The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 143: White Jade City

Chen Qinghan described the appearance of the woman to me. They only saw her head and neck and didn’t see her body.

Since there was a tree behind me, from their angle, it seemed like someone was hiding behind the tree, peering over to hang behind my head.

The tree was thick enough to completely conceal a person’s body.

But I think the key point we should figure out is how she moved behind the tree and how she suddenly disappeared.

The four of us examined behind the tree together; the ground under the tree was covered with lush green moss. If someone had stood here, they would surely have left footprints.

However, we found no traces at all. That woman couldn’t possibly be floating in the air, so our attention shifted to the tree trunk.

The trees in the jungle are tall, and the canopy is a blind spot for our vision. If she climbed down from the tree and then climbed back up, we might have overlooked it.

Yet, climbing a tree requires using both hands and feet, not to mention that it would definitely make some noise—it’s not like a bug that can silently and swiftly climb up.

Lu Xiaodao used his Qinggong to simulate it. He could indeed climb the tree silently, but the mud and decaying leaves on his shoe soles still left marks on the bark.

"Should we chop down this tree to take a look?" I glanced at the large treasure sword in Chen Qinghan’s hand; this sword slices through iron like mud, and chopping a tree would be no challenge.

We’ve encountered bizarre trees with flying ants and blood-sucking vines hidden in their trunks before. Who’s to say this big tree isn’t hollow, with a secret passage inside?

Professor Liu listened to my suggestion and tapped the tree trunk with a shovel to judge by the echo that this tree is solid.

"We’ve already entered a new ring area, and the woman we just saw may not be the same one Old Shi and the others saw before. Let’s just keep moving forward," Professor Liu said.

Everyone had rested enough, and the four of us continued on the road. Needless to say, the journey was perilous. A few days later, when a tall stone gate frame appeared before us, Professor Liu shouted excitedly, "This is it, this is it!"

The stone gate frame stood about six meters high and three meters wide amidst wild grass, only having the frame, with no hinges or door panels.

If it were smaller, I would think it’s a horizontal bar erected by the island’s predecessors, as it stood alone without embedding in a wall or any other structure.

"Gate of Lost!" Professor Liu, who had been lethargic throughout the journey, seemed invigorated at the sight of the gate frame. He threw away his ’cane’ and dashed to the gate.

A broken gate frame with such a mysterious name... I secretly rolled my eyes and began to observe the surroundings.

There was a White Stone Road behind the gate, with weeds, bushes, and trees blindly and wildly growing on either side, but the White Stone Road itself was clean.

The road leading from the stone pillar plaza to here was buried under dirt, covered entirely by wild grass.

Yet this White Stone Road not only had no grass but also bore no fallen branches or leaves, as if it were cleaned every day.

Although we hadn’t encountered the mysterious long-haired woman these past few days, Professor Liu was inclined to believe there were still natives on the island.

Stepping onto the White Stone Road, Professor Liu’s bloodshot eyes shone with an obsessive glow as he gazed at the stone gate and caressed the stone slabs. This gaze was all too familiar to me; it wasn’t the greed of a thief seeing treasure but the excitement of an explorer discovering a new world.

Sadly, as an ordinary person, I couldn’t share his joy. A pile of bare stones—what’s there to feel?

Ignoring Professor Liu, I took the lead, as the road wasn’t short, and we walked for nearly half an hour.

Then we finally saw a white city, nestled among green vegetation. All buildings, in varying heights, were constructed of white stone, with no other colors visible except white.

"White Jade City—" Professor Liu exclaimed excitedly again. He had been walking behind me, but upon seeing the city ahead, he immediately surged forward a few steps, pushing past me.

I walked lazily and almost got knocked down by him.

Professor Liu was now like a child going to the amusement park with their family for the first time, with only spaceships and carousels in his mind.

"Wouldn’t it be risky for old folks to get overly excited?" I was too rattled by the collision to get angry, and helplessly shrugged at Chen Qinghan and Lu Xiaodao.

"He’s a resilient old man," Chen Qinghan came over and patted my shoulder.

I reckon names like ’Gate of Lost’ and ’White Jade City’ were probably written by Professor Liu’s friend in a journal. He mentioned that his friend was an explorer and also a writer of adventure novels.

Because he had great confidence in that friend’s outdoor survival skills, crisis-handling abilities, and experience in combating wild beasts, he still hoped that friend was alive despite their disappearance years ago.

The White Stone Road was spacious, and White Jade City was quite large, with buildings resembling ethnic towers, roughly eight or nine stories high.

All city buildings were constructed from white stone, and no wild grass was to be seen; it was as clean as if regularly cleaned.

I saw no city walls or gates; the stone-paved road directly led into the city.

Professor Liu entered the city a step ahead of us, and I felt he couldn’t take in everything. It seemed like everything in the city amazed and astonished him.

These buildings didn’t appear particularly unique to me, lacking the distinctiveness of the Giant City deep underground.

The dimension of the doors and windows was similar to the outside world, with a modest architectural style—less minimalist, more simply.

But Professor Liu roamed around like finding lost treasures, examining this and that. Chen Qinghan and Lu Xiaodao discussed searching the city to check if it was safe, planning to camp in the city for the night if it was.

They rounded up the excited Professor Liu to search the city buildings, leaving me at the entrance to stand guard.

They were gone for hours, and when the time approached evening, I started to worry and considered going in to find them.

Just as I was about to step in, Lu Xiaodao rushed back alone, saying that Chen Qinghan called me over because they had made a significant discovery.

I asked him what the discovery was, and he said they found a treasure vault in the palace, filled with endless gold and silver treasures.

"Really?" I was a bit taken aback, considering Old Shi’s claim of coming to seek treasure; I thought they had been deceived.

"Yes, countless gold and jewelry—they’re keeping watch there. You have to come quickly," Lu Xiaodao moved swiftly, gesturing for me to follow him.

I quietly reached for the rope tucked at my back, Chen Qinghan had fashioned ropes for us using the sturdy vines, to aid us in self-rescue if we fell into pits.

I tugged the rope, tiptoed, and lunged forward with a leap.

Lu Xiaodao ahead was unguarded, but he reacted quickly. Although I grabbed him, he immediately resisted, trying to break free from my grasp.