Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 734 Spying!

"This is not a human skin figurine; it is a strange insect that became extinct during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty—the Qingfu!"

"This is clearly a Qingfu that has been blasted into a human shape!"

The young man's expression changed as he precisely spotted the protrusion on the leather puppet's face.

"I've read about this in ancient books and unofficial histories. Because of its characteristics, this thing was carved into human form by the ancients to harm people..."

"According to you, this thing has been strangely following Wu Xie up from below, so it's probably something fishy. Wu Xie is probably right; it's related to that unlucky Qi Yu and Wu Sansheng."

Seeing Hu Ming rush over immediately, the blind man felt relieved, sheathed his short sword, and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"There's one thing I won't hide from you: the third brother doesn't trust me, probably because compared to your line of work, I'm at most only a semi-insider, right?"

"Compared to my cunning second brother, Xiao Xie, his nephew who was brought into this line of work by him, is much more reliable..."

Seeing that Hu Ming had precisely cut open the large BYT leather puppet that had been wrapped around Wu Xie, revealing the unharmed Wu Xie, Wu Erbai finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"The third brother's idea is to tell Xiao Xie all the clues he knows, and let me help Xiao Xie find that life-saving place hidden in the mists of history."

Wu Erbai arrived silently.

This is the difference between Wu Sansheng and Wu Erbai!
When it comes to Wu Xie, Wu Sansheng's attitude is: I'll tell you the clues, but you have to be extremely careful and investigate on your own.

Wu Erbai said, "You stay here and don't move. I'll go buy it for you. Once I've investigated everything, found the place, and cleared away all the dangers, I'll take you there."

The three Wu brothers each possess their own unique wisdom, or rather, they are all shrewd and clever bastards, befitting their father, Fifth Master Wu.

Even Wu Yiqiong, who liked to cry when things went wrong.

From a young age, Wu Yiqiong knew what he should do. Every time, he silently watched his two younger brothers shoulder heavy responsibilities and find a way to survive among a group of ruthless old foxes.

He never tried to dissuade or attempt to take on these burdens that he absolutely could not touch.

Even his own son, Wu Xie.

Thirteen years ago, when Wu Xie was taken to the Seven Star Lu Palace by Wu Sansheng, Wu Yiqiong secretly followed behind and saw him off.

Even though he knew his son's days ahead would be worse than death, even though his heart ached so much he could hardly breathe, even though he cried alone in his study all day after Wu Xie left.

But he knew that this was the cruel fate that the Wu family had to face; it was predetermined, and no one could escape it.

Without harming Wu Xie in the slightest, Hu Ming's blade flashed repeatedly, easily slicing the human skin—the Qingfu awakened by blood and thunder—into pieces.

Wu Xie, nearly suffocating, gasped for breath, not bothering to wipe the blood from his mouth and nose. A long-absent look of fear and dread, coupled with a desperate yearning for life, resurfaced in his eyes.

No matter how enlightened a person may think they are, able to face death with equanimity, when they actually confront death, they can still be awakened by the most primal fears.

*Smack...*

Under everyone's watchful eyes, a long black object fell to the ground from the west.

This is what Wu Xie saw inside the Qingfu under the light of the lightning.

This is a dried-up tongue.

The human tongue.

The tongue is actually like beef jerky. The human tongue is very long, with a large part of it in the throat. If you pull it out, it's like a piece of tenderloin.

This tongue doesn't look like something from a thousand years ago at all.

After a quick assessment, you'll know what this thing is.

The garment was wrapped in tattered cloth torn from clothing in the style of the last century, not yet completely rotten.

In other words, this thing was left behind by Wu Sansheng and his archaeological team when they entered the South China Sea King's Palace half a century ago, before the events in the Xisha Islands occurred.

After a moment's thought, Hu Ming remembered something and, under Wu Xie's fearful yet disgusted gaze, tossed his tongue at Wu Xie. "This thing is most likely left behind by your third uncle's team back then, or maybe Qi Yu? I know enough about it. I'm not interested. Whether you want it or not is up to you!"

Hu Ming said it casually, without any intention of explaining. Instead, he closed his eyes, listened for a moment, and then said, "The time has come. It's finally here."

Having said that, ignoring the strange expressions on everyone's faces, he didn't even take an umbrella, picked up his knife and walked out into the rain. In a few leaps, he jumped onto the roof and stared blankly at the center of the village.

"what!"

The mute girl finally came to her senses after a series of strange events. She screamed and frantically grabbed an umbrella from inside the house before chasing after the girl.

Getting caught in this kind of heavy rain can cause you to catch a cold or get sick.

"...She's a good girl."

Where is Hu Ming?

Wu Erbai watched the mute girl's retreating figure, then changed the subject and asked in confusion.

“There’s some commotion in the village, a lot of commotion, lots of lots of people.”

Although the young man and the blind man weren't as sharp-eared and sharp-eyed as Hu Ming, they were still extraordinary. They heard the commotion outside growing louder and more orderly.

Wu Erbai and the others exchanged glances, instinctively sensing something was wrong, and rushed out with the blind man and the young man.

Despite coughing up blood, Wu Xie ignored all attempts to stop him and rushed out without even changing his clothes, with Fatty taking care of him.

After leaving the room, they walked for several minutes in the direction Hu Ming had gone. Finally, amidst the torrential rain, they heard an unusual noise.

At this moment, Hu Ming was already close at hand. He was sitting cross-legged on a rooftop, and the mute girl was holding an umbrella over him with one hand, covering her mouth as she looked towards the center of the village.

With a sinking feeling, the group disregarded everything else and quickly climbed onto the nearby rooftops to look at the open space in the center of the village.

It's already 4 a.m., and with thunder, lightning, and torrential rain, no one with a modicum of sense would choose to go out at this time.

In the center of the village, a dense crowd had gathered, and judging by the size of the crowd, most of the villagers had come here.

Even more bizarrely,
These villagers, all with their eyes rolled back, heads drooping to the side, and right ears pointing towards the sky, seemed to have lost their self-awareness, spontaneously gathering in the center of the village to listen for thunder, following some inexplicable and mysterious will!
"Look closely at their line formation!"

Hu Ming stared intently at the crowd below, lowering his voice to just enough for Wu Erbai and the others to hear.

It's as if they're afraid of being overheard by someone.

As if by magic, the instant the thunderstorm began, Hu Ming's intuition sensed a... subtle feeling of being watched.

This feeling came from the sky, from the dark clouds, from the thunder! It was as if, along with the thunder, an invisible, enormous eye in the gloomy sky was watching this place, conveying some kind of message, and the villagers of the mute village were listening to this message.

This feeling of being completely at a loss was so unsettling that even Hu Ming felt a bit uneasy.

"formation?"

Following Hu Ming's prompting, Wu Erbai and the others frowned and carefully observed through the rain.

The villagers' strange formation was indeed odd; they weren't just randomly gathered together. They seemed to form a huge, bizarre shape.

Wu Erbai and the others couldn't figure out the diagram for a while, but they felt that it seemed to be very important.

"and many more!"

"The villagers' formation. The seven ears of the South Sea King's corpse!"

Wu Xie, Fatty, Blind Man, and Xiao Ge, who had seen the corpse of the King of the South Sea with their own eyes, exchanged glances, their expressions changed drastically, and they roared in low voices.

"It is not a rumor, but a fact, that the villagers of this mute village can hear and understand the messages in the thunder."

"Is there some mysterious power within the thunder conveying a message that only a specific group of people can understand? Is there some interesting thunder god?"

Hu Ming summarized softly, a smile playing on his lips.