Tomb Raider: What the hell is this strange commission?

This was not the first time that Chi Yu had heard of the bronze gate in Changbai Mountain from other people. As early as when he was chatting with Black Glasses, the other party had told him this in a vague way.

Not only that, the meteorite that landed in the dream had its fragments scattered all over the earth.

Chi Yu saw part of it clearly, but more fragments were buried in the earth, becoming the deepest dormant shadow on the planet.

There are many bronze doors in this world. It is not to say that all of these bronze doors are made by the Zhang family, but they all seem to be closely related to the Zhang family, or in other words, "immortality".

Chi Yu unexpectedly thought of the Queen Mother of the West.

This legendary figure left too many footprints on this land, and she was so skilled in utilizing meteorite fragments that she successfully trapped an existence that the system could not fully reveal in Baigong Mountain.

It's just a small piece of debris, so what is hidden behind the door that is so crucial in Zhang Qiling's description?

Chi Yu thought so and asked this question.

He sat by the charcoal stove, his elbows resting on the table, his head supported by one hand, his hair hanging down and swaying slightly with the force. The curiosity in his words was clearly not concealed too much, but he looked extremely nonchalant.

Zhang Qiling's gaze lingered on it for a moment, then quickly lowered his eyes, thought for a moment, and stood up.

He approached Chi Yu, bent down, and whispered the answer in his ear.

The warm breath and the almost whispered words hit Chi Yu's ears.

The tiny strands of hair swayed in the air due to the movements of their owners, and some of them became entangled with longer strands, regardless of whether the other strand came from the same source as them.

There was a hint of surprise in Chi Yu's eyes. He leaned back slightly, looked at Zhang Qiling, blinked, and moved his lips slightly.

Zhang Qiling's actions were faster than his words. He stood up again, raised his index finger and placed it on his lips, making a silent reminder, indicating that the topic had come to a temporary end.

"In order to prevent things from getting worse, someone needs to guard the gate every once in a while," said Zhang Qiling.

"This used to be the responsibility of the Zhang family, but the roots of this family began to rot a long time ago, so many things they were able to do in the past have become difficult now."

"I originally thought that I could use the power outside of the Zhang family to continue to accomplish this, but many times, not everyone takes their promises seriously, even those in high positions."

Chi Yu looked at Zhang Qiling's calm face and tilted his head: "So you asked someone to do this for you, they first agreed to your request, and then broke the agreement?"

"Yes."

"What happened later?" Chi Yu asked again.

Zhang Qiling sighed softly: "Something happened later, and many people forgot about this promise and chose to remain silent, so in the end it was left unresolved."

In other words, Zhang Qiling didn't even make the other party pay the price for breaking the contract. Chi Yu thought, he looked at Zhang Qiling carefully, but found that the other party didn't seem to have much negative emotions about this.

It's strange that there are such saints in the world.

Although he understood that betrayal was part of human nature, if he were to encounter such a result... he would definitely make those people pay the price.

After all, you have to pay for what you get. If the other party does not have to pay any price, then having power is just a waste of time to help others.

Chi Yu thought about it and withdrew his gaze coldly.

But no matter what, this is Zhang Qiling's own choice and has nothing to do with him.

The azure snake eyes reflected the blazing fire in the furnace, but they did not bring the slightest warmth. Instead, they were terribly cold.

In a trance, it seemed as if I had really become a ruthless beast, looking at the world with cruel eyes, thinking about how to devour the prey I had set my eyes on.

The image of Chi Yu occasionally showing her appetite for him flashed through Zhang Qiling's mind.

Just like the Roc they encountered before, there are many strange creatures with special abilities in this world, and they have the same characteristic - they are infectious to human blood.

This may be a blessing, or it may be a curse. From the moment the first person who obtained the blood of the alien beast mutated, that person's descendants would forever lose the purity of humanity until the times changed and the bloodline was diluted.

This was the original Zhang family.

They were born bathed in the blood of the last Qilin in the world, and their inheritance has never been interrupted in thousands of years. However, the mythical beasts still have a constant lifespan, and the activity of their blood will also disappear over time.

In modern times, there are very few descendants with highly active Qilin blood born in the Zhang family.

Zhang Qiling is a special case, but because of this peculiarity he suffered a lot when he was young.

However, Chi Yu's existence was obviously more special than his. Zhang Qiling looked at Chi Yu.

The Qilin part told him that the other party was his irrefutable blood relative, but the scales on Chi Yu's body told him that no, he was more than that.

Exotic beasts will devour each other, and the same goes for blood. It is impossible for two bloodlines from different sources to exist in one person at the same time.

The most common scenario is that the two use the human body as a battlefield until one side emerges victorious and completely devours the loser as nutrients, or the fierce fight causes the battlefield to collapse before the result is known.

A successful fusion will not change their appearance, just like Zhang Qiling will not really turn into a Qilin. All the Zhang family members with Qilin blood will maintain their longevity while still having the appearance of normal humans.

Even tattoos are just totems artificially created by them to increase the individual identification of the ethnic group.

But body alienation is different. Its appearance often represents a harbinger of the total collapse of the human body.

There are only two outcomes to the collapse of human tissue: death or, at the other extreme, transformation into a mindless monster.

Zhang Qiling has witnessed both of these outcomes.

As for Chi Yu, he survived the explosion by relying on the flesh and blood of the Roc, and his body showed extremely obvious changes. The bloodline that was erased by Chi Yu was thus continued in him.

The beast's impulses and human's rationality appeared in him at the same time, but Chi Yu was still Chi Yu, he was still alive, and except for those inhuman appearances, there was no change.

Perhaps it is because Chi Yu is more resilient than ordinary people that fate favors him so much.

Zhang Qiling thought, no matter what, as long as Chi Yu could continue to live in this world, it would be enough.