Tomb Raider: What the hell is this strange commission?

Chi Yu looked at Xie Yuchen, and Xie Yuchen was also looking at him, with an expressionless face. His dark eyes did not blink, and he waited patiently for Chi Yu's next words.

But this was obviously not what Chi Yu wanted to see.

He didn't continue talking, and the atmosphere suddenly became cold.

Well, amusing a child is a technical job, especially when the child is very smart - Chi Yu thought during this cold war that started inexplicably.

Whether it's Chi Yu or Xie Yuchen, they both naturally have an aura that can only be possessed by those who have been in a superior position for many years.

So when both of them began to resist talking, the atmosphere between them began to become subtle.

Chi Yu has no scruples about this, but Xie Yuchen is always the one who compromises - when necessary, Xie Yuchen will choose to be the more tactful one.

Their similar thinking logic means that even if they have different opinions on a certain matter, at most they will just bicker, but they will never quarrel.

Rational thinking is the prerequisite for harmonious coexistence, so when Chi Yu was unwilling to continue answering, Xie Yuchen would promptly provide him with a way out so that they could quickly get through this awkward phase.

Xie Yuchen retracted his gaze and shone the flashlight at the figures on the mural: "There are so many myths and legends in China, all kinds of fantastic stories. If I hadn't seen them with my own eyes, I would have thought they only existed in these legends."

"But you said you had seen the Queen Mother of the West, so you should be familiar with the story here." Xie Yuchen said, "I am more willing to believe your opinion than my interpretation as someone who knows only a little about it."

"Would you like to talk about it, Chi Yu?"

Chi Yu smiled gently: "What if I say no?"

This time, Xie Yuchen answered quickly: "Then I will have to reconsider our relationship, Boss Chi."

Warnings from financial backers are always effective.

Chi Yu blinked regretfully and said to Xie Yuchen, "With your level of knowledge, I don't need to repeat the legends about the Queen Mother of the West, so you should also know why she is famous."

"Of course." Xie Yuchen said, "There are many legends about the Queen Mother of the West. Her images and beliefs in different periods make her more like a goddess with a thousand faces."

"But since she appears on this mural, and considering the purpose of our coming here, you should be talking about the story of the Queen Mother of the West holding the elixir of immortality."

Chi Yu nodded: "It's true that the Queen Mother of the West in mythology is a deity, but that's not the case in reality. She is a mortal like us, and she has spent a lot of energy in pursuit of immortality."

"In order to satisfy her pursuit of immortality, Queen Mother of the West studied many things that ordinary people could hardly imagine, and in the process, she did get some of the information she wanted."

Chi Yu looked at the carefully carved images on the mural, thought for a moment, and then said, "The Queen Mother of the West is proficient in the art of Qimen Dunjia and is a well-deserved Feng Shui master. At the same time, she also used this to open up a new path in the art of alchemy."

When he and Black Glasses were in the underground palace of Baigong Mountain looking for Zhou Zixu, there were some such records among the records they saw passing by.

Because Chi Yu would never forget, he could remember all of this clearly.

Chi Yu slowly peeled away the memories stored in his mind and extracted the information he needed now.

From the ignorance at Baigong Mountain, to the enlightenment at Tianhu Lake, and then to the current understanding, the eternal proposition surrounding "longevity" is gradually revealed in this process.

As a leader on the road to immortality, the message that Queen Mother of the West left for later generations has not been completely buried even today, thousands of years later.

Those Warring States silk books that record secret information are scattered in tombs everywhere. When visitors take them out, the stories deciphered are circulated again, guiding generation after generation of people who desire immortality to walk on the same path.

The young Xie Yuchen did not desire immortality, but the truth he was seeking was closely related to it, so he found the Lu Huang silk from Xie Lianhuan's "relics", and according to the guidance of the silk book, he came here with Chi Yu.

Different motives caused Xie Yuchen to miss some links in the search for the mystery of immortality, and those missing processes made Xie Yuchen not understand what the Queen Mother of the West had researched in order to achieve immortality.

Moreover, under the Tianhu Lake, he disappeared along with Jie Lianhuan, and failed to see the scene in the Ascension Hall where the Corpse-Eating King emerged from the head of a blood corpse.

It was because of this series of coincidences that Yu Chen was completely unaware of it.

That was why he was unable to connect the information he had obtained together. Even now, when Xie Yuchen was actually very close to the truth, he could only gaze at it with disappointment through a thin layer of mist.

What Chi Yu had to do was actually very simple - he just had to reach out and gently brush away the fog that was obscuring Xie Yuchen's eyes.

Chi Yu thought about it, lowered his eyes and looked at Xie Yuchen, and said in a steady tone: "Different from the traditional alchemy, Queen Mother of the West created a new possibility."

"——She incorporated living creatures into the elixir, using their own characteristics to seek immortality. And these human heads in the picture are the temporary residences of those creatures."

"Because of the dangers they pose, the snake woman put them in a pottery jar along with the human head. So what is recorded here is actually the process of the people here taking those creatures out and discarding them."

"Use living creatures to refine pills?" Xie Yuchen subconsciously repeated Chi Yu's words.

This sentence quickly went around in his mind and was analyzed word by word by Xie Yuchen.

And when he realized that Chi Yu specifically pointed out "living creatures" which was obviously not what ordinary people would assume, even the knowledgeable Jie Dangjia was speechless for a moment.

"You mean, these creatures are still alive after being made into pills?" Xie Yuchen asked with difficulty.

Chi Yu nodded, finally feeling a little comforted by Xie Yuchen's slight loss of composure.

——Let him say it. Any normal person would think that this operation is outrageous, not to mention that this thing will eventually be eaten by people. Didn’t you ancient people feel disgusted when pursuing immortality?

"Is it also when you eat it?" Xie Yuchen asked again.

"That's right." Chi Yu said.

The two of them looked at each other and felt a sense of empathy at the same time.

Xie Yuchen sorted out his complicated feelings, glanced at the portrait of Queen Mother of the West, and asked Chi Yu one last question: "I didn't see any records of these creatures on the murals, so do you know what they are?"

"The Corpse-Eating King." Chi Yu replied.

"The Corpse-Eating King has a very strong vitality and a long lifespan. Even without food, it can survive for thousands of years."

"As long-lived creatures, they can secrete a special substance. Other creatures that are exposed to this substance for a long time will be changed and gradually have the same longevity characteristics as the Corpse-Eating King. This is why the Queen Mother of the West chose them."

"Thousands of years? Without food?"

Xie Yuchen finally let out a sigh that matched his age: "The history of the Queen Mother of the West is only about three thousand years old. According to what you said, those Corpse-Eating Kings..."

Chi Yu looked back at him calmly.

Xie Yuchen suddenly realized something.

So when Xie Yuchen once again turned on the flashlight and shone it into the darkness that Chi Yu had once gazed at.

This time, he saw it clearly.

——Those were rows and rows of neatly arranged pottery jars.