Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The stone hall was completely silent, except for the clanging sound of the huge bronze chains retracting, echoing in the empty space before gradually ceasing.

The crimson light in the eyes of the eight bronze beast heads slowly faded, and the chains in their mouths tightened again. The flickering blue light at the bottom of the shaft also stabilized, but it seemed even brighter than before, and the energy fluctuations emanating from the wellhead were more clearly perceptible, carrying a heavy, unsettling "weight."

"The mechanism has been activated," Xie Yuchen said in a deep voice, staring at the chains and well opening, "but it seems to have only... 'awakened' some kind of monitoring mechanism, without directly opening a path down or releasing anything."

"Look there." Zhang Qiling pointed to the inner wall of the stone hall directly opposite the shaft. There, under the glow of the eerie blue light, a massive relief mural, previously obscured by light and dust, emerged from the seemingly smooth stone wall. The content of the mural was completely different from what they had seen in the passageway and stone chamber.

The group approached. The murals were divided into several layers, and no longer depicted scenes of sacrifice, war, or architecture, but rather a series of more personal, more... eerie images.

First level: A man dressed in ancient attire, his face blurred but his bearing dignified, stands before a high platform. On the platform rests a luminous, irregularly shaped crystal (somewhat similar to the blue light emanating from the shaft). The man extends his hands, seemingly touching the crystal. Many figures, their postures respectful, surround him.

The second layer: The man's figure appears in many different eras and scenes—leading his people on hunts, presiding over sacrifices, fighting enemies, studying ancient scrolls under lamplight… But his appearance remains largely unchanged throughout the images; only his clothing and backgrounds shift. Meanwhile, the figures around him change from youth to middle age, then to old age, and finally disappear, replaced by new, younger faces.

Third level: The man's figure began to grow lonely. He stood in the empty hall, no longer surrounded by his clansmen. He looked down at his hands, where fine, crack-like lines had appeared. Before him lay the luminous crystal, its light seemingly dimming.

Fourth level: The man gathered a group of his closest and strongest tribesmen. They held a secret ceremony. The man dripped his blood into a complex bronze vessel connected to a luminous crystal. Then, the tribesmen took turns stepping forward, seemingly receiving something.

The fifth layer: Those who underwent the ritual exhibited an extremely slow aging process in subsequent scenes. However, some of them began to show varying degrees of physical distortion and abnormality—some had skin that resembled tree bark, some had proliferating eyes, and some had disproportionate limbs. Only a very few appeared relatively "normal."

The sixth floor: The first man, the one who seemed to have achieved the longest "stagnation," is shown walking alone into the depths of a building (the building's outline somewhat resembles the Zhang Family Ancient Building), his figure disappearing into the darkness. Behind him, his mutated clansmen are depicted in various states: some are isolated, some struggle in agony, and some have transformed into monsters similar to the "Iron Corpse Guards" encountered earlier, bound by chains and placed in different corners of the building like guards.

Here, the murals become blurred and discontinuous, eventually blending into the texture of the stone wall itself.

Everyone was stunned. The story told in this mural was more direct and impactful than any written record.

"Immortality...?" Wu Xie's voice was hoarse. He looked at Zhang Qiling, then at "Zhang Qiling," trying to find the answer in their faces. "No, not immortality, but... halting aging? Using the power of that 'core'? But the price is... pollution and mutation?"

"This is one of the Zhang family's secrets," Xie Yuchen's voice was heavy with suppressed excitement, "using the energy, or rather the pollution, of 'nuclear' cells to gain lifespans far exceeding that of ordinary people. But this is not a blessing, it's poison. The first 'beneficiary' was probably one of the Zhang family's ancestors, who lived through countless years, watching generations of his clan rise and fall. Later, he tried to share or transfer this 'trait' to selected clan members, attempting to perpetuate the family's power, but the result... was the creation of more tragedies and monsters. Those 'Iron Corpse Guards' were probably failed experiments, transformed into the guards here."

"Look at the last part of the mural," Huo Xiuxiu pointed to the figure walking into the depths of the building, "this ancestor ultimately chose self-exile, or to enter the vicinity of the 'core' to conduct some kind of ultimate attempt or suppression. Below this shaft..."

"It's him," Zhang Qiling suddenly spoke, staring at the blurry face of the original man in the mural, then looking at the shaft with a complex expression. "Or perhaps, it's something he left behind... The source of the 'core' power may have been deeply integrated with him."

Zhang Qiling remained silent, his gaze falling on the mutated clansmen depicted in the murals, then sweeping over the figures that had turned into monsters. He slowly raised his bandaged hand. In the Qinling Mountains, when he destroyed the core guardian of the Ruins, he too had felt that violent and chaotic corrosive force. This so-called "immortality" power was essentially of the same origin as the pollution of that "core." The secret guarded by the Zhang family for generations was less a treasure and more an inescapable curse passed down through generations.

"So, the 'Zhang Qiling' who left the suicide note," "Zhang Qiling" continued, his tone calm yet tinged with understanding, "came here with the 'key' and the 'catalyst,' wanting to 'sever the root cause,' not only to stop the threat of the 'door,' but also to...end this curse. But he failed."

The levitating live-streaming sphere flew to the mural, and the camera slowly panned across the breathtaking images. After a brief pause, the live-streaming chat exploded with comments like "So that's how it is," "It's terrifying to think about," and "The Zhang family is so pitiful."

"Should we still go down this shaft?" Fatty Wang swallowed hard, looking at the bottomless well opening that emitted an ominous blue light. "If that old ancestor is down there... who knows what will happen to him."

"Go down," Zhang Qiling said, turning his gaze to the shaft with a determined look. "The 'key' and the 'catalyst' are both there. The method to 'cut off the root cause' might be down there. Or perhaps, the reason for the failure is also down there."

Zhang Qiling nodded: "Moreover, the fluctuations of the 'core' changed after the mural appeared. It became... a little more 'active.' As if it had been 'reminded'."

As if to confirm his words, the eerie blue light from the shaft flickered slightly again, and the low-frequency hum seemed to rise a pitch, carrying some indescribable "emotion".

"Look at the well wall," Ah Ning suddenly pointed to the edge of the shaft, where, with the flickering light, some smaller engravings that were originally hidden in the runes emerged, like some kind of scale or mark. "The contraction length of these chains is fixed. The eight beast heads may correspond to eight different 'paths' or 'depths.' What was activated just now was only the 'prepared' state of one of them."

Xie Yuchen carefully examined the newly emerged carvings and animal heads: "That's right. Each animal head has a slightly different shape, and the thickness and material of the chains in their mouths also seem to have subtle differences. This is likely a multi-layered, selective descent mechanism. It requires following a specific order or meeting specific conditions to unlock paths to different depths. We've only 'awakened' the system; we haven't chosen 'where' to go yet."

"Then how do we choose?" Wu Xie asked.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" walked to the activated, slightly unusually shaped beast head again. Zhang Qiling looked at the center of the beast head's forehead, where there was a very shallow indentation that matched the shape of the vortex in the center of the jade eye. He took out the jade eye and compared it.

"Use this," said Zhang Qiling, taking out the bronze compass. The compass needle was not pointing directly below the shaft, but slightly off-center, towards an inconspicuous side door on the side of the stone hall, half-hidden by a collapsed stone pillar.

"The compass isn't pointing to the bottom of the well?" Black Bear raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps the true core of the 'nuclear' is located in a branch underground," Zhang Qiling explained. "The compass is more sensitive to 'pure' energy sources or 'nodes' that are not severely contaminated. The main body underground may be severely contaminated and shielded."

"Let's check the direction the compass is pointing first," Zhang Qiling decided. "There might be crucial information, or... another 'key'."

The group turned to the side door. It was an ordinary stone door that opened easily with a gentle push, revealing a long, narrow, storage-like room filled with dust and scattered clutter. Inside were some rotten wooden shelves, broken pottery jars, and rusted tool parts.

In the innermost corner of the small room, on a dusty stone platform, sat an inconspicuous, dark-colored wooden box. The box had no lock and opened with a gentle touch. Inside, there were no mechanisms, only several ancient leather scrolls that were yellowed and severely brittle, and a palm-sized, deep purple, warm-to-the-touch jade plaque.

The jade plaque is rectangular with rounded edges. The front is engraved with the character "启" (Qi) in an extremely ancient script, while the back features a simplified, sharply styled Qilin (a mythical creature) riding on clouds. The jade plaque itself does not emit light, but when held in the hand, one can feel an extremely faint yet exceptionally pure and peaceful warmth, completely different from the violent and heavy energy fluctuations below the shaft.

Zhang Qiling picked up the jade tablet, his fingers tracing the character "Qi" and the Qilin pattern on it. A strange, almost blood-related familiarity washed over him. The jade tablet warmed slightly, resonating with the bronze compass in his arms. The compass needle trembled gently before finally pointing steadily at the jade tablet in his hand.

"This is... a token?" Xie Yuchen looked at the jade pendant.

"More than that," Zhang Qiling said slowly, sensing the information transmitted by the jade tablet, "it's a 'guide.' A pure 'guide.' Using this, combined with the 'key' (jade eye), we might... be able to locate the 'source point' within the 'core' that hasn't been completely contaminated, or... a safe path to approach it."

Zhang Qiling also picked up a leather scroll and carefully unrolled it. The writing on the scroll was even more ancient and obscure than that on the tortoise shell, but he seemed to be able to make out it with difficulty. What was recorded on it was not a final letter, but some fragments of methods on how to use specific tokens and bloodlines to stabilize the mind and discern direction in the polluted field of the "core," as well as... descriptions of the different levels and states of the "core."

"There's a way." Zhang Qiling put down the scroll, looked at the jade tablet in "Zhang Qiling's" hand, and then at the deep vertical shaft.

With a clearer method and a "starter," perhaps they really have a chance to confront the source of despair that has driven generations of "Zhang Qiling" to despair.

Back in the stone hall, standing by the well, Zhang Qiling took out the jade eye and gripped the jade tablet tightly.

The next step is to choose a path to the "source".

But the unknown awaits them beneath the surface.