Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The platform was deathly silent.

Only the pool of dark red liquid, emitting a pungent stench, hissed softly on the bronze floor, emitting a few wisps of smoke as it slowly solidified. The massive, corroded, and fragmented bronze skeleton lay askew in the solidified liquid, like a collapsing evil totem.

Zhang Qiling stood rooted to the spot, his head slightly bowed, his chest heaving more than usual. The bloodstains on his shoulder, where his clothes had been torn, had stopped bleeding, but they stood out starkly against his black attire. His right hand remained in the same stabbing position, dark red stains clinging to his fingertips, gleaming eerily in the pale blue fluorescent light.

"Little...Little Brother..." Wu Xie was the first to react. His voice was dry. He wanted to rush over but hesitated, afraid that the thing on the ground might still be dangerous.

"It's nothing." Zhang Qiling raised his head, his face slightly pale, but his eyes remained calm. He shook his right hand, took out a water bottle from the side pocket of his backpack, poured some water to rinse the stains on his hands, and then quickly treated the wound on his shoulder.

"Holy crap..." Fatty Wang finally found his voice. He carefully moved out from the inside of the platform, touched the hardened slurry shell on the ground with his toe from a distance, looked at the grotesque skeleton, and finally looked at Zhang Qiling, his fat face trembling. "Brother... you... you're going to take out a heart with your bare hands? No, take out that thing... is that a heart inside? That's too brutal!"

Black Bear whistled, his eyes behind his sunglasses scanning Zhang Qiling up and down: "Not bad, mute Zhang. That big guy looked tough enough, and you just went head-to-head and punctured it? That last hit looked painful."

"It's not a head-on collision," Zhang Qiling said, having somehow arrived beside the wreckage. He crouched down, using the tip of his dagger to probe the broken skeleton and solidified crust, examining it closely. "We've found the parasitic node of the 'core.' The outer shell is hard, the inside is rotten. One strike will kill."

He looked up at Zhang Qiling, and their eyes met. "Zhang Qiling" nodded without saying anything, but there was a hint of approval in his eyes.

"Is that the bronze corpse mentioned in the jade disc, transformed by 'nuclear' contamination?" Xie Yuchen also came over, looking at the remains with a solemn expression. "Judging from the degree of corrosion and the residual energy fluctuations... the contamination is very deep, and it may have existed for a very long time. It was just 'activated' by our intrusion, or by the blood sacrifice activation mechanism earlier."

Huo Xiuxiu used a portable instrument to check the residual energy readings in the air, her brow furrowed: "The readings are still slowly decreasing, but... the background radiation level in this area is at least three times higher than when we first came in. It's all from what escaped when that thing died. The contamination from this 'nuclear' is more troublesome than we thought."

Ah Ning walked over to Zhang Qiling and handed him a roll of clean bandage and a small bottle of disinfectant spray. "The wound needs treatment. That thing's fluids might be corrosive or contain unknown toxins."

Zhang Qiling took it, whispered "thank you," and went to the side to treat his wound.

The live stream sphere hovered above the platform, the camera successively focusing on the battle wreckage, Zhang Qiling silently tending to his wounds, the discussing crowd, and finally giving a close-up of the dark staircase above the platform. After a delay of several seconds, the live stream chat was flooded with comments like a tsunami:

Prophet: We won! He smashed it with his bare hands! This guy is invincible!

This will silence any so-called experts: Look at the skeletal structure, this thing was definitely not human in life!

My crush is this guy: My husband is injured! I'm so heartbroken! My husband is so handsome! Absolutely stunning!

Archaeology newbie: The speed and power of that finger strike just now... is that something a human could do?

The sunglasses are the real thing: Blackie is right, it looks painful. Is the guy's hand okay?

Tree Spirit Run! This live stream is getting more and more fantastical... but I like it!

Protecting the best mute Zhang: The other guy is so handsome too! He looks so calm and analytical!

Qi Ling Fan Club President: Double fan overjoyed! Perfect teamwork! Fighting side by side!

Did the fat guy lose weight today? The fat guy is so timid yet cute, hahaha!

Innocent Young Master: Wu Xie is so worried about Xiao Ge, what a brotherhood!

Hua'er Ye looked at me: Boss Jie and Xiuxiu are so professional!

Ah Ning, my goddess: Sister Ning is so thoughtful!

The scrolling comments were so fast they were impossible to see, and various gift effects were flooding the screen, instantly propelling the live stream to the top of the platform for the day. The server even experienced slight lag.

"Tsk tsk, Zhang the Dumb, you're famous now." Hei Xiazi glanced at the floating live stream ball. Although he couldn't see the comments, he could imagine the frenzy over there. "From now on, you'll have to wear sunglasses when you go out. Oh no, I mean, you'll have to wear a mask."

Zhang Qiling finished bandaging himself, glanced at Hei Xiazi expressionlessly, and didn't say anything.

"Alright, stop joking," Xie Yuchen interrupted Hei Xiazi, his expression serious. "The bronze corpse will be dealt with, but we must heed the warning from the jade disc. The 'Core of the Pillar' is an absolute taboo that must not be touched. Moreover, that thing just came down from above..."

He looked up into the darkness where the spiraling staircase disappeared. "Up there, it might be closer to the 'core,' or there might be other guards. We must be extremely careful."

"Should we go back up?" Fatty Wang looked at the wreckage on the ground with lingering fear, then looked up. "What if another one comes... or something even more powerful?"

"Let's go," Wu Xie pushed up his glasses, his face still a little pale, but his tone was firm. "We're already here, and the information in the jade disc mentions that 'key merging' will be dangerous. We need to figure out what the 'key' actually refers to, whether it's the jade eye we have, or what else can 'merge' with it. If we don't figure it out, we'll never know where the real danger lies."

“Yes,” Zhang Qiling stood up, kicked aside a large piece of plaster, revealing a small, dark-colored metal sheet that wasn’t completely corroded. He picked it up, looked at it, and handed it to Xie Yuchen. “There are words on it.”

The metal piece was small, resembling a fragment of some kind of armor, with irregular edges. One side was rough, while the other side was engraved with several extremely distorted and illegible ancient characters, with dark red stains remaining in the strokes.

Xie Yuchen and Huo Xiuxiu immediately huddled together and used their flashlights to carefully examine the object.

"This script... is even older than the one on the jade disc," Huo Xiuxiu whispered. "It seems to be an earlier variant of bronze script, mixed with pictorial elements. The first character... looks like an eye, pierced by something. The second character... is it 'door'? The third... is it 'sacrifice'? Or 'blood'?"

"Eyes, door, blood sacrifice..." Xie Yuchen pondered, "It might be describing some kind of ritual. Using a specific 'eye' (possibly referring to a token like a jade eye) as a medium, a blood sacrifice is performed in front of the 'door' to achieve a certain purpose... Combined with the jade disc's warning, 'When the key and the door are joined, the crack will open'..."

He suddenly looked up at Zhang Qiling: "Brother, the jade disc says that 'the key must be combined' to open the crack in the door. This fragment says 'eyes, door, blood sacrifice.' Could your jade eye be part of the 'key'? And it needs another part, and... specific blood, to 'combine' and truly open that 'crack in the door'?"

Zhang Qiling silently took out the unified jade eye. The warm, smooth jade shimmered with a restrained luster under the pale blue glow, and the swirling symbol at its center seemed unfathomable. He looked at it for a few seconds, then looked at "Zhang Qiling".

Zhang Qiling also took out the black bone fragment. Under the same light, the door and the little figure symbols on the bone fragment seemed to become clearer.

"Perhaps," Zhang Qiling said. He lowered his jade-like eyes and looked up at the steps. "The other part might be up there."

"It could also be an even bigger trap," Zhang Qiling added.

"Even if it's a trap, we have to step in and see." Black Bear cracked his knuckles. "We're already here, we can't go back empty-handed. Besides, that mess down there," he pointed to the wreckage and congealed slurry on the ground, "probably won't block the way back. We can only go up."

Fatty Wang sighed, resignedly slung his backpack back over his shoulder, and checked his entrenching tool: "Fine, I'm risking my life to keep you company today. But let's make it clear, if we encounter another big guy like that, we need to plan ahead, instead of always leaving Little Brother to take the lead alone."

Wu Xie patted him on the shoulder: "Don't worry, Fatty, if anything happens, we'll definitely be there together."

"Who wants to fight alongside you?" the fat man retorted defiantly. "I'm talking about tactics! Tactical coordination!"

The levitating livestream ball flew back to the front of the group, the camera focused on the deep, dark staircase above. The chat was still flooded with comments, but the content was shifting towards anticipation and anxiety about what would happen next:

The prophet said: "It'll go even higher! It'll definitely be more dangerous up there!"

A solution to the experts' dissent: One key in one? What is the other key?

The guy's fan club: Honey, be careful! Don't get hurt again!

Archaeological obsession: The information on that metal piece is crucial! Looking forward to its deciphering!

After treating his wounds, Zhang Qiling put his backpack back on. He walked to the edge of the platform, looked up at the sky, and then glanced back at the crowd.

"Walk."

Zhang Qiling walked to his side, stood shoulder to shoulder with him, and took the lead in stepping onto the stairs to continue upwards.

Their figures once again disappeared into the boundless, eerie blue glow emanating from the bronze pillar and into the eternal darkness above.