Tomb Raider: Call Me Dragon Vein Cleaner

Chapter 11 Bones in the Shelter

Before they could celebrate, a strong smell of gas blew over on the wind, and the three of them quickly turned around and ran back to the shelter inside.

Professor Chen and the others were relieved to see that the three had returned unharmed.

Then, under Hu Bayi's command, the group began to look for a suitable place to spend the night in the ancient building complex.

They quickly found the sheltered spot from the original series, and settled Professor Chen and the others in.

Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang took Anliman out to arrange the camels.

While the others began setting up camp, Cheng Feng took a flashlight and walked around the relatively intact ruins.

He soon discovered the stone statue hidden underground; if he remembered correctly, the stone statue was hollow.

The interior space had long been a nest for desert army ants, but now a sandstorm was raging outside.

Desert army ants are very obedient in the face of such natural disasters, and dare not show their faces at all.

"Cheng Feng, what are you doing? Sadi Peng and I are going out to find some firewood. Do you want to come with us?"

Hearing Chu Jian's invitation, Cheng Feng responded and agreed to go out together.

As soon as you step out of the shelter, the wind and sand outside are so strong that you can't open your eyes, and your face is stinging from the fine sand.

They hadn't gone far when they encountered Hu Bayi and his two companions, who had returned after settling their camels.

"Why did you come out?"

Braving the wind and sand, Hu Bayi approached and shouted a question.

"Come out to find something to start a fire."

Cheng Feng responded by shouting back, otherwise all that could be heard was the whooshing of the wind.

Hu Bayi waved his hand, signaling the three of them to follow. On the way back, he had seen many withered branches of desert plants.

Twenty minutes later, the group returned to the shelter carrying a large bundle of firewood.

Upon seeing this, Yang Xueli and the others who remained in the shelter quickly came forward and took some firewood from the group.

"How's the situation outside?"

While starting a fire, Yang Xueli asked the group a question.

Hu Bayi removed the sandpaper wrapped around his head and face, and replied breathlessly.

"The wind is still very strong, and I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon. We'll have to spend the night here."

Yang Xueli nodded to indicate that she understood.

With the campfire lit, Yang Xueli took out a cooking pot, put the water she had brought into it, and planned to boil some water to warm everyone up.

The massive sandstorm blotted out the sun and chilled everyone to the bone. Professor Chen, being elderly and having just fallen, was shivering uncontrollably.

"When Fatty and I were settling the camels, we saw a lot of wolves huddled together in a sheltered spot, very close to us."

Hu Bayi sat down in front of the fire and addressed the people around him.

"It seems we need to arrange for people to keep watch tonight, otherwise we won't even know we've been surrounded by wolves."

Fatty Wang responded from the side.

No one had any objections to this, after all, safety is the most important thing.

After some discussion, several men expressed their willingness to join the team guarding everyone.

Professor Hao did not respond.

There are five people who can keep watch at night, which is enough manpower and everyone has enough time to rest.

After some arrangements were made and no one had any objections, everyone took out their dry rations and filled their stomachs with hot water.

After eating and drinking his fill, Cheng Feng walked to the wall next to the entrance, sat down, took out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket, lit one, and took a deep drag.

The wisps of smoke were blown away by the wind before they could take shape, and the cigarette butt flickered in and out of focus with the breeze.

At this moment, Yang Xueli walked over and sat down next to Cheng Feng, and said:

"Xiao Cheng, thank you so much for everything along the way, thanks to you and Hu Bayi!"

"Xiao Yang, you're too kind. I'm also a member of the team, so it's only right that I do my part."

Cheng Feng looked at Yang Xueli with amusement. As the saying goes, it is impolite not to reciprocate. She calls us Xiao Cheng, so we will call her Xiao Yang.

Yang Xueli pursed her lips and glared at Cheng Feng.

"Why are you so cheeky? I'm older than you, and you're not happy that I call you Xiao Cheng?"

"Ah, I'm not willing. With my magnanimity, it would be too modest of me to ask you to call me Master Feng."

Cheng Feng responded with a smile.

Yang Xueli smiled and thought Cheng Feng was childish. "Master Feng?" she thought. "He looks like a young lad."

"Speaking of which, you're quite young, yet you're so skilled. Have you trained before?"

Cheng Feng: "Talent. I've been physically strong since I was a child."

Cheng Feng thought to himself, "This woman is here to gather intelligence."

Cheng Feng's performance in the face of danger was so astonishing that it was completely inconsistent with his identity as an archaeological intern.

This made Yang Xueli suspicious of Cheng Feng, fearing that he might have infiltrated the archaeological team with some ulterior motive.

However, Cheng Feng helped her and others through several life-or-death crises along the way, so she lowered her guard against him.

I'm just here to chat with Cheng Feng out of curiosity about him.

"Legend has it that the ancient city of Jingjue is a cursed and lost land, and the dangers we may encounter next are only to increase."

Be extra careful and don't be careless.

Yang Xueli said earnestly.

Previously, at the Nine-Story Demon Tower, Cheng Feng had saved her life from the jaws of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, so she couldn't help but feel a sense of closeness towards him.

These words came from the bottom of his heart; he hoped that Cheng Feng could complete this journey safely.

"Don't worry, I know a lot about the ancient city of Jingjue, and I won't let my guard down."

"I have some understanding..."

Yang Xueli looked at Cheng Feng with suspicion, thinking to herself that even Professor Chen, who specialized in this area, wouldn't dare say he knew much about the Jingjue Ancient City.

Where did Cheng Feng get the confidence to say that? Was he just bragging?

Just as Yang Xueli was about to ask a question, a sudden scream rang out.

The two quickly got up and asked...

"what happened?"

The one who screamed was Ye Yixin; she pointed to the sandy area not far away and said...

"It's human bones."

The crowd gathered around, and the fat man squatted down, picked up a leg bone, shook it, and said:

"They really are human bones."

Hao Aiguo, with a stern face, scolded Ye Yixin: "What's the big deal? Are we archaeologists afraid of encountering skeletons?"

Ye Yixin lowered her head slightly and said softly, "I'm sorry, Professor, I won't do it again next time."

Cheng Feng dug around in the ground for a while and pulled a round skull out of the sand. He then fiddled with it in his hand for a bit.

"Something's wrong with these bones."

Everyone looked at the skull in Cheng Feng's hand. Yang Xueli took a few steps to Cheng Feng's side, looked at the skull, and asked:

"Did you find anything?"

Cheng Feng nodded: "It's practically impossible for a corpse in the desert to weather into this state; there's not a single strand of flesh left."

Moreover, upon closer inspection, it was covered with countless fine marks, which reminded me of a terrifying creature.

Upon hearing this, everyone picked up the bones from the ground and began to examine them carefully.

They were aware of the weathering issue Cheng Feng mentioned, but Fatty Wang had previously mentioned that there were wolves nearby.

They thought the body had been eaten clean by wild animals.

Upon closer inspection, they discovered a problem: the remains showed no signs of being gnawed by wild animals.

It only has a dense array of tiny lines.