The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 35: Never Afraid of Death

We agreed to die together, but I escaped into the mine tunnel first. I wanted to turn back, but then heard Qinghan shout from outside, telepathically, "Don’t come out, it seems like it can only use its big move on you."

I spun on my heels, twisted my body back around, and sprinted deeper into the mine tunnel.

As I ran, I shouted, "Let it come in with me, maybe it can open that door!"

Doing this was undoubtedly risky, using myself as bait to lure Eyes of Golden Flame inside to ’open’ the door.

If it really was coming for me, then it was a personal grudge and had nothing to do with Qinghan and the others.

It was just as well for me to attract its firepower. If going through the Gate of Death meant certain death, then I’d drag it in with me.

Otherwise, at this rate, our newly formed squad really would be heading to the Yellow Springs in perfect unison.

Qinghan didn’t reply to me, and I didn’t hear the sound of that thing following, assuming Qinghan didn’t agree with my plan.

I’m not a saint. If their sacrifice today could buy my survival, I could accept it.

Since ancient times, whenever there’s danger, some people die, and some live. Dwelling on it too much only adds unnecessary worry.

Maybe I’m quite different from the living. Whenever a decision needs to be made, I remain rational.

Qinghan wanted to protect me for some unspecified reason; I had reason to believe this persistence affected his judgment.

"Come on~ come on~ chase me, I’m here—" I ran back to the mine tunnel’s entrance, waving a handkerchief, trying to catch its attention.

By then, Qinghan was already lying on the ground, vomiting blood, Wen Jing and Shunfeng were hanging on the wall and the ceiling respectively.

Looking closely, I noticed Wen Jing was holding onto a sconce on the wall, and Shunfeng was clutching a ceiling lock. They hadn’t really turned into murals.

The entity occupying Miss Scream’s body withdrew the foot stepping toward Qinghan’s chest. Miss Scream wore high-heeled boots for beauty; if this foot stomped on Qinghan’s chest, it’d be as potent as driving a stake into a vampire’s heart.

Upon hearing my call, it immediately abandoned Qinghan and rushed toward me.

I noticed that its feet didn’t move as it ran, so technically speaking, it was floating over, and at a pretty fast pace. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

I dashed back into the mine tunnel, with Boss Lu’s footsteps already out of earshot, guessing she might be at the Gate of Death’s entrance.

Eyes of Golden Flame chased me to the tunnel’s end, which was a straight path with no turns or forks.

There was an exit at the end of the tunnel, but no door as Qinghan had mentioned. Getting outside, I discovered there was a large space outside.

It was like a square hall, and there was a large door with carvings ahead, but no sign of Boss Lu.

I quickly looked around and saw a hole overhead. There were no other exits here. Boss Lu had just called, ordering her subordinates to make an exit for her. This hole might be the exit.

But I couldn’t go out, Eyes of Golden Flame could come after me in the tunnel and could follow me outside. I had to deal with it here.

I inched closer to the door and examined it. Qinghan said a password was needed to open this door. If forced open, it would surely trigger defense mechanisms.

"I’m here!" I braced against the door, waving at the approaching Eyes of Golden Flame.

Sure enough, it targeted me with its palm again, shooting the golden light. I dodged left and right, my shirt in front and at the back waist were burned off by the light, at least getting it to make two holes in the door.

I was ready to climb up the wall, hide in the overhead hole, letting the door’s toxins, strong acid, arrows, quicksand...deal with it.

But I never expected that after making two holes in the door, it creaked open!

Isn’t this too much? What kind of product is it? I want to lodge a complaint with the manufacturer—

It’s clearly an illegal plug-in made by unscrupulous merchants. If the tomb raiders who died unable to solve the mechanism over the millennia could see this, they’d be revived by anger.

The Gate of Death opened so easily. I took a deep breath and pushed the door to enter.

Just inside the door, I saw something. Out of habit, I bent down to pick it up before continuing to run.

It was nothing else but Boss Lu’s communicator. Since the communicator was inside the door, Boss Lu should be too.

It dawned on me that it probably wasn’t Eyes of Golden Flame that opened the Gate of Death. Boss Lu had gotten in first, and the door was merely shut but unlocked, ’pushed’ open by it.

Boss Lu was so familiar with this place, she might know the password to open the Gate of Death.

But she had no reason to come in. She deliberately injured her foot to shake us off and escape alone.

Holding the communicator, I ran into the darkness inside the door, soon entering a black forest.

The trees here were tall and lush, from the leaves to the trunks, all were black.

The ground was tangled with roots, overhead the branches were dense like a black cloth. I’d heard countless adventure stories, including personal tales from the Tomb Robber, but no one ever mentioned a forest like this.

After running for a while, realizing Eyes of Golden Flame hadn’t caught up, I stopped to rest.

Stopping wasn’t a problem; I suddenly remembered I was directionally challenged. Looking around, every clearing in the forest looked like the way I came. Going back the way I came was impossible.

I could only hope this forest had an end, as long as I kept walking, I could get out.

No pursuers behind me, and waiting a while, it hadn’t caught up. I was a bit disappointed, slowed my pace, and continued forward.

As I walked, I noticed a problem: these trees seemed to move.

"Hey, is this necessary? Leave a line, we’ll meet again in future; stop changing positions!" I stood in a clearing, hands on my hips, looking at the two trees that just switched places, saying in annoyance.

"Ouch!" Just as I spoke, one tree swung a branch, tossing a hard fruit that hit me on the head.

"Don’t you know that since the founding of the nation, animals and plants aren’t allowed to become spirits?" I picked up the charcoal-like fruit and threw it back at the tree.

Da da da—

It was better not to say anything. After I spoke, more than a dozen fruits pounded on me, not painful, but infuriating~

"Are you provoking me? Not backing down?" I drew a dagger, jumped to the tree root, and started stabbing it.

This thoroughly angered the tree. It wrapped me with its branches, spun me around in the air a few times, and flung me skyward.

I described a parabola, flew at a 45-degree angle over the forest, then propelled forward horizontally before falling.

The forest’s script for trapping me was impossible because I was directly tossed out of the woods, landing by a lakeshore.

With soft grass cushioning me, I rolled to the lake’s edge, feeling light overhead. Looking up, a bright moon shone in the sky, not natural but artificial.