Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 349 A New Owner
"Cough cough, no way! No way! Iceberg Bro, I'm telling you, you're not angry with me, are you?"

Hu Ming looked at the silent young man with a hint of amusement.

For some reason, Hu Ming inexplicably sensed a hint of anger, displeasure, and a desire to kill on the young man's perpetually icy face.

But there's nothing we can do; Hu Ming really did something unethical.

Look, this guy has taken off his clothes and is showing off his tattoos.

The Zhang family has a tradition when they fight: taking off their clothes and showing their tattoos means they are determined to kill each other.

Just when it seemed the guy was about to chop the thing to death with one blow, Hu Ming stole the kill with a flying knife. It would be a miracle if the guy was happy!
"No, you are overthinking."

The young man calmly picked up his clothes from the ground and put them on.

I feel like...this fight wasn't satisfying at all, and I feel like I want to chop someone up.

"..."

Hu Ming's lips twitched.

Damn, who said this guy doesn't have a temper?
Stand up and take the beating!!!
"You may be disappointed, but there are no burial items in the coffin other than the corpse."

After getting dressed, seemingly calming himself down, the young man resumed his monotone voice.

"Yes, I know. All the valuables are in the golden chamber guarded by that little corpse fetus."

Hu Ming nodded and said nonchalantly.

He was already a tomb raider who had transcended base desires.

He no longer went into tombs merely for riches and valuables; he had a higher purpose in doing so!
Of course, Hu Ming would never admit that before leaving the Golden Chamber, several Pure Vision Agamas quietly left with a few precious little items in their mouths.
I will absolutely not admit it!
"Let's go, it's almost time, we need to change our clothes."

With his face covered by a hood, the young man led the way towards the other side of the underground canyon.

"Change clothes? Is it okay if I don't? As a modern person, I don't feel comfortable wearing armor from the Yin-Shang period."

"Behind the bronze door, there are naturally its rules, and if we want to go in, we'd better follow them."

"You mean, there's an owner inside?"

"Probably, but I've forgotten the specifics."

"If I kill that master, will I become the new master of the world behind the Bronze Gate?"

Suddenly, Hu Ming had a brilliant idea.

No kidding. Putting everything else aside, when it comes to one-on-one combat skills, Hu Ming really doesn't admit defeat to anyone.

"...Maybe, I don't know. If you're interested, you can try it after I come out of the bronze gate. Of course, the premise is that you won't be surrounded and killed by countless ghost soldiers first."

The young man paused in his steps.

Honestly, I really don't understand how Hu Ming came up with this idea.

Throughout history, countless people have passed through the bronze gate, yet no one has ever entertained this idea.
This is like dragging the tomb owner out, chopping them up, and then lying in the tomb yourself—it's utterly incomprehensible.

Hu Ming laughed heartily.

What to do after we get inside depends on the actual situation; right now it's just theory.

"Brother, according to the agreement between the Zhang family and the Nine Gates, Wu Xie should be the one guarding the Bronze Gate for the next ten years..."

Suddenly, Hu Ming hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"He's not mature enough and isn't a good choice. Besides, the Nine Gates aren't trustworthy right now."

The young man shook his head, showing no emotion whatsoever.

It seems that wasting ten years of someone else's time is a trivial matter.

Upon hearing this, Hu Ming looked up at the young man, shook his head, and said nothing more.

There, about a dozen voices were slowly descending. It seemed that Wu Xie had already obtained the note from Wu Sansheng, who was pretending to be unconscious, and knew that Hu Ming and Xiao Ge had arrived. He couldn't wait to bring A Ning's people down.

"Let's go, we really don't have much time left."

Hu Ming said softly.

Although the young man has forgotten everything, the grudges between the Nine Gates and the Zhang family are too complicated to unravel.

As early as the 1820s and 1830s, due to social development and the emergence of new ideas, the Zhang family was inevitably influenced.

The Zhang family, a clan with thousands of years of history, possesses profound heritage and a wealth of experts and elites, whose influence extends to all aspects of society, including tomb raiding, politics, the military, and business.

Logically speaking, the Zhang family is almost indestructible. Even the power of a nation would hardly be able to destroy a united Zhang family.

But ideas are the most dangerous thing in the world.

During that era, the Zhang family was impacted by new ideas from the outside world, and many members of the Zhang family changed their minds and had some ideas they had never had before.

Therefore, the once united Zhang family suddenly split into several factions, with constant conflicts among its members, which became the root cause of the Zhang family's downfall.

The Zhang family was not destroyed by external violence, but by people's hearts and their thoughts; it was self-destruction.

From then on, things spiraled out of control. The main Zhang family fell apart and became a mere shell of its former self, with only the branch families around the world still existing.

Among those involved, members of the Wang family were undoubtedly pulling the strings behind the scenes.

During the Republican era, it was less a struggle between political parties and more a struggle between the Wang and Zhang families, as well as internal struggles within the Zhang family. At that time, most of the famous people were members of the Zhang and Wang families.

Many political parties have the shadows of the Zhang and Wang families behind them.

This is because the Zhang family was facing serious internal problems at that time; otherwise, the Wang family alone would not have been able to stand up to the Zhang family.
These past events are complicated, but through the manipulation of certain individuals, this opportunity was seized to accomplish an almost impossible feat, utterly destroying the Zhang family.

Even the Zhang family branches around the world have been affected, and over the years, very few have survived.

The Zhang family's last hope of rebuilding had long been extinguished.

This young man is the last Zhang Qiling, the last patriarch of the Zhang family.

The Zhang family has a responsibility to fulfill for generations: every so often, they send a pure-blooded member of the clan to guard the Bronze Gate for ten years.

However, the Zhang family is no longer able to fulfill this responsibility.

Therefore, a long time ago, the Zhang family reached a cooperation agreement with the Nine Gates to jointly fulfill the responsibility of guarding the Bronze Gate.

The time is almost here.

However, the Nine Gates declined too quickly, so quickly that they simply didn't have time to fulfill this agreement.

Wu Xie is the one who should guard the Bronze Gate in this generation.

However, the hearts of people in the Nine Gates and the Zhang family are the most unpredictable!
About half a century ago, under the leadership of Zhang Dafoye, the Nine Gates cooperated with the state to carry out the so-called "largest tomb raiding operation in history".

To put it bluntly, they're looking for the key to enter the Zhang Family Ancient Building; they're after the Zhang family's longevity!
Zhang Dafoye may well have had his own selfish motives.

After all, his bloodline is impure; he doesn't have the blood of a Qilin, nor does he have the longevity to live.

Reveal the news of Zhang's longevity, or even immortality, to that sensitive and important figure.
It might not have been an accident, or it might have been Zhang Dafoye's own ulterior motive—wanting to use (his) power to seek longevity or even immortality, which he himself did not possess.

Of course, these are just Hu Ming's own guesses.

In Hu Ming's view, the Nine Gates, and even "himself," are actually just a knife in the hands of Zhang Dafoye.

However, Hu Ming never hesitates to assume the worst about anyone.

Even if this person is the glorious and righteous Zhang Dafoye.

This is why Hu Ming never visited Zhang Dafoye once while he was alive.

(End of this chapter)