Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

Time did not actually stand still.

That thrust, imbued with Zhang Qiling's full strength and spirit, was so fast that it exceeded the limits of retinal detection.

To the onlookers, all they saw was a blurry black line that flashed by in an instant.

Then came a soft "plop," an extremely faint sound, like the piercing of a ripe fruit.

The tip of the Black Gold Ancient Blade pierced precisely into the center of the monster's massive, throbbing, and chaotically glowing tumor on its chest.

The moment the needle pierced through, the light on the surface of the giant tumor suddenly froze.

It then began to flicker wildly, like a light bulb with a faulty connection.

The monster's massive body suddenly froze, its raised claws stopped in mid-air, and the red light flickering in its dark eye sockets also instantly stopped.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Only where the blade tip pierced the skin did a dark red, viscous, glue-like liquid slowly seep out and drip down along the blood groove on the blade.

One drop, two drops.

"Heh...heh..."

The monster made a gurgling sound from its throat, filled with disbelief and astonishment, and... a hint of indescribable, instinctive fear.

It seemed to want to look down at the knife in its chest, but its head only moved slightly.

Immediately afterwards—

"Bang!!!!"

A muffled, deafening roar, as if it had exploded inside a sealed container, burst forth from the monster's chest cavity!

Not from the outside, but from the inside!

The basketball-sized, dark red tumor had its internal structure completely destroyed and exploded the moment the knife tip pierced it!

The raging energy, now unrestrained, suddenly erupted!

The monster's chest, like a balloon inflated to its limit, suddenly bulged outwards and then burst open with a bang!

There was no bloodshed or carnage.

Only a large amount of viscous, dark red to black slurry, mixed with broken gelatinous material and fine, dark red particles like shattered crystals, sprayed out in a radial pattern in all directions!

Zhang Qiling, who was closest to the tumor, had already released his grip and discarded his sword the instant the tumor burst open.

As if pulled backward by an invisible hand, he flew back at a faster speed than when he pounced, landing lightly.

He only got a few drops of liquid on his body, which he casually brushed away.

At the moment of the explosion, "Zhang Qiling" touched the ground with his toes and floated back several meters to avoid the core area of ​​the splatter.

The monster's enormous body, like a skinned husk with its skeleton removed, swayed and then crashed to the ground with a deafening roar, kicking up a cloud of dust.

All that remained of its chest was a hole the size of a washbasin, with jagged edges, revealing charred and twisted tissue inside, as if it had been instantly carbonized by high temperatures.

Deep within the cavity, a faint, walnut-sized, dark red crystal fragment could be seen embedded in the charred flesh, having completely lost its luster.

The dark red veins and roots extending from the ground and walls seemed to have their power cut off the moment the giant tumor exploded.

The light went out instantly, and it quickly withered and died, turning into gray-black, lifeless, dry vines that drooped and broke off helplessly.

The deep, pulsating sound that had been constant inside the cave also abruptly stopped.

The overwhelmingly sweet and fishy smell in the air seemed to have faded somewhat, replaced by a burnt smell and an indescribable odor similar to burning protein.

Dead silence.

A few seconds later.

"Is it... over?"

Fatty Wang swallowed hard, his voice dry, breaking the silence.

The suspended live-streaming sphere slowly descended in height.

The camera focuses on the motionless corpse of the monster with a large hole in its chest, and the rapidly withering veins around it.

Then he turned to Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling," who stood with their swords sheathed, their breathing slightly rapid but their expressions calm.

And a black bear standing a little further away, posing with a transmitter in hand.

After a brief silence, the comments exploded like a volcanic eruption.

Won!

Holy crap! That stab! So cool!

The tumor exploded!

These guys are an unbeatable team!

That rocket launcher shot by Blackie was crucial!

All three of them are so handsome!

This battle is something even movies couldn't capture!

The way the guy abandoned his knife and retreated at the end was so cool!

The Spirit Awakener was also completely unharmed!

The monster is dead, isn't it? Completely dead, isn't it?

"He must be dead."

Xie Yuchen let out a long sigh of relief, and his hand, which had been tightly gripping the short stick, loosened, only then realizing that his palms were covered in sweat.

Huo Xiuxiu breathed a sigh of relief, but her gaze was immediately drawn to the dark red crystal fragment in the hole in the monster's chest.

"Look over there... isn't that fragment the remnant of this monster's 'core'?"

Wu Xie also looked at the fragment, then at the rapidly withering veins around him, lost in thought.

"It seems this giant tumor is the energy center and control core of the entire 'symbiotic system.' Destroying it will deactivate these pathways. But... is this fragment still of any research value?"

The moment the monster fell to the ground, Wang Cen's body suddenly leaned forward.

His eyes were fixed on the hole in the monster's chest and the fragment, his face showing undisguised ecstasy and greed.

He almost rushed over, but was gently pulled back by one of his men, which barely stopped him.

He took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down, and put on that gentle but fake smile again as he strode towards Xie Yuchen.

"Excellent! As expected of Mr. Zhang Qiling! And with Mr. Hei's firepower support, the coordination is flawless!"

Wang Cen's tone was full of admiration, but his gaze kept unconsciously drifting towards the monster's corpse.

"Now, the obstacle to the 'core' area has been cleared. We..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was coldly interrupted by "Zhang Qiling".

"It's not over yet."

Wang Cen was taken aback.

"What does Mr. Zhang mean?"

Zhang Qiling ignored him and walked to Zhang Qiling's side. The two of them looked together into the depths of the broken giant cocoon ruins.

Although the giant cocoon broke open and the monster emerged, there seemed to be still space inside the cocoon.

Moreover, the explosion and energy shock just now revealed some things that had been covered up before.

Zhang Qiling walked to the monster's corpse, bent down, and reached into the charred hole to pick up a walnut-sized, dull, dark red crystal fragment.

The fragment was warm to the touch, but there was no energy fluctuation; it seemed to be just an ordinary, oddly colored stone.

He glanced at it and casually tossed it to Wu Xie, who was walking over.

Wu Xie hurriedly caught it, finding it slightly heavy in his hand. After examining it carefully, he handed it to Huo Xiuxiu and Xie Yuchen beside him.

"The energy reaction has completely disappeared."

Huo Xiuxiu used an instrument to test it.

"The structure seems to have been destroyed, turning into an inert substance. It's probably... useless now."

Upon hearing this, a hint of disappointment flashed in Wang Cen's eyes, but he quickly concealed it and smiled:

"It's alright, the real 'answer' is definitely yet to come. We..."

"Mr. Wang."

Xie Yuchen interrupted him, his tone calm but distant.

"In the battle just now, our people contributed the most and bore the main risks. For the upcoming exploration, I hope we can cooperate more 'equally,' such as sharing information and sharing risks, instead of your people seemingly just standing by as before?"

He was referring to the three henchmen of the Wang family.

Apart from the one who was bitten to death by the corpse beetle at the beginning, the remaining three did not fire a single shot in the battle with the monster, and stayed in the back the whole time.

Wang Cen's expression changed slightly, but he immediately smiled and said:

"Mr. Xie misunderstands. Intervening in a battle of that level would only create more chaos. We will naturally devote all our efforts to the subsequent exploration. Assistant Zhou, please give Mr. Xie and his team a copy of the deeper exploration data regarding this site."

Assistant Zhou responded and retrieved some documents from his personal device, showing them to Xie Yuchen.

These are some more blurred scans of the spatial structure behind the giant cocoon.

The display shows what appears to be a narrow downward passage leading to a relatively open space at the end of the passage.

The energy readings inside were once abnormally high, but have now become very weak, possibly due to the destruction of the core.

"It seems the real secret lies below."

After reading it, Xie Yuchen looked at Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling".

Zhang Qiling nodded and walked towards the broken giant cocoon.

Zhang Qiling followed.

The group took a short rest.

I treated the minor abrasion and gave it some water.

Black Bear retrieved his launcher, muttering, "Just one shot, what a loss."

A Ning and Jiang Xun Gu cautiously observed the withered veins around them, confirming that there was no sign of revival.

Wu Xie, Huo Xiuxiu, and Xie Yuchen took the time to carefully examine the murals on the four walls of the cave once more.

Especially the part behind the giant cocoon that was previously hidden.

They discovered that on the rock wall directly behind the giant cocoon, a mural that had previously been covered by a gelatinous substance was now exposed.

Unlike other depictions of sacrifices and monsters, the content of this mural is more like a... "map" or "guide".

The image depicts a cave, a passage, and an object resembling a giant cocoon, outlined with simple lines.

Then, from behind the giant cocoon, a downward staircase extends.

At the end of the stairs is a simple, inverted triangle sign.

Next to the mark is an abstract symbol that appears to be composed of countless eyes.

"Is this... a sign leading to deeper levels?"

Wu Xie guessed.

"What do this inverted triangle symbol and this eye icon represent?"

"Eye symbol..."

Huo Xiuxiu frowned.

"In many ancient civilizations, the eye often symbolizes 'gazing,' 'omniscience,' or... 'gateway.' This inverted triangle looks a bit like... a pyramid? Or a simplified mountain?"

"uncertain."

Xie Yuchen shook his head.

"It could also be an identifier of some specific structure. Mr. Wang, in your previous explorations, did you discover any spaces at this depth that resemble pyramids or have any other special structures?"

Wang Cen leaned closer to look at the mural, then shook his head and said:

"Our exploration depth is limited, the structure below is very complex, and the interference is strong, so we don't have such a clear image. However, this eye symbol... I seem to have seen similar ones in some other ancient ruins rubbings, usually associated with 'peeping into mysteries' and 'forbidden knowledge.' It seems that the true secret of this ancient civilization is hidden below."

As he spoke, his eyes became eager again.

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" have cleared away the broken gelatinous material and withered roots behind the giant cocoon.

A dark, downward-facing cave entrance, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, was revealed on the rock wall behind.

The edges of the cave entrance show obvious signs of artificial excavation, rough but neat, and there is also a steep stone staircase extending downwards.

A cold, dry wind, carrying a faint smell of dust, slowly blew out from below the cave entrance.

It was completely different from the sweet, fishy, ​​and burnt smell inside the cave.

"This is it."

Zhang Qiling shone his flashlight on it.

The stone steps descended for only a dozen or so steps before turning a corner, disappearing into the distance.

"Shall we go down?" Black Bear asked.

"Down."

Zhang Qiling's words were concise and to the point.

He walked to the edge of the cave first, but did not go down immediately.

Instead, he listened intently for a moment and then reached out to feel the wind direction.

Then he took a step and stepped onto the downward stone steps.

"Zhang Qiling" followed closely behind.

Xie Yuchen looked at Wu Xie and the others.

"Stay close, keep your distance. Fatty, watch your step."

"rest assured!"

Fatty Wang took a deep breath and gripped his entrenching tool tightly.

Wu Xie and Huo Xiuxiu took one last look at the eerie murals and the fallen monster corpses in the cave before turning around and following.

A Ning, Jiang Xun Gu, and Hei Xia Zi entered in turn.

Wang Cen and his three men exchanged glances and quickly followed, seemingly afraid of being left behind.

The levitating live-streaming ball flew into the hole, and the light dimmed again.

The camera pans down steep, narrow, and gloomy stone steps, and in front of it are the steady backs of Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling".

The live chat was still buzzing.

We've gone down! There's even deeper going on!

That eye symbol looks really weird.

The old man from the Wang family had a strange look in his eyes.

With Zhang, who is mute, leading the way, I felt completely safe.

What is it this time?

The stone steps are long, spiraling downwards, and the slope is very steep.

On both sides are rough rock walls, without any decoration, only watermarks left by time.

The air grew increasingly cold and dry, carrying a musty, earthy smell.

After walking for about five minutes, Zhang Qiling's calm voice came from ahead.

"That's it."

The group descended the last few steps one by one and arrived at a relatively open platform.

The platform is circular, with a diameter of about ten meters.

The ground was made of flat bluestone slabs, polished to a very smooth finish.

In the center of the platform stands a black stone tablet about half the height of a person.

There are no words on the stone tablet, only a clear eye symbol made up of countless fine lines, exactly the same as the one on the mural.

On the rock wall directly opposite the platform, there is a tightly closed, heavy stone door.

The stone gate is about three meters high and two meters wide. It is made of neither gold nor stone, and has a dark bluish-gray color. Its surface is covered with extremely complex reliefs.

The content of the reliefs is no longer the wild priests and monsters from outside.

Instead, it was a vast, incomprehensible star map, and countless interwoven lines that seemed to represent the flow of energy.

In the center of the star chart, there is a distinct, recessed palm print.

The size and shape of the palm print...

Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" both focused their gazes on the palm print.

Then, without prior arrangement, the two of them raised their right hands.