Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The villa was quiet at night.

The study door was closed, but the light was still on. Xie Yuchen and Huo Xiuxiu were still studying the things they had brought back from the underwater tower.

Fatty Wang was doing a plank on the living room carpet. His face turned red as he counted, and he collapsed after counting to twenty, panting like a bull.

"No... I can't take it anymore... I need to rest for a bit..."

Wu Xie sat cross-legged on the sofa, a laptop on his lap, organizing his notes from the recent trip to the Xisha Islands. He pushed up his glasses and glanced at Fatty.

"Only twenty seconds? Fatty, your core strength needs improvement."

"You...you come here!" The fat man rolled over, lying on his back. "All you do is make sarcastic remarks!"

Black Bear, who was wiping his sunglasses with a soft cloth, chuckled upon hearing this: "Fatty, perseverance is key to victory. Look at Zhang Men, the mute, he's probably practicing his kung fu in his room right now, unlike you, who acts like doing a plank is a death sentence."

Ah Ning is inspecting a new bundle of climbing ropes. Jiang Xun Gu is reading a book about ancient mechanical arts. Aunt Chen is preparing ingredients for tomorrow's breakfast in the kitchen.

Everything was normal.

Zhang Qiling sat on a chair by the window in his room. The window was half open, and the night breeze blew in, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees from the courtyard. In his hand, he held the black bone fragment engraved with symbols of a door and a kneeling figure, his fingertips unconsciously stroking its cool surface.

The main lights in the room were off, with only a small nightlight by the bedside casting a soft glow.

It's very quiet.

It was so quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat and the faint sound of blood flowing through my veins.

This quietness made him a little uneasy. It felt like something was missing.

After a while, he realized that something was missing.

The floating live-streaming ball that was constantly buzzing, flashing red light from time to time, and hovering above or beside us is gone.

After leaving the Xisha Islands and returning to this villa, he turned that thing off and put it in the bedside drawer.

He remembered how he got it. It was given to him by someone from the government, someone named Xie... Xie something. He had just woken up not long before, his mind was a mess, filled only with fragmented memories that weren't his own, and a cold voice telling him what to do.

Playing the role of Zhang Qiling.

To become Zhang Qiling.

Then live on and find the answer.

The live-streaming sphere was both a quest item and a surveillance camera. At first, he didn't think much of it and just left it on. But after a few tombs, it kept following him, buzzing around, which became a bit annoying. But he got used to it after a while and just treated it as background noise.

But now, back in normal life, having this thing flying overhead all day, taking pictures of him eating, sleeping, or spacing out, feels really in the way.

trouble.

So he closed it. He put it in the drawer. He'll take it out again next time he needs to get out of bed.

Anyway, the authorities have already seen and learned what they needed to know through previous visits to places like the Qinling Mountains, Jingjue, and the tomb of King Xian. With Wen Jingshan's group killed in King Xian's tomb, the official situation will probably quiet down for a while.

He doesn't need to be watched all the time.

Zhang Qiling looked at the bone fragment in his hand.

Gatekeeper.

When I saw that word in the tower, something inside me was touched. It was blurry, like looking through frosted glass. But that heavy, familiar feeling, as if etched into my blood, and... a sense of destiny, lingered.

He is not Xie Linyuan.

At least not entirely.

Xie Linyuan's memories were hazy, like a faded dream. In the dream, he was an ordinary person, living in a completely different world—a world without ancient tombs and monsters, only mundane daily tasks and tedious work. Then, he woke up as Zhang Qiling. His mind was filled with many fragments of memories that didn't belong to Xie Linyuan—about tombs, about mechanisms, about those ancient and obscure characters and symbols, about the instinct for fighting and survival, and… about a silent, enormous bronze door.

And a cold voice told him he had to keep playing the role until he found the "ultimate".

Playing a role?

Sometimes he wonders if he's playing Zhang Qiling, or if Zhang Qiling is himself? His fighting instincts, his ability to find his way around, his intuition about the dangers of the ancient tomb, and the sense of familiarity that flashes through his mind when he sees certain symbols—none of these seem like things that can be "acted out."

Just like this piece of bone in my hand, the moment I see it, I know what it is and what it represents.

It felt strange. It was like being a guest living in someone else's body, yet knowing everything about that "other person" and even being able to use their abilities freely.

Qinling.

That was the first time. He was accompanied by officials, the loud and boisterous fat man Wang Kaixuan, and the seemingly dull scholar Wu Xie. The tomb was cold and gloomy, full of traps and those things called "puppets." Solving them wasn't too difficult. At that time, the identity of "Zhang Qiling" was still new, and he had to constantly remind himself what to do and what to say. Fortunately, "Zhang Qiling" was naturally a man of few words and a stoic expression, so silence was enough most of the time.

Jingjue Ancient City.

The Ghost Cave, the Serpent God, the Black-haired Serpent, and that eerie eye curse. There were a few more people this time: Xie Yuchen, Huo Xiuxiu, and Hei Xiazi. The group was more complex, but the goal was clear. It was also in Jingjue that I first clearly saw that eye symbol, along with clues about the "Muchen Pearl" and immortality. From that moment on, it seemed like more fragments of the Bronze Gate appeared in my mind.

Tomb of King Xian.

Deep in the mountains, poisonous miasma, corpse beetles, six-winged centipedes, golden-armored corpse kings, and the Muchen Pearl that was ultimately crushed. That time, they completely parted ways with the official team. Wen Jingshan's group died, and Lin Guoce and his group went back. On their side, they gained A Ning, and... "Zhang Qiling".

Upon thinking of "Zhang Qiling," Zhang Qiling paused in his act of rubbing the bone fragment.

This person appeared very suddenly. Alone in the mountains outside the tomb of King Xian, he was taciturn and exceptionally skilled. The moment I saw him, I had a strange feeling. It wasn't hostility, nor was it complete familiarity, but rather a kind of…kindness. Later, we went into the tomb together, fighting side-by-side, our understanding as seamless as if we had known each other for many years.

Zhang Qiling also seemed to have lost many memories, but like himself, he had an instinctive understanding of certain things. They rarely talked about the past, communicating more with their eyes and gestures. But that unspoken trust and tacit understanding made him feel... less lonely.

The underwater tomb in the Xisha Islands.

This was the most recent one. The underwater wonders of Wang Zanghai, the bronze tower, the observation room, and the murals and jade slips revealing the secrets of the "gatekeeper" and the bronze gate. This time, the information obtained was the most abundant and also the most somber. That tower, those images, and Wang Zanghai's final fears and choices all point to a deeper, darker mystery.

Each tomb raiding is like piecing together a giant jigsaw puzzle without blueprints. Each time a piece is found, more missing parts are revealed, along with an even larger and more blurred overall outline.

Qinling Mountains, Jingjue, Xianwang, Xisha.

There are other names mentioned in the document... Seven Star Lu Palace, Cloud Top Heavenly Palace, Snake Swamp Ghost City... those places may also hide fragments.

He has to go.

I have to go.

It wasn't for official purposes, nor for any mission.

It was for himself. To figure out who he was, where he came from, and where he was going. To understand what those fragments of the Bronze Gate in his mind really meant. To find the "ultimate" that the cold voice spoke of.

And... for the people around me.

Wu Xie, Fatty, Xie Yuchen, Hei Xiazi, Xiu Xiu, A Ning, Jiang Xun Gu, and "Zhang Qiling".

They trusted him, followed him, and entrusted their lives to him.

He has to keep them alive and find the answers.

The bone fragment spun around on my fingertip.

Gatekeeper...

If those murals and records are real, and if being a "gatekeeper" is a responsibility passed down through generations, then what role do I and "Zhang Qiling" play in this tradition?

The amnesiac gatekeeper?

Or... is it the gatekeeper who has run into trouble?

Very light footsteps sounded outside the door, stopping at the entrance. There was no knocking, nor did they leave.

Zhang Qiling raised his eyes and looked towards the door. He could tell who it was from their voices.

A few seconds later, the footsteps quietly disappeared, heading towards the next room.

It is "Zhang Qiling".

He probably can't sleep either, or he's thinking about the same thing.

Zhang Qiling put away the bone fragments, got up, and walked to the window. The moonlight in the courtyard was beautiful, and the shadows of the trees swayed gently. In the distance, the city lights shone brightly, a world that was both familiar and strange to him.

Xie Linyuan's world.

Zhang Qiling's world.

Now, it's all his world.

Whether it's an acting role or a fusion of two different characters, he is Zhang Qiling. He will not miss a single path, responsibility, or mystery.

The live stream will resume next time we go to the tomb.

Right now, he just wants to be alone for a while.

Length of night.

The road too.