Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The night in the mountains is so quiet that you can hear your own heartbeat.

Zhang Qiling stopped at the edge of a precipice. Below was a deep, dark valley, its bottom invisible. A night wind blew up, carrying a damp, chilly air.

He glanced at the opposite bank. It was more than thirty meters away.

Take a few steps back, run up, accelerate, and take the last step at the edge of the cliff, leaping forward.

The black figure traced a clean arc in the moonlight. In the instant of descent, its right foot lightly touched a slightly protruding rock on the cliff face, using only a tiny bit of leverage to propel itself upwards again, floating forward. Its left hand flashed out like lightning, grabbing a withered vine extending diagonally from the opposite cliff face, using the momentum to swing and land steadily on the opposite edge.

The movements were clean and silent. Upon landing, the knees were slightly bent to dissipate the impact, and the person stood still.

He glanced back at the deep valley and continued on his way.

There was no path, so he traversed the forest. Beneath his feet lay a thick layer of humus, soft and silent underfoot. Sometimes, when he encountered steep slopes, he didn't detour but used both hands and feet, making it seem like flat ground. He would dig his fingers into the crevices of the rocks, exert force, and pull himself upwards, climbing to the top of the slope in a few leaps.

The lightness skill beneath his feet wasn't a display of skill, but simply the most efficient way to travel.

When hungry, one sharpens a branch with a dagger, stands quietly by the stream for a moment, and with lightning speed, stabs a swimming fish. Or, upon spotting a wild rabbit in the forest, one strikes it precisely with a pebble. A fire is lit, the rabbit is cooked, eaten, and the traces are buried.

He hardly spoke, nor did he need to. The mountains and forests were his best companions, and also his harshest test. But he had grown accustomed to it.

He had two hundred and thirty yuan left. He didn't touch it. He wouldn't need the money until he reached a populated area.

At night, he would find a sheltered, dry place to rest. Leaning against a rock or a large tree, his black and gold ancient sword would rest across his lap, and he would close his eyes to relax. He was a light sleeper, and the slightest sound would wake him instantly.

Those names would occasionally surface in his mind. Wu Xie, Fatty Wang, Hei Xiazi, Xie Yuchen, Huo Xiuxiu… He remembered the names, but their faces seemed to be behind a layer of frosted glass. Sometimes he would try hard to remember, but the harder he tried, the clearer the feeling of forgetting became.

He stopped thinking about it.

Just head southwest.

In a quiet teahouse in the city.

A faint scent of sandalwood filled the room. A young man sat behind a tea tray, his long, slender, and fair fingers slowly brewing a pot of aged Pu'er tea. He wore a light pink silk shirt, the top button undone, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing his well-defined forearms. His features were refined, his skin fair, yet his gaze held a maturity and detachment beyond his years.

He is Xie Yuchen. Others have called him "Xiao Hua" (Little Flower), but he prefers to be called "Master Xie".

The door to the tea room was pushed open, and two people walked in.

A tall man, wearing round sunglasses that obscured most of his face, had a habitually nonchalant smile playing on his lips. His gait was somewhat relaxed, yet his steps were remarkably steady. A black, tight-fitting T-shirt accentuated his well-defined muscles, along with camouflage cargo pants and high-top military boots. He was Hei Xiazi (Black Bear).

The other was a young woman, around twenty years old, wearing a well-tailored beige casual suit, her long hair tied back in a neat ponytail. She had bright features, clear eyes, and an air of scholarly refinement, yet her brows also hinted at a capable and efficient nature. She was Huo Xiuxiu.

"Master Hua, what refined taste you have." Black Bear pulled out a chair and sat down, casually picking up a cup of freshly poured tea. He smelled it, then downed it in one gulp. "Tsk, good tea. But you didn't come to see us at this hour just to drink tea, did you?"

Xie Yuchen didn't look up, continuing to serve tea: "Did you apply for the official recruitment for the 'Seven Star Lu Palace'?"

"I've reported it." Black Bear shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do. Besides, I'm a bit interested in that place."

Huo Xiuxiu sat down, took the teacup from Xie Yuchen, thanked him, and then said, "I reported it too. The information says that the tomb may be related to the ancient shamanistic culture of Southwest China and early longevity worship. My grandmother... used to collect some fragments of this kind of information."

Xie Yuchen looked up at her: "I've heard a little about Old Madam Huo's collection. This time, perhaps it will confirm some things." He then looked at Hei Xiazi, "And you? Just for interest and money?"

Black Bear grinned. "Otherwise what? The kind of person I am, I'll do any job that comes my way, and I'll make any money that comes my way. Besides..." His smile faded slightly, and he tapped the table with his finger. "That Zhang Qiling, you guys watched the live stream, right?"

The tea room fell silent for a moment.

"I've seen it." Xie Yuchen put down the teapot, his voice calm. "His skills and abilities are extraordinary. I had someone look at a photocopy of the contents of the bamboo slip in Huo Yun's tomb. 'The Gatekeeper,' 'The Bronze Gate,' 'The Path to Immortality'... The secrets he holds are more valuable than the ancient tomb itself."

"The authorities wanted to control him," Huo Xiuxiu said calmly, "but they failed and lost ten people. Now they're launching this public recruitment drive, making a huge show of it, probably... to lure him out."

"Will he go?" Black Bear asked.

"Yes," Xie Yuchen affirmed. "He will definitely go to this kind of tomb, with this kind of clue. However, he won't go with the officials. He'll most likely go in on his own, either ahead of us or... behind us."

"Interesting." Black Bear stroked his chin. "So, this time, maybe we'll run into this 'god among men'?"

Huo Xiuxiu looked at Xie Yuchen: "Master Xie, did you sign up for this because of him?"

"Not entirely." Xie Yuchen picked up his teacup, took a sip, and his eyes were deep. "The Xie family has some past affairs, and the clues point to the southwest. This Lu Palace is an opportunity. As for Zhang Qiling... if you run into him, you can observe him, but there's no need to deliberately get close. This kind of person can only seek you out; you can't seek him out."

Black Bear nodded: "Understood. But Master Hua, this official team is a mixed bag. Besides us 'extraordinary people,' there are definitely those three stubborn old fogies who managed to squeeze in people, and maybe even that expert Sun or someone like that. There's bound to be a lot of trouble."

"Trouble has arisen, but we'll deal with it." Xie Yuchen's tone was calm. "The three of us will look out for each other. Our primary objective is to explore the tomb and find what we each need. As for the rest, we'll see how things unfold."

Huo Xiuxiu nodded, then asked curiously, "That Wu Xie, and Fatty Wang, I looked at their application materials, and it seems they passed the initial screening. The Wu family... the Wu family from the Nine Gates?"

"Hmm." A faint, elusive emotion flashed in Xie Yuchen's eyes. "The grandson of the third son of the Wu family. I heard he runs an antique shop, and his personality... is a bit naive. That fat guy, on the other hand, seems like a real tomb raider. The two of them together would be a perfect match."

"Naive?" Black Bear chuckled. "These days, if you're naive enough to go tomb raiding, you'll die quickly."

"It might not be a bad thing," Xie Yuchen said calmly. "Sometimes, naive people can see things that others can't. Get ready, we'll assemble in twenty days. I'll send you the equipment list later. Hei Xiazi, you know the weapon supply channels, so follow the usual rules."

"Don't worry." Black Bear gave an OK sign.

The three chatted for a few more minutes about the details before parting ways.

In the tea room, Xie Yuchen sat alone, slowly finishing the tea that had gone cold in his cup.

He looked out the window at the city lights, his eyes somewhat vacant.

Zhang Qiling...

The silent, powerful, and solitary figure in the live stream inexplicably reminded him of a few words mentioned in a long-forgotten record of the Xie family.

"The Watcher walks alone beyond time."

Could they be the same kind of people?

He put down his teacup and stopped thinking about it.

Dawn in the mountains.

Zhang Qiling stood on a high mountain ridge, looking southwest.

As dawn broke, the outlines of the mountains appeared and disappeared in the morning mist. Further away, the mountains grew even steeper and more peculiar, shrouded in clouds and mist, making them difficult to discern clearly.

That's roughly the direction of the Seven Star Lu Palace. But the exact location needs to be determined closer to get there.

He descended the ridge, found a mountain spring, and scooped up water to wash his face. The icy water stimulated his skin, making him feel refreshed.

He took out the last of the compressed biscuits from the inner bag and ate them with spring water.

He has 230 yuan left. He needs to reach a market town where he can replenish his supplies.

Just as I was about to set off, my ears twitched slightly.

He stopped what he was doing and turned his gaze to the dense forest on his left.

there's noise.

It wasn't animals. It was the sound of human footsteps, very light, but unprofessional, snapping dry branches. There were also hushed voices, more than one.

"Hurry... it'll be harder to find them once it's light..."

"I heard it's in this area...that thing is worth a lot of money..."

"Keep your voice down! Don't make a fuss..."

Poaching? Or... looking for something else?

Zhang Qiling ignored him and turned to leave in another direction.

But just then, the group of people pushed aside the bushes and came out.

There were four men in total, dressed in dirty camouflage uniforms, carrying hunting rifles and woven bags, their faces covered in dust, their eyes wary yet greedy. They spotted Zhang Qiling by the mountain spring at a glance.

Both sides were taken aback for a moment.

The four men clearly hadn't expected someone to suddenly appear in this deep mountain forest, dressed in such a way—black clothes and pants, fingerless gloves, carrying a long, cloth-wrapped object on his back (the scabbard was wrapped several times with old cloth by Zhang Qiling to conceal its features), a hood covering his face, and a cold demeanor.

"Who...who are you?" The burly man with a fierce face gripped his hunting rifle and demanded.

Zhang Qiling didn't speak, he just watched them quietly.

Another tall, thin man's eyes darted around, landing on the knife wrapped in cloth behind Zhang Qiling's back. He then looked at Zhang Qiling's attire and whispered to the burly man, "Brother, this guy... he's a bit strange. This outfit doesn't look like a hiker's, nor does it look like a patrolman."

The burly man sensed something was wrong, but emboldened by his superior numbers and the presence of guns, he shouted, "Hey, I'm talking to you! Are you mute? What are you doing here?"

Zhang Qiling remained silent, then took a step, intending to walk around them.

"Stop!" The burly man raised his gun. "Did I say you could leave? Put down your backpack, and that thing on your back, untie it and take a look!"

They saw him as a lone traveler who might be carrying "good stuff" and wanted to make a quick buck, or... worse.

Zhang Qiling stopped in his tracks.

He slowly turned around to face the four men. In the shadows beneath his hood, his gaze swept over the hunting rifles in their hands, their positions, and their expressions.

"Get out of the way," he said. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling intensity, like a mountain spring.

The four men shuddered at his gaze and tone, but were immediately enraged.

"Damn it, he's got some nerve!" The burly man cocked his gun. "He won't listen to reason, so he'll have to suffer the consequences! Brothers, take him down! The loot is ours!"

The tall, thin man and the other two immediately spread out, forming a semi-encirclement, their hunting rifles and machetes aimed at Zhang Qiling.

Zhang Qiling came to life.

The instant the burly man's finger touched the trigger, his body darted sharply to the left and forward, not in a straight line, but in a tiny zigzag, so fast it was dizzying.

The burly man felt a blur before his eyes as his target disappeared, followed by a sharp pain in his wrist.

Click.

His wrist bone was crushed. The shotgun slipped from his hand.

Zhang Qiling caught the falling shotgun, and with the butt of the gun, he slammed it backward, striking the face of the tall, thin man who was lunging at him from the right. The sound of a nose shattering was accompanied by a scream.

At the same time, he side-kicked with his left foot, striking the wrist of the third man holding a machete, sending the machete flying into the air. He followed up with his right foot, kicking the man in the chest, sending him flying backward, crashing into a tree, and collapsing to the ground.

The fourth man was terrified and turned to run. Zhang Qiling turned his shotgun around and pressed the end of the barrel against the back of the man's neck. The man didn't even utter a sound; he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

The whole process took less than five seconds.

The burly man clutched his broken wrist, staring in terror at the man in black before him, as if he had seen a ghost.

Zhang Qiling ignored him, threw the hunting rifle on the ground, walked to the spring, and washed the bloodstains off his gloves.

Then, he went to the unconscious man and the man who had collapsed after hitting a tree, and searched them for some cash, about four or five hundred yuan in total, as well as a few pieces of compressed dry rations. He took the cash and the rations, but didn't touch the rest.

The burly man lay sprawled on the ground, trembling, forgetting even to beg for mercy.

Zhang Qiling walked up to him and squatted down.

The burly man was so frightened that he closed his eyes.

But the expected blow didn't come. He only heard a calm, unwavering voice:

"Southwest, the Seven Star Lu Palace, do you know where that is?"

The burly man suddenly opened his eyes, meeting a pair of unfathomable black eyes. His teeth chattered: "I...I've heard of it...it's...it's west of Old Wolf Gully, in its deepest part...Nobody dares to go there, it's...it's very eerie..."

Zhang Qiling stood up.

Thanks.

He left behind two words, slung his knife over his shoulder, turned around, and walked away in the direction the burly man had pointed.

Their figures quickly disappeared into the misty mountains and forests.

The burly man collapsed to the ground, taking a long time to regain his senses. Looking at his unconscious companion and the scattered hunting rifles on the ground, and then at the direction where the man in black had disappeared, a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

That's not human at all.

They are mountain spirits, and also the King of Hell who takes lives.

He scrambled to his feet, no longer caring about his companions, and fled desperately in the opposite direction.

Zhang Qiling swiftly traversed the mountains and forests.

He had a few hundred yuan more and some dry food in his hand. West of Laolanggou… he remembered the direction.

There are nineteen days left until the meeting time.

He has plenty of time.

You can walk slowly and take your time to see what else is hidden in these deep mountains of the southwest, besides the Lu King's Palace.