Tomb Raiders: She Comes from the Ancient Martial Arts World

The outside is still collapsing, and the sounds and vibrations occasionally seep into the secret room, but it's safe here.

They'll be staying here for another two weeks, and suddenly time seems to have become practically worthless.

Ling Yue unloaded the ink bamboo, found a stool to sit down, and looked at the layout of the secret room, asking curiously, "How exactly did you discover this place back then?"

Zhang Rishan looked at the dusty room, then at Ling Yue sitting there nonchalantly, and resignedly found a handkerchief to fill with water.

While cleaning, he said, "At first, we discovered a corner of Gutongjing. The roads here are very strange; everyone who comes in gets lost. So, the Buddha personally led the team to explore Gutongjing..."

As he spoke, Zhang Rishan seemed to be lost in that memory, a puzzled expression on his face: "When we came in, it was clearly autumn. According to the geographical location here, this should be the windy season, but there was not a breath of wind in the ancient city."

Ling Yue turned his head and listened attentively.

This is indeed strange, although Gutongjing has long been covered by the desert and has become a genuine underground ancient city.

But even an empty hole can produce wind, and the fact that the air here is not polluted indicates that the air is constantly in contact with the outside world.

Zhang Rishan also mentioned that when they arrived deep in the ancient city, a continuous wind blew, accompanied by intermittent music.

"At first, we thought it was a collective hallucination, until we found a blueprint depicting Gutongjing, a vast and complete ancient city." Zhang Rishan took a deep breath, then choked on the rising dust.

Ling Yue turned his face away, raised his hand to cover his face, and when he turned back to look, he met Zhang Rishan's helpless expression.

Ling Yue coughed twice, cleared his throat, and gestured for him to continue.

"The Buddha proposed treating the entire ancient city as a giant musical instrument, which would play when the wind came. Afterwards, the Buddha wanted to hear the complete music, so he led us to start the restoration project of Gutongjing."

Ling Yue: "So what exactly is in the music?"

Zhang Rishan shook his head: "After the restoration of Gutongjing was completed, before the wind came, an accident happened here. Buddha hastily sealed everything here and died without ever hearing the complete music."

Upon hearing this, Ling Yue tentatively asked, "Wu Xie's grandmother also told Li Cu about this accident, so what exactly was this accident?"

Zhang Rishan looked at Ling Yue without saying a word for a long time.

Just when Ling Yue thought he wouldn't answer, Zhang Rishan suddenly spoke up: "It's a snake. During the restoration of Gutongjing, Buddha was also studying the symbiotic relationship between black-haired snakes and humans."

Ling Yue frowned: "He wants to achieve a symbiotic relationship between humans and snakes, like the people of Gutongjing?"

Zhang Rishan hesitated for a moment, then finally shook his head: "No, it's immortality."

At that time, Zhang Dafoye had already fallen into a trance.

Whether it was due to orders from his superiors, his own will, or his wife's sake, he had become obsessed with the pursuit of immortality.

Here you'll find black-haired snakes that mutated due to a meteorite, and clear records showing that the ancient Tongjing people, as descendants of the snake god, achieved longevity through human-snake coexistence more than two thousand years ago.

There are also divine messengers who can open and close imaginary space, and the source of all this: a meteorite from outer space.

All of this makes those who pursue immortality feel that immortality is so close to them.

How could anyone not be driven mad?

However, the black-haired snake is extremely venomous; it can also invade a person's mind and control a puppet without their knowledge or awareness.

The increasing number of snake people caused chaos here, and in the end, only Zhang Dafoye escaped.

Ling Yue was taken aback: "So, he told you about the accident that killed everyone after he came out?"

Zhang Rishan didn't think there was anything wrong with this. As long as the Buddha was willing to tell him, he must have his reasons.

All he needs to do is guard the ancient city of Gutongjing and carry out the orders given by the Buddha.

After listening to Zhang Rishan's speech, Ling Yue felt speechless: "No wonder..."

No wonder he was such a useless president.

Some people are naturally better suited to be subordinates because they have absolute obedience.

But if you suddenly put such a person in a leadership position, he will instantly lose his bearings and become disoriented.

If even the lead sheep can't find the right direction, where can the flock go?

Over time, the flock of sheep scattered.

Unless a new leader emerges in the flock before it completely breaks apart.

Ling Yue couldn't help but think of Wu Xie, who had orchestrated all of this.

But they quickly denied it.

She didn't know what kind of person Wu Xie had been, but he certainly had the ability to become the new leader of the Nine Gates.

Whether it's intelligence, courage, or martial prowess, what he lacks most in his eyes is ambition.

The lead sheep must not only guide the flock onto the right path, but also dare to look ahead and promptly open up new grasslands when all the sheep are still content with the tender grass at hand.

Faced with Zhang Rishan's questioning gaze, Ling Yue simply shook his head to indicate that it was nothing.

She couldn't possibly say that Zhang Dafoye might not have told him the whole truth about the final accident, could she?

Given Zhang Rishan's decades-long worship and respect for Zhang Dafoye, Ling Yue feared that if he were to actually say anything questioning Zhang Dafoye, he would anger the old man.

Although the probability is very small, what if he just doesn't take me to the "concert"?

Zhang Rishan, unaware of Ling Yue's inner thoughts, asked Ling Yue after recounting their discovery of Gutongjing, "Why did you insist on coming to Gutongjing?"

At first, Zhang Rishan was unwilling to agree to Wu Xie's request to bring a stranger to Gutongjing to hear the secret hidden in the music.

But Wu Xie repeatedly stated that this person would not do anything bad to them and was willing to vouch for her.

In fact, if Ling Yue really wanted to take this opportunity to do something bad, Wu Xie might not be able to bear the consequences on his own.

Zhang Rishan simply chose to believe Wu Xie's judgment.

Ling Yue suddenly remembered the question Wu Xie had asked her that night in the desert.

Her emerald green eyes, tinged with gold, shimmered with a bewildered and hesitant light under the glow of an old-fashioned orange miner's lamp.

Upon hearing his question, Ling Yue remained silent, seemingly lost in thought, gazing intently at Zhang Rishan for a long time.

Beneath her usually aloof and assertive eyes lay a rare vulnerability and melancholy.

It was as if a predicament had appeared before her eyes, one that had trapped her for far too long, so long that she began to doubt whether she could truly escape it.

This kind of Ling Yue was something Zhang Rishan had never seen before, no, it was even unimaginable.

He couldn't imagine that Ling Yue, who always overpowered everyone, could be like a lost little girl.

At this moment, Ling Yue remained silent.

But Zhang Rishan sensed that her heart was reaching out tentatively to him, yearning to be saved.

I don't know how much time has passed, maybe a few minutes, or maybe longer.

Her voice was soft and uncertain as she asked him, "Zhang Rishan, can I trust you?"