Keeper | The Lost Tomb Fanfiction

After Him

Chapter 49: After Him

Inside the room was a small space, filled with dust covering the documents on top of a study table. One the left side of the room was a bookshelf, with books in every level. There was no indication whether the owner of the place was a man or a woman, as the decoration was bare and only the needed things were inside.

Zhang Qiling walked inside the room and paced around. He tried to check the walls and floor for possible mechanisms, but nothing happened. So he tried to check the study table. He patted the dust accumulated on it while covering his nose, to avoid inhaling it.

His eyes found an old scroll of a map, placed at the bottom of the document. It is something that looks normal, if not for the symbol on it. It was a picture of a qilin flying in a sky full of clouds and lightning, its tail holding two round objects securely. He frowns as his fingers feel the picture, caressing it. It was something Zhang Qiling thought of as ordinary, but he felt a strange emotion the more he stared at it.

Sighing, he opened the scroll and found a map inside, with words he can't read nor understand. But one thing is for sure, the characters are the same as what he has found in the previous room he entered. Based on his observation, it was a map of an island, a big piece of land surrounded by water, with a small one at the top on the left side of the map. The middle of the land has a maze, and the middle of it has a door.

He folded the map gently and put it aside to check for anything else on the table. After checking, nothing seemed to be important, so he tried to pry open the cabinets next.

Most of them are filled with blank papers, pens, or books, but nothing important. Giving the table one more look to check if he missed something.

After a few minutes of finding nothing, he moved away from his position and raised his feet to leave when he noticed the sound of the floor under the table. He stopped and knocked the floor with his foot, then heard a hollow sound.

Trying it again, he sat down and knocked on the floor, this time with his right hand. The floor was hollow, so he used his hand to take off the floor board on that section. It took him a few moments to pry the floor before he succeeded.

Looking inside, he found a square object wrapped inside a silky paper. He was about to open it to take a look when he felt the ground move, as if an earthquake was happening. Standing up abruptly, he tried to observe what was happening through his hearing and found out that the mechanisms seemed to be moving. And at the same time, a place not far away from him seems to be cracking, as if on the verge of collapsing.

Feeling the danger, he took the scroll and the wrapped object then put it inside his bag, securing it before rushing towards the door. When he left the room, he left at the opposite side of the sound but stopped as his way was blocked.

He turned to the left, as it was the only way, and rushed through the hallway. While running, sounds of explosion came from behind him. The explosion doesn't seem to be due to the collapse of the place, but a sound of bombing.

Zhang Qiling looked up at the ceiling and found cracks on it. Sunlight entered the cracks which means that he is just under the ground. He dodge the falling rocks while running, and tighten his hands around his sword. He stopped when he faced a dead end. With no place to turn to, he observed the place for a possible escape route but nothing helped. Only a statue of a female warrior is on the scene aside from him. Looking up, the sound of voices entered the cracks, which alerted him of a possible enemy.

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Above the ground, a woman watched the rest of the people from a distance, placing the bombs on the area she said before leaving to walked behind her. She smiled in satisfaction after they finished.

"Bomb it properly. Don't let him escape!" She said towards the five men before walking away, not before signaling them to start again.

The one leading the men held the detonator and looked at the person beside him.

"Where is he now?" He asked. The person he looked at was mute so no words left his mouth but his hearing ability is great, that's why he is the one he was asking. The mute guy pointed at a distance and the leader looked at the area before nodding. The leader clicked something on the detonator and a series of explosions happened.

After the area was silent again, the leader looked at the mute guy and saw him shaking his head, which indicates that they didn't catch their target.

"This guy is quite fast! I didn't even manage to stop him and he was gone." He said with a frown. A bald man behind chuckles at what he said before one of them speaks.

"What do you expect for a guy like him? A snail?" The leader turned back to his people and saw them laughing at him. One of them noticed his stares and elbowed the others which stopped their laughter as he said, "Oh, shut it. Just do your job properly so we can take him away."

"Yes, Sir!" The men saluted properly before walking in the field again, planning to place bombs on another area.

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Zhang Qiling avoided the falling rocks easily, his ears hearing the voices of people above. He knew that with their actions, their objective was him.

Looking up at the big hole on the ceiling, he used this chance to escape the underground, finally facing the people who were after him.

Everyone was at a stalemate after a figure appeared not far from them. Zhang Qiling looked at them without any emotion, and found that no one was an acquaintance. He looked around the area and saw the mess, most of the grounds around him have holes, which shows their determination to find him for whatever reason. He remained motionless in his position, waiting patiently for what they were about to do, without feeling any fear.

That can't be the same with the five people in front of him, who stood in shock after finding their target in front of them. All of them knew the capabilities of Zhang Qiling, and no one wanted to face him head on.

The leader pretended to be calm, took out a walkie-talkie from his pocket. He called the woman a while ago to tell them the news before turning off the device again. Their job here is finished, as they only need to let Zhang Qiling out of the underground.

Not long after he cut off the call with the woman, more than a dozen men appeared in front of Zhang Qiling. The five of them saw this and retreated hastily, as to avoid being hurt in the battle.

Zhang Qiling looked at the more than fifty men in front of him without any changes in emotion. He surveyed them with his dark eyes before closing his eyes. He calmed his breathing and softly sighs, as if the surroundings don't matter. A sound of footsteps hurried towards him and with that, he abruptly opened his eyes, looking sharply at the rushing men.