Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The fog grew thicker.

A damp, cold white mist billowed from the depths of Old Wolf Gully, flowing along the ground and rising above ankle level. Visibility dropped to less than twenty meters. The stench of decay in the air grew stronger, mixed with an indescribable, oppressive aura of aged wood and strange minerals.

The group stopped on a relatively open gravel beach outside the gully entrance. Ahead lay the true entrance to Old Wolf Gully—two sheer, black cliffs pressed inwards, forming a narrow, twisted crevice, pitch black inside, nothing visible. The wind howled through the crevice, a strange, mournful sound, like weeping.

Lin Guoce stared at the locator, his brow furrowed. "This is it. The Seven Star Lu Palace should be deep within the ravine. But we need to find the exact entrance."

Professor Zhou Xu'an, panting, observed the rock strata and weathering marks on both sides of the mountain: "It's a typical karst landform, and there may be a group of caves in the valley. The ancient tomb was built against the mountain, so the entrance must have been hidden. We need to consider the feng shui and terrain to make the calculations."

Jiang Shouyi nodded and took out a compass, but the needle spun erratically, interfered with by some strong magnetic field. "The geomagnetic anomaly means the compass is useless."

Kun leaned closer, looked at the dark entrance to the ditch, and swallowed hard. "This place... looks eerie."

Chen Man and Wang Yihan huddled together, their faces pale. Wang Lei, Liu Min, and Zhou Ting crouched in the middle of the crowd, afraid to look up. Sun Shuanzhu was thrown onto a rock, groaning softly, but no one paid him any attention.

The ten "Vulture" team members were scattered around the perimeter of the crowd, heads down, behaving very obediently. But if you looked closely, their eyes would occasionally dart quickly toward the mouth of the ditch, or stealthily sweep over the black-clad figure standing at the front.

Zhang Qiling stood at the very front of the group, about ten meters from the mouth of the ravine. He didn't look at the compass or the cliff. His eyes were slightly closed, as if he were sensing something.

The Qilin tattoo on his shoulder blade emanated a persistent, clear burning sensation. It wasn't just because he was near the ancient tomb. There was also a more subtle, shared, and deeply felt throbbing sensation coming from another direction, growing ever closer.

It's very light, but you can't go wrong with it.

It's the scent of "the same kind".

He opened his eyes and gazed at the misty forest to the side. There, the trees were dense and the rocks were jagged.

Almost the instant his gaze fell upon it.

"roar--!"

"Awooo—!"

A piercing, ear-piercing howl erupted without warning from the depths of the forest! Not just one, but a whole horde! The sounds overlapped, filled with ferocity and hunger.

Immediately afterwards, the trees shook violently, and the sound of branches snapping and cracking filled the air. Tall figures covered in dark brown hair burst through the bushes and emerged from the mist!

It's a mandrill.

But these were different from the green-eyed mandrills we'd encountered in the Qinling Mountains. These creatures were much larger, nearly adult black bears, with exceptionally well-developed forelimbs and glossy black claws that gleamed with a metallic sheen. Their eyes were blood-red, like tiny moving lanterns in the mist, fixed intently on the group on the gravel beach, saliva dripping from their gaping mouths, emitting a pungent, fishy stench.

The number is no less than twenty!

They clearly saw this exhausted army as easy prey.

"Mandrills! Mandrills! So many!" someone screamed.

The ranks were thrown into chaos instantly. The soldiers frantically raised their guns, but the mandrill was too fast and had pounced from the side at close range, leaving no time to organize an effective firing formation.

A particularly powerful mandrill leader roared and lunged at a soldier at the edge of the crowd. The soldier had barely raised his gun when the mandrill's massive claws were already upon him!

Blood was about to splatter on the spot.

"Whoosh—!"

A very faint sound of something cutting through the air.

An inconspicuous pebble shot from the other side of the mist with astonishing speed and force, striking the mandrill leader's blood-red right eye with perfect accuracy!

"puff!"

Its eyeballs burst open, splattering fluid everywhere. The mandrill leader let out a deafening scream, and its attack halted.

Almost simultaneously.

Zhang Qiling came to life.

He ignored the wounded mandrill leader and instead flashed to the side of another mandrill that was lunging at Wang Lei and Liu Min. The Black Gold Ancient Blade wasn't even fully drawn; it was swung out scabbard, the heavy, iron-bar-like sheath slamming into the mandrill's knee.

"Snap!"

A sickening cracking sound filled the air. The mandrill howled and collapsed to the ground. Zhang Qiling didn't even glance at it. He used its back as leverage to leap up and meet the third mandrill that pounced from mid-air. His left hand, fingers forming a claw, shot out with lightning speed, precisely grabbing the mandrill's outstretched wrist and twisting it with force!

"Crack!"

The wrist bone was broken. The mandrill roared in pain, and swung its other claw. Zhang Qiling released his grip, ducked, and swung his scabbard upwards, striking the mandrill squarely in the jaw.

"Bang!"

The mandrill was thrown upwards by the impact, spitting out blood mixed with broken teeth. Zhang Qiling followed up with a kick, striking it between the chest and abdomen. The massive body flew backwards, crashing into another mandrill behind it and rolling into a heap.

On the other side...

In the mist, a slender, upright black figure cut into the swarm of mandrills with incredibly light and swift steps.

It's Zhang Qiling.

He wore a black hoodie similar in style to Zhang Qiling's, but the hood was off, revealing his thin, pale face and black hair that partially covered his left eye. He also carried a black and gold ancient sword on his back. His movements were more agile, like a weightless shadow, weaving through the frenzied attacks of the mountain demons. Each strike was concise and deadly.

A mandrill attacked from behind, its claws aimed for his back. Zhang Qiling didn't even turn around; he merely shifted his body subtly to the left by half a foot, the claws grazing his clothes. With his right hand, he drew his long sword from behind—only half a foot unsheathed—and struck the mandrill squarely in the ribs with the end of the hilt.

"Thump!" A muffled sound. The mandrill had broken several ribs and staggered backward.

Another mandrill opened its foul-smelling mouth and lunged at his neck. Zhang Qiling raised his left hand, brought his index and middle fingers together, and thrust them out with lightning speed, precisely piercing the mandrill's wide-open mouth and striking a spot on its palate.

"Ugh..." The mandrill felt as if it were being choked, and the intense pain caused it to lose its strength instantly, collapsing limply to the ground and convulsing.

Without pausing, he sidestepped the sweeping claws, and with a swift motion, thrust his half-drawn sword forward, the tip striking another mandrill's Adam's apple. The mandrill's eyes bulged, and it collapsed to the ground, clutching its throat.

The arrival of the two instantly disrupted the mandrill horde's siege.

Zhang Qiling's attacks were powerful and heavy, each strike carrying devastating force. The wind howled as he swung his sword, and any mountain demons that approached were either killed or maimed.

Zhang Qiling is agile and precise, adept at finding weaknesses to defeat enemies with a single blow, and her attack efficiency is frighteningly high. She is also very adept at handling group attacks.

They didn't deliberately coordinate, but their actions carried an unspoken, unspoken understanding. One was responsible for drawing fire from the front, while the other flanked and eliminated threats. A mandrill was stunned by Zhang Qiling's scabbard, and in the next instant, Zhang Qiling's fingertip or the hilt of his sword would deliver the fatal blow.

The twenty ferocious mandrills were like tigers that had broken into a wolf pack in front of these two, their numerical advantage completely lost.

On the gravel beach, the others could barely lend a hand. The soldiers held their guns, but hesitated to fire for fear of accidentally injuring themselves. Kun and the others watched in stunned silence.

The hovering live-streaming sphere frantically captured this breathtaking battle scene. Two almost identical figures in black moved swiftly and cleanly through the blood-red beastly eyes and splattering blood, their movements possessing a violent beauty.

The comments section has completely gone crazy:

[ID Prophet: I told you! Something big was coming! Double bonus!]

[ID: Definitely a mastermind! Holy crap! Two!]

[ID Guy Fan Club: Ahhh, I'm done for! Double the happiness!]

[ID: Did Fatty Lose Weight Today?: Fatty, are my eyes playing tricks on me? Why are there two guys?]

[ID Innocent: It's different! Look closely at the face and movements, there's a difference!]

[ID Blackie's Sunglasses: Blind in the South, Mute in the North... Are we together today? No, wait, are we both mute?]

Less than three minutes.

The last mandrill was struck by Zhang Qiling's scabbard, breaking its leg bone and falling to the ground. Zhang Qiling then kicked it in the temple, causing it to twitch twice before falling still.

On the gravel beach, twenty mandrill corpses lay scattered about, the stench of blood overwhelming.

The battle is over.

Zhang Qiling and Zhang Qiling, separated by several corpses and a faint mist of blood, stopped fighting almost simultaneously and looked at each other.

The two stood about ten meters apart.

The same black clothes. The same ancient sword. The same tall and solitary figure. The same indifferent and aloof gaze.

But upon closer inspection, they are completely different.

Zhang Qiling (Yang Yang version) has a more upright and well-proportioned figure, a three-dimensional and deep face, and a calm and powerful temperament, like a cold jade in a deep pool.

Zhang Qiling (Xiao Yuliang's version) is even thinner and paler, with a slender face and sharp lines, and a distant and ethereal temperament, like ice and snow on a mountain peak.

The live stream camera zoomed in, giving a close-up of the two people's faces. The differences became even more apparent.

[ID to silence the so-called experts: They really are different! But they're both incredibly handsome!]

[ID Prophet: I predicted the double-explosive minion, but I didn't predict the double critical hit!]

A brief silence.

Zhang Qiling's gaze fell on Zhang Qiling's left arm—there, below the cuff, the outline of a dark blue tattoo was faintly visible, echoing the burning sensation on his own shoulder blade.

Zhang Qiling was also looking at Zhang Qiling, a very faint ripple passing through his deep eyes. That palpitation of blood ties—it couldn't be wrong.

"Zhang Qiling," Zhang Qiling said first, giving his name. His voice was as steady as ever.

"Zhang Qiling," Zhang Qiling responded, his voice even colder, his enunciation clear. His gaze swept over the still-shaken crowd behind Zhang Qiling, then returned to Zhang Qiling. "You brought him?"

"No," Zhang Qiling said succinctly, "We're going the same way."

Zhang Qiling nodded, asking no further questions. He seemed uninterested in the others, his attention quickly returning to the deep entrance of Old Wolf Gully, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly. "Something's not right here."

"Hmm." Zhang Qiling also looked towards the mouth of the ditch. "Something has woken up."

The two had an extremely concise conversation, yet it seemed to have accomplished some kind of information exchange.

Zhang Qiling didn't linger, and started walking towards the entrance of Old Wolf Gully. The others didn't stop as they passed Zhang Qiling.

Zhang Qiling didn't hesitate either, and almost simultaneously stepped forward to walk alongside him toward the dark ravine.

Two figures in black, one tall and slender, stood half a step apart, silently heading towards the same destination. Their backs, shrouded in thick fog and the stench of blood, conveyed the same loneliness and unfathomable power.

He left behind a scene of utter devastation, and a group of people who were still stunned and reeling from the double shock.

The fat man nudged Wu Xie, his voice dry: "Heavens... Am I seeing things? How... how come there are two Little Brothers? And they left together?"

Wu Xie was also stunned, his heart pounding as he watched the two figures about to disappear into the darkness. Not only because he had escaped death, but also because of this incomprehensible scene before him.

Black Bear pushed up his sunglasses and whistled, "Hey, this is getting interesting. Dumb Zhang, you've run into someone from the same clan?"

Xie Yuchen's eyes were deep as he whispered, "Follow them. Don't fall behind."

Lin Guoce wiped his face hard, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and roared, "Those who can still move! Follow! into the ditch!"

Amidst the chaos and shock, the team hastily regrouped and chased after the two black figures that had already disappeared into the darkness of Old Wolf Gully, stepping into the unknown.