Tomb raiding: Today is another day I don't want to go home.

Chapter 119 Wang Quan's Online Brainwashing

"Are you sure this is the place? This doesn't look like what Yan Xiaohuai described before."

Looking at the "hardcore land" that had been abandoned for who knows how many years in the distance, Black Glasses couldn't immediately connect it with the dense forest along the way. The discontinuity was too severe, and the polarization had reached an eerie level.

Even Xie Lianrui hesitated, because the land in front of him had lost its nutrients. Not only was the surface barren and cracked, but the interior had also become an unrenovable wasteland.

If I had to find a more fitting description, it would be that someone had dug out this part of its original lushness out of thin air, leaving only a worthless vessel.

"The location is right, the smell..." Xie Lianrui hid behind the bushes, his nostrils twitching slightly as he closed his eyes and calculated with his fingers, "The smell is still there, but the thing is gone."

"You're asking what that thing looks like? You must know whether it's dead or alive!"

Black Glasses, hands on his hips, pursed his lips, thinking this job was really tough. Not only was there no money to be made, but they hadn't even seen a single member of the Wang family along the way. There were plenty of traps and mechanisms, but logically, even if these people were very confident, they should at least have people patrolling...

Upon hearing this, Xie Lianrui's expression became unusually unnatural. He shook his head and replied, "I only know that it is related to the Demon Mother, but even if she is dead, she is more terrifying than the living."

"So you're practically offering yourself up as food! Even knowing the location, you still have to find your own delivery route, and to make matters worse, when you get there, the table's collapsed, and there's no one to receive you!"

Black Glasses' mocking face was truly despicable. Xie Lianrui gritted his teeth and endured it for a while, but he still couldn't hold back—damn it! He stomped on Black Glasses' instep.

"hiss--"

The frustration he had felt along the way gradually dissipated amidst the suppressed cries of pain from the man in black glasses. Xie Lianrui saw that the man's sunglasses trembled with pain, and a smile appeared on his lips, which he then deliberately rubbed together before sneaking closer to the large area of ​​abandoned land.

Black Glasses stood there, his face flushed, forced to cover his instep with one hand and point at Xie Lianrui's back with the other. His usually wicked face strangely displayed a helpless yet murderous expression.

"Xie Lianrui, you fucking bastard..."

"Ok?"

A cold, ruthless monosyllable suddenly interrupted Black Glasses' spellcasting. Xie Lianrui's icy gaze shot over from the bushes, taller than a person, locking onto Black Glasses like a missile. Thus, the latter's impending words of moral depravity were transformed into: "Using beauty to commit violence!"

Meanwhile, inside the Wang family's council hall, shrouded in fear, there was an eerie silence.

The elders sat stiffly in their respective chairs, remaining silent about the pile of white bones in the center of the hall.

“I’m sure you’ve all guessed its identity,” Wang Quan said, raising and lowering his cane once more. As if summoned, the white mist in the hall followed the pattern and disappeared back into the hall. “More than a hundred years ago, the main family declined, and I and several of my brothers from the clan ended up here. We made a deal with a living dead man.”

"We sought immortality, while the living dead only sought a way to overcome their drawbacks. Originally, it was a mutually beneficial endeavor, but unexpectedly, the living dead became selfish at the crucial moment and wanted to take all the results for themselves. Therefore, we joined forces to eliminate them."

"But the soul of the living dead is solid and cannot be easily dissipated. It can even pose a threat to clansmen with weak bloodline talents. Therefore, we discussed and decided to imprison the soul of the living dead in the back mountain. Later, that place became a forbidden area for the clansmen..."

"I thought it would just continue like this, but I never expected that more than forty years ago, Xiao Jue accidentally wandered into the forbidden area while playing. When I found him, he was actually playing and frolicking with the spirit of that living dead without any harm. Only then did I realize that the spirit could not hurt him."

"You only see how much I value and nurture Xiao Jue, but you don't know how significant this matter is to my Phoenix Clan bloodline. Because it involves interests and power, I decided to keep it a secret for the time being."

“I originally intended to proceed gradually and tell Xiao Jue when he was older and more aware of things. However, a few years after that incident, he took the initiative to find me and said he was willing to cooperate with me to study the mysteries involved. That’s how the term ‘forbidden area’ came about.”

(Note: Wang Quan's actual age is 127, but his apparent age is 89;)

Wang Jue is dead. He was 48 years old at the time of his death, but appeared to be 20 years old.

The eldest elder of the Wang family is actually 79 years old, but appears to be 50.

The second elder of the Wang family is actually 60 years old, but appears to be 43 years old.

The third elder of the Wang family is actually 57 years old, but appears to be 32 years old.

The fourth elder of the Wang family is actually 53 years old, but appears to be 30 years old.

The fourth elder of the Wang family is actually 52 years old, but appears to be 29 years old.

The fifth elder of the Wang family is dead. He was actually 50 years old when he died, but appeared to be 27 years old.

The sixth elder of the Wang family is actually 50 years old, but appears to be 27.

The seventh elder of the Wang family is actually 50 years old, but appears to be 29.

The eighth elder of the Wang family is actually 47 years old, but appears to be 25 years old.

Elder Wang's actual age is 45, but he appears to be 25.

The consensus among the group of seasoned cunning old foxes present—who had been embroiled in intrigue for decades—was that Wang Quan's words should not be taken at face value.

After all, there was a chilling flaw in Wang Quan's words: his younger brother...

Since it was a joint effort to kill them, Wang Quan and his younger brother should still be alive. So why is he the only one left? Was the only one with selfish motives really the living dead?

Everyone knew the truth perfectly well, but who would be so foolish as to say it out loud?

Wang Quan was certain of this, which is why he was so fearless. In addition, with the undead souls that he and Wang Jue had subdued, the council hall would only be his personal fiefdom.

Thinking of this, the Third Elder simply suppressed all his extra emotions. He smiled, his temperament gentle and refined, his loyal demeanor seemingly without any malicious intent. However, he also subtly glanced at the other elders in their chairs, then rose and knelt down on one knee before Wang Quan in the main seat.

"We admire the patriarch and Lord Wang Jue for their concern for the clan and its people. If those in power are like this, then we, their followers, are even more willing to give our lives for them!"

With his worldly wisdom and shrewdness, the Wang family will never have a fifth elder again.

Accompanied by shouts of "We'll give our lives for you!", the eight people below in the Wang family's council hall knelt in perfect unison...