Tomb Raiders: She Comes from the Ancient Martial Arts World

On the day Zhang Rishan predicted the wind would come, Ling Yue and Zhang Rishan left the secret room.

Along the way, countless snakes swam from all directions toward the same direction.

Even the Hydra Cypress stopped attacking the living creatures around it, stretching out its tentacles and spreading towards the ancient city where the music was playing.

“They’re all captivated by the music and won’t attack us now.” Zhang Rishan glanced at the snake and the cypress, then quickened his pace with Ling Yue.

The two were agile and moved with ease through the passageway, which was frequently covered with landslides and rubble, and soon arrived at the ancient city of Gutongjing.

Because of the landslide and tremors that occurred more than ten days ago, the ancient city gate and the stone tablets and statues standing inside collapsed, leaving only the central building of the entire magnificent ancient city.

As the wind blew, a distant and gentle melody rose from the void.

Ling Yue and Zhang Rishan closed their eyes and listened intently.

I don't know if Zhang Rishan felt the same way, but Ling Yue gradually heard a language in the music that went from vague and chaotic to becoming clearer.

The language was ancient and mysterious. Although it was not any language she knew, once her ears picked it up, she could automatically understand what it meant.

This is a hymn about how the people of Gutongjing lived in peace and prosperity, how a divine messenger descended with great divine power and led the people to obtain the snake-browed bronze fish that granted them immortality.

The music repeats constantly, and a section is over very quickly.

The so-called immortality of the ancient Tongjing people was actually achieved by using the characteristics of black-haired snakes to pass down human memories from generation to generation. The clan members who could ultimately read the memories were the "immortal race".

It has nothing to do with the snake god, the divine tree that accompanies the deity, the imaginary space, or the god of time and space mentioned on the stone tablet.

This left Ling Yue somewhat disappointed.

We could only pin our hopes on that oddly shaped, uneven key.

With a heavy heart, Ling Yue carefully took out the seemingly ordinary gray-green key from his waist bag.

The claim that it's a key is merely a deduction by Ling Yue based on Ma Rila's account of the legend of the ancient Tongjing city's lord's gemstone, and cannot be confirmed.

Because it simply doesn't look like a key.

This thing is only about half the size of Ling Yue's palm, and it is irregularly shaped like a gourd.

It has sharp edges and corners, irregular bumps and undulations, and no aesthetic appeal whatsoever that conforms to basic human aesthetic standards.

If it hadn't been carefully embedded inside the white cocoon of the large black spider on the stone ceiling, in a key position within the mural, Ling Yue would never have guessed that it was related to the key to the ancient city of Tongjing.

The mural on the tomb ceiling had long been covered by spider cocoons and spider webs. Perhaps something special was used in the paint, because the venom of the entire black spider family, spanning eighteen generations, was so corrosive, yet it only covered the mural without causing any corrosion.

When Ling Yue tore apart the cocoon of the giant black spider, the mural that was revealed was also very familiar.

It is the pattern of the two-headed man kneeling before the nine-headed cypress statue that has appeared many times in the underground palace.

And this stone is set right in the center of the cypress tree in the design.

Inside the ancient temple, Ling Yue secretly used this stone to place it in that spot.

Nothing happens.

I wonder if it's still unresponsive now.

If that's the case...

Ling Yue secretly warned himself to guard against arrogance and impatience, and not to let his mind be disturbed.

The moment Ling Yue took out her key, she clearly felt the wind in the air change.

After a brief pause, it began to swirl again with a different force and direction.

The force varies, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, and the direction is unpredictable and hard to fathom.

The music that reached Ling Yue's ears instantly became chaotic and extremely jarring.

One moment it felt like fluffing cotton, the next like fingernails rubbing against a bronze mirror, and then like a war drum suddenly being struck loudly in your ear!

It was both unpleasant and shrill, with a constant roaring and swirling sound.

Gradually, Ling Yue seemed to be caught in the air by an invisible hand, kneaded and stretched like dough, and then thrown into a vortex of raging wind and rain, spinning and swaying endlessly!

Ling Yue tried to stay conscious, attempting to feel his feet, hands, body, and brain.

However, it was all in vain.

Ultimately, Ling Yue could no longer even sense his own thoughts and consciousness.

At that moment, all she could hear were wails, the wails of countless souls.

Accompanied by sobs, finally, a somber dirge, so heavy it made one wish to die, began to resonate from the depths of her soul.

Greedy people, you have stolen the eyes of the gods! The blinded gods are consumed by rage, burning the world and awakening the blood of their descendants…

The snakes are restless, white sand is falling from the sky, devouring all life...

May our faith transform into an inexhaustible wind, carrying away the sorrows of all beings and soothing the anger of the gods…

At the same time, fragmented images followed.

The Yellow Springs River beneath the ancient city of Tongjing is filled with the corpses of bronze fish with snake-like eyebrows, and white sand that is constantly being swept up into the sky by the wind and then falling back down.

The black-haired snakes that used to stay docilely in people's eyebrows became restless and agitated. Some snakes crawled into people's heads, turning them into snake people who would not age but would also lose consciousness.

A group of people from Gutongjing left this place to go out and find a way to appease the serpent god's anger.

The scene depicts the priests, city lord, elders, and others of the ancient city of Tongjing solemnly discussing the sacrificial ceremony...

"Ling Yue? Ling Yue!"

who is it?

Who's talking?

Who is Ling Yue?

"Ling Yue, wake up!"

It's so noisy.

Who exactly is Ling Yue? Why aren't you answering him yet!

"Ling Yue!"

Ling Yue was annoyed by the persistent shouting in her ear and forced her to open her eyes, only to be met with Zhang Rishan's face, which was covered in blood and dust.

At first, she was a little confused, not knowing where she was, who she was, or why she was there.

Seeing that she finally opened her eyes and her heartbeat and pulse gradually returned to normal, Zhang Rishan breathed a sigh of relief: "Ling Yue, what happened to you just now? Why did you suddenly faint and your vital signs weaken so quickly? I almost couldn't feel your pulse just now!"

At this point, he had completely lost his usual poise and was in a sorry state.

Ling Yue closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, and his own consciousness slowly rose from the bottom of the heavy, viscous pool to the surface.

She opened her mouth, but seemed to have forgotten how to speak, only uttering two meaningless "ah ah" sounds.

Seeing this, Zhang Rishan knew that her situation was still far from optimistic.

He glanced at the fallen stone gate, gritted his teeth, picked Ling Yue up again, and, enduring the pain of his right leg being broken by the stone, limped and led her in another direction.

At the same time, he breathlessly explained the current situation to Ling Yue: "The wind has stopped, the music has stopped, and the black-haired snake and the nine-headed cypress have started attacking living things again. We just ran out of the square, but we didn't have time to get out before the stone gate fell."

He swallowed back the blood and saliva that welled up inside him: "We need to find another way out now."

Although his mind was still a bit confused and his body was a bit stiff, Ling Yue still managed to quickly circulate his internal energy again by relying on his subconscious.

Zhang Rishan's current situation is certainly not good.

He had been hit on the head by a rock sometime during the day, and was bleeding quite a bit.

Even with the marks of wiping, half of his face was still stained red.

His clothes were gone again, and the Qilin tattoo was fully revealed.

The wound on his arm was still bleeding from the exertion, and there were also marks on his neck indicating that he had been strangled. It was obvious that the hydra cypress had done it.

After circulating his internal energy for one small cycle, Ling Yue gently patted Zhang Rishan's chest and gave him a look that said, "Put me down," as Zhang looked down.

I don't know if he can understand it.

Fortunately, after spending so many days together, the two of them had developed a certain level of understanding.

Zhang Rishan hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Are you really sure you can do it?"

Ling Yue nodded slightly.

Zhang Rishan then put her down.

When he touched the ground, Ling Yue's legs went weak for a moment, as if he hadn't used his feet for hundreds of years.

Zhang Rishan quickly helped her up and wanted to pick her up again, but Ling Yue pushed him away and tried to lift her feet, but quickly regained control of her legs.

With the circulation of internal energy, she gained faster control over her body, and within two breaths, Ling Yue was able to walk normally again.

It was only then that Ling Yue noticed that Zhang Rishan had an injury on his right calf, and dared not bear too much of his body weight, so he could only drag himself along.

In addition, he had ligature marks on his waist and cuts from a knife.

Ling Yue guessed that he was almost swept away by the Hydra Cypress and hastily cut the vines with his knife, injuring himself in the process.

Compared to Zhang Rishan's injuries and disheveled appearance, Ling Yue, who had fainted, only had some scratches on his arms.

This contrast stirred complex and inexplicable emotions within Ling Yue.

In the end, she said nothing, but to Zhang Rishan's utter shock and bewilderment, she picked him up in her arms.

After hugging him, she moved her fingers that were pressed against his waist, and then gave Zhang Rishan an apologetic smile when he looked up blankly.

It means: You have no clothes, so please forgive me for touching your waist.

It's unclear whether Zhang Rishan received the message she sent.

Anyway, Zhang Rishan's face was getting redder and redder.

It was probably stained with blood.