Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

It was early morning, just as dawn was breaking.

The villa was still quiet. Only the slightest noise came from the kitchen, as Aunt Chen prepared breakfast.

Zhang Qiling opened his eyes and looked at the faintly bright sky outside the window. He got up, changed into a black tracksuit, and quietly opened the door.

In the corridor, Zhang Qiling's door opened at the same time. He was also dressed in a black tracksuit, his hair a little messy.

The two exchanged a glance, said nothing, and went downstairs one after the other.

The air in the courtyard was fresh, carrying the scent of dew. The two began to stretch in a corner, their movements light and almost silent. Leg presses, stretches, slow punches, footwork. It was less of a workout and more of a silent ritual.

About twenty minutes later, there was the sound of a window being pushed open upstairs. It was Wu Xie's room. He rubbed his eyes and peeked out. He was stunned when he saw the people in the courtyard, then he shrank back inside.

A little while later, Fatty Wang, still half asleep, shuffled into the living room in his slippers. Seeing Wu Xie already sitting on the sofa wiping his glasses, he yawned.

"Getting up so early? That's not like you, so naive."

"I was woken up by the birds." Wu Xie put on his glasses. "What about you? Aren't you practicing your skills today?"

"Keep practicing!" the fat man exclaimed with renewed enthusiasm. "But we need to eat first. Food is essential for life; you'll get hungry if you skip a meal. Aunt Chen, what's for breakfast?"

"Fried dumplings, millet porridge, side dishes," came Aunt Chen's voice from the kitchen.

"Alright!" The fat man rubbed his hands together and strolled around the living room. He saw the exercise equipment in the corner, kicked it, and said, "This thing looks tiring."

Black Bear also came down, his sunglasses already on, his hair neatly combed. He walked to the window and looked at the two people doing their morning exercise in the yard.

"Tsk, those mute Zhangs are really disciplined. Fatty, learn from them."

"I can't learn that," the fat man slumped on the sofa. "That's innate talent. I, Fatty, take the path of accumulating knowledge and experience before unleashing my full potential."

"Is it just fat that's accumulated?" Wu Xie flipped through today's newspaper.

"Hey! Looking for a beating, huh?"

Everyone arrived at breakfast. The pan-fried dumplings were golden and crispy, and the millet porridge was thick and sticky. The side dishes were refreshing and delicious.

Xie Yuchen and Huo Xiuxiu had slightly dark circles under their eyes, but they seemed to be in good spirits. It looks like they stayed up very late last night again.

"Any new discoveries?" Wu Xie asked.

"There are some," Xie Yuchen said, taking a sip of porridge. "Wang Zanghai's star map algorithm and the leather map we obtained from the tomb of the Prince of Xian correspond at certain nodes. Especially Changbai Mountain and Tamutuo, where the overlap is very high. It seems that these two places are indeed key nodes."

"So, what are we going to do next?" Jiang Xun Gu asked.

"No rush," Xie Yuchen shook his head. "These nodes may have existed for a very long time, and the situation is complex. We need more thorough preparation and more accurate intelligence. Going there rashly would be too risky."

"So what are we going to do all this time?" Fatty Wang stuffed a fried dumpling into his mouth. "Just eat and sleep all day long?"

"You can continue practicing your horse stance and push-ups," Black Bear laughed, "and try to climb up the cliff by yourself next time you go down into the tomb."

"Absolutely!" the fat man puffed out his chest, then suddenly remembered something, "Oh right, what about that little buzzing ball? I haven't seen it for the past couple of days?"

He was referring to the suspended live broadcast ball.

A moment of silence fell over the table. Several gazes, seemingly casually, turned towards Zhang Qiling.

Zhang Qiling was picking up a side dish when he heard this. Without stopping, he put the dish into his bowl and then said calmly, "Put it away."

"You put it away?" The fat man was taken aback. "Why? Did it run out of power?"

"It's too noisy," Zhang Qiling said, lowering his head to continue drinking his porridge.

Zhang Qiling nodded in agreement.

"Is it noisy?" The fat man scratched his head. "I think it's okay. Sometimes I can even chat with the viewers in the live chat."

"You've chatted with the comments?" Wu Xie asked in surprise.

"Of course!" the fat man said proudly. "Once, when I sneezed, someone in the chat said, 'Take care of yourself, Fatty,' and I even replied, 'Thanks for your concern!' Even though they couldn't see my reply."

Everyone was speechless.

"With that thing running, I always feel like someone's watching me," Black Bear shrugged. "It's better to put it away; it'll be quieter. Anyway, we're not in the tomb right now, so there's no need to livestream our daily life."

"That's true," Xie Yuchen smiled, "Some things are better known by fewer people."

That was the end of that topic. Everyone continued eating.

After dinner, Xie Yuchen and Huo Xiuxiu returned to the study. A Ning said she was going to the city to replenish some special equipment and made a list. Jiang Xun Gu said he wanted to familiarize himself with the surrounding area and went with A Ning.

Fatty Wang did thirty push-ups in the yard, panting heavily, and announced that he had completed his training for the day. Then he went back inside to shower and change.

Wu Xie was reading in the living room. Hei Xiazi found a sturdy branch under the big tree in the yard and started doing pull-ups. His form was perfect, and he did more than twenty in one go without even breaking a sweat.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" sat down at the stone table at the other end of the courtyard. Zhang Qiling took out the black bone fragment and placed it on the table. "Zhang Qiling" also took out something—the bone fragment with door and little figure symbols engraved on it, which he had taken from the bronze table in the observation room.

The two bone fragments were almost identical, except that Zhang Qiling's was a darker color.

The two looked at the bone fragments without saying a word.

After a while, "Zhang Qiling" picked up his piece and pointed to the kneeling figure on the bone fragment with his finger.

"Us," he said.

Zhang Qiling looked at him and slowly nodded.

"Guard the gate," Zhang Qiling said again.

"Um."

"Many places."

"Um."

"I'm going."

"Um."

The conversation was brief, but packed with information. It meant that they might be the "gatekeepers" symbolized on the bone fragments, and there was more than one such "gate" and place that needed to be guarded. They had to go to them one by one.

Zhang Qiling put away the bone fragments and looked towards the distant city. After a moment of silence, he said, "There were probably many people here before."

Zhang Qiling understood what he meant. In the past, there might have been many "gatekeepers" like them, forming families or groups, guarding the gates for generations. But now, it seems that only a few like them remain, and they have all lost their memories.

"Something's happened," Zhang Qiling said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Zhang Qiling nodded.

The two fell silent again. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting shimmering spots of light on the stone table.

At noon, A Ning and Jiang Xun Gu returned, bringing several boxes filled with replenished equipment and supplies. Fatty Wang volunteered to help organize them, actually wanting to see what new gadgets were inside.

"What's this?" He picked up a palm-sized object that looked like a flashlight but was more complicated.

"A high-intensity strobe light," Ah Ning took it, "with a specific frequency, it can interfere with some monsters that sense things through light or bioelectricity. It can also be used underwater."

"What about this one?" The fat man picked up another metal cylinder.

"Compressed air signal flares are waterproof and can be reused three times," Jiang Xungu explained.

"High-class!" The fat man's eyes lit up.

In the afternoon, Hei Xiazi somehow produced a deck of cards and pulled Wu Xie, Fatty, and Jiang Xun Gu aside, saying they wanted to play cards. A Ning was inspecting new equipment. Xie Yuchen and Huo Xiuxiu were still in the study.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" were on the small terrace on the third floor of the villa. The view from there was expansive, overlooking most of the villa area and the distant mountains.

Zhang Qiling leaned against the railing, gazing at the clouds on the horizon. Zhang Qiling sat in a rattan chair beside him, closing his eyes to rest.

It's very quiet.

Then Black Bear's voice came from the courtyard downstairs: "Mute Zhang! Come down and play a couple of rounds? We're one short!"

Zhang Qiling didn't move. "Zhang Qiling" glanced down and shook his head.

"Fine, don't come then!" Hei Xiazi didn't mind and continued playing cards with Wu Xie and the others, their laughter occasionally drifting up.

"Zhang Qiling" turned to look at Zhang Qiling and suddenly said, "He talks too much."

Zhang Qiling opened his eyes, looked at the noisy group of people downstairs, and gave an almost imperceptible "hmm".

"Noisy." Zhang Qiling added.

"I'm used to it," Zhang Qiling said.

Zhang Qiling thought for a moment and nodded. Indeed, although it was noisy, the liveliness wasn't unpleasant. It was even somewhat... reassuring.

This at least shows that everyone is still alive and can still laugh and joke.

In the evening, Aunt Chen prepared a delicious meal. There was braised pork, which Fatty loved; steamed fish, which Wu Xie enjoyed; and a stew that Xie Yuchen had specially requested. Of course, roast chicken was also included.

At the dinner table, Hei Xiazi suddenly suggested, "I say, we've been living here for a while now, just wandering around the yard every day, aren't you bored? How about we go out for a walk tomorrow? There's a new shopping mall that opened in the city, I heard it's quite big."

"Go shopping?" Fatty Wang's eyes lit up. "Any good food?"

"Of course there is, in the food court!"

"I'll go!" the fat man immediately raised his hand.

"I'll go too," Wu Xie said, "I can buy a few changes of clothes."

"Let's go together," Jiang Xun Gu said, also showing interest.

Xie Yuchen and Huo Xiuxiu exchanged a glance. Xie Yuchen smiled and said, "We won't go. We still have some data to organize. You two go ahead and be careful."

Aning said she wasn't interested.

Hei Xiazi looked at Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling": "Gentlemen, how about we go and see what life is like in the mortal world?"

Zhang Qiling was picking up food when he heard this and paused. Shopping? This term was unfamiliar to him. He looked at "Zhang Qiling".

Zhang Qiling also looked at him, a rare hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Come on, come on," the fat man encouraged, "Just think of it as a way to clear your head! It's so boring staying cooped up all the time!"

Wu Xie looked at them expectantly.

Zhang Qiling was silent for a few seconds, then nodded.

Seeing him nod, Zhang Qiling nodded in response.

"Alright!" Black Bear clapped his hands. "It's settled then! We'll set off tomorrow morning after breakfast!"

That evening, Wu Xie packed his things for the next day in his room. It wasn't much—just his wallet, phone, and keys. He was a little excited, a little curious. Going shopping with Xiao Ge and the others? The thought was a bit hard to imagine.

In the next room, Zhang Qiling stood by the window. The lights in the courtyard downstairs were already on, and insects were chirping.

shop.

He hadn't done anything like this, purely "living," in a long time. When was the last time he did something like this?

I can't remember.

My mind was filled with nothing but tomb passages, traps, monsters, battles, and those heavy secrets.

Occasionally doing this... seems like a good idea.

At least, it can cheer up the scholar in the next room who always has nightmares, and that loud and boisterous fat guy.

He walked back to the bedside, took out the levitating live-streaming ball that had been turned off from the drawer, glanced at it, and then put it back.

I won't bring this tomorrow.