Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The accident happened just before dawn.

It didn't come from outside the forest, it came from underground.

The soldier on night watch was the first to notice something was wrong. He heard a very faint sound, like many feet digging rapidly in the soil, or like vines wriggling underground. The sound came from all directions of the camp, growing closer and closer.

He picked up his gun, turned on his tactical flashlight, and shone it toward the nearest source of the sound—a seemingly flat patch of grass at the edge of the camp.

Under the beam of light, a small mound rose in the grass, and soil slid down. Then, something burst from the ground.

It is dark brown, as thick as an adult's arm, and its surface is not bark, but a layer of fine, overlapping, oily, dark scales. This thing has no obvious head or tail, and its tip is sharp, like a giant drill. As soon as it is unearthed, it twists from side to side, and a crack appears at the tip, revealing spiraling, fleshy red mouthparts that are constantly wriggling inside.

"Enemy attack—!" the soldier roared and pulled the trigger.

Gunshots ripped through the silence of dawn.

The bullets struck the creature, sending up a few sparks and leaving only a few white spots on its scales; they failed to penetrate. Enraged, the creature lashed out, whipping the soldier like a lash.

The soldier was struck in the waist, sent flying, crashed into a tree, slumped down, his chest caved in, and it was clear he was going to die.

Gunshots and screams awakened the entire camp.

"What is that?!"

"Alert! Everyone on alert!"

Lin Guoce and several other soldiers jumped up, aiming their guns at the directions from which the sound was coming. But the attack came from underground, with mounds of earth rising up from all sides, and one after another, dark brown, scaly tentacle-like monsters bursting out of the ground, their spiral mouthparts splitting open at the top, emitting a hissing, teeth-grinding sound.

Their target is obvious—living people.

A tentacle coiled towards Wang Lei, who was closest to it, with lightning speed. Wang Lei was terrified and stood frozen in place. The bear next to him moved; he had somehow drawn a military knife, stepped forward, and with a flash of light, slashed fiercely at the side of the tentacle.

"Clang!" The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out. The military knife only cut halfway in before being jammed by the hard scales. The tentacle, in pain, jerked back, causing the bear to stumble.

"Damn it, it's so hard!" Black Bear cursed, drawing his knife with force and stabbing at another tentacle that was attacking Liu Min.

Chaos erupted at the camp. People screamed and scattered in all directions, but the tentacles moved with incredible speed, constantly emerging from the ground and attacking relentlessly. The soldiers fired their guns frantically, bullets sparking as they struck the scales, but with little effect. Zhou Gousheng, Ma Tiedan, and the other "extraordinary people" were already terrified and fled in panic. Guo Lengzi was grabbed by the ankle by a tentacle and dragged towards a burrow, letting out a piercing scream. He was instantly pulled underground, with only half of his body sticking out and convulsing, blood gushing from the burrow.

"Don't run around! Back to back! Use fire!" Lin Guoce roared, firing his gun while pulling out a Molotov cocktail from his backpack, pulling the pin, and throwing it at the nearest tentacle.

The burning rod spewed out blazing white flames, and the tentacles, upon touching the flames, abruptly retracted, seemingly in fear. But more tentacles emerged from other directions.

Kun Ge, Chen Man, and Wang Yihan stood back to back. Kun Ge brandished his entrenching tool, desperately trying to swat at the approaching tentacles, but the tool only left shallow marks on the scales. Suddenly, a tentacle burst from the ground beneath their feet and coiled towards Chen Man's waist. Wang Yihan screamed and tried to pull Chen Man away, but it wasn't enough.

A hair's breadth away.

A dark shadow descended from the sky, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound.

It was Zhang Qiling. He saw the camp being attacked from the tree and swooped down without hesitation. In mid-air, his black gold ancient sword was already drawn, the blade slicing a cold, dark light in the pre-dawn glow.

The blade struck precisely at the base of the tentacle that was coiling towards Chen Man.

"Pfft!"

This time it wasn't the sound of metal striking stone, but the sound of a sharp blade cutting into tough leather. Scales shattered, and a thick, foul-smelling, yellowish-green liquid spurted out. The tentacle was severed at the root, the front half falling to the ground and writhing wildly, liquid gushing from the cut.

Zhang Qiling landed without even glancing at the writhing half-tentacle on the ground. With a swift movement, he was already beside another tentacle that was coiling towards Professor Zhou Xu'an. With another flash of his blade, another tentacle was severed.

His movements were dazzlingly fast, each strike precise and ruthless, aimed directly at the base of the tentacles or the weakest points of their joints. The black figure moved through the chaotic camp, splattering fluids and sending limbs flying in his wake. Scales that were hard enough to deflect bullets were like paper under his blade.

"Brother! It's Brother!" Kun shouted excitedly.

The pressure in the camp eased slightly. The soldiers seized the opportunity to concentrate their firepower, using incendiary rods to force back several tentacles. But the monster underground seemed to be enraged, and more and thicker tentacles emerged. Among them, some particularly thick ones had rows of fine, barbed teeth protruding from their split mouthparts, which viciously bit at Zhang Qiling.

Zhang Qiling's eyes were icy cold. Without flinching or dodging, he charged towards the thickest tentacle. Just as the sharp teeth were about to close, he slid to the side, his blade brushing against the surface of the tentacle as it rose upwards, cutting along the gap in the spiral mouthparts, twisting and flicking.

"hiss--!"

The tentacle emitted a piercing shriek, its mouthparts were shredded, and juices gushed out. Zhang Qiling used the momentum to leap up, stepping on another tentacle that had pulled out. With a few leaps, he approached the main body of a giant tentacle that had just fully emerged from the ground and was as thick as a water bucket—the lower half of the thing was still connected to the ground, while the upper half was thrashing wildly, like a terrifying giant python.

He leaped into the air, gripped the knife with both hands, and aimed at the relatively slender "neck" where the tentacles connected to the ground, and chopped down with all his might!

The blade pierced through, encountering immense resistance. Zhang Qiling groaned, his arm muscles bulging, veins standing out, and a burning sensation emanated from his Qilin tattoo as his power exploded.

"Break it!"

"Snap!"

A sickening snapping sound. The thickest tentacle was cleanly severed, its massive upper half crashing to the ground, writhing and thrashing wildly, leaving a trail of carnage. A waterfall of yellowish-green sap gushed from the severed end, its stench overwhelming.

Zhang Qiling landed, his body splattered with juice, but he didn't care. He pointed the tip of his knife at the ground and coldly looked at the other tentacles.

The monster seemed to be stunned by the blow, and its remaining tentacle attacks slowed down.

Just then, Black Bear's loud curses came from the other side of the camp: "Dumb Zhang! Over here! This thing has a fucking core underground!"

Zhang Qiling paused.

Zhang the Mute...

This name... feels familiar. Like a faint electric current, it flashes through my mind, but disappears in an instant, its source elusive.

He turned his head and looked in the direction of Black Bear.

Black Bear was desperately dodging the attacks of two incredibly agile tentacles. His sunglasses had tilted during the fight, revealing half of one eye—the pupil of which was an eerie grayish-white, but his gaze was sharp at that moment. As he dodged, he used his military knife to cut wounds at the base of the tentacles, from which yellowish-green fluid dripped continuously.

"Look at where they came out! Around that dead tree! They're connected underground! There must be a main root or core!" Black Bear roared, while simultaneously performing a backward iron bridge, narrowly avoiding a tentacle's piercing attack. He then stabbed his saber into the side of the tentacle, using the force to deflect it.

Zhang Qiling's gaze instantly locked onto the direction Hei Xiazi pointed—the edge of the camp, where an old locust tree, long dead and hollow in trunk, stood. The most densely packed features on the surrounding ground were indeed the mounds of earth and the protruding tentacles, all seemingly centered around that spot.

"Cover me!" Zhang Qiling shouted in Lin Guoce's direction. Although his voice was not loud, it clearly reached everyone's ears.

Lin Guoce reacted immediately: "Everyone! Provide cover fire for Mr. Zhang! Incendiary rods! Throw them at that dead tree!"

The remaining soldiers and Kun Ge and the others desperately poured bullets and incendiary rods around the dead tree. The flames and bullets temporarily suppressed the activity of the tentacles in that area.

Zhang Qiling came to life.

He pushed his speed to the limit, like a black lightning bolt, rushing straight towards the withered tree. Tentacles tried to intercept him along the way, but he either slashed them with his sword or dodged them, his steps never faltering.

When he got within five meters of the dead tree, the ground suddenly exploded, and three giant tentacles, as thick as water buckets and covered with barbs and sharp teeth at the top, emerged simultaneously, forming a triangular shape to strangle him and seal off all escape routes.

Zhang Qiling's eyes flashed with a fierce light. The instant the tentacles closed, he stepped on the ground and, instead of moving upwards, sprinted forward and downwards, almost sliding along the ground, forcefully passing through the narrow gap beneath the three tentacles! The barbs scraped against his back, making a teeth-grinding screech, and his coat was torn, but he ignored it all.

The instant he passed through, he braced himself with his left hand on the ground, used the momentum to flip his body, and his right hand, with the black gold ancient sword, transformed into a streak of dark light, piercing from bottom to top into the soft flesh where the thickest tentacle in the middle connected with the ground!

"puff!"

The blade was completely submerged.

The tentacle trembled violently, emitting a silent wail. Zhang Qiling exerted force with his wrist, stirring the blade, and then suddenly slashed horizontally!

"Rip—"

The massive wound was opened, and juices gushed out like a spring. Zhang Qiling drew his sword, tapped the tentacle with his foot, and leaped to the front of the withered tree trunk.

The dead tree trunk was already rotten and hollow. The hollow inside was pitch black, and a strong, pungent stench of decay filled the air. Deep inside the hollow, something could be vaguely seen wriggling, emitting a chilling aura.

Without hesitation, Zhang Qiling plunged his knife deep into the tree hole.

"roar--!!!"

A deep, painful, and violent roar came from underground, causing the entire ground to tremble. All the tentacles that were still attacking froze simultaneously, then frantically retracted, trying to burrow back into the ground.

"Trying to run?" Black Bear suddenly appeared, covered in sap and looking somewhat disheveled, but his eyes gleamed. He precisely threw two grenades with the pins pulled, into the tree hole that Zhang Qiling had stabbed with his knife.

"Mute Zhang! Back off!"

Zhang Qiling had already drawn his sword and retreated hastily.

The two had only retreated a dozen meters.

"Boom! Boom!"

Two muffled thuds came from underground, the ground bulged violently, and then collapsed. Centered on the dead tree, a large pit with a diameter of five or six meters appeared, from which soil mixed with broken scales, severed tentacles, and a large amount of yellowish-green slime gushed out, emitting a stench that filled the air.

At the bottom of the pit, a huge, still slightly twitching, dark red mass of flesh covered with roots and nodules could be vaguely seen. It had been blown to pieces and was the source of all the tentacles.

As the mass of flesh was destroyed, the remaining tentacles that had emerged from the ground all drooped limply and twitched, quickly losing their vitality, lying on the ground like dead giant snakes.

The camp fell silent instantly.

The only sounds were people's heavy breathing and the crackling of the flames.

The sky finally brightened completely. The morning light from the CD player dispelled the darkness, illuminating a chaotic campsite: broken and twisted black tentacles, splattered yellowish-green slime, shattered tents and equipment, and... several mangled corpses.

Guo Lengzi was dragged away, leaving only half of him; a soldier's sternum was shattered; and two ordinary people, fleeing in panic, fell into the hole the tentacles had previously drilled, their fate unknown. Zhou Gousheng and Ma Tiedan huddled in a corner, trembling like leaves. Wang Lei, Liu Min, and Zhou Ting huddled together, weeping. Sun Shuanzhu had long since fainted in the mud, and no one cared for him.

Lin Guoce's face was ashen as he tallied the casualties. Five were killed, three were seriously wounded, and almost everyone had minor injuries.

The live stream resumed operation in the latter half of the battle, recording the entire brutal war between humans and monsters.

The live chat is going crazy!

[ID was terrified: What kind of monster is this?! It crawled out from underground!]

[ID scales reflect light: bullets can't penetrate them!]

[ID Xiaoge Daoshen: It has to be Xiaoge! One slash, one kill!]

[ID Blackie's Amazing Move: Grenade Stuffed into Wound! Black Bear is Awesome!]

[ID: Dumb Zhang: Black Bear calls Little Brother Dumb Zhang! There's a story behind it!]

[ID: Tentacleplay: My trypophobia is acting up...]

[ID Camp Tragedy: Many People Died...]

[The expert is lying down again: This time, expert Sun is really lying down.]

Zhang Qiling stood at the edge of the pit, his brow furrowed as he looked at the mass of mangled flesh below. This monster… didn't seem like a natural creature; it was more like a bizarre combination of some kind of plant and animal, mutated and nourished by the earth's yin energy. Was it a tomb-guarding monster from an ancient tomb? Or a native inhabitant of this mountain forest?

Black Bear walked over, poked at a severed tentacle on the ground with his military knife, and clicked his tongue, saying, "Black Scale Serpent Cypress... This thing actually exists. Ancient books say it lives in extremely yin places, feeds on the yin energy of the earth's veins, is bloodthirsty, has scaled tentacles as hard as iron, and its core is hidden deep underground. Damn, we've just stepped on its lair."

Zhang Qiling glanced at Hei Xiazi. This man knew the origin of this creature. He was skilled, quick-witted, and dared to fight bravely in crucial moments. He even knew to use the nickname "Mute Zhang"...

"You know me," Zhang Qiling said, not in a question, but as a statement.

Black Bear grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. Although his face was still smeared with monster juice, his smile still carried that cynical air: "Southern Blind, Northern Mute, who in the underworld hasn't heard of them? But Mute Zhang, you're even better at fighting than the legends say." He leaned closer, lowering his voice, "And, you seem to... not remember me?"

Zhang Qiling remained silent. He truly didn't remember. But the saying "blind in the south and mute in the north," along with the nickname "Mute Zhang," evoked a strong sense of déjà vu.

"I forgot," he said frankly.

Black Bear's eyes seemed to flicker for a moment behind his sunglasses, then he resumed his lazy demeanor: "Good riddance, it's easier to forget. Let's get to know each other again, Black Bear. You get paid to do things, and occasionally you do some unprofitable business."

At this moment, Xie Yuchen, Huo Xiuxiu, Wu Xie, and Fatty Wang also arrived. Except for Xie Yuchen, who was relatively tidy, the others were all quite disheveled. Fatty, looking at the tentacles scattered on the ground, exclaimed with lingering fear, "My god, I almost became this thing's breakfast! Brother, Blackie, thank you for saving my life!"

Wu Xie looked at Zhang Qiling, his eyes filled with shock and lingering fear, and a hint of...closeness? He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know how to address him.

Xie Yuchen nodded slightly to Zhang Qiling: "Mr. Zhang, thank you for your help." His attitude was polite but distant.

Huo Xiuxiu thanked him, her gaze curiously sweeping over Zhang Qiling and then over Hei Xiazi, as if trying to figure out what "Southern Blind and Northern Mute" meant.

Zhang Qiling nodded to them in response. His gaze swept over them, lingering on Wu Xie and Fatty's faces for a second longer. Wu Xie... Fatty... A sense of familiarity welled up inside him, but it remained vague.

He stopped hesitating and turned to walk towards Lin Guoce.

"We shouldn't stay here any longer," Zhang Qiling said to Lin Guoce. "There's more than one monster. Let's leave quickly and head to Old Wolf Gully."

Lin Guoce's face darkened as he looked at the casualties, but he still decisively ordered: "Those who can move, gather the necessary equipment and the wounded, bury the dead, and depart in ten minutes! Destination: Old Wolf Gully Entrance!"

People moved about in silence, grief and fear hanging over the camp. But the will to survive overwhelmed everything.

Zhang Qiling walked to the side, leaned against a tree, and took off his fingerless gloves, which were soaked with sap and somewhat torn, revealing his slender hands covered with minor old wounds and calluses. He took out two spare clean gloves from his inner bag—two pairs he had bought in town last time—and slowly put them on.

Black Bear appeared again at some point and handed him a water bottle: "Want to rinse your mouth? The juice will help you get rid of the taste."

Zhang Qiling glanced at him, took the kettle, rinsed his mouth, washed his gloves and the little stain that had splashed on his face, and threw the kettle back.

"Thanks." Black Bear took it, took a big gulp, wiped his mouth, and said, "Dumb Zhang, Old Wolf Gully up ahead is even more dangerous, isn't it? I heard that the mouth of the gully is 'not very clean'."

Zhang Qiling fastened his gloves and wristbands, his tone calm: "There's an ambush. Ten men, foreign mercenaries."

Black Bear's smile vanished: "A vulture?"

"Do you know him?"

"I've dealt with them before, a bunch of hyenas." Black Bear's eyes turned cold. "They're after you?"

"Perhaps." Zhang Qiling looked towards Old Wolf Gully, "It could also be the Chong Ancient Tomb, or... to silence them."

"That's the work of those three old bastards." Black Bear spat. "What do we do? Just take them out?"

Zhang Qiling didn't answer directly, but instead asked, "Why did you come?"

Hei Xiazi shrugged: "Me? Making money and having some fun on the side. Hua'erye and Xiuxiu seem to have their own things to investigate. Wu Xie and Fatty... one is innocent and curious, and the other wants to get rich and team up with you."

"Team up?"

"The Iron Triangle!" The fat man suddenly appeared out of nowhere, chuckling, "Little brother, you, me, and Tianzhen! The three of us are invincible!"

Looking at the fat man's enthusiastic round face, and then at Wu Xie beside him who was a little embarrassed but had bright eyes, Zhang Qiling felt something gently touch a cold, hard place deep in his heart.

It's very mild.

But he sensed it.

He neither agreed nor refused, but simply slung his knife back over his shoulder and looked at the nearly organized ranks.

"Walk."

He uttered the word and took the lead in walking towards Old Wolf Gully.

His figure remained solitary and upright.

But this time, those following behind were no longer a group of completely unfamiliar "companions" with whom they needed to keep their distance.

It seems there is a faint, different connection.