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

Chapter 63 Meteorite Jade

After resting for about half an hour, Tuo pulled out one of his underlings, the one who had been scolded by Hei Xiazi for his loose tongue earlier. He was probably eager to make amends and had a smug look on his face as he approached Wu Sansheng and whispered, "Third Master! Over there! We just... um, when we were relieving ourselves, we noticed a patch of ground that was a particularly dark color. When we poured water on it, the soil sank down, like it could sink in."

Qin Yuan was adjusting Qin Jiu's oversized clothes when he heard this. His hand paused, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

Here we go again? Urine again? Are these people obsessed with finding excrement while exploring ruins? Last time they created an underground river on the surface, and now again? And who is this person who, instead of properly taking care of their bodily needs, is constantly monitoring the ground's absorbency while urinating?!

Wu Sansheng didn't see anything wrong; in fact, his eyes lit up: "Take me to see!"

In order to conserve precious drinking water, Wu Sansheng gave an order, and several of the guys who had drunk a lot of water earlier were called over, lined up, and started pouring water and mixing mud into the area with the abnormal color.

Instantly, an indescribable smell of uric acid filled the narrow space; the smell... was truly disgusting.

Xie Yuchen quickly moved to an upwind position, his entire demeanor radiating disgust.

Although the smell was intoxicating, the effect was remarkable. As the urine seeped into the ground, the soil became loose, and after a few digs with shovels, a dark hole reeking of urine was revealed.

"Blind man, the usual rule, you go down and scout first." Wu Sansheng looked at Black Bear.

"Alright, Third Master." Hei Xiazi said, neatly tying the rope and flipping down.

A moment later, his muffled, echoing voice came from below: "It's safe, come down! It's just that the smell is a bit strong, Flower Master is going to suffer."

Unfortunately, Xie Yuchen ignored him and followed the others down the rope one by one. The space below was larger than above, seemingly connected to a more complex underground water system, with many interconnected, dark side paths. The air circulated a little better, dissipating much of the stench.

Wu Sansheng checked the direction, glanced at the stone pillar, and seemed to have spotted something. He chose a path close to the pillar and led the group forward. The group stretched out a bit, with the mop-wielding crew at the back, muttering to themselves, but appearing more relaxed than before.

But this relaxation didn't last long.

Perhaps the noise was too loud before, or perhaps the smell was too strong, and watering a group of good friends caused them to get wet.

In short, familiar clucking sounds came from all directions, emanating from the depths of various side paths, growing increasingly dense. Then, brightly colored pheasant necks emerged, in numbers no less than those encountered at the previous campsite!

"Damn it! Here we go again!" Mop's face turned green.

As if things weren't bad enough, a giant python emerged from a wide waterway and blocked their path. Beside it followed a smaller tree python, bearing fresh wounds; it might be the same one Qin Yuan had previously injured.

The two pythons stared intently at the crowd with their amber-colored vertical pupils, especially... in Qin Yuan's direction. Their tongues flickered, filled with intense hostility.

The scene instantly descended into chaos again, with the men screaming in terror and firing wildly.

Qin Yuan frowned. If it were just the few of them, especially with Qin Jiu by his side, he would have plenty of ways to get Wu Xie and the others out of there, and even get rid of these snakes and pythons.

But now there are too many people around, especially those shady characters like Mop. Qin Jiu's abilities are too conspicuous; if exposed, who knows what trouble it will cause. As for the main characters—Little Brother, Wu Xie, Fatty, Blind Man, Little Flower, and even A Ning—they'll inevitably have to deal with each other in the future because of the Ultimate and the Wang family's affairs, and none of them are gossipy or reckless; if they find out, it won't be a big problem. But those guys… forget it.

He made the decision instantly.

He scooped Qin Jiu up in his arms, then quickly told Wu Xie beside him, "Wu Xie, keep an eye on Fatty, split up and run." Without further hesitation, he pushed off with his feet and dashed toward a relatively narrow side path to the side and rear, disappearing into the darkness of the path in a few flashes.

Wu Xie was stunned: "Qin Yuan?! Where are you going?!"

His answer was the sound of footsteps quickly fading away and Qin Jiu's faint voice saying, "Father, slow down."

Qin Yuan had quickly organized his thoughts. He knew that Wu Sansheng, or rather Xie Lianhuan, would stage a self-inflicted injury and death to reveal part of the truth to Wu Xie and escape himself.

The young man would also appear at the right time to save Wu Xie and Fatty, and then work with Chen Wenjin to guide Wu Xie in the right direction. Although he knew he could shut down the ultimate, Zhang Qiling seemed to want to have a backup plan, which was fine with him. But Qin Yuan didn't want to get involved in this escape room game full of scheming and performance; it would be too much of a waste of time.

His only goal was to access the core of the database of the Queen Mother of the West's Kingdom.

Carrying Qin Jiu, he ran wildly through the maze-like passages. Guided by the system's scanning and energy flow, he took almost no wrong turns, bypassing swarms of snakes and heading straight to the deepest part of this underground network.

The noise and chaos behind us faded into the distance. After running for an unknown amount of time, a huge, naturally formed cave appeared ahead. At the top of the cave was a natural meteorite connected to the cave wall.

The meteorite's top emitted a soft, pale green light; its texture was neither jade nor stone. The light illuminated the surroundings and revealed the countless honeycomb-like pores on the meteorite's surface, their depths unfathomable.

This is the core area of ​​the Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West.

However, just as Qin Yuan stopped and examined the legendary meteorite jade, Qin Jiu in his arms suddenly began to squirm restlessly.

The little guy hugged Qin Yuan's neck tightly, burying his face in the crook of his neck, his voice muffled, carrying obvious resistance and a hint of fear.

"Dad...don't go there..." Qin Jiu whispered, her little hands gripping his clothes tightly. "That place...is no good, I don't like it..."

Qin Yuan was taken aback. This was the first time Qin Jiu had so clearly expressed his aversion and fear of a certain place. Was it because of the energy field emanating from the meteorite? Or because of someone inside?

He looked down at Qin Jiu's slightly pale face and weighed his options. Although the little guy's abilities were special, he was clearly wary of the meteorite jade. Taking him in might actually be dangerous.

He looked around. The area below the meteorite was relatively open and clean. Qin Yuan squatted down and placed Qin Jiu on a rock.

Qin Yuan stroked his soft hair, his tone softening, "Then Xiao Jiu, wait here for Dad. Dad needs to go in and get something very important." He took out a large bag of Qin Jiu's favorite snacks and a bottle of water from his system space and placed them next to him. "Eat when you're hungry, and lean against the rock for a nap when you're sleepy. Dad will be back soon."

Qin Jiu looked at the snacks, then at Qin Yuan, her little mouth pouting, but she still let go of his trouser leg and nodded vigorously: "Yes, Daddy, take Xiao Jiu with you." As she spoke, she pulled the kowtow snake out of her pocket.

"Little Nine, protect your father," Qin Jiu instructed earnestly. Then Qin Yuan saw the snake, named Little Nine, nod again...

Qin Yuan chuckled and patted his head again: "Okay, let it protect me." Although he didn't think the snake would be of much use, it was enough to put Qin Jiu at ease.

He stood up, took one last look at Qin Jiu, who was sitting obediently and starting to nibble on the jerky, put the still nodding stupid snake into his pocket, and turned to walk to the bottom of the largest hole in the center of the meteorite.

Without further hesitation, he flexed his fingers, his black nails gleaming coldly and hard in the dim light of the meteorite jade. Qin Yuan leaped to the seemingly smooth opening and quickly crawled inside.

Below, Qin Jiu, holding snacks, looked up, her eyes fixed on the hole where Qin Yuan had disappeared, waiting quietly.