Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

A ten-minute break is as short as the blink of an eye.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" silently tended to their injuries. Their charred arms were bandaged, their movements still steady, but their slightly pale faces and fine beads of cold sweat on their foreheads revealed their inhuman endurance. The others also quickly drank water, treated their wounds, and reorganized their dwindling equipment. The atmosphere was oppressive; no one spoke, only heavy breathing and rustling sounds echoed in the confined space.

The levitating live-streaming sphere was completely destroyed; the lens was shattered, and the indicator lights were off. Like a hollowed-out eyeball, it lay quietly in the corner. This, in turn, added a strange and unsettling silence to the secret room, as if the constant, external surveillance that had been hanging over their heads had finally disappeared, leaving only themselves and the eerie bronze pillar buried deep underground.

"Time's up." Zhang Qiling stood up, stretched his bandaged right hand, and frowned almost imperceptibly for a moment before quickly regaining his composure. He slung the backpack containing the jade box over his shoulder, sheathed his black and gold ancient sword, and picked up the high-powered flashlight with his left hand.

Zhang Qiling also stood up, carefully putting the bronze compass away from his body, his black straight sword in hand. He glanced at Zhang Qiling, then scanned the crowd of people in various states. "Those who can still move, stay close. Those who can't, speak."

"I can walk, I can walk!" Fatty Wang quickly got up, patted his butt, and although his legs were still a little weak, he said defiantly, "I'm just taking a strategic rest!"

Wu Xie also stood up, leaning against the wall, adjusted his askew glasses, and took a deep breath: "I'm fine too."

Xie Yuchen, supporting the still-weak Huo Xiuxiu, nodded to "Zhang Qiling." A Ning and Jiang Xun Gu also signaled that they were ready. Hei Xiazi gave the bandages under his ribs a final check, grinned, and said, "Let's go, mute Zhang, you lead the way, I'll cover the rear."

The team regrouped. Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" were the first to leave the secret chamber and step back onto the now empty, spiraling bronze staircase outside. The staircase still bore the remnants of the battle—deep claw marks, shattered metal, and the splattered dark red liquid that had congealed and turned black. The acrid smell of burnt blood still lingered in the air.

But the chilling sense of oppression and being watched from below the abyss had indeed vanished. Only a deep, oppressive darkness remained, seemingly capable of absorbing all sound and light. The eerie blue glow emanating from the bronze pillars steadily illuminated the nearby area, but ten meters below, the light was completely swallowed by the darkness.

They pressed themselves against the cold pillar wall, cautiously descending. Each step was taken with utmost care, as if afraid that slippery bloodstains might still remain on the steps, or that unknown dangers lurked in the darkness below. Zhang Qiling held the compass in his hand, its needle pointing firmly downwards.

Spiraling downwards, we had covered about a third of the distance we had climbed upwards. The surrounding temperature began to rise noticeably, no longer the biting cold, but a dull, warm dryness with a hint of heat. The metallic rust and ozone smells in the air faded, replaced by a more primal, more... "heavy" aura, as if countless years and the "weight" of some immense being had settled here.

The reliefs on the surface of the bronze pillar have also changed here. No longer are the twisted, tormented human figures and eerie eyes, but rather more abstract and grander patterns—swirling nebulae, cracked earth, erupting lava, and… countless slender rays of light, all pointing in the same direction, emanating from the depths of the nebula, the fissures in the earth, and the cores of the lava. The endpoint of all these rays converges at a certain point beneath the pillar.

"Are they describing... the origin of the 'door'? Or the arrival of 'contamination'?" Wu Xie looked at the patterns and guessed in a low voice.

"Yes," Zhang Qiling nodded, "Disaster and...gift are one."

"To gain power also brings destruction," Zhang Qiling added. His gaze fell on the beams of light that shot towards a single point from all directions, his eyes deep and unfathomable.

They descended several dozen meters more. The steps seemed to have reached their end. Ahead, the base of the bronze pillar connected to some kind of massive, dark, non-metallic pedestal below. The pedestal appeared to be a huge, natural rock, artificially shaped, its surface covered with intricate grooves and holes. Deep within those grooves, a faint, extremely weak, dark red light pulsed slowly, like the veins of a sleeping behemoth.

The area where the base of the giant pillar meets the rock base is breathtaking.

There, no longer was a smooth bronze wall, but a chaotic scene that was both "melted" and "solidified," defying description. Bronze, rock, and a large amount of dark red to black material, resembling both cooled lava and solidified blood scabs, twisted, fused, and multiplied together in a way that defied the laws of physics, forming a "combination" with a diameter of over twenty meters, constantly and slowly pulsating, like a giant heart or tumor.

The surface of the composite was covered with large, vein-like protrusions, from which flowed a dark red light. Countless tiny, translucent, gelatinous "things," similar to the previous "copper-hearted caterpillar" but even smaller, were densely packed on the surface of the composite, undulating slightly with the pulsation of the light, as if... sucking, or coexisting.

"The core of the pillar..." Xie Yuchen's voice was hoarse, filled with barely suppressed horror, "This is the core of the contamination... Bronze, ley lines, mutated life energy... and things from the 'Gate'... all entangled together..."

"Is this where the compass is pointing?" Zhang Qiling looked at the compass in his hand, the pointer pointing straight to the center of the pulsating, massive conglomerate.

"Where's the exit?" Fatty Wang's face turned green. "This thing looks weird. Is the exit inside? Or do we have to blow it up?"

"Look over there." Ah Ning suddenly pointed to the side of the composite structure, near the rock base. There, amidst a patch of twisted and proliferating material, there was an irregular "depression" about the height of a person, with relatively smooth edges, and it seemed as if a slight flow of air was emanating from it.

"Is it a passage?" Jiang Xun Gu squinted.

"It might be... a fissure," Zhang Qiling observed, "a natural crack in the rock, which has been... blocked or utilized by this thing."

Zhang Qiling had already walked to within a few meters of the combined entity. He didn't approach, but simply watched the slowly pulsating, extremely unsettlingly massive presence. A peculiar "field" permeated the air, causing the old mark on his wrist to heat up slightly, and also causing vague ripples to spread through the fragmented memories of the Bronze Gate in his mind.

He slowly raised his bandaged right hand, palm facing the center of the composite. He closed his eyes, as if sensing something.

Zhang Qiling did the same. The two stood side by side, silently.

The others dared not disturb them, watching them nervously while also warily observing their surroundings. The translucent gelatinous substance clinging to the surface of the composite seemed to sense the approach of strangers, stirring slightly but not detaching itself.

About a minute later, Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" opened their eyes at the same time and lowered their hands. They looked at each other and saw a hint of understanding and a deeper solemnity in each other's eyes.

"Very weak," Zhang Qiling said, "but... still 'breathing'."

"It resonates with the fluctuations of the 'door,'" Zhang Qiling added. "This is... an 'anchor point,' and also a 'wound.' Pollution seeps out from here, and it also... welds this place shut."

"So, this thing is connected to that 'door'?" Black Bear frowned. "Then we're right next to the door now?"

"Sort of," Zhang Qiling said, looking at the depression. "The crack might lead to... somewhere else. Not behind the 'door,' but... another 'anchor point,' or a way out."

"Shall we take a gamble?" Fatty Wang asked Zhang Qiling.

Zhang Qiling didn't answer immediately. He looked again at the pulsating mass, his gaze sharp as a knife, as if trying to pierce through the nauseating surface to see what lay deep within. After a few seconds, he slowly shook his head.

"Don't touch it. Go around it."

He pointed to the indentation on the side of the assembly. "Go past it. Be careful not to touch those 'things'."

Zhang Qiling nodded in agreement.

The group took a deep breath and began cautiously making their way around the side of the composite structure. The "ground" beneath their feet was no longer bronze steps, but rough, uneven rock mixed with solidified foreign matter, some parts of which were slippery. They had to cling tightly to the cold, rugged rock wall, moving sideways, inching their way towards the depression. At their closest point, they were only two or three meters away from the pulsating composite structure covered in gelatinous parasites, and the stench of rust, blood, decay, and an indescribable sense of mental oppression was almost suffocating.

Those translucent gelatinous substances seemed to sense their life force, wriggling more noticeably. Some even extended thin, tentative tentacles, but when they were still half a meter away from them, they seemed to be blocked or deterred by some invisible force, slowly retracting.

Was it the shared, yet fiercely menacing aura emanating from Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling"? Or was it the intimidating presence of the two ancient black-gold swords and jet-black straight blades in their hands, both stained with the blood of countless evil creatures? No one knew.

Finally, they reached the edge of the depression. The depression was pitch black; it was indeed a naturally formed rock fissure extending diagonally downwards, varying in width. At its narrowest point, one had to tuck in their stomach and turn sideways to pass through. A weak but steady stream of air blew out from deep within, carrying the scent of moisture and earth, a stark contrast to the stale, oppressive air behind them.

"It's a way out!" Wu Xie's spirits lifted.

"Go in." Zhang Qiling bent down first and crawled into the crevice. "Zhang Qiling" followed closely behind, illuminating the way for the people behind him.

The crack was longer and more winding than I had imagined. The rock walls were slippery and covered with dark green moss. The air grew increasingly fresh and humid, and I could even hear the faint, murmuring sound of flowing water.

After walking for about ten minutes, the view ahead suddenly opened up, and the sound of water became clearer.

They emerged from the crevice and reached the edge of an underground river. The water was pitch black, its depth unknown, and the current gentle. The riverbanks were rough rock, and overhead stood a towering natural cave ceiling covered with stalactites, interspersed with luminescent fungi that provided a faint light source. The air was cool and moist, carrying the unique fresh scent of an underground river.

"We're out?" Fatty Wang looked around in disbelief. "We...we're out of that godforsaken place?"

"It should be another underground water system leading deep into the mountains," Xie Yuchen observed the environment. "That fissure was probably formed during geological changes, connecting the huge cavity where the bronze pillar is located to this underground river. It was blocked by the 'core of the pillar,' but now we've gone around it."

"Look there!" Huo Xiuxiu pointed to the opposite bank of the river, where she could vaguely see man-made steps leading upwards and disappearing into the darkness. "There's a path!"

"Let's get out of here first," Zhang Qiling glanced at the crack they came from, then sensed the surroundings to make sure there was no danger. "Let's follow the river and find a dry place to rest. Compass."

Zhang Qiling took out a bronze compass. At this moment, the pointer on the compass that had originally pointed to the "core of the pillar" had completely stopped and no longer pointed in any direction. The other pointer, which had been pointing to the "exit," was now steadily pointing upstream of the underground river in front of them.

"Go up," Zhang Qiling said.

The group walked upstream along the edge of the underground river, stepping on slippery stones. Everyone was exhausted and covered in wounds, but the relief of surviving the ordeal and the hope of finding a way out sustained them and kept going.

No one looked back at the deep crack. It was as if they wanted to leave behind for the moment the bronze pillar filled with eyes, the kneeling terracotta figures in agony, the twisted core guardian, the heart-like "core of the pillar," along with the desperate warning on the jade wall, the cruel records on the metal plate, and the endless darkness and secrets behind the "gap" and "immortality."

But everyone knows that some things, once seen, can never be truly forgotten.

Some roads, once embarked upon, can never truly be turned back.

The underground river murmured softly, as if whispering, or perhaps bidding farewell.