Tomb Raiders: She Comes from the Ancient Martial Arts World

Ling Yue was also curious about what was up there. Ignoring the black bear that was deliberately teasing Li Cu, he flipped over and jumped onto the stone statue, stepping all the way to the top of the nine-headed cypress stone statue.

Wu Xie happened to be there too. When he saw her come up, he just glanced back and then shone his flashlight on the scaffolding at the top: "Looks like someone has been here before."

Ling Yue remained silent, gazing thoughtfully at the opening above.

Wu Xie was the first to come down from the stone statue and told the others about his discovery: "Someone has erected scaffolding up there. Judging from the marks at the entrance, it must have been blasted from the outside, unlike us who came down from below."

Li Cu asked in surprise, "Then can we get out of here?"

Wu Xie shook his head: "It's been too long, at least seventy years. It's long been covered by the sand outside."

Wu Xie then shared many speculations about the place, suggesting that modern people from thousands of years in the future had undertaken a large-scale project there to explore, develop, utilize, and protect the area.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Wang Meng suddenly repeated the sentence in agreement: "That's right, they want to explore, develop, utilize, and protect this place."

Wu Xie followed closely behind, repeating the same sentence.

At this point, both Li Cu and Hei Xiazi noticed that something was wrong with the two.

On the nine-headed cypress statue, following the image of a two-headed man worshipping a nine-headed cypress entwined with spider silk that he had seen in the underground palace, Ling Yue held up a flashlight and carefully examined it, hoping to find more clues.

Clearly, this ancient temple was once a place of worship for the people of Gutongjing, also known as the Yuezhi people.

Many tribal beliefs and pilgrimages are associated with their own legends.

Legend has it that it is closely linked to the civilization of a certain race.

Finally, Ling Yue spotted a patch of messy carvings in a corner behind the Nine-Headed Cypress statue.

Because the marks are of varying depths and the strokes are hasty, it is obvious at a glance that they are not formal inscriptions.

Some parts are already blurred.

Ling Yue traced the characters with his fingers, and roughly recognized the meanings of a few Judaic script characters: wind, snake, god, destruction...

Ling Yue stared intently, his fingertips repeatedly tracing the marks, trying to discern other words.

Unfortunately, it was to no avail.

The wind, as Wu Xie said, could it awaken the ancient city?

Snakes—this place is near snake mines; were they also part of the Yuezhi people's faith?

Which god do they worship? Or is it the mythical nine-headed hydra?

Was its destruction related to the demise of the ancient Tongjing civilization? What exactly happened? Why were there no other, clearer, or more formal written records left behind?

A race with a strong and singular faith would never easily abandon its temple.

Ling Yue remembered Wu Xie saying that the Great Buddha Zhang had gathered many stone tablets in the ancient city. Perhaps she could find the answer there.

Just as Ling Yue was hesitating about whether to find an opportunity to leave alone and search for the ancient city, he suddenly heard Li Cu shouting from below: "Ling Yue! Ling Yue! Help! Wu Xie has committed suicide by poisoning!"

Startled, Ling Yue quickly jumped out and ran over, stepping on the branches of the stone statue. He immediately saw Li Cu lying on the scaffolding, one hand tightly gripping the scaffolding, and the other hand grabbing Wu Xie, who was hanging in mid-air.

Wu Xie was still muttering something like "It's over, it's too late."

Seeing this, Ling Yue pushed off with his foot, and a rabbit leaped into the air and jumped down.

Li Cu, who was still waiting for her to help pull people out, couldn't catch her breath and was numb: Why did you jump down first!

After Ling Yue landed where the two were pulling each other, he gently brushed his fingers across Li Cu's wrist. Li Cu felt a numbness in his wrist and couldn't help but let go.

"Hey!" Li Cu exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise.

But then they saw Ling Yue already carrying Wu Xie and landing safely.

The gasp that rose to her throat turned into a sigh of relief: "So what they show in TV dramas is real!"

After using light-footed skills to save someone, you really have to hold them and spin them around in the air a few times.

However, Ling Yue spun the person around very quickly, and before anyone could take a second look, the person had landed.

They say that excessive joy leads to sorrow. Just as Li Cu was happily trying to pull himself up from the scaffolding, the scaffolding, which was over seventy years old, couldn't withstand their exertion and collapsed.

Li Cu's gasp still escaped her throat: "Ah—!"

Just then, Hei Xiazi, who had just knocked Wang Meng unconscious, ran over and caught him.

However, the fallen scaffolding crashed into the ground, creating a hole that leads nowhere.

Wu Xie, who had been immobilized by Ling Yue, barely regained some consciousness. Looking at the cave, he said with difficulty, word by word, "Black, hairy, snake, mine."

Hei Xiazi glanced at Wu Xie, who was being supported by Ling Yue and sitting leaning against the side, and shook his head: "Could this be the legendary lightness skill and pressure point technique?"

Ling Yue knelt on one knee, placed Wu Xie's hand on his leg, and turned his gaze to the side to take her pulse.

Li Cu was also a little excited, "Ling Yue, can I learn that trick of yours? And that way you flew down in circles just now..." It was so romantic, like something out of an idol drama! He wanted it too!

Wu Xie couldn't make any expression on his face, but his deep eyes were fixed on Ling Yue.

The snake venom made him somewhat out of control, and for a moment he couldn't hide his thoughts as he used to.

Hei Xiazi sighed silently, muttering, "The blind are still the ones with the worst fates." He got up and pulled Wang Meng, who was still lying down, up, found a rope, and tied her to Wu Xie.

Li Cu was dumbfounded: "Why did you tie up Wu Xie?"

Black Bear, fearless and unscrupulous, said, "We just can't find anything else to tie up Wang Meng. I don't believe that he can run far by dragging Wu Xie along!"

Li Cu was speechless: "So you're using Wu Xie like a wooden stake?"

Black Bear smiled and replied, "Wrong, they're stone pillars!"

The two chattered away, and Ling Yue's tightly furrowed brows relaxed, his complexion noticeably improving.

Snake venom is not fatal; she can use her internal energy to help him expel the venom.

However, before Ling Yue could speak, he met Wu Xie's gaze.

As their eyes met, Wu Xie slowly blinked at her.

Ling Yue glanced at Li Cu, released Wu Xie's hand, and got up to sit on the rock next to him: "Spinning around is to cushion the impact. Otherwise, the weight of the two of you would come crashing down and anyone would break their legs."

Everyone thought Ling Yue wouldn't answer their question, but to their surprise, she did after so long.

Li Cu abandoned the bickering Hei Xiazi and snuggled up next to Ling Yue, trying to poke himself while asking, "Can I learn that acupressure technique?"

Ling Yue raised his hand and grabbed the hand that was poking around randomly, warning, "Don't try this. What you're doing is forcibly attacking acupoints with external force, causing blood stasis and blockage. If there are problems with key acupoints, it can be fatal."

Li Cu felt happy when Ling Yue held her hand like that, and obediently let her hold it.

Ling Yue felt that Li Cu really needed to learn some minor skills that could subdue opponents in critical moments. After thinking for a moment, he said, "If you want to learn, you can use external tools like golden needles instead of internal energy to seal acupoints."

At this moment, after Wu Xie asked him about the solution to the snake venom, Hei Xiazi came over and interjected, "Then wouldn't we have to carry disinfection equipment with us at all times? Otherwise, what if we don't disinfect the gold needles after use and cause cross-infection?"

Li Cu thought about it and realized it was true!

Before Li Cu and Ling Yue could say anything more, Hei Xiazi grabbed Li Cu and said, "Stop dawdling. The most important thing now is to find the serum as soon as possible, otherwise, the two of them will really die."

Li Cu knew the seriousness of the situation, so she quickly suppressed her wandering thoughts, followed Hei Xiazi for a few steps, and suddenly realized something was wrong: "Isn't Ling Yue going?"

Ling Yue also watched Wu Xie and Hei Xiazi.

Yes, isn't she going?

Hei Xiazi tried to fool Li Cu: "Who knows when other snakes or dead people might appear here? Are you really okay with just leaving Wu Xie and Wang Meng here?"

Li Cu was immediately convinced and followed Hei Xiazi into the hole that had been smashed open. He turned back and told Ling Yue, "Ling Yue, be careful and keep an eye on those two. We'll be back soon!"

Looking at the dim-witted boy, Ling Yue sighed and added, "Black Glasses, please take good care of him."

It's good to train people, but don't go overboard.

If someone comes back alive, it's best if they're not missing any limbs.

Before jumping down, Hei Xiazi turned back and smiled at Ling Yue, revealing a set of big white teeth.