Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 460 Pan Man's Fear

After Hu Ming returned, Wu Xie and the others wisely refrained from asking him what he had just met.

They knew that Hu Ming's reluctance to speak meant he didn't want to talk.

When Hu Ming doesn't want to talk... well, there's nothing they can do to get him to open his mouth.

Panma has been found. Although he has some serious injuries, he is fortunately not in mortal danger.

By this time, the sky was already beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

The group cleared a space, sat together, lit a campfire, and roasted the lynx that had died tragically at Hu Ming's hands.

The old hunter said that although this thing is very fierce, it tastes exceptionally delicious!
After a whole night of work, they decided to roast a head of meat to satisfy their cravings.

Over the years, very few people in the Yao villages have been able to hunt lynxes.

At this moment, Hu Ming and the others focused their attention on Pan Ma.

To be precise, it's on Panma's tattoos.

That was a Qilin tattoo.

Deer antlers and dragon scales, treading on fire and burning wind, exactly the same as what the young man was wearing.

"Could it be that Old Man Panma's surname is also Zhang?"

"The Silent One, who knows, might even be one of your uncles?"

After a brief silence, Wu Xie took a bite of the lynx leg and clicked his tongue.

"Go away, don't talk nonsense. Don't be fooled by his youthful appearance. Hu Ming said he's over 130 years old."

"Young man, you're probably that old man's uncle, aren't you?"

The fat man nudged Wu Xie and corrected him.

"No, he has no relation to the Zhang family, he's not a member of the Zhang family, and his tattoo is different from mine."

The young man placed one hand on his chest, quickening his blood flow and raising his body temperature, deliberately revealing his tattoo as he murmured softly.

The Qilin tattoos on the direct descendants of the Zhang family are not just cosmetic tattoos.

That is the outward manifestation of their special bloodline.

The young man didn't feel any kind of unseen blood connection or resonance with Panma.

"No, he has connections with your Zhang family."

However, Hu Ming firmly refuted the young man's words.

Upon hearing this, the young man calmly looked at Hu Ming.

The unwavering gaze clearly conveyed its owner's confusion.

"It's complicated to explain, but to put it simply, that tattoo was taught to your Zhang family lineage by their ancestors."

"That was actually a map... Let's not talk about the map's true purpose for now. There's no one in the world who can understand that map anymore, so there's no need to pay too much attention to it."

Hu Ming shook his head and gave a brief explanation.

That "Qilin Map" is a map leading to the mountain where Zhangjia Ancient Building is located.

The problem is that the young man has lost his past memories and has no idea how to read the map.

The only ghostly figure in the world who could freely roam that dangerous land without relying on that map is dead; the map has lost its original purpose. A map that no one can understand is worthless trash.

After eating and drinking their fill, the hunters carefully put away the lynx pelts, and the group began their journey home.

After returning to the village and resting briefly, Hu Ming and his companions went to Panma's house again.

"@#*(￥)!"

Upon seeing Hu Ming and the others again, Panma's nose twitched almost imperceptibly. He pointed at the young man and uttered a string of Yao words.

Hu Ming and the others were completely dumbfounded.

"Speak Chinese, thank you, I know you understand Chinese."

Hu Ming stopped A Gui from translating, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, and he approached Panma with a smile.

This guy was the guide for the archaeological team back then, and he speaks fluent Mandarin, but now he's speaking Yao language.
Ah!
"..."

Pan Ma's brow twitched almost imperceptibly as Hu Ming approached.

That night, he watched the entire process of Hu Ming killing the lynx pack with his bare hands!
Although Pan Ma considered himself highly skilled and a ruthless fighter in his youth, compared to the performance of someone like Hu Ming, who was utterly inhuman...
“I said, if he wants to know about the archaeological team, I absolutely will not tell him.”

"Furthermore, if you stay with him, he'll get you killed sooner or later!"

Panma silently switched to fluent Mandarin and pointed at the young man again, speaking in a deep voice.

There was absolutely no sign of him being cowardly.

"Killed by that guy? I don't think so."

Hu Ming stopped Wu Xie and Fatty's actions, and at the same time winked at Xiao Ge, whose expression was constantly changing, signaling A Gui and the other unrelated people to leave for the time being.

What happened next is not something they need to know.

"And sooner or later, you will be consumed by the deepest fear buried in your heart, dragged into the abyss by that fear, and forever condemned to eternal damnation?"

"What you fear is not the young man, but the 'wrongfully convicted souls' who crawled out of hell back then seeking revenge on you, isn't it?"

Watching Ah Gui and the others leave with puzzled expressions, Hu Ming closed the door and then looked at Pan Ma with a smile.

Who exactly are you? What do you know?

"You know absolutely nothing! The smell on him, that strange, indescribable fragrance, it was the smell of death."

"That's the aura of a demon crawling out of hell! He's not human at all!"

Panma's face immediately turned extremely ugly. His slightly narrowed eyes widened, bloodshot, and his expression was one of extreme terror.

Staring intently at the young man, Panma seemed to see the greatest fear in his heart.

Panma's breathing and heartbeat even stopped for a moment in extreme terror.

How could Panma not recognize that guy's face?!
In 1978, the archaeological team members he and his companions killed out of greed mysteriously "came back to life."

And this young man is one of them!!!
The faint scent emanating from the young man proved that he was not just someone who looked similar!
His ageless appearance and the reappearance of the smell of death after twenty-eight years are enough to prove that the wronged souls who crawled out of the abyss of death back then have come to seek revenge!
At that moment, Panma seemed to see the figures of the archaeological team members from back then; they had come to claim his life!
"Twenty-eight years ago, the archaeological team that was assembled by Zhang Dafoye came here to carry out a top-secret mission. Back then, Panma was their guide and led them to their destination."

"Among them, the man in front of us, Pan Ma, and his companions killed the entire archaeological team for some flour, rice, and other supplies."

"That's right, nephew, you guessed right. It's Wen Jin, Huo Ling, and Xiao Ge, along with the younger generation of the Nine Gates who formed the Exam Return Team."

Seeing Wu Xie's horrified expression and the realization that he had made a connection to something, Hu Ming lit a cigarette and said with a quiet certainty.

(End of this chapter)