Chapter 25 It's time to go back.

As the rubble fell from the top of the tomb, Wu Xie sensed something was wrong—the ground, which had been stable just moments before, suddenly trembled, as if a giant beast was panting beneath the rock. Just as he was about to warn them, a heavy thud came from the entrance of the cave. Jude Kao and a dozen of his men leaped down, their dark gun barrels all pointed at the four people in the center of the tomb, leaving them no room to dodge.

"How touching, the descendants of the Zhang family are still guarding this coffin." Jude Kao's leather shoes stepped over the scattered jade pieces, his voice filled with greedy coldness. "What a pity, after today, the secret that your Zhang family has kept for three thousand years will belong to the Qiu family."

Black Bear's laughter preceded his actions. He pushed his sunglasses up, revealing a sharp glint in his eyes, and instinctively stepped in front of Zhang Qiling, his shoulder slightly turned to shield half of Zhang Qiling's body behind him. "Old Qiu, after all these years, all you can do is play with guns?" He twirled his usual dagger between his fingers, his tone flippant, but his eyes were cold. "You think you can take 'Dumb Zhang' away with these few broken guns?"

Upon hearing this, Jude Kao clapped his hands, and two of his men carried over a metal device about half a person's height. The device's surface was engraved with twisted patterns, strikingly similar to the talismans seen in the Zhang Family Ancient Building. "Of course not." He reached out and pressed the device's switch, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. "This is something I searched for three years to obtain, specifically to deal with your Zhang family's bloodline—tell me, if he can't even stand up straight, how are you going to stop him?"

The moment the switch was pressed, Zhang Qiling let out a muffled groan. Wu Xie only saw his knee bend, one knee slamming heavily onto the ground, the black gold ancient sword crashing onto the stone surface with a clang, the blade still trembling slightly. His face turned deathly pale at a visible speed, beads of sweat sliding down his forehead and down his jawline, staining his clothes with a small damp patch, but he didn't utter a sound, only his fingers digging tightly into the cracks in the stone, his knuckles turning white.

"Brother!" Wu Xie's heart tightened, and he was about to rush over when Xie Yuchen grabbed his wrist. Xie Yuchen's voice was very low, with an imperceptible seriousness: "Don't be impulsive. That device is releasing low-frequency waves, specifically to interfere with the power in the Zhang family's bloodline—if you go over now, you'll just become a target."

Black Bear's smile had vanished. He stared at Zhang Qiling's pale lips, the coldness in his eyes almost overflowing. With a flick of his wrist, the dagger shot towards Jude Kao's face like a silver thread. But just an inch away from Jude Kao, it suddenly stopped with a "whoosh," as if it had hit an invisible wall of air, and then fell to the ground with a "clatter."

“It’s useless.” Jude Kao bent down to pick up the dagger, wiped it with a handkerchief, and said with a smug tone, “This device can not only seal his power, but also form a barrier—now the four of you are like turtles in the palm of my hand.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the tomb chamber fell silent. Even the trembling ground seemed to pause. Then, the crystal coffin, which had been silent all along, suddenly emitted a faint light, and the man inside the coffin fluttered his eyelashes and slowly opened his eyes.

Those were eyes without whites, pure black like bottomless abysses. His gaze swept across the tomb chamber without a ripple, until it landed on the struggling Zhang Qiling, at which point a strange smile curled at the corner of his mouth. "Finally... this moment has come." His voice didn't seem to come from his throat, but rather seemed to drift from the depths of the rock, ethereal enough to send chills down one's spine.

The crystal coffin suddenly shone brighter, and the lid clicked open. The old man guarding the tomb roared, slamming his snake-headed staff heavily onto the ground: "We can't let him wake up! He wants to find a vessel for the Zhang family's bloodline!"

But it was too late. The man in the coffin slowly sat up, his black robe still covered in three thousand years of dust, yet showing no signs of wear and tear. As he stretched out his arms, it was as if most of the air in the tomb was sucked away, even the rubble seemed to float in mid-air. "Three thousand years." His gaze was fixed on Zhang Qiling, as if looking at a lost treasure that had been found again. "I have finally found the purest Zhang family bloodline—you will become my best vessel."

Black Bear didn't care about Jude Kao anymore. Almost instinctively, he lunged at Zhang Qiling, trying to pull him behind him. But as soon as he got close, he was violently thrown back by an invisible force, his back slamming against the stone wall, causing him to groan in pain. "Dumb!" He gritted his teeth and tried to get up, only to see Zhang Qiling struggling to stand, his shoulder muscles taut, as if trying to break free from the force that was suppressing him.

The man in the coffin floated into the air and slowly flew towards Zhang Qiling. The old man guarding the tomb rushed forward with his snake-headed staff, the snake eyes on the staff emitting a red light, but the man casually swung it, and the old man crashed into the crystal coffin like a kite with a broken string. The snake-headed staff fell to the ground with a "clang," and a crack appeared in the staff.

"Young man of the Zhang family," the man's voice, laced with seduction, echoed in the tomb, "become one with me, and you will be freed from the pain of reincarnation and attain true immortality—isn't this what your Zhang family has always sought?"

"Bullshit!" Black Bear suddenly sprang to his feet, pulling out a dagger from who-knows-where, and thrusting it straight at the man's back. But the moment the dagger touched the man's robe, it shattered into dust with a "whoosh," leaving the man's hand numb from the shock.

The man didn't even turn his head, but simply swung his hand back. Black Bear felt a tremendous force strike his chest, and he was instantly thrown back, crashing heavily against the stone wall. A mouthful of blood spurted out with a "pfft," splattering onto the stone surface, a glaringly red stain.

"Blind man!" Zhang Qiling's voice cracked for the first time. He looked up abruptly, his eyes surging with unprecedented rage, his chest heaving violently, managing to break free from some of the suppression—but the force instantly intensified, his knees scraping blood from the stone ground, yet he stared intently in the direction of the blind man, his fingers clenched so tightly that his nails almost dug into his palms.

Just then, the jade pendant on Zhang Qiling's chest suddenly became hot. The white jade pendant, which he had worn since he could remember, slowly emitted a warm golden light, much like the sacred fire he had seen in the ruins of the Queen Mother of the West's palace. The light grew brighter and brighter, eventually transforming into a pillar of light that struck the light from the crystal coffin.

"Boom—"

A deafening roar exploded in the tomb chamber, the crack in the ceiling widened instantly, and huge rocks rained down one after another. Jude Kao's expression changed drastically. He had only wanted to seize the Zhang family's secrets and never expected to awaken such a monster. He couldn't care about anything else and shouted "Retreat!" as he ran towards the cave entrance—but after only two steps, a huge rock smashed into the entrance, sealing the exit completely.

"Impossible!" The man in the coffin showed shock for the first time. He stared at the jade pendant on Zhang Qiling's chest, his voice trembling. "That's the Queen Mother of the West's natal jade! How could you have it?!"

Zhang Qiling was also stunned. He raised his hand to touch the jade pendant, the spot where his fingertips touched was burning hot, and the light of the jade pendant reflected in his eyes, which reminded him of some blurry fragments - it seemed that many years ago, someone placed this jade pendant in his hand and said, "It will protect you from now on."

"Use your blood!" The old man guarding the tomb struggled to his feet, his chest heaving violently, but he still pointed at the jade pendant and shouted, "The blood of the Zhang family can activate the power of the natal jade; only it can destroy him!"

Zhang Qiling did not hesitate at all. He raised his hand and bit his index finger, and a drop of bright red blood dripped onto the jade pendant—in that instant, the light of the jade pendant suddenly surged, and golden waves of light surged toward the man in the coffin like a tide, illuminating the entire tomb as if it were daytime.

"Ah—!" The man let out a piercing scream as his body slowly dissipated in the waves of light, black mist billowing out. "I've waited three thousand years... I can't just let it end like this..."

Before he could finish speaking, he turned to ashes without leaving a trace.

The tremors in the tomb grew more violent, and the stones falling from the ceiling became even more frequent. The old tomb keeper staggered to a stone wall, forcefully pushed aside a loose slab, revealing a narrow passage just wide enough for one person to pass through: "Hurry, get in! This tomb won't hold for much longer!"

Wu Xie and Xie Yuchen quickly helped Hei Xiazi up. Hei Xiazi leaned against Wu Xie and turned to look at Zhang Qiling, saying, "Dumb... don't fall behind." Zhang Qiling didn't say anything, but walked to the other side of Hei Xiazi, put his arm around his waist, and moved so gently that he seemed afraid of hurting him.

The four stumbled and staggered into the passage, followed by the deafening crash of a collapsing tomb. Debris tumbled down the passage entrance, grazing Wu Xie's clothes and hitting the ground. They ran for an unknown amount of time until blinding sunlight pierced through the tunnel ahead, at which point they helped each other out of the passage—outside lay a familiar desert. The passage behind them had been buried by quicksand, leaving only a shallow crack, which was quickly smoothed out by the wind.

"Finally... we escaped." Wu Xie slumped onto the sand, panting heavily, his throat dry and sore.

Hei Xiazi leaned against a rock, his face still terribly pale, but he reached out and tugged at Zhang Qiling's sleeve. His sunglasses slid down to the tip of his nose, revealing a smile in his eyes: "Dumb Zhang, you're really something—you even have the Queen Mother of the West's natal jade. How many secrets are you hiding from me?"

Zhang Qiling didn't answer, but instead squatted down and carefully unbuttoned Hei Xiazi's clothes. The wound on Hei Xiazi's chest was still bleeding, and the fabric was already stained red. When his fingers touched the wound, Hei Xiazi hissed softly, but didn't pull away.

"Does it hurt?" Zhang Qiling's voice was very soft, and his movements immediately became even gentler. He took out some medicine from his backpack—it was something he had brought from the Golmud Sanatorium and kept it close to his body.

"It hurts so much!" Black Bear cried out in pain, but the corners of his mouth turned up even higher. He reached out and touched Zhang Qiling's wrist. "You have to take responsibility—from now on, you'll be the one to treat all my injuries."

Zhang Qiling paused for a moment, then, without speaking, unscrewed the cap of the medicine and carefully applied it to Hei Xiazi's wound, even wiping away the bloodstains around the edges with a clean cloth.

The old man guarding the tomb stood to one side, watching them, and suddenly sighed softly. His body began to turn transparent, like smoke scattered by the wind, and his voice grew softer and softer: "The calamity is not over... The curse of the Queen Mother of the West has awakened. You must be even more careful on your path ahead..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man had completely turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared into the desert wind.

The setting sun painted the desert orange-red, casting long shadows of the four men. Zhang Qiling helped Hei Xiazi tie his bandages, then glanced at him as he stood up. Hei Xiazi understood, slowly rising to his feet while leaning against a rock, and patted Zhang Qiling on the shoulder.

Zhang Qiling gazed at the distant sand dunes, the wind ruffling his clothes. His voice was soft, yet clearly carried to everyone's ears:

"It's time to go back."