Tomb raiding: Trying to become a little painter

Chapter 21 Rain is Scarier

"Your story isn't very good either! It's not as good as mine!"

Qin Henian looked at the frightened Zaxi with some helplessness, and sighed while holding his forehead.

“Yeah, this story sounds so fake. Tashi, don’t believe it. Let me tell you, this is just a type of landform, a typical Yardang landform, and the sound you just heard was just the wind.”

After hearing the story, Wu Xie turned to look at the outer perimeter of the Devil City. He wasn't scared at all by the sound, and with a knowledgeable expression, he began to persuade Zaxi again.

“Wu Xie is right. Many Yardang landforms are like this. They’re not that mysterious. The sound of the wind just sounds like a roar.”

Xie Yuchen, who was standing next to Wu Xie, also spoke up to persuade him.

"Don't go through all that trouble. We've only brought a few guides with us. You have to come in with me!"

After trying to persuade her for so long, Ah Ning's patience was almost at its limit. Seeing that it was getting dark and the temperature in the desert would drop lower and lower, she got a little annoyed and spoke directly to him. She then walked over to Zaxi and whispered something in his ear.

“If you don’t go in, then your grandma will have to go in. Your grandma is so old, I’m sure you don’t want her to come in with us, do you?”

After witnessing the entire threat, Qin Henian silently gave A Ning a thumbs up in his heart. This girl is really ruthless!

After arranging things for Zaxi, A Ning looked at Wu Xie. She had already said that Wu Xie had to go too, and A Ning knew that Wu Xie and Zhang Qilin had discussed it.

After the group entered the Devil City with walkie-talkies and flashlights, Qin Henian turned to look at Zhang Qilin, Hei Xiazi, and Xie Yuchen.

“Zaxi’s story is false, but people who go inside and lose their way really can’t get out.”

The cold voice directly pronounced the outcome of Ah Ning's team-building efforts. Qin Henian raised an eyebrow, wondering what the three of them would do next.

"He Nian, are you sure?"

Zhang Qilin's voice was somewhat cold. Hearing Qin Henian's words, he suddenly felt a little panicked. He was very worried about Wu Xie.

"Would you like to hear the story of the Devil City in the rain that I told you before?"

"You probably know that this place wasn't always a desert. Come inside the tent with me and let's talk."

Qin Henian did not directly answer Zhang Qilin's question, because he knew that Wu Xie, as the chosen one, would not die easily.

Even though Zhang Qilin was a little worried after hearing Qin Henian's words, he had just gone inside and had a walkie-talkie in his hand, so he could rush over immediately if anything went wrong.

Upon entering Qin Henian's tent, the group saw several sets of ancient costumes laid out on the mats, all of which appeared to be exquisitely made.

"He Nian, what... where did you buy this hair?"

Hei Xiazi approached Qin Henian, but just as he was about to put his arm around the other's shoulder, Qin dodged away, and Hei Xiazi felt a chill run down his spine.

"It wasn't bought; it was already there."

Qin Henian didn't try to hide it. In his haste to leave, he had pulled out several ancient costumes. In the end, he decided on the gold and blue robe he had wanted, so the robes that had been confiscated were still lying on the tent mat. Without any embarrassment, he simply waved his hand and took the clothes off the mat.

"Little Qilin, don't worry about Wu Xie, I'll handle things. Now, I want to tell you about the Devil City in the rain."

"The same place, different stories; whether you listen or not is not up to you once you enter the tent."

Qin Henian sat down, completing the entire ancient ritual in one go. He looked at the three people who had entered and gestured for them to sit down as well.

"He Nian, what story do you want to tell us? Is it another one about the Devil City? Or the rainy version?"

Unable to hold back his questions, Hei Xiazi asked with a curious expression.

“I’m also very curious about what He Nian wants to say.”

Xie Yuchen, who was also called into the tent by Qin Henian, chimed in, and even Zhang Qilin, who had been silent, stared at Qin Henian and nodded.

"Let me make this clear first: the story I'm about to tell you is completely different from what you just heard. Whether you believe it or not is up to you."

"Legend has it that in ancient times, a clan tribe lived by Qinghai Lake. We now call these people the Qiang people, and this country the Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West. This country had a very strict hierarchical system and practiced slavery. The Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West was very vast, and the position of king was always held by a woman. Each generation of the Queen Mother of the West was the most noble person in this tribe, and each generation of the Queen Mother of the West used witchcraft to claim that she was the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor."

"The Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West worships all things, and almost everyone in the country has a different kind of worship. The reason for the downfall of the Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West was that one of the Queen Mothers of the West was extremely talented, had outstanding witchcraft, and was also extremely ambitious. She had two generals, one male and one female. The male was called the White Tiger, and he died before the downfall of the Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West. The downfall of the Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West was within the Queen Mother of the West's expectations."

"So, before the fall of the Queen Mother of the West's kingdom, the last Queen Mother of the West had already made plans. She didn't want to die, so she secretly used witchcraft to try to achieve immortality, and she also built a mausoleum. She also conducted secret experiments within the tribe, using human and animal blood or limbs. Countless human and animal lives were lost in these experiments. Later, the Queen Mother of the West began to try to refine elixirs of immortality, but whether she succeeded or not, no one knows. Finally, after the fall of her kingdom, the Queen Mother of the West hid in her newly built mausoleum."

"And this tomb should be our destination this time."

After roughly finishing his "self-narration," Qin Henian looked up at the three of them.

"Ah...is this true or false? I can understand some of the earlier stories about the Kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West, as they are recorded in some historical materials, but I have never heard of the later ones."

After hearing Xi Wangmu's plea for immortality, Hei Xiazi felt a chill run down his spine. He secretly rejoiced that he hadn't been born into that kind of society. If he had been born into such a society and encountered such a crazy king, he might have been finished at any time.

"You probably don't know Hei Xiazi. I'm just talking casually. Whether you believe it or not is up to me."

Qin Henian spread his hands, indicating that he was just an emotionless "storyteller".

"Moreover, it is rumored that this Devil City was a place where the Queen Mother of the West disposed of corpses, and countless people and things were buried in the water. It is said that in the past, every time it rained, the water in the rivers inside the Devil City would turn red! You could even smell it!"

Qin Henian added casually, and the other three people in the tent didn't show much expression, but each of them fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

While the storyteller was engrossed in telling his tale, Wu Xie was still groping around in the dark, beams of flashlight shining everywhere.

"They've been gone for so long and we still haven't found them. Are they probably dead?"

In the darkness, after walking for a long time, someone in A Ning's team started asking questions.

"Let's keep looking. We've been walking for so long, a little longer won't hurt. It's already dark. If we don't find it in another half hour, we'll turn back."

In truth, Ah Ning knew that those people were probably already dead, but she still put on a worried expression.