Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

Behind the door lies a darkness deeper than darkness itself.

The flashlight beam shone in, but it seemed to be swallowed by something viscous, illuminating only a few steps ahead. The air was icy cold, carrying an indescribable, stagnant quality, as if it hadn't flowed for countless years. The path beneath my feet was still that smooth, grayish-white stone, stretching forward.

Zhang Qiling was the first to step inside, his footsteps echoing softly. "Zhang Qiling" followed immediately, keeping a half-body distance from him. The beam of the headlamp appeared exceptionally weak in the empty space.

People continued to enter, their flashlight beams sweeping wildly in all directions, trying to make out their surroundings. The space inside seemed enormous; the beams of light couldn't reach the edges or the ceiling. There was only a vast, oppressive emptiness.

"Where is this place?" Fatty Wang asked in a low, echoing voice, "Why is there nothing here?"

"It's not that there isn't any." Xie Yuchen squatted down and touched the ground. The ground was covered with a very fine, even layer of dust. "It's just too much space."

Indeed, apart from the path beneath their feet, all they could see was a seemingly boundless, dark void. They were as if standing in the center of a vast, unsupported plaza, or rather, on the edge of a cliff.

"Look ahead," Ah Ning suddenly said, fixing the flashlight beam in front of her.

At the end of the beam, about thirty meters away, a silhouette appeared in the darkness. Very tall, very blurry, like a… building? Or perhaps a… statue?

The group moved forward cautiously. As they drew closer, their outlines became clearer.

It was indeed a statue. A colossal, humanoid bronze statue. Over ten meters tall, standing in the center of the dark void. The statue was clad in ancient armor, its style neither Central Plains nor Dian style, but rather exuding an indescribable, savage aura. Its left hand rested on a massive sword embedded in the ground, the blade wider than a door panel; its right hand stretched forward, palm up, as if it had once held something, but now it was empty. The statue's face was hidden in the shadow of its helmet, indistinct, only revealing a detached indifference, as if looking down upon ants.

The bronze statue is not isolated. Scattered around it on the dark ground in a certain pattern are many smaller shadows. Shining a flashlight on them reveals even more, smaller bronze figures, only life-size, in various poses: some holding halberds, some drawing bows, some kneeling, all facing the central giant statue, like a silent army guarding the monarch.

"Is this... an altar? Or a military formation?" Jiang Xun Gu asked in a low voice.

"It's like the 'guardian deity' that the King of Xian set up for himself," Huo Xiuxiu said.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" walked to the foot of the giant bronze statue. The statue's surface was covered with a thick layer of patina, but under the flashlight, the intricate patterns of eyes and snakes entwined on the armor could still be seen.

"Look at its hand." Zhang Qiling pointed to the statue's outstretched right hand. In the palm, there was a distinct, bowl-sized, irregularly shaped groove.

"It's for storing things," Zhang Qiling said.

"Put what in?" Wu Xie asked.

"It might be a jade eye, or some other kind of token," Xie Yuchen speculated, "but it's empty now."

Just as everyone was examining the statue, Black Bear suddenly clicked his tongue and turned his sunglasses to the darkness on his left. "Something's moved."

As soon as the words were spoken, a low, creaking sound, like a boulder grinding against each other, came from the depths of darkness. The sound was muffled, with a metallic groan, growing louder and closer.

"It's those little terracotta figures!" Fatty Wang exclaimed.

In the surrounding darkness, the heads of the life-sized bronze terracotta figures, which had been motionless, began to slowly turn, their dark, featureless faces staring intently at the intruder's location. Their stiff limbs also began to move, making a "crackling" sound, like rusting joints.

Immediately following was the heavy thud of footsteps. They didn't come from the small terracotta figures, but from deeper within. A clear tremor emanated from the ground.

One, two, three... five bronze colossi, similar in style to the central giant statue but slightly smaller (about five meters tall), stepped out from the darkness from different directions. Their steps were heavy, each footstep causing the ground to tremble slightly, and the giant weapons in their hands—swords, axes, hammers, halberds, and clubs—dragged along the ground, producing a piercing sound and sparks.

Five colossal bronze statues, along with hundreds or even thousands of bronze terracotta figures that began to surround them, completely encircled the crowd in the center.

"Damn it," Fatty Wang cursed, "Did we stir up a brick wall?"

"Looks like we're not allowed to get close to that big guy." Black Bear cracked his knuckles, a grin spreading across his face. "Dumb Zhangs, it's time to stretch your muscles."

The levitating live-streaming ball flew high into the air, and the camera captured this breathtakingly enveloping scene.

The comments scrolled by:

Prophet: The Bronze Legion!

A solution to the experts' disbelief: This thing can move? Mechanical engineering?

The male fan club: Husbands, let's go!

The five bronze statues were the first to act. The statue holding the sword stepped forward, its massive blade, as wide as a door panel, slashed horizontally with a sharp whistling sound that tore through the air. The area covered was extremely large, engulfing Zhang Qiling, "Zhang Qiling", and Wu Xie and Fatty nearby.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" moved almost simultaneously. Instead of retreating, they charged towards the blade. At the instant the giant blade was about to strike, Zhang Qiling ducked, sliding along the ground to pass between the giant's legs. Simultaneously, his black-gold ancient sword slashed upwards, leaving a deep gash at the joint of the armor plate behind the giant's left knee, sparks flying. "Zhang Qiling," meanwhile, leaped up, his toes touching the incoming blade, using the momentum to rise again, flipping and landing on the giant's shoulder. His right hand, fingers like a halberd, stabbed fiercely into the gap between the giant's helmet and neck armor.

"clang!"

The clang of metal rang out. The colossus's head jerked to the side, its movement sluggish. But its massive left hand swept towards its shoulder like swatting a fly. "Zhang Qiling" had already leaped down, landing on its right arm where it held the knife, and raced along the arm toward its head.

Another colossal axe-wielding statue brought its axe down on Zhang Qiling, who had just landed. Zhang Qiling neither dodged nor evaded; at the very moment the axe blade struck his head, he shifted half a step to the side. The giant axe grazed his side and crashed into the ground, sending debris flying and creating a shallow crater. Taking advantage of the statue's hesitation as it retracted its axe, he closed in, pressing his left hand against the axe-wielding wrist, while his right leg whipped across the statue's supporting ankle.

"Bang!"

The bronze at the colossus's ankle deformed, causing its massive body to lose balance and stagger forward. Zhang Qiling had already circled around to its side, a flash of light as his blade pierced the gap in the armor plates beneath its ribs, and with a twist of his wrist, he exerted force horizontally.

"Snap!"

The gap widened, and a piercing sound of breaking mechanisms came from within. The colossus froze, then crashed forward, crushing a group of bronze terracotta warriors that were charging towards it.

At this moment, "Zhang Qiling" had already leaped off the shoulder of the sword-wielding colossus. The colossus's helmet was askew, blue smoke was billowing from its neck, and its movements became chaotic, wildly swinging its giant sword, instead cutting down several nearby smaller terracotta warriors. After landing, he charged straight at the hammer-wielding colossus.

The colossal statue swung its millstone-sized hammer down on Zhang Qiling. Instead of dodging, Zhang Qiling raised his hands just as the hammerhead was about to strike, managing to stop the downward-slamming handle! The stone slab beneath his feet cracked instantly. The colossus pressed down with all its might, but the hammerhead remained unmoved. Zhang Qiling exhaled, twisted his waist, and unleashed terrifying power in his arms, violently swinging the giant hammer and the colossus's arm wielding it to the side!

"Boom!"

The hammer-wielding colossus was spun half a circle, lost its balance, and collided with the colossus next to it that was thrusting its halberd. The two behemoths tangled and fell to the ground, crushing countless bronze figurines.

The remaining colossal figures wielding halberds and clubs attacked from the left and right. The shadows of halberds were like mountains, and the wind from clubs howled.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" stood back to back. As the halberd tip pierced through, Zhang Qiling dodged to the side, his left hand sliding up the halberd shaft to grab the giant's wrist, pressing down while his right knee rose and slammed heavily into the middle of the halberd shaft.

"clang!"

The steel halberd shaft was bent by the knee strike! The giant statue's arm, holding the halberd, sank downwards. Zhang Qiling spun around, his elbow like a spear, slamming into the giant statue's chest and abdomen. The armor plates dented, and the giant statue staggered backward.

Facing the sweeping bronze staff, "Zhang Qiling" did not retreat but advanced, crouching down and crawling under the staff, instantly getting close to the giant statue holding the staff, grabbing the armor plates on its waist with both hands, and tearing them apart with force!

"Sizzle—"

He tore a piece open of the heavy bronze waist armor, revealing a complex network of bronze gears and transmission rods inside. He reached inside, grabbed several key connecting rods, and with a pull, snapped them in two.

The giant statue holding the staff stopped abruptly, frozen in place, emitting black smoke.

The pace of the battle was astonishingly fast. Within just two minutes, one of the five bronze colossi collapsed and began to smoke, two were entangled and struggling on the ground, one was stiff and retreating, and one was internally paralyzed. Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" attacked with concise and ruthless precision, each strike landing precisely on joints, connections, or internal mechanisms, causing maximum damage with minimal cost.

The bronze terracotta warriors that surged forward posed no threat whatsoever to the two men, who moved with ghostly agility and effortlessly parried and slashed. They fell one by one like harvesting wheat, turning into bronze fragments scattered all over the ground.

Wu Xie stared in disbelief, then subconsciously tugged at Hei Xiazi's sleeve: "Hey, Hei, are Xiao Ge and the others... even more powerful now?"

Black Bear crossed his arms, a slightly smirking smile behind his sunglasses: "What else? You think the mute Zhangs sleep all day? This is called... uh, skill improvement?"

"Bullshit," Fatty Wang interjected, his eyes still fixed on the battlefield. "They clearly didn't eat enough before, and now that they've had Master Hua'er's braised beef, they're going all out!"

"Fatty, what do you know?" Wu Xie retorted. "Can you measure the strength of these guys with beef?"

"Why not?" Fatty Wang glared. "Didn't you see how hard they fought just now? They were like they'd taken some super tonic! They must have rested and eaten well in the village!"

"I believe you've rested well and eaten well... What does that have to do with your braised beef?" Black Bear chuckled. "Tianzhen is right, the mute Zhangs have a solid foundation, and they're slowly getting back into form. But Fatty, if your braised beef can improve your skills, give me two pounds later. I'll see if I can catch up to my younger self."

"You wish!" Fatty Wang clutched his backpack protectively. "That was prepared for us by Flower Master! There's only a little left!"

While the group bickered, the battle on the other side was nearing its end. The last colossal statue, retreating with its halberd, was dismantled into pieces by Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" working together. The ground was littered with bronze fragments and smoldering remains—a scene of utter devastation.

Zhang Qiling flicked non-existent dust off his sword and sheathed it. "Zhang Qiling" also patted the verdigris off his hands. Both of them were breathing steadily, as if they had just taken a stroll.

The levitating live-streaming sphere lowered its height, giving a close-up shot of the bronze wreckage scattered on the ground and the two figures standing there.

The comments were so numerous they were almost illegible, but the last few were still faintly visible:

Prophet: It ended too quickly!

Definitely a deterrent to societal dissent: This combat power...is it monstrous?

The male lead's fan club: My husband is invincible!!!

"It's resolved." Xie Yuchen stepped forward, looking at the giant statue in the center that still stood, but with its right hand empty. "Now, we can see what it's guarding."

Zhang Qiling looked up at the groove in the right palm of the statue. He took out the He Yi Jade Eye, compared it, and shook his head.

"Not this one," said Zhang Qiling.

"What could that be?" Wu Xie asked, walking over as well.

Zhang Qiling did not answer. He walked to the base of the giant statue, squatted down, and carefully examined the patterns on the base. It was an extremely ancient, almost totemic engraving, different from the eye swirls and snake patterns he had seen before. It was more like... the trajectory of stars, or the direction of a river.

Zhang Qiling also squatted down to look, his finger slowly moving along a carved mark. After a moment, his finger stopped at a spot and pressed down hard.

"Click."

On the side of the base, a stone slab popped open, revealing a narrow, hidden compartment. Inside, a scroll lay quietly.

It wasn't bamboo slips, nor silk scrolls, but a roll of... tanned, dark yellow leather. The edges were already somewhat brittle.

Zhang Qiling carefully took it out and unfolded it.

On the leather, a map was drawn with some kind of dark red pigment. The map was abstract, with an eye symbol at the center, from which many lines extended, pointing in different directions. Next to some directions were distorted ancient characters, as well as some simple hieroglyphs, including mountains, water, trees, and buildings.

At the center where all the lines converge—below the eye symbol—is a door. A bronze door of extremely ancient style, covered with strange cloud and thunder patterns…

Beside the door, a word was written in larger characters. Although the script was ancient, Xie Yuchen, Huo Xiuxiu, and even Wu Xie, who were present, vaguely felt that the structure of the character had a subtle commonality with certain symbols found in the Jingjue Kingdom and the Tomb of the King of Xian.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" stared intently at the pattern on the bronze door and at that word.

Their eyes instantly became incredibly deep.