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

Chapter 538 Corpse Fire Centipede
The rising grayish-white powder looked like scales falling from moths, carrying an ominous smell. Zhang Wuxun and the other man instinctively covered their mouths and noses, and took a few steps back.

This action seemed to trigger some mechanism; in an instant, all the bone mountains piled around the stone gate collapsed and fell into the water. The broken bone powder turned into dust, pressing down on their location like fog.

"Back up! Back up now!"

Zhang Haike shouted a warning to Wu Xie and the others who were about to surround them, saying that inhaling strange things in such a place was a big no-no.

Wu Xie and Fatty had just waded through the water and approached, not yet understanding what was going on, when suddenly they saw that the sky was filled with white powder that looked like alkaline gas, so they had no choice but to turn around and run back into the depths of the pool.

Fatty leaped into the water and crouched down, his other hand still gripping tightly, pulling Wu Xie down into the water as well.

The two squinted and blew bubbles underwater until they could no longer hold their breath, then surfaced to gasp for air.

Zhang Haike hadn't gone far when he heard the noise and turned around. He looked at the two of them speechlessly, not knowing what to say.

He shook his head and looked at the one who had run even faster and farther and was now squatting on the tortoise's head. He chuckled and said, "It's just some weathered ashes. Why did you run so far?"

Zhang Wuxun ignored him and frowned as he looked at the jar of corpse oil.

For one second, two seconds... several minutes, he remained motionless in that position.

Zhang Haike's smile faltered slightly as he realized something was amiss. He silently gestured to Wu Xie and Fatty to stay hidden, then submerged into the water, swimming silently like a jellyfish to the bronze tortoise, gripping his dagger, ready to strike.

Despite the tense atmosphere, Zhang Wuxun remained patient and waited.

After an unknown amount of time, there was finally some activity in the forum.

"Glug," a bubble smaller than the eye of a pin rises cautiously, then immediately bursts, like a crocodile peeking out from a muddy swamp with only one eye peeking out. The surface of the corpse oil ripples with barely perceptible light.

A murderous glint flashed across Zhang Wuxun's face. His sixth sense was rarely wrong; there was indeed something hidden in the corpse oil.

He didn't need to know if this elusive creature was the culprit behind the craftsman's wrongful death; he just needed to get rid of it.

Zhang Wuxun gestured to Zhang Haike, who was standing below, pointing to the cold flame clipped to the side of his backpack.

Zhang Haike understood and tossed him two cold flames.

Zhang Wuxun pulled out the fuse, and a flame instantly ignited. The unknown species in the jar seemed to sense the danger, and more and more bubbles rose to the surface of the corpse oil.

Before it could take any action, Zhang Wuxun quickly stuffed the cold flame into the corpse oil, leaned back to avoid the rising flames, and jumped into the water.

It was as if a ladle of water had been poured onto a flaming oil pan. With the help of the corpse oil, the flames in the Bixi altar shot into the sky instantly, turning the entire side chamber red.

In the shadow cast by the water, Zhang Wuxun and his companion saw a long, black shadow covered in flames standing upright in the fire, baring its fangs and claws, its twisted tentacles flailing wildly, sending sparks flying in all directions.

Immediately afterwards, several burning tentacles appeared, like human arms, draped over the edge of the circular wall of the Bixi altar. Soon, more tentacles climbed up and completely covered the back of the Bixi.

Like a fiery serpent's belt, it barely coiled around the tortoise-shell-missing Bixi, its lantern-like red vertical pupils flashing with resentment as it stared menacingly at the humans below.

Zhang Wuxun narrowed his eyes slightly, his right hand behind his back reached for the gun handle, and the instant he released the safety with one finger, he preemptively fired two shots in quick succession.

Two shots rang out. One bullet struck "Fire Serpent" in the eye, while the other hit the neck, which Zhang Wuxun had anticipated. "Fire Serpent" fell backward, half its head gone. After firing the two shots, Zhang Wuxun didn't linger and immediately turned to retreat.

Zhang Haike took a step forward and took his place.

The "Fire Serpent" lay on its back on the back of the Bixi. After a few breaths, it recovered and its one crimson eye became ferocious. Carrying a long chain of fire, it suddenly rushed from the side of the Bixi, its sharp jaws open, heading straight for Zhang Haike.

Zhang Haike dodged the attack with a quick movement, then turned and fired a burst of bullets. The "Fire Serpent" suddenly bent in half at the waist, avoiding most of the bullets. It circled the bronze tortoise once and then returned, its venomous jaws opening and closing repeatedly, emitting a series of piercing hisses.

From a distance, Wu Xie and the others only saw a long chain of fire fighting against Zhang Wuxun and the other man, and exclaimed in surprise, "What the hell is that thing?"

The fat man looked like he'd seen a ghost. "Such a long, huge thing, is it a corpse dragon?"

Wu Xie craned his neck to look, and when he saw the pair of sharp, venomous mandibles, he gasped in horror and exclaimed, "It's a centipede!"

This centipede wasn't as huge as the one they had seen in the Heavenly Palace on the Cloud Top, but it was still two or three meters long. Moreover, it didn't seem to be afraid of fire, and the flames surging on its body added to its ferocious appearance.

As the battle intensified, under the close-range attacks from both Zhang Wuxun and Zhang Haike, Huolian slithered down from the Bixi like a snake, darted into the water to escape, and twisted his body, turning the pool into a surging sea of ​​fire.

"Holy crap, Tianzhen, get out of the way! Centipedes are coming this way!"

The fat man jumped up and dragged Wu Xie away. The fire chains in the water were still burning, and the centipedes chased after them at lightning speed.

With only two arms and two legs each, Wu Xie and Zhang Wuxun's swimming speed was no match for the centipede with its dozen or so pairs of legs. Just as the centipede was about to catch up with them, Zhang Wuxun and Zhang Wuxun ran out of ammunition.

Zhang Wuxun shouted, "Give me the signal flare!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Haike immediately opened his backpack to search.

Ordinary detonators are too powerful and cannot be used, otherwise Wu Xie, Fatty, and the three centipedes would all suffer.

In the meantime, the fat guy and his companion threw everything they could at the centipede's head, which did slow its progress, but at the same time strengthened the centipede's resolve to chase them, because the two of them didn't have any powerful weapons.

"Here you go." Zhang Haike found the signal gun, loaded the signal flare, and tossed it to Zhang Wuxun.

Zhang Wuxun caught the signal gun and shouted towards Wu Xie, "Get out of the way!"

Wu Xie and his companion, who were fleeing in panic and about to reach the stone gate with nowhere to go, heard this shout and immediately stopped. They tacitly rushed to the sides of the side chamber at the same time and leaped into the water.

With a loud "boom," the scorching red ball of light, accompanied by a long whistling sound, shot straight toward the top of the fire chain like a falling meteor.

With a sizzle, the air in the entire space seemed to be scalded, and everyone closed their eyes tightly.

A blazing fireball streaked past from the center, and even though Wu Xie and his companion were several meters away, they could feel the intense heat of the passing fireball causing the water to boil.

The dazzling signal flare, like a thunderbolt, shattered the centipede's chain of fire with a single strike. Having completed its mission, it continued its relentless charge toward the wall above the stone gate before exploding with a deafening roar.

In an instant, flames shot out in all directions, a dazzling display of gold, red, and white.

We've just...seen each other for a long time. —From "Ten Years"