King of Tomb Raiders

Chapter 254

"You really enjoy probing other people's inner thoughts? Well, I do care about her, but 'King of Tomb Raiders' Yang Tian is my most respected senior, so it's best not to speculate about his mental world." I longed to see my older brother here, but subconsciously I knew that was absolutely impossible.

“She is in a place we cannot reach, so near yet so far. That place, in many Earth legends, is called the ‘Asian Gear,’ a space that exists in theory but is actually unknown to anyone.” He opened his arms as if to embrace the world.

"Asian Gear" was the lifelong pursuit of Su Lun's master, Master Guan Nan Wulang, and it was also the reason why Su Lun couldn't wait to enter the mountains alone to search for the "second Epang Palace".

I didn't want to press the matter further, because the other person wouldn't have any standard answer in their mind either.

The sudden awkward silence created a huge gap between the two people who had just met, and the sense of unfamiliarity suddenly increased significantly.

"Let's go back. Maybe Tang Xin can tell you some useful information." He smiled awkwardly.

The crystal ground beneath our feet is slowly rising, and the underwater world outside the wall is becoming clearer. Many common freshwater fish are swimming leisurely, which is enough to prove that we are rising from the deep water to the surface.

The square exit overhead drew closer, and when we finally reached the ground, we were faced with a vast, empty cave. A square hole of the same size was carved into the cave ceiling, extending upwards, from which we could finally see the true blue sky and white clouds.

We stood in the center of a 30-meter square pool, its surface rippling, the water crystal clear, with small fish playfully blowing bubbles.

"Welcome back to the real Earth. Although I don't know where you come from, as long as you can stand on this blue planet, you are a friend of Earthlings." He smiled and extended his hand to me.

I calmly returned the handshake. The light here was much brighter than where we had been before, which gave me the perfect opportunity to see him clearly. Our hands clasped together, and we tightened our grip almost simultaneously, our fingers instantly closing in.

After five "click-click-click-click" sounds, my finger strength had reached its limit, like a steel hook firmly locking the part from the opponent's thumb to their little finger.

“There’s another hand!” he laughed, flipping his left wrist and grabbing the left hand I had just raised.

I used the Small Capturing Hand, while he used the Dragon Capturing Hand, a martial art very popular in the Huashan area of the Western Yue. The strength of the two was evenly matched, and they were locked in a stalemate.

"You're an Earthling, why wear a golden mask and act like a ghost?" I could see his large pores, his newly grown short beard, the freckles on the side of his chin, and even the scars left after he had acne—all characteristics common to Earthlings.

"Of course I'm an Earthling—" He fell for the trap. Just as he opened his mouth, my inner strength suddenly surged, and I unleashed the "Disintegration Technique." My arms jerked violently, throwing his body straight out, skimming across the water and retreating towards the shore. At that moment, my "Transcendent Blade" was unleashed, its cold gleam silently illuminating the vast pond.

With two "splashes," the golden mask, now broken in two, landed on the water, splashing up two strings of sparkling water droplets that startled the playful little fish.

I followed closely behind, and in one fluid motion—sheathing my sword, picking up my mask, and stepping ashore—I displayed the unparalleled lightness skill of "walking on snow without leaving a trace, crossing water on duckweed." Often, wisdom is the key to victory in battle. His belief that he would have the upper hand when all four arms were locked in a stalemate was precisely the beginning of his defeat.

"Yang Tian's blade? It's that move again? I knew I wasn't wrong." He held his left arm across his face, obscuring half of it, and sighed sadly.

The mask in his hand was heavy, forged from pure gold, and seemed to still carry the warmth of his face.

I suddenly realized that the problem stemmed from his eyes: "Please remove your arm. If your eyes are truly different from those of earthlings, what is there to be ashamed of? All things in nature are different."

"Do you think you've won?" He turned around, gazing at the long, winding tunnel on his right. "I just wanted to verify whether there's an inevitable connection between you and Yang Tian. Come with me, and I'll guide you to another wondrous world."

I couldn't see his eyes, but judging from his skill in skimming across the water, his martial arts must be extremely advanced.

"Where to?" I followed behind him, watching his combat boots stride forward as if they didn't touch the ground. All I could hear was the gurgling of water; otherwise, all around was silent. Entering the deep underwater well surrounded by crystals from the golden egg was just a fleeting moment, like a dream that passed in the blink of an eye.

"You've come here to find a huge palace that many people want to enter, haven't you?" He didn't turn his head, the gold hairpin inserted diagonally on his ancient-style hair bun gleaming with dazzling light.

"You're wrong. Finding Suren is the most important thing. Tell me, where is the Asian Gear?" Ignoring the arrogance in his tone, I reiterated my goal. If the "palace" he referred to was the Epang Palace buried deep underground, that ancient architectural complex, revered as a treasure by archaeologists worldwide, was still as insignificant as a feather compared to Suren.

The caves on both sides grew narrower and narrower, and the light dimmed.

"Is she as important to you as Shui Lan is to Yang Tian?" He shook his head.

I heard the name "Shui Lan" again, a beautiful yet unfamiliar code name. Perhaps I will never know who she is, just like the journey of searching for my elder brother, which is getting further and further away, and the further I go, the more complicated and arduous it becomes.

"How much do you know about Yang Tian?" I avoided his question and tried to find out more about my older brother.

"Only a part of it. For example, the knife you used to cut open the mask just now, he used it before. You know? The most dangerous thing about the 'Over-the-Distance Blade' is not its sharpness or sharpness. If you really want to kill someone, there is no difference between a precious knife and a butcher's knife. As long as it can cut a person's throat, that's enough. This knife is not actually a real knife. If you can understand the profound meaning that the predecessors used to forge it, you will be invincible for thousands of years."

He pointed to the rock face on the left: "Look there—"

With a "beep," the rock wall lit up, revealing a screen about two feet square. Before the image appeared, I saw a dazzling white light fill the entire screen, extremely bright, like thousands of welding torches lighting up simultaneously.

"Familiar? That's the sword energy released by the 'Blade of Transcendence.' When you can reach the state of oneness between sword and man, it will shine, a light of wisdom, incomparably abundant." He stopped, still facing me sideways, carefully concealing his eyes.

On the screen, a tall, burly man is chasing another person. The moment his toes touch the shimmering surface of the water, he leaps even faster. In his hand lies the "Blade of Transcendence," the murderous aura emanating from its tip condensing into a two-meter-long beam of white light, its imposing presence truly awe-inspiring.

The ancient warrior in front of me was being chased; his body was flying backward as he retreated.

Volume Five: The Millennium Labyrinth

Part 1: Deep Underground

— Chapter 6 — Earthlings from Outer Space? —

"That's Yang Tian, the 'King of Tomb Raiders,' my brother—" I murmured to myself, a completely intuitive feeling. For a long time, my brother had become a divine yet intangible presence in my heart, one that would never change or grow old with the passage of time.

"The same sword could unleash far greater power in his hands. The scene at that time still terrifies me when I think about it now. However, the 'Sword of Transcendence' can only break through spatial distance, but it cannot transcend time. At that moment, all he saw was my shadow left in the long river of history. Even if he hit the target, he would be completely unharmed."

After the sword light disappeared, the golden mask split and fell into the water. My brother's next move was exactly the same as mine: he bent down, picked up the mask, and gracefully walked ashore.

"Is there surveillance equipment installed in the cave?" I asked casually.

The image froze, and all I saw of my older brother was a slightly tired silhouette.

"Yes, our every move is recorded. All the data shows that the error in the overlap between your thought process and his is no more than one in ten thousand. This is a terrifying concept, because even if the same person on Earth faces the same predicament a second time, the overlap in their reactions is only about seventy percent. I can't explain this phenomenon. Can you?"

He nervously flicked his fingernails, another form of body language unique to Earthlings.

"Where is he?" I took a deep breath, telling myself to stay calm no matter what.

"He broke through all the Alpha-level defenses and entered the interior of the Epang Palace. Unfortunately, with my intelligence, I can only set up formations but not break them, so I cannot continue to track him. Now, he has disappeared, just ahead—" Looking in the direction he was pointing, there seemed to be a bright opening three hundred paces away.

"What place is that?" I asked calmly, knowing that the closer I got to the core of the mystery, the more cautious I had to be.

"The six kingdoms were defeated, the world was unified, the Shu Mountains stood tall, and the Epang Palace emerged. That is the Epang Palace, which ancient literati have praised and admired for thousands of years, and which archaeologists around the world regard as a celestial palace. However, it is now just an ancient building isolated from time and space, never to be exposed to the sunlight again." He stared blankly in that direction, a posture extremely similar to that of the Terracotta Army in the Qin Emperor's Mausoleum.

I wish Suren were here with me right now, because she firmly believes in the archaeological claim of the "second Epang Palace" and must be eager to see the legendary Qin King's ancient palace.

"Don't you want to go over and take a look?" he asked in a low voice, his tone filled with a sense of melancholy.

"I want to, but my purpose in coming here is definitely not for it." The screen on the rock wall dimmed, and the elder brother's back view was like an ink wash painting that had been soaked in water, no longer clear.

“I really want to help you, but in the battle between energy fields, no one is in absolute control. The strong and the weak, the light and the dark, the black and white, the advance and retreat, the real and the illusory, have reached a point of intense conflict and fierce competition. Perhaps your involvement will tip the scales of victory, just as it did when Yang Tian arrived here before.”

He waved his hands forward together, and the rock walls on both sides suddenly lit up, revealing countless identical screens, each displaying colorful images.

"However, I must remind you that archaeologists only see Qin bricks and Han tiles, ancient jade and bronze tripods. No one understands that every winding path, corner, railing, and pavilion in an ancient building is constructed according to feng shui, yin and yang, and the principles of balance and harmony. When you reach that cave entrance, you will see an untouched ancient building, containing a dazzling and mysterious spiritual power. I don't want you to disappear like the former 'King of Tomb Raiders' Yang Tian."

He frowned deeply, his forehead and temples twitching, looking preoccupied.

"I'll be careful, thank you." I stepped over him from behind and strode toward the bright opening.

"Mr. Feng, please wait a moment." A girl called softly from behind me, and then a warm, fragrant breeze wafted over, filling my nostrils.

Unfortunately, I'm not a tiger, otherwise, if I could hear her voice, I would definitely shout "Tang Xin" with great joy.

I turned around abruptly, and Tang Xin floated out from the other side of the cave, her hands still tucked into the sleeves of her white fox fur coat.

"It's been a long time since we parted in Egypt." Her slender waist swayed in the wind, and a faint smile graced her face. She was no longer the icy beauty Tang Xin of the past.

Meeting an acquaintance in this eerie environment should be a joyous occasion, but I couldn't feel happy. No one could predict what side effects the "Hundred Deaths Divine Skill" would produce when practiced to its extreme. Tang Xin was already covered in poison, and after being detoxified by the Square-Eyed Monster who broke free from time control, it was unimaginable what kind of mutations might occur.

“Miss Tang, Tiger is waiting for you outside. He’s very worried about you.” I raised my voice, ready to deal with any sudden changes.

Two blushes suddenly rose on Tang Xinxue's fair cheeks. She glanced at the profile of the square-eyed warrior and lowered her voice: "Mr. Feng, I'm sorry, I'm not the same person I used to be. Please don't mention the names of old friends in front of me."

I was taken aback: "Miss Tang, did you hear me wrong? It's a tiger waiting for you."

The tiger was seriously injured while stealing scriptures for her, and he fell deeply in love with her. He still waits for her in front of the round stone house, but she told me "there's no need to mention it anymore." This change is truly unbelievable.

“The me of yesterday is no longer the me. The me of today is my true enlightenment.” She quoted two lines from Buddhist scriptures to answer my question. Her gaze shifted, and every time it landed on the square-eyed warrior’s shoulder, she couldn’t help but show a shy smile.

I understand now. She hasn't forgotten the tiger; she's just transferred her affections to other people.

"Take him to see the Epang Palace. Pay attention to the changes in the southeast and northeast winds. I sense that many experts are secretly lurking in, and I'm afraid some trouble might arise." The square-eyed warrior coldly instructed her, like a master to a disciple of a sect.

Tang Xin walked over silently, gestured for me to follow her, and took the lead.

"Don't be too careless, young man. Impulsiveness is the devil that destroys everything, understand?" The square-eyed warrior became old-fashioned, but he never turned around again to let me see his true face.

Actually, for me, square eyes or round eyes make no difference. I'm satisfied as long as I can get news related to my older brother and Su Lun.

Tang Xin's steps were as light as a kitten on tiptoe, and her eyes and brows were always smiling, but I knew that those smiles had nothing to do with tigers anymore.

"Miss Tang, who exactly is that person? Is he an extraterrestrial visitor from another planet?" My gaze swept across the screens on both sides, where many warriors in ancient costumes were performing scenes of bloody life-and-death battles. In almost every scene, there was a warrior wearing a golden mask.

Tang Xin suddenly looked a little confused: "Mr. Feng, this question is also troubling me. If you're interested, I can recite the part of what the other person said when they introduced themselves verbatim to you." She raised her snow-white hands to smooth her hair and pointed forward, "This road is very long, it will take us about half an hour to walk, so I can tell you what I know."

The following is Tang Xin's recitation; the original speaker was naturally the square-eyed warrior.

My name is Alpha 19710218, which is a number. In our time, the complicated and lengthy household registration system has long since disappeared from the annals of history, replaced by a series of numbers.

You might wonder why my eyes are square? Why aren't they oval like those of other Earthlings?

I'm also wondering why your eyes are oval-shaped instead of square.

The reason for this point of contention is that we both claim to be 100% Earthlings, and the planet we stand on is undoubtedly the only blue, spherical celestial body in the Milky Way galaxy. I swear, I am an Earthling, and in the Earth environment I'm describing, everyone's eyes are square, because this is highly beneficial for medical replacement.

My identity is that of a space scientist. The last time I left Earth was to carry out a top-secret destruction plan: to blow up a planet to prevent a catastrophic asteroid impact. Do you understand? By destroying large meteorites or registered asteroids, they will turn into cosmic dust and disappear. Even if they fall to Earth, they will only cause localized disasters, not the complete destruction of the planet.

Regarding the era in which I exist, not only will you be puzzled, but I myself am also extremely confused, because in the unified calendar of the earth, I live in 2007.

The reason I'm standing here today is perhaps because there was a problem with the spacecraft's mission settings. Its automatic navigation system will wake me up automatically when it reaches its destination. In the more than two hundred missions it has carried out before, it has never made a mistake. This is the only time, and the last time.

Similar to your scientific development, during our space voyages, all astronauts also spend the long nights in deep sleep. Journeys of ten thousand light-years or one hundred million light-years are simplified into two simple processes: falling asleep and waking up. This time, when I woke up, I found myself in a strange world where everyone's eyes were oval, but their body shape and thought patterns were exactly the same as mine.

This is the Earth you speak of. After analyzing its elemental composition and celestial motion patterns, I have come to a clear and unambiguous conclusion: it is exactly the same as the planet I once lived on.

I understood. The spacecraft encountered unimaginable route disruption during its journey, breaking the laws of time and space, and suddenly returned to thousands of years ago. That was the era when Qin Shi Huang led his army to conquer the six kingdoms and pacify the world, and I, a scientist from the year 2007 of Earth's calendar, suddenly became the square-eyed god in everyone's eyes.

Tang Xin's narration became faster and faster, and the vocabulary she used became more and more ambiguous, like a diary entry written by a primary school student.

"He migrated here from Xianyang, the capital of the Great Qin Dynasty, and lived a solitary life, passing his days in isolation until now." Tang Xin ended the lengthy narration with a long sigh, and fine beads of sweat slowly seeped from the tip of his nose.

"Has your 'Hundred Deaths Divine Skill' completely dissipated?" I asked with concern.

She is no longer afraid of the cold, which shows that the negative effects of the "Hundred Deaths Divine Skill" no longer exist.

"The divine skill is still there; what has disappeared is the poison gas that lingers in my limbs and bones. However, martial arts have long lost their meaning for me. Now I finally understand that there are many things in the world more interesting than conquering the world and unifying the martial arts world. He said he would take me away from here to a paradise where there are no more worries."

She brushed aside the stray black hairs from her forehead, her bright eyes darted around, and a satisfied smile gradually appeared on her lips.

I feel sorry for Tiger. After all, it's not easy for a wandering rogue like him, who spends his days in brothels and nights in revelry, to settle down and fall in love with a girl. Falling in love with Tang Xin was a huge mistake, and I wonder how heartbroken he will be after this mess.

"Does heaven really exist?" I asked with a faint smile. Tiger is, after all, my good friend, and the immense blow he suffered must have made me uneasy.

“Yes, everywhere you go is paradise,” Tang Xin replied softly.

She went from being the aloof and arrogant prospective head of the Tang Clan in Sichuan to being like this now; the change is so drastic that it's really hard for anyone to adapt.

“Miss Tang, if you were willing to treat Tiger with such gentleness for just one day, he would never refuse even if you asked for his head.” I didn’t mean to defend Tiger, but I just couldn’t understand Tang Xin’s sudden change of heart.

She suddenly laughed: "Mr. Feng, there is an old saying that 'a woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea.' A girl's thoughts are beyond her control, so how can others see through them? Tiger is my good friend, and our fate can only be to be good friends, but he is completely different. When I fell off the cliff and landed in his arms, the first time I saw that golden mask, I knew that his embrace was the place where my heart would rest peacefully for the rest of my life."

I nodded slowly, but didn't know how to continue.