Tomb Raiders: She Comes from the Ancient Martial Arts World

Zhang Rishan and Ling Yue almost died during this trip to the Gutongjing Concert.

Zhang Rishan couldn't even imagine how Ling Yue managed to lead him to safety when the Nine-Headed Serpent Cypress collapsed and almost three-quarters of the ancient Tongjing Desert was flooded and collapsed.

In response, Ling Yue, whose body was almost riddled with stone fragments except for his face, said, "If I had to come back again, I definitely wouldn't have made it out."

During that time, whenever a stone that had been stepped on slipped and collapsed, or whenever she charged headfirst through ten times, the only stone that hit her and caused her to bleed was the one that rolled to the side facing her, with its sharp edge less than ten centimeters from her head.

Both of them are definitely buried under layers of desert, sleeping underground with the ancient city of Tongjing.

Zhang Rishan saw that there wasn't a single patch of good skin on her body, and wanted to help her up, but ended up falling down first.

"Stop messing around. Do you think your situation is any better than mine?" Ling Yue said speechlessly.

At least she was able to use her internal energy to heal her injuries after she came out.

Zhang Rishan truly endured it all with his own flesh and blood.

She couldn't protect him when they were fleeing for their lives. Ling Yue suffered many injuries, and he suffered just as much.

The lower leg, which had already been broken, became even more serious after all the treatment.

After Zhang Rishan hesitated several times before finally taking off the last half of her T-shirt, Ling Yue did so.

I tore it into strips, found a few branches that I wasn't sure if they had fallen from the hydra cypress, and used them to temporarily fix his leg bone.

Although his dantian still ached as if it were about to split open, Ling Yue had regained some strength: "Let's go. Hopefully, someone will stay outside to wait for us, otherwise we should get into the positions we want as soon as possible."

So that when they were dried into mummies and dug up, their appearance wouldn't be good enough.

Ling Yue helped Zhang Rishan, and the two of them, covered in dust and dirt, staggered out.

The edge of the giant pit is right on the old-fashioned road that the Nine Gates used to enter. Just follow the road.

There's no need to worry anymore about whether the ancient Tongjing desert will ever reappear, since the lake that used to roam everywhere is gone.

Mr. Yi had a very deep affection for Zhang Rishan, the centenarian. The two had only been walking along the old road for a little over an hour when a car came towards them.

The men in the car were the ones that Boss Yi had sent to wait outside Gutongjing.

In the passenger seat was Sheng Shengman, whom Boss Yi valued highly, so that she could use her extraordinary hearing to catch the sounds around her in time, hoping to find Zhang Rishan who came out of Gutongjing as soon as possible.

The reason they were able to arrive so quickly was because Sheng Sheng Man, in another desert area that passed through Haizi to enter Gutongjing, heard the commotion here.

Worried that something might have gone wrong, Sheng Shengman immediately had someone drive the car to check the surrounding area.

Clearly, this was the first time that Sheng Sheng Man, or rather, all the staff of the Crescent Moon Hotel, had seen Zhang Rishan in such a disheveled state.

At first glance, they all showed expressions of shock.

One of them even exclaimed in disbelief, "Manager Zhang?"

Zhang Rishan gave a weak, lifeless "hmm".

It's clear he really wants to regain his usual calm and composed demeanor, but unfortunately his health condition doesn't allow it.

Similarly, if it weren't for his physical condition, Ling Yue would have laughed at him right now.

Having nearly been killed by the funeral song, having received a large amount of memories belonging to others, and having been constantly on the run, Ling Yue was already exhausted, hungry, and thirsty.

Ling Yue was still in excruciating pain, and he didn't have the energy to criticize Old Master Duan's behavior.

He could only weakly say, "Alright, hurry up and get in the car, or you'll die."

Aside from the initial shock, Sheng Shengman, a seasoned employee with excellent management skills, quickly helped Ling Yue and Zhang Rishan into the car and then swiftly returned to the camp.

Although getting wet is bad for injuries, Ling Yue and Zhang Rishan were covered in a mixture of sand and blood, except for their eyes.

Even the mouth was not spared.

They're practically worn smooth by time.

You have to wash it.

Without washing, even the wound cannot be examined.

Fortunately, Ling Yue and Zhang Rishan were not ordinary people. Even though they were seriously injured and fell into the water, they only secretly broke out in a sweat from the pain and were fine after washing off.

After washing and cleaning myself, I lay down on the bed without even having to dry my hair.

Ling Yue, who had almost been bandaged up like a mummy, felt comfortable and fell into a deep sleep before he could say another word.

When Ling Yue is out and about, he never lets himself lose his vigilance, even when he is sleeping.

In this state, it's less like he's asleep and more like he's passed out.

He slept soundly for a long time, and when Ling Yue woke up, he was already in a hospital in the capital.

Zhang Rishan was in the next hospital bed.

When a person has slept for too long, upon waking up, their consciousness is still heavy and not very clear.

Ling Yue turned his head and looked at Zhang Rishan on the next hospital bed. He cleared his mind and thought for a moment: According to the modern TV dramas in their world, people as rich as the New Moon Hotel and Zhang Rishan should be staying in the legendary high-class VIP ward, right?

How come they're staying in a three-person ward for ordinary people?

After a period of aimless, rambling thinking, a person gradually comes to their senses.

Ling Yue didn't move. He lay on the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, and began to ponder the memories he had gained in Gutongjing.

This danger wasn't in vain; at least Ling Yue learned about the Empress's situation.

The crisis that led to the destruction of Gutongjing began with the sudden death of a child the day before his 10th birthday.

As recorded in the inscriptions and hymns.

The people of Gutongjing had their own unique beliefs and civilization, and they considered themselves descendants of the snake god.

They use the unique snake-browed bronze fish from the Yellow Springs River beneath the ancient city to raise black-haired snakes, collect young black-haired snakes, and then implant the young snakes into the eyebrows of children in the tribe.

This snake will accompany the child as they grow up, grow old, and die.

After the tribesman dies, the snake will be released back into the snake mine.

This is the life of an ordinary member of the Gutongjing ethnic group.

Among them, there are three different groups of people.

One is a city lord who is a messenger of the gods and can control the imaginary space, representing the power of the gods.

One is an "immortal species" capable of reading the memories of their ancestors from the pheromones of the black-haired snake. They are also the priests of the tribe, representing the wisdom bestowed upon their descendants by the gods.

One is the young boy and girl who, when the divine messenger is updated, initiates the sacrifice, walks up to the altar with the offerings, and receives a glance from the serpent god from afar.

These people are clan elders who represent the convergence of divine blessings and the respect of the clan.

There is no fixed time for the birth of a new divine messenger; it can be as short as a few years or as long as several decades.

In the funeral song, Ling Yue saw the beginning of the upheaval.

The newborn divine messenger will be raised by the priest until he turns ten. On that day, a sacrifice will be held, the old city lord will return to the embrace of the snake god, and the new city lord will officially ascend the throne.

However, in that year, the new divine messenger, who was about to turn 10, suddenly died mysteriously the day before the sacrificial ceremony was about to begin.

The sacrificial ceremony could not continue, and all the tribespeople were plunged into unknown panic.

After discussing the matter with the city lord and elders, the priests had no choice but to regretfully cancel the planned sacrifice.

However, the next day, the black-haired snakes in the snake mine began to stir, and the snake-browed bronze fish in the Yellow Springs River also died in large numbers, all of them within three days.

The black-haired snakes tattooed in the eyebrows of the tribesmen began to attack them frantically, turning them into snake-people and continuing to attack indiscriminately, causing heavy casualties among the tribesmen.

To prevent this from happening again, the tribe had to abandon a tradition that had been passed down for thousands of years and dig out the black-haired snake that they had lived with from their eyebrows.

It seems that this act of betraying the gods and abandoning faith has further angered them. The white sand of Gutongjing has turned into wind and rain, falling from the sky and drowning all life.

Just then, the city lord received a divine revelation in his sleep, learning that the Eye of the Serpent God had been stolen and that only by finding the Eye of the Serpent God could the wrath of the Serpent God be appeased.

So Gutongjing sent a team to leave and search for the Eye of the Serpent God.

The remaining people gathered inside and outside the temple every day, praying and confessing their sins day and night.

However, death continued to spread.

The city lord and the priests held one last meeting and decided that they could no longer wait for the birth and growth of the new divine messenger.

They were to hold a sacrifice immediately, hoping that after the city lord returned to the embrace of the serpent god, he could plead with the gods and beg for their forgiveness.

After completing the ritual, the priest also used "divine power" to communicate with the bloodline of the tribe from another dimension and forcibly instilled some of the memories of the snake god's descendants.

The people from another dimension who hope to gain enlightenment can find the snake god's lost eye, and then communicate with the god according to the ancient sacrificial ritual, so that the divine eye can return to the divine body.

The people of Gutongjing are naturally skilled at controlling snakes and insects; even the nine-headed cypress is a green plant they keep to guard their homes.

Ling Yue had investigated and found vague records stating that the Empress possessed unusual features, with black snakes tattooed on her eyebrows, and could control snakes and insects throughout the mountains.

Perhaps this strange phenomenon is related to the last priest of Gutongjing.

Since the Empress was identified by the priests as a descendant of the serpent god, her maternal clan must have come from the Yuezhi branch.

The fact that the priest found her across time and space suggests that the empress's bloodline may have exhibited a primal tendency, making her stronger than anyone else in her mother's tribe.

That's why his birth caused a disturbance among snakes and insects both inside and outside the palace.

They learned the secrets of the ancient Tongjing people and also obtained the so-called method to communicate with the gods.

Is there another explanation for the Empress's seemingly insane and bizarre behavior?

Thinking of how some people in this world have pursued immortality and godhood for hundreds or thousands of years without wavering, Ling Yue frowned, connecting the Empress's past and present actions with immortality and even godhood.

It seems less difficult to understand now.