Tomb raider: You're going to extract my alien bloodline?

Chapter 5 Blood Corpse

The screams from behind the jade gate seemed to still echo in the cold tomb passage. Fatty Wang clung tightly to Qin Yuan's arm, the two pressed against the icy stone wall, barely daring to breathe. The beams of their headlamps flickered violently in the darkness, reflecting the bewildered expressions on their faces.

"Damn it, something big must have happened up ahead!" the fat man said in a low voice, his throat dry. "Judging from that scream, it doesn't sound fake. They've probably run into something tough!"

Qin Yuan's heart pounded in his chest. He forced himself to calm down and listen carefully. Apart from their heavy breathing and heartbeats, there seemed to be a deathly silence behind the jade gate, but that silence contained an even more unsettling atmosphere.

"Let's go in and take a look, be careful." Qin Yuan took a deep breath and patted the fat man's arm. They were already here; they couldn't back down just because of a scream.

The fat man gritted his teeth, nodded, gripped his entrenching tool tightly again, crouched low, and was the first to crawl through the hole blasted open in the Jade Gate. Qin Yuan followed closely behind.

Upon entering the Jade Gate, the space suddenly opened up. It was a huge circular tomb chamber, several times more spacious than the tomb passage they had previously traversed. In the center of the chamber, seven enormous stone coffins were neatly arranged, positioned according to the Big Dipper constellation. Each coffin had an ancient and simple design, with intricate but blurred carvings on it. Under the illumination of their headlamps, they cast long, distorted shadows, making them appear particularly eerie.

"Seven Star Suspicious Coffins!" The fat man gasped, his voice trembling with excitement and tension. "I knew I hadn't come to the wrong place! This is a big deal!"

Just then, from another entrance to the tomb came the sound of hurried footsteps and voices!

"Quick! Hide!" The fat man reacted quickly, grabbing Qin Yuan and hiding in the shadows behind a huge stone coffin. The stone coffin was located at the end of the handle of the Big Dipper, in a relatively secluded spot.

Just as they hid, five or six people walked in from the entrance. The leader was a middle-aged man with a calm face and sharp eyes, wearing professional wilderness exploration clothing and holding a flashlight; it was Wu Sansheng.

Beside him was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, with delicate and handsome features. His face still carried a hint of childishness and curiosity as he nervously looked around.

"Why are there so many coffins here?" asked a muscular man, who looked like Pan Zi.

"The Seven Star Coffins are merely a decoy." Wu Sansheng swept his flashlight across the seven stone coffins, his tone calm. "Only one is real; the rest are traps. Everyone be careful and don't touch anything."

The fat man hiding behind the coffin nervously swallowed and instinctively reached to the side. He remembered there were a few earthenware pots nearby, which would fit perfectly over his head.

Just as the fat man picked up the earthenware pot and was about to put it on his head, Qin Yuan grabbed his wrist and said through gritted teeth in a very low voice, "You better not be thinking of putting it on both of our heads."

Fatty Wang glanced at Qin Yuan's fierce eyes, pursed his lips, and silently put the jar back down.

Wu Sansheng and his group began to carefully examine the tomb chamber, mainly observing the murals and the floor, trying to find clues about the real coffin. Qin Yuan and Fatty hid in a corner and listened to Wu Xie's eloquent talk.

The sound stopped for a few seconds, then a piercing scream rang out: "A ghost!"

"Who!" Pan Zi reacted the fastest, shouting sharply. Almost simultaneously, he raised his gun and fired a shot in the direction of Qin Yuan and the others without hesitation!

The bullet struck the sarcophagus, sending up a trail of sparks and stone chips with a piercing sound.

"Run!" Qin Yuan and Fatty knew they'd been exposed the moment Wu Xie pointed at their shadows and yelled. Fatty let out a strange cry, abandoning all pretense of concealment, and leaped out from behind the stone coffin, sprinting towards the hole in the jade gate they'd entered through. Qin Yuan wasn't slow either, following closely behind, his enhanced power erupting, making him even faster than Fatty.

"Stop!" Seeing that his attack had missed and the other party was about to escape, Pan Zi immediately gave chase, raising his gun again to aim. Wu Sansheng, Wu Xie, and the others also reacted, shouting in alarm as they gave chase.

Chaos erupted instantly inside the tomb. The fat man, running away, turned back and cursed, "Damn it! So what if we got here a little earlier? Did they have to shoot?! Kill us to cover their tracks?!"

Just as Pan Zi was about to pull the trigger again, a black figure floated down from above the tomb chamber, moving so fast that it left only a blur, and instantly blocked Pan Zi and the fleeing Qin Yuan and Fatty.

The man was tall and slender, dressed in simple black clothes. He had a handsome and otherworldly appearance, but his face was pale, and his eyes were so indifferent that they seemed devoid of any human emotion. Just by standing there, he exuded a cold aura that kept strangers at bay.

Zhang Qiling!

His appearance was so sudden that Panzi instinctively pointed his gun at him. However, Zhang Qiling merely glanced at Panzi, which sent a chill down Panzi's spine, and the finger on the trigger froze.

In that short delay, Qin Yuan and the fat man had already rushed to the opening of the Jade Gate.

"Never mind them! Find the things first!" Wu Sansheng's voice came, with a hint of urgency that was barely perceptible. He seemed to care more about what was in the tomb.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qiling shifted his gaze from Pan Zi to Qin Yuan and the fat man, who were about to escape the tomb. Without a word, he moved swiftly, chasing after them like an arrow released from a bow. His speed was incredible; his footsteps were so light they were almost inaudible, yet each step carried astonishing explosive power, rapidly closing the distance between him and Qin Yuan.

"Damn it! That kid's catching up! Run faster, Blackie!" The fat man glanced back and saw the black figure that was following him like a shadow. He was so scared that his soul almost left his body, and he ran as fast as he could.

Qin Yuan also felt immense pressure coming from behind, the feeling of being targeted by a top predator. He could even sense the inhumanly cold aura emanating from Zhang Qiling. His battle instincts tensed his muscles, and his speed increased once again.

The two rushed out of the Seven Star Suspicious Coffins tomb chamber, one after the other, and ran desperately along the tomb passage. Zhang Qiling chased closely behind, and his speed seemed to be slightly better than Qin Yuan's, who was running at full speed, and the distance between them was constantly closing.

The tomb passage wasn't straight; it had many turns and forks. Qin Yuan and the fat man, in their panic, didn't bother to discern directions, only choosing the paths that seemed achievable. After running around a corner, a slightly smaller side chamber appeared ahead.

In the center of this side chamber stood a stone coffin! An extremely ominous aura emanated from the coffin. The coffin lid was not completely closed, revealing a gap from which an indescribable, strange smell, a mixture of decay and exotic fragrance, wafted out, making one feel nauseous.

"This way!" The fat man ran over from the side room without thinking.

However, Zhang Qiling, who was close behind, seemed to have sensed something. His usually indifferent gaze changed almost imperceptibly, and he suddenly increased his speed, clearly wanting to stop them before they passed the side chamber.

Seeing that he was about to be caught up, the fat man, in his desperation, tripped over a loose stone slab and stumbled. To maintain his balance, he instinctively braced himself against the coffin next to him!

"Don't touch it!" came Zhang Qiling's short and cold shout from behind.

But it was too late!

The fat man pressed his hand firmly onto the cold stone coffin. The coffin seemed extremely sensitive; with his press, the lid, which had only been slightly ajar, creaked open and slid open even wider!

at the same time--

"Thump!!"

A deep, resounding boom, like the beating of a drum, suddenly came from inside the stone coffin! The entire side chamber seemed to tremble!

Immediately afterwards, an incredibly dense and chilling aura of death, almost tangible, surged out from the cracks in the coffin! The heavy stone coffin began to shake violently, as if the thing inside had been awakened!

"I... I'm so scared!" The fat man was terrified and scrambled away from the coffin, his face as white as paper.

Qin Yuan also felt a fear originating from his life instinct instantly seize his heart. The alien bloodline in his body seemed to be stimulated and became somewhat restless. A slight burning sensation came from the heat-sensitive lines under his left shoulder blade.

Zhang Qiling had caught up, but he no longer looked at Qin Yuan and the fat man. His indifferent eyes were now fixed intently on the violently shaking bronze coffin. He slowly assumed a defensive stance, his right hand already gripping the hilt of the long sword wrapped in cloth behind him.

"Clang!"

With a deafening crash, the heavy bronze coffin lid was violently flung out from the inside by a tremendous force, slamming into the wall of the tomb chamber with a deafening sound.

To the astonishment of Qin Yuan and the fat man, a tall, robust "corpse" with dark red skin and a ferocious face like a demon sat up straight from the coffin!

It wore tattered ancient clothing, its exposed dark red body looking as if it had been skinned alive. Its eyes, devoid of pupils and filled only with murky white, were now "looking" at the living being who had disturbed its slumber. It opened its mouth, filled with black, sharp teeth, and let out a low, yet violent and resentful roar—

"roar--!!!"

A blood-soaked corpse! It has awakened!