usatvline Chapter 396 Temple of Corpses
Chapter 396 Temple of Corpses
Even with the same six-hour rest period, in complete darkness, only a watch can prove that time is passing.
As they continued their journey, Ah Ning, unsurprisingly, came up to them.
However, with Yang Xueli's reassurance, Huo Ling stopped being so irritable.
They completely ignored this piece of chewy, sticky candy.
After several hours of arduous travel, Cheng Feng raised his hand and called a halt to the group as they passed through a gravel area.
Wu Sansheng and the others slowly walked forward and stood beside Cheng Feng, looking ahead.
But the flashlights provided limited illumination, and all they could see was a cloud of black smoke.
"Boss Cheng, have you found anything?"
Xie Lianhuan didn't feel embarrassed at all when calling Cheng Laoda (Brother Cheng). He was a smart man and knew how much trouble a respectful title could save.
Cheng Feng nodded in response, then said to A Ning beside him:
"The signal flare you brought is better; fire one forward."
Without any hesitation, Ah Ning took the military signal flare that her boss had purchased from abroad.
After the safety was released, a streak of light pierced the darkness, finally bursting into a dazzling brilliance ahead.
Suddenly, a spectacular sight of bones came into view.
As far as the eye could see, there were only dried-up skeletons sitting cross-legged on the ground, and in the center of the skeletons was a temple.
These skeletons, like guardians, surrounded the temple, forming a wall of bones.
This small temple is about one meter square, with a gable roof at the top and rammed earth walls at the bottom.
A head was placed on the gable roof; because the gable roof was not flat, the head was also not regular in shape.
It looks somewhat casual.
The small temple also has roof tiles, and judging from the patterns, they should be in the style of the Han Dynasty or even earlier.
"Come on, let's go over and take a look."
Cheng Feng gave a shout and led the group toward the Temple of Bones ahead.
Soon, the group arrived at the body.
Perhaps due to the black dragon vein, these corpses were not completely decomposed.
It was dry and withered like wax, with a layer of dark brown skin covering the bones.
As they examined the corpse, Zhang Qiling and Zhang Haixing's expressions turned somewhat grim.
“These are all members of the Zhang family.”
When Zhang Qiling saw the tattoo on the back of a corpse, he spoke expressionlessly.
Everyone was shocked upon hearing this; the number of corpses here was only a rough estimate, but it exceeded one thousand.
From this perspective, more than a thousand members of the Zhang family died silently here.
This is the Zhang family, after all. Perhaps because they lived in seclusion in the past, the world didn't know much about the Zhang family.
However, ever since the Wang family destroyed the Zhang family, Zhang Qiling, who had been living in exile, brought the Zhang family an extremely resounding reputation in the tomb raiding world.
Almost everyone present knew how powerful the Zhang family was.
"What exactly happened here? Why did so many members of the Zhang family die here?"
Chen Wenjin was filled with doubt.
"Judging from their bodies, all of these members of the Zhang family committed suicide."
Cheng Feng withdrew his gaze from the self-inflicted corpse and spoke.
After everyone confirmed Cheng Feng's words, their fear of the unknown deepened. What could possibly drive so many members of the Zhang family to commit suicide here?
Can they really handle it?
Led by Cheng Feng, the group carefully passed through the skeletons of the Zhang family members.
Finally, we arrived at the temple in the center.
This temple was built with great care, and it has remained in excellent condition for many years.
There were no statues of gods enshrined in the temple; only a bronze piece the size of an olive was placed on the altar.
"Is this meteorite jade? It seems the Zhang family used this to resist the divine gift back then."
After taking a closer look, Ah Ning confirmed that this thing was made of the same material as the meteorite jade in her arms.
"They risked their lives to create a safe zone within this black dragon vein."
In Cheng Feng's view, the black substance in the dragon vein was kept out by the Zhang family's remains, making this area absolutely clean.
Looking at the head on the temple, everyone seemed to be deep in thought.
Since the Zhang family possessed the meteorite jade, why would they commit suicide here? The most likely explanation now seems to be that they didn't have enough supplies.
They knew they couldn't get out, so they all stayed there.
And with their remains, they left a glimmer of hope for future generations.
"Old Zhang, all members of the Zhang family are like this."
Black Bear gave a thumbs up, saying that such a family was truly admirable.
The fact that thousands of people ended their lives without complaint is already astonishing.
"The Zhang family is gone."
The straightforward Zhang Qiling responded calmly.
Zhang Qiling actually had no good feelings towards the Zhang family, but he still fulfilled his duties as the head of the clan.
In truth, all members of the Zhang family owe Zhang Qiling an immense debt of gratitude.
Before Zhang Qiling became the clan leader, the Zhang family members, like Zhang Qiling, suffered from frequent amnesia.
This amnesia is a gift from heaven, the price paid for the Zhang family's extraordinary physical abilities and longevity.
After Zhang Qiling became the clan leader, he used the Zhang family's Heavenly Staff to directly sever the influence of the Heavenly Mandate on the Zhang family members, allowing them to live normal lives.
He himself became like the Desolate Emperor, with all sorts of karma accumulating upon him.
Zhang Qiling shouldered the entire mission of the Zhang family alone: divinely ordained amnesia, searching for his memories, then losing them again, and searching once more...
His life was fragmented, made up of countless fragments of memory.
After Zhang Qiling started working for Cheng Feng, his amnesia improved significantly, and he basically stopped experiencing sudden amnesia.
"No, the Zhang family has always been here; they have never disappeared!"
A girl refuted Zhang Qiling's words with a strong and clear voice.
Everyone looked at the three remaining people in the group, including a young girl who was not very old and had an ordinary appearance.
Under everyone's gaze, Zhang Haixing raised her hand, pinched the human skin mask beside her ear, and ripped it off, revealing a beautiful face that was no less stunning than A Ning's.
"It's been many years, does the clan leader still remember me?"
Zhang Haixing bowed to Zhang Qiling, then looked at him with a probing gaze.
Zhang Qiling nodded silently, but did not speak. Seeing familiar faces from the Zhang family again stirred up some emotions within him.
"I didn't expect that in this group of ten people, besides the three of us, there would be someone else wearing a mask."
Huo Xiuxiu looked at Zhang Haixing's pretty face and sighed softly.
Cheng Feng ignored the girl's complaints, instead taking out three cigarettes and handing them to Zhang Qiling.
"If there's no incense, we'll have to make do with cigarettes."
Zhang Qiling nodded, took the cigarette, lit it, bowed, and placed it in front of the shrine.
Zhang Haixing silently approached Zhang Qiling's side and bowed respectfully before the shrine.
These thousand skeletons have been waiting here for many years, finally receiving three cigarettes from their descendants.
"The remains of the Zhang family are guarding this place, so there's no need to worry about being divinely ordained. Rest here."
Cheng Feng sat down next to a corpse without any hesitation.
They had been walking for several hours and it was time to eat something and rest. What place could be more suitable for setting up camp than this safe area?