King of Tomb Raiders

Chapter 249

Uncle Wei frowned: "Didn't everyone already try it just now?" He was holding another bundle of rope in his hand, preparing to follow me down the cliff.

“Uncle Wei, do as Mr. Feng instructs. Here, he is the sole leader.” Gu Qingcheng stood up, casting an inquiring glance at me. Only she could give orders to Uncle Wei, but now that privilege had been transferred to me.

Uncle Wei gave a muffled reply, dropped the rope, assumed a horse stance, and slowly inhaled deeply, his chest and abdomen immediately bulging exaggeratedly.

Gu Qingcheng's lips curled slightly: "Uncle Wei's full power can shatter three layers of ordinary glass with his voice, so let's be careful." She walked to the edge of the cliff and extended her right hand to me, "Let's get up here first."

I gently shook my head, declining her offer: "No need. If there's any unusual noise down there, I'll just accelerate my descent."

Suren was not a weak woman who could not even kill a chicken. If she realized that reinforcements had arrived, she would definitely send out a clear distress signal instead of silently waiting to die.

Gu Qingcheng smiled sweetly and raised her sleeve to cover her ears.

Uncle Wei clenched his fists at his waist, then suddenly raised his arms and shouted, "Su-Lun-!" His voice was like a thunderclap on a summer night, echoing in all directions. I lay on the rock wall and listened carefully. The echoes continued to vibrate and collide, reaching deep into the thick fog, as if they had instantly torn a large hole in the boiling, churning mist.

"Su-Lun, Su-Lun—" Uncle Wei called out twice more, making my eardrums burn with pain.

The tiger had already retreated towards the stone house, covering its ears tightly, its face full of impatience.

Uncle Wei's echo lasted for a full minute. Gu Qingcheng opened her ears and asked, slightly puzzled, "Feng, did you find anything?"

The thick fog remained, but I had found the answer I was looking for. Judging from the direction of the echo's vibrations, the terrain below the cliff was not flat, but rather winding and meandering southwestward. In this environment, the origin of Suren's voice had become an unsolvable mystery.

“The terrain below is very complex…” I had only finished half a sentence when I suddenly caught a glimpse of a faint light shining from where the egg was touching the ground. I was stunned and swallowed the rest of my words, unable to utter a single syllable.

"Oh? In that case, I'm afraid we won't be able to make any breakthroughs in a short time. Should we bring in more people?" Gu Qingcheng was standing with her back to the egg and had no idea what was happening over there.

The light was golden, clearly distinct from the eerie white glow emanating from the rocks; I was absolutely certain I was seeing things correctly.

"Feng, what are you looking at?" Gu Qingcheng noticed my absent-mindedness and turned around.

The egg was about three meters tall and its shape resembled an egg magnified tens of thousands of times. The golden light appeared close to the ground, making it difficult for a standing person to notice. Fortunately, half of my body was below the cliff, which lowered my line of sight and allowed me to see it immediately.

“Miss Gu, please squat down and look under the egg.” I reminded her, keenly aware that it was “alive” and not just a lifeless behemoth.

"What is that...?" Gu Qingcheng squatted down, her shoulders suddenly jolted, and she hissed as she gasped for breath.

"What could be inside the egg? Another poisonous snake?" Before I could answer my first question, her hand reached into her pocket, and with a "whoosh," she drew her gun, shouting at the same time, "Uncle Wei, Tiger, level one alert! Something's up!"

In that instant, the howling of the mountain wind seemed to suddenly become more than ten times stronger.

I leaped onto the ground, spread my arms to block Gu Qingcheng, and glanced at the mysterious egg again, realizing that something must have happened inside the round stone house.

"It's Red Devil's side—Miss Gu, step back and be careful!" With a sway of my shoulder, I bumped into her, sending her stumbling back several steps before lunging towards the stone house.

"Hahaha..." Red Devil's strange cries rang out again, mixed with uncontrollable maniacal laughter, like an injured person whose waist acupoint had been struck.

As the change occurred, the tiger was closest to the stone house. Before I even landed, he roared, spun around, and delivered a flying kick—a "tiger tail kick"—to the door, making a dull thud. The door remained unmoved, but his foot, with a sharp crack, was jolted, dislocating both his ankle and knee, causing him to fall to the ground.

Gu Qingcheng landed beside me like a shadow and asked in a low voice, "Feng, should we blast this door open? I suspect that Little Red Devil is hiding something from us?"

The wind tousled her hair, carrying an indescribable, subtle fragrance, but it also gave me a sudden chill. Given Gu Qingcheng's background, it seemed unnecessary for her to be so suspicious throughout the entire adventure. I could see the cold glint in the depths of her eyes, like stars in a frigid night.

Sensitive, aloof, and suspicious—these are traits typically reserved for international spies, and should never be found in Gu Qingcheng. Even if she and Gu Zhijin are truly siblings, their natures are vastly different.

In an instant, I had serious doubts about her identity.

"Feng, why are you looking at me like that?" She was indeed sensitive enough to quickly discern my thoughts from my eyes and facial expressions.

"No." I slowly shook my head, quickly recalling every word she had said and every action she had taken.

Is her purpose for this trip that peerless ancient zither? Really? Or is it fake? At certain key turning points, I was actually able to connect her with Tina—both girls possess the same kind of innate perseverance and courage, except that Tina is a foreigner with an outward personality, while Gu Qingcheng is a Chinese with a classical Eastern temperament, reserved and introverted.

The stone house fell silent, and the tiger's heavy breathing grew louder and louder.

Gu Qingcheng brushed her loose hair aside and suddenly smiled, "Feng, you're overthinking it." After a slight pause, she let out a soft sigh and continued in a more relaxed tone, "Look, the environment we're in right now is so strange. It's always good to be careful, isn't it?"

Below the cliff, amidst the chaotic clouds, a cacophony of sounds—water, wind, insects, and birds—was heard, their echoes amplified by the rocks, creating a chilling symphony.

“Red Little Devil is Xiao Yan’s friend, and Xiao Yan is my friend.” I smiled, not wanting my earlier doubts to be exposed to Gu Qingcheng’s gaze.

“I know, of course I know.” She nodded slightly, took a step back, sighed again, and asked to herself, “So, what exactly happened inside the stone house?”

Uncle Wei swooshed as he unzipped his backpack and took out a dark, square metal box.

"Miss, would you like—" The box lid popped open, revealing neatly arranged American soft explosives. Without a doubt, these powerful professional weapons could tear the door apart instantly and effortlessly destroy the entire mountain passage.

"Uncle Wei, follow Mr. Feng's instructions and don't act rashly." Gu Qingcheng coughed lightly and raised her hand to stop Uncle Wei, who was eager to fight.

"Tiger, are you alright?" I didn't raise my hand to knock on the door. If Little Red Devil was awake, the tiger's "tiger tail kick" had already replaced the knocking sound, and he would definitely have heard it.

"It's alright, but everyone be careful. There's an enemy nearby who comes and goes without a trace and could appear at any moment." Tiger's face turned red and white in turns as he kept looking around.

I pinched his injured right foot and tried to pull it back down; the ankle had already returned to its original position.

"Thank goodness, don't be so reckless next time—" I leaned forward, and while I was putting his knee back in place, I asked in lip-reading, "What are you looking for? What do you know?"

In this position, Gu Qingcheng and Uncle Wei can only see my back, and "lip reading" is a communication method that Tiger and I often used in the past, so we can maintain absolute privacy.

“A woman with six arms… Feng, I’m not sure if she’s ‘human,’ she’s faster than lightning, she snatched my heart… six arms… ah…” He groaned loudly, using the sharp pain of his knee returning to its place to mask his inner unease.

I did not show any signs of shock, even though I was extremely shocked and confused by the phrase "the woman with six arms".

Large beads of sweat appeared on the tiger's forehead as he continued rapidly, "I'm certain that besides her six arms, there are many more secrets about her body. Everything in this valley is unbelievable; if it weren't for Xiaoxin's insistence, I wouldn't have wanted to set foot here... The 'Azure Heaven and Yellow Springs Sutra' contains utterly absurd things—but never mind, as long as I find Xiaoxin, nothing else matters. Feng, you still have to help me this time..."

I only replied with one sentence: "Are you telling the truth?"

From the moment Tiger suddenly appeared in Cairo, I began to doubt his purpose for this trip. A martial arts master as stoic and unruly as him would not act rashly, nor would he fully open his heart to anyone.

The tiger paused, its gaze involuntarily shifting towards the egg.

"Tiger, I'll help you. How exactly did Tang Xin disappear?" I straightened up, still with my back to Gu Qingcheng.

My intuition tells me that his series of actions—stealing the scriptures, fleeing, and going into the mountains—all under Tang Xin's direction, were driven by a specific purpose. So, what was his ultimate goal? Could it be directly related to Su Lun's disappearance?

The tiger's eyes darted around a few times, then it suddenly let out a long sigh and said directly, "Alas... I don't know how these things happened—"

Uncle Wei suddenly let out a cold laugh: "Mr. Feng, your friend has been lying all along. He must know a lot of secrets, but he just doesn't want to share them!"

He was also a seasoned veteran, with more experience than Tiger. Of course, he was extremely shrewd and wouldn't miss any of Tiger's slightest movements.

Gu Qingcheng chuckled softly in agreement, "Never mind, everyone has their own unspoken sorrows. Let's work together to open this door—"

Before she could finish speaking, the door slid open silently, and a large expanse of golden light spilled out, enveloping all four of us.

Gu Qingcheng was taken aback, raised her arms, and pointed the gun at the door. It was real "golden light." We seemed to be standing in front of a huge golden mountain, or falling into a deep well inlaid with gold. Everything in sight was magnificent and glittering, even the little red devil standing in the golden light with a slightly bewildered look.

He took a big step forward, looked up at the sky, and asked himself blankly, "What is 'thirty-finger coordination'? How can I do it?"

The tiger reacted incredibly quickly, leaping up and charging towards the door, shouting, "Watch out! Watch out! Where are you? Where are you?"

Gu Qingcheng said "Oh," and nudged my arm with her elbow: "Feng, Tiger is also very strange. What is he hiding?" She still had a smile on her face, but her smile was full of barely concealed anxiety.

I understand that Tang Xin's disappearance must be related to the golden light and the golden egg, and not just that she was taken away by someone.

Red Devil suddenly turned around and grabbed Tiger's shoulder. In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged more than a dozen blows. Red Devil's movements suddenly sped up several times. No matter how much Tiger twisted and dodged, Red Devil finally managed to firmly control him and drag him out the door.

"Don't wander in, there's no one inside." The little red devil's voice returned to normal, but his eyes were still empty and helpless.

Amidst the golden light, I could roughly discern the rapidly changing images on the screens, and all the indicator lights on the control panel were lit, twinkling like stars, though I couldn't distinguish the colors in my haste.

"Where is the egg? You must know, isn't it inside this golden egg?" The tiger's voice became hoarse as it pointed to the unmoving egg.

Red Devil wasn't in a hurry to answer Tiger's question. He suddenly turned to me and said, "Feng, can you tell me how to achieve 'thirty-finger coordination'?" He stretched out his hands in front of me, spread his ten fingers, and stared at those thin, pale fingers with great confusion.

That was a very obscure "noun," and I had absolutely no recollection of it.

I shook my head: "Little Red Devil, what exactly were you doing in there? I think that egg is cracking."

This reminded the tiger, who immediately turned and ran toward the golden egg, circling it several times with incredible speed, examining it from top to bottom.

“Yes, it’s cracking because I’ve found the entry point to break this system—no, not me, it’s actually Xiao Yan…” The moment he heard the name “Xiao Yan,” he snapped back to reality and frantically pulled a satellite phone from his pocket.

My judgment was correct. The egg slowly cracked open with a long vertical slit, and with a sudden burst of golden light, it was divided into two symmetrical halves, but the middle was empty, with nothing in it.

Uncle Wei gasped, “What is this… Mr. Feng, what is this?”

Gu Qingcheng silently walked towards the golden egg, something that had once appeared in the ancient book of the Li family, and now it was standing vividly in front of them.

The interior of the golden egg was large enough to accommodate an adult, and the first word that popped into my mind was "coffin." It really did resemble a wooden coffin that indigenous people had casually dug out; as long as it could enclose a person, whether its appearance was beautiful or ugly was meaningless.

Tiger, Uncle Wei, Gu Qingcheng, and their six hands simultaneously rested on the edge of the golden egg, yet their expressions varied. Uncle Wei's face was filled with horror, Tiger's eyes were filled with anxiety, but Gu Qingcheng remained absolutely calm, seemingly engaged in complex thought.

"Xiao Yan, is that you?" Hong Xiaogui dialed the phone, her voice trembling slightly as she spoke.

I heard Xiao Yan's lazy voice: "It's me, I'm sleeping. If you have something to say, say it quickly, or put it down!"

"I found the legendary supercomputer system and used the 'Prometheus algorithm' to open a channel to the core. Xiao Yan, no hacker in the world can match this achievement so far—" Red Devil's body was trembling and strangely hunched over, like a shrimp that had accidentally jumped out of the water.

"Haha, congratulations! The 'Prometheus Algorithm' targets cryptographic defense systems from extraterrestrial spacecraft. Your ability to do this is enough to make you look down on the world and regard European and American hacker groups as ants." Xiao Yan's voice was dry, and she didn't show much excitement.

"Yes, I succeeded, I succeeded, but Xiaoyan, I don't understand what 'thirty-finger linkage' is? You invented both the algorithm and the actions, so tell me, how do I use 'thirty-finger linkage'? And what was your motivation for inventing this algorithm?"

Red Devil showed no excitement whatsoever; his face grew increasingly ashen, one could even say it was a despair from which there was no escape.

I didn't want to pry into the secret between him and Xiao Yan, so I slowly walked towards the door of the stone house, bathed in golden light.

The stone house wasn't filled with gold ingots; the light emanated naturally from the surfaces of all the objects, just as the outer rock walls could automatically produce a faint white light.

A stone house? A control room, a control panel? Can it control that golden egg? And then what? What changes will the golden egg undergo? Most importantly, the square-eyed warrior mentioned in the Li family's ancient books has entered the golden egg. What will happen next?

I turned around, and the tiger had already stepped into the golden egg, like a warrior ready to die.

At the same time, the five people inside this mysterious mountain, each with their own thoughts and concerns, fell into a silent commute.

"Tiger, did Tang Xin disappear from the golden egg?" I finally discovered the origin of the strange event, and my mind cleared up. The tiger must have seen the golden egg crack open before it stood in without hesitation.

The tiger looked down at its feet in confusion. It was clear that it had no idea what to do next. The answers to all its questions were in Tang Xin's hands, and it was just a pawn in the game.

Gu Qingcheng and Uncle Wei both had their hands hidden in their pockets, maintaining a defensive posture as if they could draw their guns and fire at any moment. I understood that there's no such thing as a free lunch; they must have had ulterior motives for going through all that trouble to get into the mountains.

"Watch out—" After half a minute of silence, the tiger roared again.

"Stop arguing—stop arguing—" Red Devil suddenly shouted, waving his left hand forcefully in the air, "What? You're saying I'll never learn 'thirty-finger coordination'? I'll never be as good as you?"

His face turned deathly pale in an instant, and he turned to me weakly: "Feng, Xiaoyan wants you to answer the phone."

I hesitated for a moment, then reached for the phone, my eyes meeting those of the little red devil.

"I am the strongest hacker on Earth. From today onwards, I will surpass Xiao Yan, surpass..." His fingers trembled violently, and his lips were bloodless.

I gently patted his shoulder and kindly advised him, "Brother, don't lose heart, everything will be alright, it definitely will be alright!"

The hacker world is extremely hierarchical. To earn the title of "Earth's Strongest Hacker," one must undergo rigorous training and defeat all opponents before finally reaching the top.

The fuzz on Red Devil's lips hadn't turned black yet; he was still just a minor, and his mental resilience wasn't strong. He would be on the verge of collapse whether facing glory or frustration.

"Wind?" Xiao Yan's tone was strange, devoid of any warmth, and every word she uttered sounded like that of a stranger.