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

Chapter 518 Perfect Closed Loop
"How do you know... this is impossible!" Zhang Haixing stared at 'Wu Xie' in disbelief, unable to understand how he had broken free of the ropes.

A very faint, delicate ringing sound could be heard in my ears.

Suddenly, the world began to spin before her eyes. Zhang Haixing shook her head vigorously, and when she looked again, the person in front of her was not Wu Xie at all; it was clearly Zhang Wuxun!

Recalling the previous ringtone, she instantly realized what was going on: "You all conspired against me."

Realizing that his chances of winning were slim, he fell silent, only glaring menacingly at Zhang Wuxun.

"Hehehe!" The fat man's triumphant laughter came from outside the bronze door. "You've fallen for it, haven't you, old hag? No matter how much you scheme, there's always a loophole."

The fat man emerged from the darkness, holding a torch, and said smugly to Zhang Haixing, "You really think we're naive and easy to fool? You gave yourself away the moment you started speaking Galai in the Lama Temple. Everyone was on guard against you."

Zhang Haixing scoffed dismissively, "It's all about the winner taking all. Until the very last moment, the outcome is still uncertain."

"You mean the Wang family who tracked us down after receiving the signal?" Zhang Wuxun pulled out a dozen nylon cable ties and tied her hands and feet behind her back. "You don't need to worry about that. Someone will take care of them for me."

Wu Xie, who had been bullied countless times, was very unhappy. He turned on the flashlight, took out the bugging device inside, and broke it into pieces without saying a word.

Shila-

Zhang Haixing reflexively turned her head, the sharp noise in her ear canal almost piercing her eardrum. With her hands tied, she could only barely cover her ears with her shoulders. Her face was pale, but she gritted her teeth and endured the stinging pain without making a sound.

"Tsk tsk tsk, this old woman's got guts." The fat man looked at the bloodstains on her shoulder and made a few feigned sighs. "Even I, Fatty, want to pick my ear at this. She's incredibly patient."

"But you can rest assured, we won't use torture to extract a confession from you. There's no need for it. Your cheap brother probably knows quite a lot. He'll just ask you directly. There's no need for us to go through all that trouble to find a way to deal with you."

Upon hearing the fat man mention Zhang Haike, Zhang Haixing's expression changed slightly. Her eyes darted around, and she said firmly, "Even if you don't kill me now, you won't be able to get any information from me."

"Why would you think that? Do you think Zhang Haike asked us to spare your life?" Zhang Wuxun asked curiously.

Zhang Haixing smiled dismissively, "Isn't that right?"

Zhang Haixing's first reaction to their words was to dismiss them; she didn't think they would let go of such a good opportunity to obtain information.

The more they need, the greater their chances of survival. Cutting off contact with the outside world is a good thing, as it means that their situation is out of control, and the greater the degree of control they have.

“That was true at first.” Zhang Wuxun did not deny it and nodded. Then he changed the subject. “But it’s not like that now. Zhang Haike kept you around because he wanted to get clues about his sister through you, but the blood you just released has already told me the answer.”

Zhang Haixing's eyes flickered slightly. This was a good opportunity to test how much they actually knew. "I'd like to hear more details."

Zhang Wuxun pointed to the black blood that had already congealed in the blood-drawing tank, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth, "A product of a failed blood transfusion, close to the Zhang family."

The real Zhang Haixing is long dead.

The Wang family specially trained a girl who was almost a one-to-one copy of Zhang Haixing, and then devised a plan to imprison Zhang Haixing for three years. During this time, Zhang Haixing and the girl they had prepared underwent a complete blood transfusion.

The Wang family's replacement plan can be considered half successful. After all, Zhang Haike and the others did not notice anything wrong with Zhang Haixing after her release from prison until she took the initiative to participate in the Motuo plan. Only then did Zhang Haike and the others realize that something was amiss.

Even at the very beginning of this encirclement and suppression plan, when Kangbaluo was talking with Zhang Wuxun, Zhang Haike had speculated whether his sister had really been turned and betrayed during those three years.

This outcome is both fortunate and unfortunate for Zhang Haike.

"Or I could call you—a failed experiment in immortality."

Zhang Wuxun tilted his head. "Am I right, Miss Wang?"

Zhang Haixing stared intently at him, her pupils shrinking the instant he finished speaking, her eyes filled with undisguised fear. "Who are you?! The Khampa people couldn't possibly know such detailed information, you—"

She suddenly turned her head to look at Wu Xie and the other person standing next to her. Seeing the unsurprised expressions on their faces, the fragments of clues that had been forgotten suddenly connected with the current situation.

She gasped, muttering in disbelief, "You're from the Zhang family."

"You're actually alive!"

Zhang Haixing's eyelids began to twitch uncontrollably.

It turns out that their goal was not only to continue the plan of the Zhang family ancestors to wipe out the Wang family members who were trying to approach the secret place.

Their target from beginning to end was the entire Wang family standing behind them.

This person suddenly appeared beside Wu Xie a year ago, perhaps the most crucial link in the Zhang family's plan to target the organization, whose role was to attract the organization's attention in the most dangerous place.

She wasn't sure how much contact the organization had actually had with Zhang Wuxun; perhaps everything he presented was a facade created out of curiosity for the organization, and the person he was now was the real him.

A dead man suddenly comes back to life, but in the organization's core department's records, he is still considered dead.

In other words, a year ago, he completely disappeared from everyone's sight through the Wang family's own efforts, and damn it, the messages she conveyed played a crucial role.

The Wang family has created a blind spot for themselves.

What are they going to do next?
It is likely that the Zhang family intentionally orchestrated her being trapped in the three years during which they completely severed ties with the organization.

She had no idea how big a scheme the Zhang family overseas had orchestrated in the past three years in conjunction with the Khampa people. Even her joining the group a year ago was part of their plan.

The more she thought about it, the more terrified she became; she almost bit the soft flesh in her mouth to pieces.

The power that such a person, completely hidden outside the organization's core deductions, will unleash in the future is simply terrifying.

Zhang Haixing only knew that the organization had spent nearly twenty years training her, but for some reason, things still went wrong.

The time and effort required to create a perfect spy like Zhang Wuxun is unimaginable, not to mention their natural advantage of longevity.

This is a closed loop that encompasses all four forces, and there is no solution!

Seeing her constantly shifting expression, Zhang Wu could roughly guess what she was imagining. "It's quite remarkable, isn't it? There are even things that the Wang family didn't expect. Now, guess how many of your hidden agents among us we've already uncovered."

No, Zhang Haixing suppressed her inner shock; it wasn't the critical moment yet.

Even if the organization was unaware that its core deduction at this stage had gone wrong, at the same time, the person who orchestrated this scheme only deduced that she belonged to another organization hostile to the Zhang family, while the organization's most important element remained unexposed. Zhang Haixing secretly breathed a sigh of relief; things hadn't reached an irreversible point. As long as she couldn't get out of the snow mountain, even if the mission failed, the organization would immediately become alert and choose to sever all the tentacles placed in Motuo.

The Wang family is least afraid of waiting; if this ten years doesn't work, they have another ten years.

Sure enough, Zhang Wuxun's next words proved her guess.

“Although you disguised yourself very well, you have two common characteristics, just like someone from a faction I once came into contact with.” Zhang Wuxun curled the corners of his mouth. “You all want to kill me, but my senses are better than mine, and I’ve discovered that arrogance seems to be a common ailment among your Wang family.”

Zhang Haixing was afraid that the other party would find clues from her behavior, so she kept her mouth shut.

"You must be wondering why I'm so sure your surname is Wang."

Zhang Wuxun said unhurriedly, "Let me tell you something else. A year ago, I encountered people your organization sent to hunt me down in the snow mountain. Among them was a rather special young man, and I obtained his name through some special means."

"Guess what?" Zhang Wuxun was looking forward to her reaction. "He is someone who has a close relationship with you, and it was through this person that we were able to locate you and subsequently deduce your plans in Motuo."

Zhang Haixing lowered her eyes, determined to treat herself as if she were dead.

"His name is Wang Chan."

Zhang Wuxun finished speaking the second half of his sentence, which he had deliberately left unsaid, and then took out a bronze mask from a hidden compartment in his backpack and placed it in front of her.

Zhang Haixing stared at the bronze mask, her gaze freezing when it fell on a small cross-shaped knife mark on the chin. It took her a while to realize which two words Zhang Wuxun had just said.

Wang Chan—it's Wang Chan!

It felt as if my mind had been struck hard by the heavy hammer of a giant drum, and a large expanse of white lightning flashed past with a thunderous roar.

She suddenly raised her head, her eyes bloodshot, her pupils almost shrinking to the size of a grain of millet, looking at him with despair like a dying female beast trapped in a dry well.

Zhang Wuxun's words were like a knife, severing the thin thread that had always bound her.

The kite on the string had long since fallen and crashed into the mud, trampled to pieces, its flesh and bones scattered.

Time seemed to stand still. She lay stiffly on the ground, her face pressed against the mask, her throat felt like it was being choked, and she managed to squeeze out a few fragmented sobs from deep within.

Fatty and Wu Xie stared in astonishment at the scene before them, then looked at Zhang Wuxun, who remained expressionless, with extremely strange expressions.

"pi pi pi." The fat man kept winking at Zhang Wuxun, extremely curious.

What on earth is going on? Holy crap, what did Muyu just say? Why did this woman suddenly start crying? Goodness, that's terrifying.

Wu Xie was also completely baffled, vaguely feeling that the owner of this bronze mask, "Wang Chan," must have some very deep connection with Zhang Haixing.

"How's the trap setup going?" Zhang Wuxun asked them in a low voice.

The fat man made a circle with his fingers, "You can rest assured."

"Alright, let's get out of here first. Dealing with Yama riding the corpse is the priority. I'll explain later."

Zhang Wuxun picked up his backpack, told Wu Xie and the other to leave first, and then cut the straps binding Zhang Haixing's ankles. "If you want to be a sacrifice, then you can stay here."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the bronze door.

A dozen seconds later, she heard staggering footsteps behind her. Zhang Haixing used the razor blade hidden in her mouth to cut the straps binding her hands and followed, carrying the bronze mask.

The two men, Fatty and Wu Xie, who were walking at the front, suddenly changed their posture about fifty meters away. They tiptoed and hopped, finally squatting on a large rock. Then they turned around and waved to Zhang Wuxun.

"Come quick, come quick, be careful, this is a minefield that Fatty dug out specifically."

Zhang Wuxun walked over and found that there was a large area of ​​gravel, about five or six meters wide, in front of the minefield, which was obviously deliberately paved.

"What is this?"

“It took us a lot of effort to dig this swamp,” Wu Xie said. “We figured that thing must be pretty big, so we dug it down to a depth of nearly two meters, using crushed stones mixed with black mud. If you stepped on it, you would definitely sink in and never be able to get out.”

As he spoke, he picked up a stone and threw it in. With a muffled thud, the stone was almost completely submerged in the black mud.

"This black mud has a strong suction force and is sticky, like paste. Even if a huge monster climbs up, it will run into the fuse tied in front of it, bang—"

Wu Xie flashed a bright white smile. "How is it? Not bad, right?"

The fat man, holding a can of food, beckoned Zhang Wu to come and help.

"Where's the Corpse Saint Incense?" Zhang Wuxun walked over and asked.

"It's right here." The fat man happily pulled the small porcelain bottle out of his pocket, uncorked it, and poured out the contents. It turned out to be several thumb-sized, grayish-brown sticks, like the moxibustion sticks used during moxibustion.

"Naive said that's what the murals in the Lama temple say: just light incense, fumigate it, and then do a 'corpse riding' thing, and you can lure out the King of Hell."

"What did you use to rub this stuff together?" Zhang Wuxun pinched a stick and pressed it against the back of the empty can, then grabbed a handful of black mud and stuck it to the end to secure it.

“Pine oil, didn’t you have a small box of it in your backpack?” the fat man said. “We didn’t dare try the liquor, we didn’t know if it would work. If it affected the scent of the corpse, we’d be in trouble.”

"Hey, by the way, why did you release Yama's mount? What will Yama ride later?" The fat man gestured behind Zhang Wuxun with his chin.

Zhang Haixing stood there with a numb face, and the wound on her leg began to bleed again.

Hearing the fat man's words, she turned to stare at Zhang Wuxun and said, "I can be the bait. In exchange, you must return Wang Chan's remains to me."

After holding it in for a long time, Wu Xie finally managed to ask his question, "Who is Wang Chan?"

“Her younger brother.” Zhang Wuxun paused, then added, “It should be. When I used the bell to create an illusion before, I heard her call out a name, Xiao Chan.”

Wang Chan's foreshadowing is in Chapter 129, "Mirror Flower, Water Moon".