and like Sun Wukong drawing a circle for Tang Sanzang, sprinkled blood around a half-circle about three meters away from Wu Xie and the other man.

Wu Xie watched his movements, his brow furrowed slightly. Not daring to waste any time, he quickly began to analyze the situation, speaking to the hidden guy, "Fatty, do you remember the meteorite we saw in the Queen Mother of the West's underground palace?"

The fat man hummed in agreement. "I remember. What's wrong?"

“Look, doesn’t this cave look like a miniature version of that place?” Wu Xie said. “What if we dug holes around all of this?”

The fat man squinted at him. "You mean to say that the holes in the Queen Mother of the West's underground palace were dug out by people, but shouldn't they be bubbles formed after the boiling meteorite cooled down? You've already analyzed that."

“Therefore, we will never get anywhere by following the way we have been thinking about problems before. We must discard all past experience and start from the problem itself to avoid going astray,” Wu Xie said.

The fat man touched his eyebrows, unable to figure out whether what he was saying was made up to fool people or if he really thought that way. Obviously, he himself did not understand. "Um, how do you start from yourself?"

Wu Xie pointed to the blood tree on the cave wall. "Based on the absolute facts that have already happened before our eyes, although we don't have many absolute facts now, there is one thing that can be basically confirmed: Bai Ci's blood can flow on these patterns. Whether it is to restrain that big thing or to warn humanity, Bai Ci's blood is effective."

The fat man listened attentively, and Zhang Wuxun, chewing on an energy gel, also leaned in, saying, "Go on."

Wu Xie continued his analysis: "Bai Ci is a Khampa Luo person. The Khampa Luo people have a close relationship with this place, so it is not surprising that his blood has an effect. But we have forgotten something since the beginning."

"Forgot something?"

“The cocoon-like figure wearing the Qilin badge that represents the Zhang family,” Wu Xie said.

good night