King of Tomb Raiders

Chapter 219

Our relationship underwent an extremely subtle change, transforming us from like-minded allies fighting side-by-side in the search for Suren into strangers wary and suspicious of each other.

“Li Kang, in your family’s ancestral picture album, that cracked egg is very likely a golden egg. Didn’t your father or grandfather tell you that? The picture album has been passed down for hundreds of years. Didn’t our ancestors pass down any other detailed explanations along with it?”

I spread the sketchbook out on the table again, turned to the page where the strange man entered the giant egg, and observed Li Kang's expression out of the corner of my eye.

He hung his head, motionless, drowsy. He must have studied this picture book thousands of times; he could remember every detail of the pictures even without looking at it.

“Mr. Feng, I’ve told you everything I know. As for what I don’t know, I can only blame the Li family ancestors for being dull-witted and failing to understand. Apart from that, I really can’t contribute any more. I’m sorry.” He scratched his messy hair, and dandruff fell onto his shoulders like snowflakes.

First of all, I can be certain that the original copy of the picture book is with him, either in the tent or on his person.

With Gu Qingcheng's intelligence, she could thoroughly search every corner of that tent within ten minutes. As long as he left the original copy inside, it would definitely be found. "Carried with him?" I had already scanned his entire body at least ten times. There was absolutely no way he could hide a book of this size in his clothes.

“Li Kang, to be honest, all I want is to find Suren. If that round stone house is the legendary ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ I’m willing to pay a large sum of money to acquire the method to enter it. Currently, you seem to be the most likely to receive this money. I know that the Li family ancestors must have some connection with this strange man, the ancient cave, and the stone house. You don’t want this huge secret to remain buried underground forever, do you? If you’re willing to cooperate, I’ll cover all the expenses. After finding that giant golden egg, the wealth is yours. How about it? All I want is a healthy and safe Suren. I ask for nothing more.”

Every time the words "golden egg" are mentioned, his eyelids involuntarily blink, almost like a conditioned reflex.

It can be inferred that these two words were the most profound imprint in his memory, so much so that even while trying his best to control his expression, he still reacted involuntarily. Unfortunately, none of his old friends were in the expedition team, making it impossible to compare and verify this.

"Mr. Feng, I'm sorry I can't help you." His face was full of bitter smiles, his back was hunched, and he shivered as he pulled the blanket tighter.

If money couldn't sway him, it seems the secret buried deep within the Li family must be extremely important and would never be easily revealed. Chinese people place great importance on following ancestral teachings; every long-established family has various strange and unusual rules that outsiders have no way of knowing.

"Li Kang, if our exploration ends here and we can't make any further breakthroughs, you won't reach the 'Heavenly Ladder' either. No matter how much treasure and secrets are buried there, it will always remain an unsolved mystery for a thousand years. However, as a tomb raider, I can tell you that there are no secrets on Earth that can be buried forever. Whether it's ten, fifty, or a hundred years, there will always be experts who break through all defenses and enter that place. But by then, any discoveries will be irrelevant to you, and irrelevant to the ancient books passed down through generations of the Li family. Have you thought this through?"

I closed the picture book, my biggest regret being that I didn't have Shao Hei's superb "mind-reading" skills to detect all of Li Kang's thoughts.

Li Kang gave a wry smile: "I understand what Mr. Feng means, but—" He shook his head vigorously, freeing one hand to brush the dandruff off his shoulder.

I had made my point perfectly clear, but I couldn't move him.

“My father has always felt guilty about Miss Suren’s disappearance, so he was willing to follow Mr. Feng into the mountains to make up for our mistake. No one dislikes money, which is why he offered up his family heirloom. If Mr. Feng suspects that I have any ulterior motives, then I can only express my regret—” Li Kang stood up and walked unsteadily out.

Underneath the camp blanket, he was only wearing a sweater and long trousers, so he probably couldn't hide anything large. His last hope was to place it with Gu Qingcheng.

"It's terrible, I didn't find anything." Gu Qingcheng returned empty-handed, her face filled with unspeakable frustration. "I searched through everything in the tent that might have been moved, and I carefully checked the sleeping bag, clothes, pillow, and other clothing, but I found nothing. Feng, do you think Li Kang might have hidden the ancient book in someone else's luggage?"

The possibility was extremely small; anything valuable would never be hidden out of sight. I shook my head, dismissing her idea, and realized that Li Kang was not an easy opponent.

Gu Qingcheng paced slowly inside the tent: "Feng, the only discovery we made was that his backpack contained a 40x professional magnifying glass, and it was from 'Osos,' a top brand in the Italian optical instrument industry. Even a used one would cost over eight thousand US dollars, and a new one would likely exceed twenty thousand US dollars. This kind of thing should be found in the laboratories of prestigious universities around the world, and it certainly wouldn't be on a dismissed security guard, don't you think?"

After many twists and turns, a glimmer of hope appeared, and Gu Qingcheng's discovery finally revealed Li Kang's extraordinary identity.

Those high-magnification, high-quality magnifying glasses are usually used by diamond appraisers to examine certain priceless diamonds, or by top watch repairers to examine the structure of watch movements. They are expensive but worth the price and are the pride of the Italian optical instrument industry.

"What would he do with the magnifying glass?" Gu Qingcheng sat down, covering her temples with her hands.

Excessive mental work can leave a person exhausted, leading to a sharp decline in physical strength.

"We can consider this issue after the super hacker I invited, Red Devil, arrives. I believe the information in the Southwest region's database will be able to reveal Li Kang's true colors." Unfortunately, Red Devil is not Xiao Yan; he can only follow the clues as they come and hasn't yet reached the level of being able to apply what he's learned to other situations.

Often, humanity has to admit that everyone's brain structure is completely different, not only clearly divided into countless levels, but also distinguished by geniuses, mediocrity, and stupidity, with vastly different levels of intelligence. A top-tier hacker like Xiao Yan, a "genius beyond compare," is one of a kind in the entire world, which is why the little devil Hong Xiaogui obediently follows his orders.

Looking back, was it because Brother Yang Tian was also in such a unique position in the tomb raiding world that Scalpel was willing to follow him around?

“Feng, I want Uncle Wei to monitor Li Kang 24/7 from now on until he finds a flaw. If we can’t come up with an effective operational plan for exploring the stone formation, even if we explore blindly for another ten days, we won’t get any results.”

This is the crux of the problem: we can't find the correct path through the star-shaped layout in the center of the tunnel. Not only will we be unable to break through, but we may also cause unexpected casualties. We've already lost enough men along the way; the entire Flying Eagle team was wiped out—this is the most painful lesson.

So far, no one has suggested using explosives to forcefully clear the path, which is precisely where everyone's brilliance lies. No one dares to conclude that the stone pillars serve no supporting function and are merely decorative.

In tunnel excavation, installing support pillars at load-bearing locations is a crucial and indispensable step. Even if only a third of these pillars are for load-bearing, their destruction could cause the entire mountain to collapse. In that case, we would have no choice but to turn back, completely cutting off any hope of further progress.

Explosives will never be used unless absolutely necessary; this is one of the fundamental principles of tunnel exploration.

Part Four: The Star Array, Chapter One: The Masked Monster

As Gu Qingcheng was about to leave, I suddenly remembered something: "Miss Gu, I would like to ask you the name of a guqin piece. One part of the melody goes like this—"

I hummed the tune I heard in my dream, but after only three lines, Gu Qingcheng interrupted me with a smile: "Feng, this is not a guqin piece, but just a simple syllable puzzle. It goes against music theory and is meaningless."

"Are you sure?" I heard that voice just now. In my dream, the melody played on repeat.

Gu Qingcheng nodded with absolute certainty: "Yes, I can be sure. I can recognize at least 99% of the thousands of ancient songs, from the 'Airs,' 'Odes,' and 'Hymns' in the Book of Songs to the revamped old songs in recent years. I even remember the scores of the most popular classic passages perfectly. Just as a soldier can't forget the firing procedure, I can't forget any song."

She has this confidence, which is very similar to Gu Zhijin's arrogance.

Once the campsite was truly quiet, I turned off the main light, lay back on the mattress, and my mind was still filled with the picture book from the Li family.

What exactly is Li Kang's purpose? The golden egg represents wealth, so could he have some deeper intention besides wealth?

Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard the sound of a piano again, drifting and swaying against the wind from the direction of the south tunnel. It was the very piece that Gu Qingcheng had dismissed as "a patchwork of syllables."

The feeling of imminent danger made me open my eyes abruptly.

It was the darkest hour before dawn, and my first instinct was to reach for the pistol beside my pillow. With a click, the bullet was chambered, and I pointed it toward the tent entrance on the left.

The outside light shone in at an angle, spreading across the floor beside the door as the fluttering curtain stretched out, sometimes long, sometimes short.

"Who?" My index finger tensed instantly, poised to fire at any moment.

A shadow stood by the door, its body completely hidden in darkness except for its feet, which were clad in black cloth shoes.

At this moment, we were five steps apart, but recalling the situation before I regained consciousness, I realized that the shadow must have been kneeling in front of the bed, observing me closely. It was precisely because he was so close that my sixth sense defense system was triggered.

No one in the camp wears shoes like that. An intruder? A murderer? I adjusted my gun slightly, aiming at the other man's collarbone. Capturing him alive is worse than killing him; so many people have died tragically, someone has to come forward and confess.

"Which group are you from? Tell me your name." I softened my tone, trying to keep the other person there.

All around, one could faintly hear the sounds of snoring coming from the various tents, but there was no alarm signal from the roving sentry, which was extremely strange.

Five paces is the maximum effective range of this pistol, and my marksmanship will ensure that the target never escapes. Even if the opponent retreats hastily, I am confident that I can deliver three-quarters of the twenty bullets to his vital areas.

"Who are you?" the shadow suddenly spoke, a cold and desolate woman's voice.

In my haste, I couldn't determine her exact age. However, women rarely have such large feet, which is why I mistook her for a man.

My left hand reached for the light switch inside the mattress, but she suddenly stopped me: "Don't turn on the light."

"Hehe, this is my tent, everything—" I heard the sharp whistling sound of a hidden weapon cutting through the air and quickly withdrew my hand.

With three sharp cracks, a strange, fishy smell immediately filled the air—the very same "Red Crown Poison," a potent poison favored by martial arts masters for use on concealed weapons. The plastic switch, which had only been used for less than three days, shattered into pieces, its internal steel ball flying out and bouncing into an enamel bowl with a series of strange clanging sounds.

"I told you, don't turn on the light." The woman's voice grew even colder.

I tried my best to control my index finger and my anger, determined not to fire before she launched an attack on me.

"You haven't answered my questions yet. Who are you? Where are you from? Do you know someone named 'Yang Tian'?" The last question sent a chill down my spine. She actually mentioned my older brother's name—could they be old acquaintances?

Footsteps approached from the left and right, likely from the patrolling sentries who heard the BBs bouncing. If I had two submachine guns, plus my pistol, a three-way encirclement would greatly increase my chances of winning. All I needed to do was stall her for now.

“I am the wind, from Egypt. There are too many Chinese people named ‘Yang Tian.’ I know at least five people with that name. I don’t know who you are looking for. Do you have any other details?” Chinese names are very common, so what I’m saying is not made up.

“‘King of Tomb Raiders’ Yang Tian, sigh…” she sighed softly, took half a step to the side, and hid herself in the darkness.

The person she's talking about is undoubtedly my older brother; now it's my turn to rack my brains trying to figure out her identity.

With a flick of the curtain, two figures were simultaneously cast diagonally on the ground. The tactical flashlights on the submachine guns were then switched on, and two beams of white light pierced the woman in the darkness.

The men led by Uncle Wei demonstrated the high level of professionalism of a regular army in every action. For example, their scientific method of "cross-attack" by two-person teams was a 100% replica of the US counter-terrorism military textbook. Their movements were smooth and decisive.

Their only mistake was that they were too confident in the power of firearms and didn't know how to adapt to changing circumstances.

The beam of light struck a golden mask, but in the blink of an eye, both beams went out simultaneously, followed by two "thud" sounds as the glass mask at the end of the flashlight was shattered by a hidden weapon.

I could have shot her in the face when the beam of light appeared—it was almost a perfect shooting opportunity—but because she mentioned my brother's name, I couldn't help but hesitate for a moment.

"Rat-a-tat-tat, tat-tat-tat—" The two submachine guns fired at the same time, but after firing a total of five bullets, the two sentries fell to the ground with a muffled thud.

I could clearly hear the "thud" of the hidden weapon hitting the man's Adam's apple. Every time this woman threw a hidden weapon, it was more accurate than a sniper shooting with a high-powered scope, which was chilling.

The curtain swayed, and I felt her retreat rapidly, but the speed was indescribable; the only word that came to mind was "overstepping boundaries."

"Don't go—" I leaped out, not having time to reach for the curtain, and went straight through, aiming my gun at the other person's left leg, firing four shots in quick succession.

Gunshots are most alarming in the still of the night; the nearest tents immediately echoed with the rapid pulling of bolts. A well-trained gunman, when faced with an emergency in his sleep, wouldn't first reach for his clothes, but rather grab his gun.

I hit her, but she swayed and was already twenty paces away, retreating towards the tunnel. In this situation, I had no time to adopt a standard standing or kneeling position for firing. I could only grip the gun with both hands and quickly empty the remaining bullets in the magazine during the high-speed pursuit, hitting her every time, but she showed no signs of slowing down.

"Mr. Feng, what happened?" After I leaped through the air over the jeep and two tents, the roving sentry guarding the southernmost part of the camp shouted at me, while blowing the whistle hanging around his neck, making a sharp and piercing "squeak-squeak" sound.

I didn't have time to explain. The sentry didn't even seem to have seen the woman clearly. Even if he raised the alarm, he didn't know where the enemy came from or where they went.

"Don't panic, everyone stay in your positions..." That was Uncle Wei shouting. The sounds of loading magazines and pulling bolts filled the air, but I knew very well that the enemy had already escaped far away, and their target was that strange tunnel.

I tossed aside my pistol, reached out and grabbed the sentry's submachine gun, and pulled hard.

With a "snap," the sling on the gun broke, and he exclaimed in alarm, "Mr. Feng—oh no! Someone's trying to steal my gun..."

He reacted textbook-perfectly when the incident occurred. This suggests that he and the group led by Uncle Wei were likely Nepalese soldiers, including the weapons and jeeps.

He quickly retreated, then dropped to the ground, drawing his pistol and pointing it at me. This series of standard movements only occurred after I had leaped twenty paces away. If I had intended to seize the gun, all his actions would have been meaningless.

I switched on my tactical flashlight, the beam shining towards the woman's face. She had been retreating with her back to the tunnel the whole time; I couldn't tell if she was deliberately underestimating me or if this was her natural agility. In the darkness, the golden mask flashed again, dodging the light while instantly retreating, creating an afterimage that could only occur with high-speed movement.

A high-quality tactical flashlight can provide effective illumination within a 20-meter range, while the laser sight's maximum usable range exceeds 30 meters. But these figures are useless now; after the phantom, the woman has vanished from the beam of light.

I froze, my mind suddenly going blank: "Extreme distance? Flash? Is it a human or a ghost? How can it achieve such instantaneous movement?" My index finger was still on the trigger, but her speed had already exceeded that of a bullet, so firing again would be pointless.

Fortunately, it was a straight passage with no forks in the road. My mind was filled with questions, but my feet never stopped, and I ran until I was about thirty steps away from the tunnel entrance.

She stood in the very center of the entrance. I could only make out her features vaguely. She was about the same height as Gu Qingcheng, around 1.62 meters. Her extremely slender waist was tightly wrapped, while her sleeves and skirt were particularly large, fluttering in the north wind along with her long hair, all the way into the tunnel.

Uncle Wei had installed lighting at the tunnel entrance, but now there is no light at all; it seems to have been completely destroyed.

I slowed my pace and approached the opponent. The close-combat power of the American submachine gun was still remarkable, easily penetrating five layers of top-grade tempered glass.

She suddenly raised her right hand, and with four clanging sounds, the four pistol bullets that had hit her earlier fell to the ground.

"What exactly is your relationship with Yang Tian?" she asked coldly once again.

The north wind blew even more fiercely into the tunnel, and she stood at this huge gust of wind, feeling as if she could be swept away by the wind at any moment.

I walked ten paces away from her, making sure I could unleash a whole magazine of bullets in an instant, before smiling and asking, "Is this really that important to you? Worth sneaking into the camp at night and killing two of my friends?"

"Hmph—" she said haughtily, raising her head.

"Was that the last massacre also your doing?" I tried to remain calm, my fingers moving silently to the switch on my tactical flashlight. During the high-speed chase, I had already turned off the lights to conceal my movements.

I want to see clearly the mask she's wearing; it's a crucial clue for investigating her identity.

"What you are about to do has been a task that no one has been able to accomplish in the past few centuries. Murder is just a small warning; otherwise, you will face a crisis a hundred times more terrifying than death. Take your people and leave, as far away as possible, as quickly as possible..." Her voice was dull and cold. Although I heard every word carefully, I could not discern her accent.

"Don't turn on the light—" Even the slightest movement of my fingers did not escape her notice; her keen vision was completely unaffected in the dark.

Several huge beams of light flashed from the direction of the camp, accompanied by the sound of jeep engines starting up.

I believe there must be heavy weapons hidden in the car. Gu Qingcheng and Uncle Wei have made very thorough preparations for this trip, and they would never have brought only light weapons into the mountains.