Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The next morning, sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains.

Fatty Wang was the first to rush into the restaurant, sniffing like a dog: "Smells good! Aunt Chen, what's for breakfast today?"

Aunt Chen came out carrying a large tray with golden, crispy fried dough sticks, snow-white soy milk, several side dishes, and boiled eggs. "Mr. Xie said everyone might want something home-style, so I prepared these."

"Good, good, good!" The fat man rubbed his hands together, sat down, grabbed a fried dough stick and took a bite. "This is still the best! All those fish and shrimp from the sea get greasy after a while."

Wu Xie walked in yawning, his glasses slightly askew: "Fatty, can you eat a little quieter? I could hear you smacking your lips on the stairs."

"I'm just showing respect for the food!" the fat man mumbled, taking another swig of soy milk. "Unlike you, you eat like a cat, without making a sound, and it doesn't taste good at all."

"That's civilization, don't you understand?" Wu Xie sat down, picked up a fried dough stick, and slowly tore it apart to eat.

"Can civilization feed you?" The fat man rolled his eyes, then turned to Blackie, who had just entered. "Brother Blackie, don't you think so?"

Black Bear, wearing sunglasses and looking quite energetic, said, "If you ask me, eating should be enjoyed to the fullest. But Fatty, you're making a lot of noise, like a pig rooting in its trough."

"Hey! You two are teaming up to mess with me, aren't you?" the fat man glared.

At this moment, Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" walked in one after the other. Both of them had finished washing up, their hair was slightly damp, and they were wearing simple black T-shirts and trousers. They sat down quietly at the other end of the table, each served themselves a bowl of soy milk and two fried dough sticks, and began to eat quietly.

"Look at those guys," the fat man pointed at them, "how quietly and elegantly they eat! That's a role model!"

Wu Xie was speechless: "Who was it that just said we should eat heartily?"

"I'm just being lenient with myself, but strict with my role models!" the fat man said matter-of-factly.

Zhang Qiling glanced at the fat man, said nothing, and continued eating his fried dough sticks. "Zhang Qiling" simply pretended not to hear and focused on peeling his eggs.

After breakfast, Xie Yuchen and Huo Xiuxiu went to the study on the third floor to organize and study the data they brought back from the underwater tomb. A Ning was wiping and maintaining her crossbow in a corner of the courtyard. Jiang Xun Gu found a pair of dumbbells somewhere and started practicing in the yard.

Fatty Wang slumped onto the living room sofa, rubbing his stomach and groaning, "I'm full, I don't want to move. Tianzhen, what are we doing today?"

"What can you do?" Wu Xie asked, sitting next to him flipping through an old magazine. "Just lie around and gain weight?"

"You can't say that," the fat man sat up, his eyes darting around. "I think, after this terrifying underwater ordeal, I've realized that just having a ton of fat isn't enough; you also need real skills. Look at those guys, their moves are so cool! Blackie's not bad either. I'm thinking, maybe I should start training too?"

"What are you training? How to eat more?" Wu Xie asked without looking up.

"Get lost!" the fat man kicked him. "I'm serious! What kind of kung fu should I learn? Tai Chi? Slow and gentle, suitable for someone as steady as me. Or Hung Kuen? Powerful and imposing!"

"Why don't you practice sumo?" Black Bear strolled in and chuckled upon hearing this. "You don't even need to practice, just go straight to the ring."

"Hey Blackie!" the fat man wailed, "Can't you give me some constructive advice?"

"Constructive advice..." Black Bear stroked his chin, his sunglasses turning to Ah Ning, who was quietly cleaning her crossbow in the courtyard. "You asked Ah Ning to teach you archery? A perfect shot, impressive!"

The fat man glanced at the gleaming arrow in Ah Ning's hand and shrank back. "That thing is too delicate; it's not suitable for a rough guy like me. And what if it hits one of our own... that would be terrible."

"Then let's find Jiang Xun Gu to learn military boxing?" Hei Xiazi pointed to Jiang Xun Gu, who was lifting dumbbells in the yard.

"I know his tricks," the fat man scoffed, "They're nothing new. If you're going to learn something, learn the ultimate move, the kind that defeats the enemy in one strike!"

Wu Xie finally put down the magazine, pushed up his glasses, and said, "Fatty, I suggest you start by losing weight. Look at you... this burden, it diminishes the power of any martial arts skill you possess."

"Losing weight? Are you kidding me!" The fat man patted his belly. "This is divine fat! It's stored energy! It can save your life in a pinch! Look at those masters in the movies, aren't they all ethereal and otherworldly, but in the end they're starving? With this body of mine, I can go hungry for three days straight!"

"I can go without food for three days without any problem," Black Bear said leisurely, "but I'll be out of breath after running three steps."

"I..." The fat man was choked and couldn't speak.

At this moment, Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" came downstairs, seemingly heading to the courtyard. As they passed the living room, the fat man's eyes lit up, and he jumped up to block their way.

"Hey bro! Spirit Master! Wait a minute!"

The two stopped and looked at him.

The fat man rubbed his hands together, his face beaming. "Hey, can we talk about something? You guys, we're brothers who've been through thick and thin together now, right? I'm not really that skilled, just a lot of strength. Your moves are so cool! Could you... give me a little pointers? Just one or two moves, something that can save my life in a pinch!"

Zhang Qiling looked at him, remained silent for two seconds, and uttered two words: "Basic".

Zhang Qiling added: "Physical fitness."

"Basic skills? Physical fitness?" The fat man was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"It means you need to improve your physical fitness first," Wu Xie translated, "run around, jump rope, and refine your fat... uh, your body fat."

"Running? Jumping rope?" The fat man's face fell. "Isn't that something little girls do?"

"Then push-ups? Pull-ups?" Black Bear grinned wickedly.

The fat man imagined himself doing pull-ups and shuddered. "Anything... gentler?"

Zhang Qiling stopped talking and walked past him into the courtyard. "Zhang Qiling" followed, and as he passed the fat man, he casually said, "Practice horse stance."

After saying that, the two of them went out.

The fat man stood there, stunned: "Horse stance? That's traditional kung fu... but isn't it tiring?"

"You must be tired," Black Bear patted him on the shoulder, "but Fatty, if you can hold a horse stance for half an hour without changing your expression, I'll treat you to roast chicken for a month."

"Really?" The fat man's eyes lit up.

"I'll be your witness," Wu Xie said, raising his hand.

"Alright! For the roast chicken... no, for getting stronger! I'll give it my all!" The fat man rolled up his sleeves, walked proudly to the corner of the yard, got into a fighting stance, and assumed a horse stance.

It was okay at first, but after five minutes, my legs started shaking. After ten minutes, I started sweating. After fifteen minutes, my face was flushed red, and I was swaying precariously.

"Go...go for it..." Wu Xie said, trying not to laugh.

"It's...it's alright..." the fat man squeezed out the words through gritted teeth.

At this moment, Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" were at the other end of the courtyard, having found two bamboo poles as thick as a wrist, and were practicing together. There were no fancy moves, just the simplest thrusts, jabs, sweeps, and parries, but the speed was extremely fast, the bamboo poles whistling through the air, the movements clean and crisp, with a sense of rhythm.

The fat man stared wide-eyed, momentarily forgetting his sore legs.

"What are you looking at?" Black Bear squatted down next to him. "That's decades of training. You should get your stance on the ground first. Hey, your leg's shaking. Sink down! Draw your qi into your dantian!"

"I...I'm calm!" the fat man gritted his teeth and insisted, but his eyes still couldn't help glancing in that direction.

They practiced for about twenty minutes before stopping. Their breathing was steady, and they hadn't even broken a sweat. They put the bamboo poles back in their place and went to the tap by the yard to wash their hands.

As he passed by the fat man, the fat man was almost at his limit, his whole body looked like he had been pulled out of the water, and his legs were shaking like a leaf.

Zhang Qiling glanced at him but didn't speak. Zhang Qiling paused, looked at the fat man's contorted expression and trembling legs, and said briefly, "That's enough."

"Is...is it okay?" The fat man, as if granted a reprieve, plopped down on the ground, panting heavily. "How...how long?"

"Twenty minutes," Wu Xie glanced at his watch. "Not bad, Fatty. You managed to last twenty minutes for the first time."

"Only twenty minutes?" the fat man wailed. "It feels like a lifetime!"

"Take your time," Zhang Qiling said, shaking the water off his hands.

That was encouraging. The fat guy suddenly felt his legs weren't so sore anymore, and he chuckled sheepishly, "Then I'll continue tomorrow!"

At lunchtime, the fat man had an unusually good appetite and ate three bowls of rice. While eating, he boasted about his "feat" of practicing the horse stance.

"You didn't see it, Fatty's lower body is as stable as Mount Tai! My Qi is concentrated in my dantian, I'm as immovable as a mountain! Even the young man said I'm good enough!"

"Yes, yes, you're good now," Wu Xie put a piece of pork rib on his plate. "This is a reward for you. We'll continue tomorrow."

"Absolutely!" the fat man mumbled, gnawing on a rib. "Once I've mastered my skills, I'll lead the charge when we go into tombs! I'll protect you all!"

"Then you should be able to keep up with us and walk without getting out of breath first," Ah Ning interjected casually.

The fat man choked for a moment, then said awkwardly, "Miss Aning, please give me some face..."

Everyone laughed.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" ate quietly, occasionally glancing at the noisy dining table, their lips curving into an almost imperceptible smile.

After finishing their meal, Xie Yuchen and Huo Xiuxiu came down from the study, looking somewhat tired, but their eyes were bright.

"A discovery?" Wu Xie asked.

"There are some," Xie Yuchen sat down, rubbing his temples. "Wang Zanghai's star chart notes are very profound, but combined with the three-dimensional patterns on the metal plate, we've roughly figured out some of them. He was indeed trying to use an ancient feng shui and astrological algorithm to deduce and locate multiple 'nodes' associated with the 'Bronze Gate.' The Xisha underwater tomb is one, the Xianwang tomb might be another, and there's also Changbai Mountain, Tamutuo... those places we see on the walls of the observation room should all be important nodes he calculated."

"What are these nodes for?" Jiang Xun Gu asked.

"It might be like an anchor point," Zhang Qiling suddenly spoke up, "to stabilize the 'channel,' or... to distribute the pressure."

Zhang Qiling nodded: "The door can't be opened, but we need to observe it. The node is the observation hole."

The analogy was very vivid. Everyone understood it.

"Wang Zanghai spent his entire life building a vast observation network," Huo Xiuxiu continued. "He wanted to understand the nature of that 'door' and its impact on our world. He might even... have wanted to find a way to harness its power without completely opening the door."

"Immortality?" Fatty Wang asked.

"He might be one of them," Xie Yuchen said gravely, "but looking at his last notes, he grew increasingly terrified. It seems the closer he got to the truth, the more he realized it was an abyss from which there was no turning back once touched. So he chose to imprison himself, to watch over it for eternity."

A silence fell over the study. Even a man like Wang Zanghai ultimately chose the most conservative and desperate course of action. Just how terrifying was what lay behind that door?

"What do we do next?" Wu Xie broke the silence.

"Continue the research," Xie Yuchen said, "and clarify the locations, connections, and potential risks of these nodes. Then... we need to decide whether to continue the investigation or stop here."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling".

The two looked up almost simultaneously, their gazes calm yet resolute.

"We need to investigate," Zhang Qiling said.

"Hmm." Zhang Qiling nodded.

The answer is self-evident.

In the afternoon, everyone found something to do. Wu Xie organized his notes in his room, meticulously recording his experiences at the underwater tomb in the Xisha Islands. Fatty kept his promise and practiced horse stance in the courtyard for another twenty minutes, this time with a bit more stability. Hei Xiazi and Jiang Xun Gu were sparring. A Ning was adjusting her communication equipment.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" disappeared again. Later, Wu Xie found them on the small terrace on the top floor of the villa. The two sat side by side, looking at the outline of the city in the distance, without saying a word, just sitting quietly.

As the sun set, the two returned to the living room. Just then, Aunt Chen brought out a plate of freshly baked walnut cookies, their aroma filling the air.

The fat man was the first to rush over, grabbing two pieces. He scalded them and tossed them back and forth in his hands, not forgetting to hand one to "Zhang Qiling": "Brother Qiling, have a taste, they're fresh out of the oven, so fragrant!"

Zhang Qiling looked at the walnut pastry handed to him, paused for a moment, took it, and said softly, "Thank you."

Zhang Qiling also took a piece and ate it quietly.

Looking at this everyday scene, Wu Xie suddenly felt that those heavy secrets and unknown dangers didn't seem so scary anymore.

As long as these people are still together.