Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 80 Pure Vision Agama

"Yang Xueli, take out the gun. Xiao Ye and Xiao Sa, walk in the middle. Chu Jian, watch out for the back."

Yang Xueli and Hu Ming each took out a machine gun, and Yang Xueli gave her pistol to Chu Jian.

As for Sadi Peng, although he had an extra shotgun, it wasn't given to him. He was too timid, and if it went off accidentally, it would be no joke. So everyone left the shotgun to Old Man Anliman. At least he would have something to protect himself, right?

"Don't worry, Ming-ge, I'm here behind you, you're safe."

Hu Ming didn't say anything and walked into the Black Tower. They didn't linger on the first or second floor until they reached the third floor and saw the old professor.

At this moment, the old professor had just finished talking to Hu Bayi. Seeing Hu Ming and the others come up, Professor Chen said to them, "I think the Jingjue Kingdom is the origin of the Giant Eye Stone Statue."

No one doubted this, since the unearthed black giant eye stone statues were all carved from black stone, and those black giant stones were unique to the Zaglama Mountains.

"Professor, what is this tower used for? I see there's a statue on each floor; is it for worship?"

Professor Chen shook his head slightly upon hearing this. "I suspect this tower was only used to display status. The actual worship must have been done elsewhere. Look, apart from the sculptures, there isn't even a small altar or incense burner. Even if the cultures are different, there should at least be a sacrificial altar!"

"The first layer represents livestock. The second layer represents ordinary people. Their statues are different from the statues on the third layer in terms of their eyes, and they are kneeling, so they should be slaves. The third layer is this giant-eyed human statue, which should be a person from the Jingjue Kingdom."

Professor Chen paused for a moment before continuing, "I just saw a stone sphere on the top of the tower outside, shaped like an eye, representing this people's worship of the eye. Let's go up and take a look, see what holds a higher status in the Jingjue Kingdom?"

Everyone was intrigued by Professor Chen's words; they were all curious about what was up there. The fat man spoke first: "I bet it's a statue of the Queen."

Upon hearing this, Hu Ming smiled and said, "It's true that there's a statue of the Queen, but there are three more layers above it, so it's not just a statue of the Queen."

Hearing Hu Ming's words, everyone became even more curious. Yes, there were three more floors above, so what were the other two? And on which floor would the Queen's statue be?
Hu Bayi followed Wang Pangzi ahead, but both of them were stunned when they reached the fourth floor. Wang Pangzi looked at the snake-man statue in front of him and, without turning his head, said to Hu Bayi, "Old Hu, don't you think this statue looks a bit like that strange snake from the mountain pass?"

Hu Bayi nodded upon hearing this.

At this moment, Professor Chen and Hu Ming also arrived one after another. Professor Chen, the most authoritative among them, stepped forward and looked at the stone statue with admiration: "This seems to be the guardian deity of the kingdom. Comrade Hu Ming said that they revered snakes and worshipped eyes. Don't you see that this stone statue fully embodies the ancient people's beliefs?"

"I just don't know what kind of snake it is; I've never heard of it before. Shirley, you work for a geography magazine, have you ever heard of this kind of snake?"

Yang Xueli knew about them, but that was all she knew. It came from notes passed down from her grandfather, but she didn't know their names. The notes only gave these snakes a vague name: the Giant-Eyed Monster Snake, the Devil's Messenger.

"Never heard of it!"

Hu Ming's voice suddenly rang out at this moment, "I do know their names. These things are called Pure Vision Agamas. They are the guardian deities of the Ghost Cave, which is the Demon Clan."

"And I know something incredibly unbelievable. Legend has it that they originated from a snake mother summoned by the Queen of Jingjue. This snake mother would lay snake eggs that looked like eyes, with hundreds of baby snakes in each egg. What we saw before were those baby snakes, but this stone statue in front of us is not a manifestation or expression of faith or desire, but the very original snake mother. I don't know its size, but with hundreds of baby snakes in one egg, it would probably be at least five meters long."

At that moment, Hu Ming's words seemed to shatter everyone's worldview. Fatty Wang even exclaimed in disbelief, "Impossible! How could a snake have limbs and a human face?"

"There are too many inexplicable things in the world. You've seen those weasels that look like humans, and Hu Bayi has also seen ants the size of calves. It's not hard to understand why some special species or strange things might appear. Isn't the charm of archaeology precisely in uncovering the unknown side of the world?"

Hearing Hu Ming's words, Professor Chen nodded, affirming Zhou You's statement, and said, "Comrade Hu Ming is right. We all suspect that the Queen of Jingjue is a demon, so could this snake also be a kind of demon? Some things are indeed not easily explained by common sense. By the way, Comrade Hu Ming, where did you get information about this strange snake? Could you recommend it to me when we get back?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Ming shook his head and said, "I was also fortunate enough to have heard a senior mention it."

(End of this chapter)