215: Chapter 215 Indigenous Peoples

The inner-earth jungle under the night was quiet and mysterious.

The chirping of insects seemed to have been muted by an invisible hand.

The moment Zhang Qilin spoke those words, the air froze.

"I... remember some things."

These words were like a depth charge dropped into a calm lake, stirring up monstrous waves in the hearts of Lin Tianyi and Wang Xianzhi.

Lin Tianyi's grip on his combat knife tightened subconciously. Looking at Zhang Qilin before him, a complex mix of emotions welled up in his heart—surprise, curiosity, but more than anything, an instinctive wariness of the unknown.

Wang Xianzhi also stepped out from the shadows of the rock wall. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword, her phoenix-like eyes locked onto Zhang Qilin. She made no attempt to hide the scrutiny and inquiry in her gaze.

Throughout their journey, Zhang Qilin's strength and mystery had been their greatest reliance, but also their greatest enigma.

His skills that surpassed human limits, his instinctive knowledge of all things eerie, his various resonances with ancient ruins... everything pointed to one fact: this man was by no means ordinary.

And now, it seemed a corner of the veil over this enigma's core was finally about to be lifted.

Zhang Qilin paid no mind to their wariness.

He simply lowered his head and glanced at his ring finger, which had once looked like a dried corpse's but had now regained a bit of color. Then, his gaze shifted to the slender black needle he had thrust into the rock.

"What is that?"

Wang Xianzhi's cold voice broke the silence.

"The 'Dragon-Slaying Nail'."

Zhang Qilin uttered an unfamiliar term. His voice was raspy, as if every word pulled at distant and painful memories.

"A shackle specifically used to... lock away the Divine Dragon Bloodline. It severs the connection between the bloodline and the world, suppresses its power, and... bit by bit, erases memories."

Dragon-Slaying Nail!

Locking away the Divine Dragon Bloodline!

Erasing memories!

Just a few short words contained a shocking amount of information!

Lin Tianyi and Wang Xianzhi exchanged a look, both seeing extreme shock in each other's eyes.

This needle was actually a torture device specifically designed for descendants of the 'Divine Dragon Bloodline' like Zhang Qilin! It wasn't just a seal on power, but a prison for memories!

Who had used such a vicious method to drive this needle into his body?

What exactly had he gone through?

"So, you now..." Lin Tianyi spoke with difficulty.

"The power of that dragon heart in the South Heaven Gate struck the seal of the 'Dragon-Slaying Nail', allowing me to... see some fragments." Zhang Qilin's gaze drifted toward the hazy 'sky', becoming distant and profound, as if piercing through this inner-earth world to see beyond distant time and space.

"I saw... a family."

"An ancient family... whose mission is to protect, and whose blood flows with the power of the Divine Dragon."

"We call ourselves 'Tomb Guardians'."

"What we guard are not the tombs of emperors, but... the 'Gates' across the land of Huaxia that connect the 'Present World' to the 'Inner World'."

"The South Heaven Gate is the largest and most dangerous 'Gate' among them."

Tomb Guardians!

Inner World!

Gates!

These subversive concepts were like heavy hammers, striking Lin Tianyi and Wang Xianzhi's worldview over and over again.

They had always thought they were just exploring a forgotten ancient tomb. They never expected to have inadvertently stepped into the core of a world-shaking secret concerning the safety of the entire world!

"Then... who did that with the needle?" Lin Tianyi asked the most critical question.

"Traitors."

Zhang Qilin's answer was simple and cold.

"Within the family, a group of people emerged... who no longer believed in the mission of 'protection'. They believed the power we possess shouldn't be used to guard those precarious 'Gates', but should be used to... open the 'Gates' and pursue the so-called 'immortality' and 'divine power' in the world behind them."

"They reached an agreement with... certain existences behind the 'Gates'."

"And so, war broke out."

Zhang Qilin's voice was calm without a single ripple, but Lin Tianyi and Wang Xianzhi could sense the endless blood and fire hidden behind that sealed history.

"The vast majority of 'Tomb Guardians' were purged and suppressed while completely defenseless. And I... as the 'Qilin' of the family at the time, responsible for holding the 'key', was the most important part of their plan."

"They captured me and used the 'Dragon-Slaying Nail' to lock away my bloodline and memories, wanting me to... open all the 'Gates' for them."

[Inside the Livestream]

As Zhang Qilin slowly revealed all this, the entire livestream fell into an eerie silence.

All the viewers felt as if they were being choked by this sudden, grand, and cruel truth.

Elements like tomb robbing and exploration seemed so small and naive in the face of concepts like 'Tomb Guardians', 'Inner World', and 'Opening the Gates'.

What they were witnessing was no longer a survival livestream.

But an epic hidden beneath the long river of history, about protection and betrayal, and the collision of two worlds!

[My god... what did I just hear? Tomb Guardians? Qilin? This... this is more thrilling than any movie or novel!]

[So, Brother Qilin's amnesia wasn't an accident, but was caused by his own people?! That bunch of traitors is simply insane!]

[I finally understand now why the 'Alpha' team was wiped out! They weren't exploring at all; they were barging into the battlefield of an ancient transcendent family!]

[Kyushu Ancient History Research Institute - Professor Li]: Incredible! This completely subverts our understanding of ancient Huaxia history! The so-called 'Fangshi' and 'Qi Refiners' might have been the secular projections of the 'Tomb Guardians'! And those large-scale 'disappearance events' or legends of 'collective ascension' recorded in history books were very likely... disasters caused by failed attempts to 'open the Gate'! This is a brand new field of history that needs to be completely rewritten!

...

In the jungle.

"Then... how did you escape?" Wang Xianzhi asked, her voice having softened considerably without her realizing it.

Zhang Qilin shook his head.

"I can't remember clearly. My memories are still very chaotic, like countless broken mirrors. I only remember that amidst the chaos, I took the 'key' and fell into a certain place... When I woke up, I was in that nursing home."

He paused and continued, "Those traitors have been looking for me, looking for the 'key'. This operation was not an accident from the very beginning. Whether it was that ancient map or the mission your 'Alpha' team received... their shadow was behind it all. They were using you... to 'lead the way' for me."

"They knew that only I could find and open the true 'South Heaven Gate'."

This conclusion made Lin Tianyi feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar!

From start to finish, they were just pawns!

They were the bait and cannon fodder used by those traitors to lure and force Zhang Qilin into submission!

"Then where are they? Where are they now?" Lin Tianyi asked through gritted teeth.

"They should... have entered as well."

Zhang Qilin's gaze swept across the vast and quiet jungle, his eyes becoming as sharp as knives.

"This world behind the South Heaven Gate is also a first for them. They need me, the 'key', to clear all the dangers ahead for them."

"But now..."

Zhang Qilin slowly stood up. He glanced at the sleeping Song Yiqing and Fatty, then at Lin Tianyi and Wang Xianzhi.

"After pulling out the 'Dragon-Slaying Nail', my power and memories will slowly recover. It's no longer possible for them to control me again."

"And..."

A rare, ice-cold curve curled at the corner of his mouth.

"The roles of hunter and prey are about to be swapped from now on."

In that instant, both Lin Tianyi and Wang Xianzhi felt as if the Zhang Qilin before them had completely changed into a different person.

If he was previously a peerless divine weapon sealed in its scabbard, with its sharpness restrained and only exploding with incredible power at critical moments...

Then at this moment, he was a sharp sword that had already been unsheathed!

Though still weak, the dignity and killing intent belonging to the 'Qilin' that radiated from his very bones had begun to show!

He was no longer that confused amnesiac passively dealing with danger.

He had turned back into that... Tomb Guardian who bore the blood feud of his family and held protection as his mission!

"I need your help."

Zhang Qilin looked at the two of them and, for the first time, spoke in an equal tone, like that of a comrade-in-arms.

"Those traitors are numerous, well-equipped, and know my abilities and weaknesses inside out. It would be difficult to deal with them by myself."

"And you, especially you." His gaze turned to Lin Tianyi. "You possess the combat techniques and tactical thinking of this era that I do not have."

He then looked at Wang Xianzhi. "Your skills are inherited from an ancient swordsmanship school and have commonalities with our power system. At certain times, they can play an unexpected role."

"We can become allies."

This proposal made Lin Tianyi's heart suddenly race.

Allying with a 'Tomb Guardian'? Fighting traitors?

This was far beyond his scope of duty as a soldier, but his inner sense of justice and his anger over his comrades' sacrifices made it impossible for him to refuse!

"Let's do it!" Lin Tianyi didn't hesitate. "Those bastards killed my brothers; this debt must be settled with them!"

Wang Xianzhi didn't speak, but she drew her longsword, the blade tracing a clear arc in the dim light.

Her attitude was self-evident.

"Good."

Zhang Qilin nodded.

"Then the first thing we need to do is find the 'laws' of this world, as well as... another 'Gate'."

He walked to the stream, scooped up a handful of water, and splashed it on his face. The cold stream water cleared his chaotic mind significantly.

"According to the memory fragments I've recovered... this inner-earth world doesn't have just one entrance. It's like a giant 'transfer station' connecting many 'weak points' in the present world."

"The traitors' goal is definitely not just to find me. Their true objective is to use this transfer station to find and control all the 'Gates', completely opening the passage between the two worlds."

"We must... find the next 'Gate' before they do and... close it completely!"

His gaze turned toward the depths of the jungle.

It was dark and unknown.

But now, they had a clear goal and a common enemy.

From this moment on, the nature of this passive, desperate survival journey had completely changed.

It had turned into a... race-against-time counterattack to protect two worlds!

Just then.

From the depths of the jungle, a long and strange... horn sound suddenly came.

That horn sound was ancient and aged, with a metallic texture that pierced through layers of the forest sea and reached their ears clearly.

Hearing this sound, Zhang Qilin's expression changed abruptly!

"It's the assembly call of the 'Pathfinders'... they are also here!"

"Pathfinders? Who are they?" Lin Tianyi immediately became alert.

"Another group of... people who do not belong to our world."

Zhang Qilin's gaze became more solemn than ever before.

"They are the... 'aborigines' of this inner-earth world."