Tomb raiding live stream: Starting as the mute Zhang

The cave was quiet, with only the faint sounds of wind and dripping water outside.

People sat against the cave wall, silent. Flashlight beams cast messy shadows on the ground. Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" stood a little deeper inside, their backs to the others, gazing into the darkness of the cave. The two stood like two black walls, keeping the dangers outside at bay.

Xiao Shouzhou sat on the ground, his forehead wound bandaged, but his face was pale. He pushed up his shattered glasses; the temples were broken and held together with tape. He glanced at Zhang Qiling's back, then at the direction of the cave entrance, and his lips moved.

"Mr. Zhang," he finally spoke, his voice trembling slightly in the cave, "just now... those two snakes, you could have just chased them away, you didn't have to kill them."

The cave became even quieter.

Zhang Qiling didn't turn around. Neither did "Zhang Qiling" turn around.

Xiao Shouzhou stood up and took two steps forward: "They are living beings too. They have lived in these mountains for so many years. We broke in, and they were just defending themselves. What you did... was too cruel."

Wen Jingshan leaned against the cave wall, watching coldly. Lin Guoce frowned, wanting to say something, but was stopped by Professor Zhou Xu'an. Jiang Xun Gu was inspecting the crossbows, not even looking up. A Ning crossed her arms, her brows slightly furrowed.

"Next time," Xiao Shou-chou continued, raising his voice a little, "if you encounter other creatures, could you... try not to hurt them? We can try to coexist peacefully. I've studied animal behavior, maybe I can communicate with them..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Zhang Qiling turned around.

The movement wasn't fast, but Xiao Shouzhou only felt a blur before his eyes, and his neck was already gripped by a hand. The hand was cold and incredibly strong; he instantly couldn't breathe, and his glasses fell to the ground.

"You..." Xiao Shouzhu struggled, trying to pry the other hand open with both hands, but it wouldn't budge.

Zhang Qiling looked at him, his eyes indifferent, as if he were looking at something. Then he twisted his wrist.

"Click."

The clear sound of bones cracking echoed in the cave.

Xiao Shouzhuo's eyes widened, he made two gurgling sounds in his throat, and then his body went limp. Zhang Qiling released his grip, raised his leg, and kicked him in the chest.

Xiao Shouzhou flew out, tracing an arc, and crashed into the cave wall fifteen meters away, before sliding to the ground and remaining motionless.

From start to finish, it took three seconds.

The cave was deathly silent.

A few seconds later, Meng Qinghe screamed, then covered her mouth again. Chen Man and Wang Yihan huddled together, trembling. Kun Ge's mouth was agape, his face deathly pale.

Wen Jingshan straightened up and reached for the gun at his waist. Lin Guoce blocked his way and shook his head.

"He..." Professor Zhou Xu'an's voice trembled, "He just said the wrong thing..."

"Saying the wrong thing can kill you," Zhang Qiling said, his voice cold and clear. "In the tomb."

Zhang Qiling shook his hand, as if getting rid of something dirty. He looked at Wen Jingshan, then glanced at the others, and finally his gaze landed on Lin Guoce.

"Let's go our separate ways," he said.

Zhang Qiling added three words: "Now we'll divide it."

Lin Guoce was silent for a few seconds, then nodded: "Okay."

"We'll go to the left," Wen Jingshan said coldly, pointing to a fork in the road leading into the cave.

"Let's go to the right," Zhang Qiling said.

No one objected. The team began distributing supplies: food, water, medicine—everything that could be shared was distributed. The official team, with its larger numbers, received more supplies. Zhang Qiling's group, though smaller, received the best items.

A Ning walked to Wu Xie's side, picked up her bag, and said, "I'll go with you."

Wu Xie looked at Zhang Qiling. Zhang Qiling glanced at her and nodded.

Zhang Qiling nodded as well.

Jiang Xun Gu walked over and clasped his hands in a fist salute to Hei Xiazi: "Brother Hei, take care."

"You are the same," Black Bear said.

"I hope we can meet again inside." Jiang Xun Gu smiled, but his smile was somewhat bitter.

"It's best not to run into them," Xie Yuchen said.

After the division, the two groups headed towards the fork in the road. The official group went to the left, with Wen Jingshan leading the way, followed by the soldiers, Lin Guoce and Kun Ge in the middle, and Jiang Xun Gu bringing up the rear. Chen Wangshan glanced at Xiao Shouzhou's corpse before walking away and snorted coldly. Meng Qinghe didn't dare to look and walked quickly with her head down.

Zhang Qiling and the others walked on the right. Zhang Qiling and "Zhang Qiling" were at the front, followed by Hei Xiazi, Xie Yuchen, Wu Xie, Fatty, Huo Xiuxiu, and A Ning. A Ning was at the back, glancing back every now and then.

After walking about a hundred meters and turning a corner, the official team disappeared from sight. Only their footsteps and breathing could be heard inside the cave.

"That idiot," the fat man spat, "almost killed everyone."

"Naive," Black Bear said.

"But Brother," Wu Xie looked at Zhang Qiling, "what you just did..."

"He deserves to die," Zhang Qiling said.

Zhang Qiling nodded: "A burden."

The meaning is clear: that kind of person in the tomb will eventually kill the whole team, so it's better to get rid of them sooner rather than later.

Wu Xie fell silent. He knew Xiao Ge was right, but seeing it with his own eyes still made his heart ache.

After walking a while, the cave widened and showed signs of human intervention. The walls were made of solid blue stone slabs, and the floor was paved with stone slabs, with black moss growing in the cracks. There was a musty, stale smell in the air.

"We've arrived," Xie Yuchen said.

"The Tomb of King Xian," said Zhang Qiling.

"Judging by its size, it's quite large." Black Bear shone his flashlight into the depths, but the beam disappeared into the darkness, not reaching the end.

Zhang Qiling stopped, took out a small compass from his bag, and placed it flat in his palm. The compass needle spun randomly before finally pointing in one direction. He put the compass away and looked at "Zhang Qiling." "Zhang Qiling" also took out a similar object, looked at it, and nodded.

"This way," Zhang Qiling pointed to a narrower passage on the left.

"Not taking the main road?" Ah Ning asked.

"There are mechanisms in the main path," said Zhang Qiling.

The group turned onto a narrow path. The path was so narrow that only one person could pass at a time. Zhang Qiling led the way, with "Zhang Qiling" bringing up the rear. After walking for about half an hour, they heard faint sounds ahead.

It was a human voice, and the sound of metal clanging. It was coming from the direction of the main road.

"The official team has triggered the switch," Black Bear said.

"I don't care," Zhang Qiling said.

Keep going. The narrow path begins to slope downwards, and the incline is very steep. The stone steps are slippery, so you have to hold onto the wall. After climbing about a hundred steps, a stone chamber appears ahead.

The stone chamber was small, about ten square meters. In the center was a small stone coffin, seemingly for a child. The lid was open, and the inside was empty. There were murals on the surrounding walls, but they were badly peeled off, and only human figures in kneeling postures could be discerned.

"The side chamber," Xie Yuchen said.

"It's empty." Huo Xiuxiu examined the stone coffin. "The burial goods have been taken away."

"Someone has been here before," said Zhang Qiling.

Zhang Qiling walked to the wall and touched the mural with his hand. His fingertips were covered in a layer of black ash. He leaned closer to smell it and frowned.

"It's poisonous," he said.

Zhang Qiling also sniffed it and nodded: "Corpse odor."

"The paint used in this mural was mixed with corpse oil and poisonous plants," Xie Yuchen said. "Looking at it for too long will cause poisoning."

The group stepped back slightly. Zhang Qiling took out a small bottle from his bag, poured out some powder, and sprinkled it on the mural. The powder made a slight "sizzling" sound and emitted white smoke upon contact with the mural. Soon, the layer of black ash on the surface of the mural peeled off, revealing a bright red color underneath.

It's blood. It's turned black, but you can still tell it was splattered.

"A sacrifice," Aning said softly.

"Use living people," Zhang Qiling said.

"Look here." The fat man pointed to the bottom of the stone coffin. There was a pattern carved on the bottom of the coffin, which was an eye, with a vortex in the position of the pupil.

"It's this again." Wu Xie frowned.

"The symbols of the Jingjue Kingdom," Xie Yuchen said, "appeared in the tomb of King Xian. The two places are related."

"Maybe," Zhang Qiling said.

Zhang Qiling crouched down, examined the pattern closely, and pressed his finger on the center of the vortex. The pattern caved in, making a soft "click" sound.

The stone coffin slowly slid down, revealing an opening below. The opening was small, only wide enough for one person to pass through, with steps leading down.

"Go down?" the fat man asked.

Zhang Qiling nodded and was the first to go down. "Zhang Qiling" followed closely behind. The others followed one after another.

The steps were steep and deep. After walking for a few minutes, a light appeared ahead. It wasn't a flashlight beam, but a ghostly green light shining through the wall.

Stepping off the steps, you enter a vast space.

It's a converted natural cave, about half the size of a football field. Countless stalactites hang from the ceiling, some glowing with an eerie green light. The floor is made of smooth stone slabs, engraved with intricate patterns. Deep inside, the outline of a building, resembling a temple, can be vaguely seen.

"The main burial chamber?" Wu Xie asked.

"The front hall," Xie Yuchen said.

"Look there," Black Bear pointed to the left.

Several people lay motionless beneath the left side of the cave wall. They were three soldiers from the official corps. Scattered nearby were some arrows, their arrowheads blackened.

"It's over," Aning said.

"Is he still alive?" Huo Xiuxiu asked.

Zhang Qiling walked over and knelt down to examine the three soldiers. Two were already dead, arrows lodged in their chests. The third was breathing, but his face was black, indicating severe poisoning.

When the soldier saw Zhang Qiling, his eyes widened, and he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

Zhang Qiling glanced at him, shook his head, and stood up.

"It's beyond saving," said Zhang Qiling.

The arrow poison was too potent; there was no cure.

The soldier made a "hoarse" sound in his throat, and after a few seconds, he stopped moving.

Zhang Qiling turned around and looked towards the main hall. More sounds came from that direction—shouting and running.

"They're still triggering the mechanisms," Black Bear said.

"I don't care," Zhang Qiling said.

"Let's go around it." Zhang Qiling pointed to the right.

There was a narrow path on the right, clinging to the cave wall, that bypassed the main hall area. The group walked along the narrow path, their feet slippery with wet moss. After walking several dozen meters, they came to another stone chamber.

This stone chamber was even smaller, but it was filled with things. They were burial goods: pottery jars, bronzes, jades, and quite a few gold artifacts. They were all covered in a thick layer of dust, but you could tell they were very exquisite in their original form.

"We're rich!" The fat man's eyes lit up.

"Don't move," Xie Yuchen said.

Why?

"There's a trap," Zhang Qiling said.

Zhang Qiling crouched down and shone his flashlight on the ground. There were some extremely fine lines on the stone slabs, almost invisible, connecting the burial objects.

"It will trigger when touched," he said.

The fat man swallowed hard and withdrew his hand.

Aning walked to the wall and looked at a mural on it. It depicted a person dressed in magnificent robes sitting on a high platform, with many people kneeling below. The person was holding something in their hands, a jade object shaped like an eye.

"To the King," said Aning.

"What he's holding," Wu Xie leaned closer to examine it, "is it the Muchen Pearl?"

"It's similar," Xie Yuchen said.

“But this is a mural,” Huo Xiuxiu said. “The real beads aren’t here.”

"Deep inside," Zhang Qiling said.

"Keep going," said Zhang Qiling.

The group left the stone chamber and continued along the narrow passage. The sounds from the direction of the main hall gradually subsided; perhaps the official team had passed through, or perhaps…

Nobody wants to.

After walking for another half hour, we reached the end of the narrow path. Ahead was a stone gate, closed. The gate was carved with intricate patterns, a combination of snakes and eyes.

"King Xian worshipped snakes," Xie Yuchen said.

"Just like Jingjue," Aning said.

Zhang Qiling walked to the door and pushed it, but the door didn't budge. "Zhang Qiling" groped around the door and found a groove, which was somewhat similar in shape to the jade eye, but larger.

"I need the key," he said.

"Jade Eyes?" Wu Xie asked.

Zhang Qiling took out the jade eye he obtained from the Jingjue Ancient City, compared it to the jade eye, and shook his head.

"That's not right," said Zhang Qiling.

"What should we do then?" the fat man asked.

Zhang Qiling took two steps back and looked at the entire door. He suddenly raised his hand and quickly pressed several points on the door. The order was strange, but after he finished pressing, a "click" sound came from inside the door.

The door slowly opened inwards.

"How did you know?" Wu Xie asked in surprise.

"I could tell," Zhang Qiling said.

Two words were added to "Zhang Qiling": "Feng Shui".

Behind the door lay even deeper darkness.

The live stream was on the official team's side, showing Wen Jingshan and his team overcoming obstacles; some were injured, but no one died. The chat was filled with comments:

The prophet said: "The civilian team has gone to the other side."

To quell the dissent of so-called experts: The mute Zhangs are the smartest.

Brother's fan club: Where are the husbands?

Zhang Qiling was the first to walk in through the door.

"Zhang Qiling" is the second one.

A new area awaits them.