Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The bronze staircase spirals downwards, seemingly without end.

Each step was damp, condensed with water droplets, and exuded the distinctive, aged metallic smell of bronze. The walls on either side of the stairs were smooth bluestone, devoid of any decoration, only bearing the winding marks left by the long-term erosion of water. The deep blue light shone up from below, casting shimmering, dim halos on the slippery steps and walls.

The air grew increasingly stifling, carrying a strange, ozone-like yet sweet and pungent smell of decaying vegetation. The pulsating sound of the "nuclear core" became more tangible here, no longer a simple heartbeat, but more like a rhythmic, low-frequency hum that made one's internal organs tremble slightly.

The faint whispers that had been echoing earlier became clearer, but the content was still indistinguishable. It was just a series of indistinct syllables, with some ancient rhythm, drilling into the ears and making one feel uneasy.

The group descended in silence. The sounds of footsteps, breathing, and the rustling of equipment, mixed with the buzzing and whispers, seemed exceptionally faint. The flashlight beams appeared pale and weak against the eerie blue background.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" walked at the front. Their steps remained steady, but their brows were slightly furrowed. The further they went, the stronger the pull of their bloodline and the oppressive feeling of the "core" became, as if two invisible forces were pulling and squeezing them.

The invisible radiation and whispers emanating from the "nuclear" permeating the air are also constantly trying to interfere with their minds, requiring more effort to shield and resist them.

"This noise..." Fatty Wang panted heavily from behind, wiping the sweat from his face, "It's giving me a headache... It's like a monk chanting sutras in my ear, but I can't understand a word..."

"Calm down," Black Bear walked ahead of him, his voice relatively calm, but his expression behind his sunglasses was somewhat unnatural. "Don't listen, don't think. Treat it like the wind."

"Easy for you to say..." the fat man muttered, but still tried to regulate his breathing.

Wu Xie followed closely behind Zhang Qiling, enduring his discomfort and trying to observe his surroundings. The stairs seemed endless, but the surrounding temperature, humidity, and the speed at which water droplets condensed on the walls were all subtly changing.

He noticed that the bronze at the edges of some steps appeared to be a darker color than elsewhere, as if it had been soaked in some kind of corrosive liquid for a long time.

We walked down for about ten more minutes. The stairs finally came to an end, connecting to a relatively wide, horizontally extending stone passageway. The sides of the passageway were no longer smooth stone walls, but rather rows of tightly closed, ancient-style stone doors.

Above the stone gate, there are some luminous pearls the size of pigeon eggs that have lost their luster, emitting an extremely faint fluorescent light that is the same as the blue light below, barely illuminating the passageway.

The air in the passageway circulated a bit more, and the sweet, fishy smell faded somewhat, but a new odor of stale dust and rotting wood remained. A faint blue light emanated from the end of the passageway, growing brighter.

"This way." Zhang Qiling responded and pointed to the left side of the passageway. The strongest pull came from that direction.

The group entered the passageway. Thick dust covered the ground, each step leaving a clear footprint. The stone gates on either side stood silently, unmarked, with only traces of rust on their hinges.

Just as the group reached the middle of the passageway, Zhang Qiling, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped. He slightly raised his hand, signaling for silence.

Almost simultaneously, an extremely faint "rustling" sound, like countless tiny segments scraping against the stone wall, came from the darkness ahead. The sound was dense, approaching rapidly from afar.

"Something's coming," Ah Ning said in a low voice, raising her crossbow instantly. "There's a lot of it."

Zhang Qiling listened intently and added, "Not big. Fast. On the walls, on the floor, there are."

As soon as the words were spoken, a black tide suddenly surged forth from the eerie blue glow ahead! It was a torrent composed of countless fist-sized, jet-black spider-like creatures with eerie dark blue patterns on their backs, densely packed compound eyes, and sharp mouthparts! They moved swiftly, their eight long legs rapidly slicing across the walls and ground, emitting a chilling rustling sound, as they charged straight at us! Dust was stirred up wherever they went.

"It's a Ghost-Faced Spider!" Xie Yuchen shouted sharply. "A common guardian creature in ancient tombs, it prefers damp places, carries neurotoxins, and lives in groups! Don't get bitten!"

Faced with the swarming spiders, Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" did not move. They simply stood still, observing calmly.

These things are numerous but pose little threat individually, so they don't need to be dealt with.

"Fatty, step back!" Black Bear shouted, and he darted out like a cheetah! He had somehow acquired two specially made short-handled scythes with fine serrated blades in his hands. The blades were dark and did not reflect light under the dim blue light.

He charged directly into the vanguard of the spider swarm, his twin scythes swirling like two black whirlwinds! Wherever he passed, the attacking spiders were shredded, their viscous, dark green fluid splattering and emitting a pungent, sour stench. His movements were swift, precise, and ruthless, targeting the spiders' relatively vulnerable thorax-abdomen junction and compound eyes with extreme efficiency, leaving almost no wasted motion.

Ah Ning wasn't idle either, firing her crossbow in rapid succession! Specially made arrows with small explosive devices on their tips whistled out, not aimed at individual spiders, but at the ground and walls in front of the densest swarm of spiders!

"Bang bang bang!"

Several muffled thuds followed, and the exploding arrows released blinding flashes of light and a pungent, acrid odor! The bright light instantly blinded the compound eyes of the leading spiders, causing them to become disoriented, while the pungent odor made them instinctively retreat and turn away. The spider swarm's momentum faltered, and their formation crumbled.

Jiang Xun stood guard in front of Wu Xie, Xie Yuchen, and Huo Xiuxiu. In his hand, instead of a knife, he held a specially made, retractable metal rod with a high-voltage electric shock device at the tip. He spotted a few spiders trying to flank him from the side, distracted by the bright light and smell. With a single strike, the rod flashed blue light, and the spiders twitched and fell to the ground, emitting wisps of blue smoke.

This time, Fatty Wang didn't back down either. He swung his entrenching tool, flattening several spiders that had managed to get close to the web, cursing under his breath, "Damn it, they're really ugly!"

The battle was brief but intense. Black Bear moved like a ghost through the spider swarm, cutting through everything in its path. Ah Ning's precise shooting and explosive arrows controlled the situation, Jiang Xun Gu filled in any gaps, and Fatty Wang guarded the rear. In just two or three minutes, this astonishingly large wave of Ghost-Faced Spiders was almost completely wiped out, with only a few remaining fleeing in panic back into the darkness.

The passageway was filled with a strong, sour and burnt smell, and the floor and walls were covered with spider remains and slime.

Black Bear shook the dirt off his short sickle, walked back to the group, slightly out of breath but with a smile on his face: "It's been a long time since we've had this much activity. The sheer number of these little things is quite impressive."

Ah Ning checked the crossbow quiver: "Seven explosive arrows were used. But it was worth it, avoiding the risk of close combat."

"Well done," Xie Yuchen said with a sigh of relief.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" then stepped forward, treading on the mess on the ground. They made no comment on the battle they had just fought, but "Zhang Qiling" gave a barely perceptible nod as he passed Hei Xiazi.

A levitating live-streaming sphere hovered above the passageway, recording the clean and efficient defensive battle. A green light swept across the spider corpses scattered on the ground and the various expressions on the faces of the people present. The live chat scrolled rapidly:

Prophet: Blackie is so cool! That scythe he wields is amazing!

A masterstroke against so-called experts: Sister Ning's explosive arrows are brilliantly used!

Jiang Xun Gu has equipment: The new guy's equipment is pretty professional.

Fatty didn't let us down: Fatty did well this time!

The mute Zhangs didn't make a move: these small fry don't need the big shots to intervene.

After passing through the chaotic passageway, the view suddenly opened up. A bright, deep blue light shone forth.

They arrived at a huge, circular stone temple.

The stone hall was far larger than anything they had seen before. Its dome-shaped ceiling was covered with faded, blurred, and barely legible murals of a giant star map. Eight colossal stone pillars, each requiring several people to encircle, were carved with reliefs of coiled dragons (or similar dragon-like creatures), supporting the dome. The surfaces of the pillars also emitted a faint blue glow, clearly indicating the presence of special fluorescent minerals.

At the very center of the stone hall was a massive, bottomless circular shaft. The shaft was over ten meters in diameter, its walls smooth, metallic-lustered dark blue stone, covered with densely packed, intricate runes and patterns. The eerie blue light emanated from the depths of this shaft, illuminating the entire stone hall.

The heavy, low-frequency hum and faint whispers clearly originated from beneath this shaft. At the edge of the wellhead, the air distorted slightly, as if invisible waves of heat were rising.

Along the edge of the shaft, eight uniquely shaped bronze animal heads are evenly distributed. Each animal head holds a thick, heavy bronze chain in its mouth, with the other end of the chain hanging taut into the deep shaft, seemingly connected to something below.

On the edge of the shaft, directly facing the direction from which the group had come, stood a black stone tablet about half a person's height. The tablet bore no inscription, only a simple yet expressive carving of a Qilin with its eyes closed.

"This is it," Zhang Qiling said, walking to the edge of the shaft and looking down. Deep blue light illuminated his serene profile. "'The core' is down there. Very deep."

Zhang Qiling walked to the well and reached out to gently touch the Qilin stone tablet. The tablet was cold to the touch, but the moment his fingertips touched it, a very faint, almost resonant, vibration emanated from it. At the same time, the jade eye he kept close to his body and the bronze compass in "Zhang Qiling's" arms both emitted a slight tremor and warmth.

"Should we go down?" Wu Xie swallowed hard, looking at the bottomless, ominous-looking vertical shaft. The energy fluctuations and oppressive feeling emanating from the wellhead instilled an instinctive fear in him.

Zhang Qiling did not answer immediately. He walked slowly along the edge of the shaft, his gaze sweeping over the eight bronze animal heads and the hanging chains, and then carefully examining the runes on the well wall. Finally, he stopped in front of one of the animal heads, which looked slightly different from the others, more ferocious, and the chain in its mouth seemed thicker.

He reached out and placed his hand on the center of the beast's forehead.

Zhang Qiling also walked over and placed his hand on the beast head's chin.

Both of them closed their eyes at the same time.

A few seconds later, two crimson lights suddenly shone from the empty eyes of the beast's head! At the same time, the thick chain in its mouth suddenly tightened upwards, making a loud "clattering" sound of metal scraping against metal! The chain became even tighter and even trembled slightly.

The eerie blue light below the shaft flickered and faded a few times, as if something had been disturbed.

The levitating live-streaming sphere flew above the shaft, its camera focused on the deep, ever-changing light at the bottom. The green light appeared insignificant against the intense, eerie blue glow.

The viewers in the live chat were once again stunned by this sight.

A new challenge is about to begin.