Tomb Raider: The Adventures of a Dumb Man

So, in the days that followed, life behind the bronze door became like this:

The Green Bee repeats the same cycle: gnawing at the Ultimate frantically, gnawing until it loses its memory, becomes confused, is attracted/comforted by Zhang Qilin's aura, recognizes him again, and continues gnawing.

Zhang Qilin was in charge of standing by and watching, acting as a comfort tool when the animal lost its memory.

Occasionally, he would provide some weapons that he didn't know where he got from, perhaps they were weapons left by the ancestors of the Zhang family, and continue to stand and watch.

Sometimes he would sit cross-legged with his eyes closed to rest. When the green wasps got tired of biting him, they would fly over and land on his knees or the top of his head to rest.

Sometimes he would stare at the meteorite and the green bee, not knowing what he was thinking.

King Wannu, who was guarding outside, could occasionally hear regular clicking sounds and occasional extremely subtle sounds coming from inside.

The sound of the Zhang family head coaxing something.

King Wannu: . . . .

He and the centipede looked at each other and thought, forget it, they can't talk.

Look at the human-faced birds again. They don’t sleep or talk, and that’s not possible either.

King Wannu didn't dare to ask, nor did he dare to imagine.

The Zhang family knows how to talk. This is finally abnormal.

Time passes in this strange cycle.

The green wasp gnawed away more and more meteorite jade, and its body seemed to become more crystal clear, with green light flowing.

Anyway, it has done this before and has experience.

And as Zhang Qilin watched day after day, beneath the icy gaze that had remained unchanged for a thousand years, a very faint warmth seemed to have quietly melted away, one that he himself had not even noticed.

Until one day, the clicking sound stopped for a long time, but the familiar confused buzzing sound did not come.

Zhang Qilin opened his eyes.

He saw the green bee hovering in front of the meteorite jade that had been almost completely eaten away, with only a thin layer left. Its small body emitted an unprecedented bright light, and the entire space inside the bronze door was illuminated in a hazy green color.

It did not gnaw any more, but just hovered quietly, as if gathering strength, or as if waiting for something.

It turned its head and looked at Zhang Qilin clearly with its compound eyes, no longer confused.

"Om-"

All right.

It makes a long and clear sound.

Then, it turned into a stream of green light and slammed into the last bit of meteorite jade!

A strong light suddenly burst out, drowning everything.

Zhang Qilin closed his eyes subconsciously.

When he opened his eyes again, the meteorite jade had completely disappeared.

There was only a palm-sized green bee left, which was radiant and increasingly magical. It vibrated its wings, making a joyful buzzing sound, flew around him, and then landed affectionately on his fingertips.

Finally, it was eaten up.

The green bee tilted its head, as if sensing something, and then became a little anxious. It buzzed at the empty meteorite jade, then flew towards the bronze door, constantly hitting the door, appearing restless.

"Buzz! Buzz!"

The door! Open! Go home!

It remembered to go home, but the door was not the same "door" it came from.

Zhang Qilin looked at the anxiously circling green bee, then looked at the heavy bronze door that isolated everything.

He stepped forward in silence.

The green wasp flew back to his shoulder, rubbed its head against his cheek, and made an urgent, crying buzzing sound.

Zhang Qilin raised his hand for the first time, not out of his duty as gatekeeper, but for the little thing on his shoulder, and slowly pushed it towards the mechanism next to the heavy bronze door.

The door slowly opened a crack.

In the dark world, he walked through the long corridor.

Outside, there is the snow-capped Changbai Mountain and the silent sky.

The green bee buzzed excitedly, then whooshed out of the gap and disappeared in the wind and snow in an instant, without even having time to look back.

Zhang Qilin's hand was still in the air, looking at the empty space outside the door filled with wind and snow. The cold and light touch seemed to still linger on his shoulder.

Inside the door, there was unprecedented emptiness and silence.

The ultimate is gone.

The meaning of gatekeeping seemed to have disappeared.

He stood there, silent for a long time.

Finally, he took a look at the location of the bronze door.

This time, he didn't have to guard the door anymore.

He turned around and sat down. Instead of walking back into the empty darkness, he sat cross-legged with the ancient black-gold sword across his knees.

He was waiting to see if Green Hornet would come back for him.

Sure enough, the crying Green Bee finally came back to find him.

The Green Bee couldn't find its way home.

When it came out it just didn’t feel right.

It's as if nothing has changed.

But it seems that everything is different.

Xiao Longnu from another world: “……?”

She didn't notice anything wrong.

Green Bee: Woo woo woo, Xiaolongnu Green Bee can’t come back, woo woo.

Zhang Qilin smiled when he saw Qing Feng coming back.

His smile, like the ice crystals melting in an instant on the snow-capped mountains, quickly disappeared into his usual silence.

But those eyes, which were always calm, became indeed at ease when they saw the green bee crying and diving back into his arms, a gentleness that he himself did not even notice.

Green Hornet was terrified.

The world outside was filled with wind and snow, and the vastness made it dizzy. It flew desperately, but could not find the familiar way home.

Huge panic overwhelmed it, and the only thing it could think of was to return to a place with a familiar and reassuring atmosphere.

So it tried its best, followed the faint breath, and rushed back to the place it had just left, crashing into Zhang Qilin's slightly cool clothes, shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"Woo...buzz buzz buzz..."

There's no going back... the road is gone... Little Dragon Girl...

It hummed incoherently, and its cold tears soaked a small piece of fabric.

Zhang Qilin lowered his head and looked at the trembling green light in his arms.

He raised his hand, clumsily but patiently, and gently traced its cool, smooth back with his fingertips.

This time, he didn't hesitate at all.

The black gold ancient sword across his knees was put back on his back.

He stood up, carefully picked up the crying and hiccuping Green Bee, and placed it in the hood of his sweatshirt.

It seemed like a place that was both safe and where he could sense it.

"Gone." He whispered, as if talking to himself, or as if talking to the little thing in the hat.

The green wasp pulled at the brim of its hat, sticking out half of its head, tears still hanging from its compound eyes, and made a buzzing sound as a response.

Although I don’t know if I understood it or not.

The eternal wind and snow of Changbai Mountain, this time, is seeing Zhang Qilin off.

Kid, don’t come next time. You’ll freeze to death.

Zhang Qilin took a step forward, and the wind and snow hit his face, but he felt his shoulders lighten. A burden that he had been carrying for too long and had almost become a part of his life quietly dissipated.

He identified the direction and walked down the mountain.

The green wasp in the hat seemed to be frightened by the wind and snow outside, and shrank back, sticking tightly to his neck, making a subtle, continuous buzzing sound, as if it was giving itself courage, or as if it was continuing to sob softly.

It wants to cry enough.

The way down the mountain was not difficult for Zhang Qilin.

A few days later, he had walked out of the core area of ​​the snow mountain, and his cell phone finally had intermittent signal.

He took out his cell phone, turned it on, ignored the countless unread messages, most of which were from Wu Xie and Fatty Wang, and directly found a number with the note "Hei Xia Zi" and dialed it.

The call was answered almost instantly.