Chapter 38: Killer Vine!

As one official account after another made their appearance, the live broadcast room instantly exploded with activity!

The bullet comments became so dense that they were almost illegible!

"Oh my lord, so many official accounts are showing up all at once?"

"It seems not only tomb raiders want to know, but official personnel want to know as well!"

"Brothers, watch your language, officials are mingling right here among the crowd!"

"Fascinating, absolutely fascinating! This is definitely going to make tomorrow's trending news!"

"Brother Xuan, now that all these official accounts have shown up, what reason do you have to refuse?"

"..."

"Brother Xuan?"

"What is going on in your live broadcast room?"

"Why are so many official accounts sending you gifts?"

Zhou Cheng's baffled voice came through.

Zhang Xuan, however, gave a bitter smile: "What else could it be? They want to see you guys, of course."

Zhou Cheng: "Huh?"

Taili's astonished voice also rang out: "Official accounts?"

"Who?"

Zhou Cheng said: "The Longyun County Police Station, the Qingcheng Police Station, museums from all over the place, and even the National Museum..."

Taili: "Good grief!"

"Third Master!"

"Does this mean we've been surrounded all along?"

Seeing that Third Master remained silent for a long time, Zhang Xuan folded his arms and said with a serious expression, "Third Master, do you still want me to decode this?"

Zhou Zeyiyi's decisive voice came through: "Must!"

Zhang Xuan's expression shifted: "Alright, what a bold spirit!"

As his voice fell, the atmosphere instantly turned peculiar.

Not only was the other side frighteningly quiet, but even the bullet comments in the live broadcast room noticeably dwindled.

Zhang Xuan's gaze flickered slightly: "Actually..."

"Since Third Master managed to find this Warring States tomb, you must have deciphered the last line about the 'Heaven-Granted Snake-Cypress Rice', right?"

Zhou Zeyiyi's voice came over: "No!"

"I only deciphered 'Snake-Cypress'. I didn't figure out 'Rice' or 'Heaven-Granted'."

"However, what you said earlier about my brother's manic state and his ability to open the mechanism—that is 'Heaven-Granted'."

"I seem to understand a little now."

"Could it be that 'Heaven-Granted' really has something to do with this cypress tree?"

Zhang Xuan gave a thumbs up, his expression solemn: "Exactly!"

"The 'Snake-Cypress' in 'Heaven-Granted Snake-Cypress Rice' refers to the nine-headed snake-cypress vine tree right in front of you!"

"And 'Rice' means its fruit!"

"Put it together, and it means the Heaven-Granted ability originates from the fruit of the nine-headed snake-cypress!"

"Your brother swallowed the fruit of the nine-headed snake-cypress and thus obtained the Heaven-Granted ability!"

"Guided by this ability, he triggered the mechanism hidden within the nine-headed snake-cypress and helped you find the tomb owner's coffin!"

Inside the ancient tomb, Zhou Zeyiyi wore a look of shock as he slowly looked up at the towering, majestic vine tree: "So it really is the nine-headed snake-cypress..."

"Eating the fruit grants the Heaven-Granted ability... This is simply miraculous!"

Saying this, he turned his head to look at Taili: "Are there any more of those fruits?"

Taili was stunned: "Gone, Third Master..."

Zhou Cheng, however, pointed at Taili and said, "Third Uncle, he's pulling your leg!"

Zhou Cheng: "I saw Uncle Tai pick several of them with my own eyes, he was even going to give them to me!"

The tall, thin man also chimed in: "I can vouch for that!"

Taili wore a speechless expression: "I did pick a few, but they got squashed flat in my back pocket!"

As he spoke, he stuck out his backside, revealing the wet pocket of his jeans.

"Third Master, if you don't mind..."

Seeing Zhou Zeyiyi's gaze turn somewhat dangerous, he awkwardly chuckled, "Just kidding! Isn't there still some on the tree?"

"I'll just get a few more!"

With that, he rolled up his sleeves and started climbing right up!

The tall, thin man stared at Taili and laughed, "Pick a few more so me, Third Master, and our big nephew can all experience what this Heaven-Granted feeling is like!"

Zhou Zeyiyi's gaze also grew fervent.

Although Taili was his most loyal brother, the Heaven-Granted ability was the key to finding the twenty-four purple gold bells!

Naturally, it would be best if he could possess it himself!

Just at that moment, however, Zhang Xuan's voice abruptly rang out: "Brothers, can that camera angle shoot something useful? It's just shaking around and you can't see a thing."

"Listening to you guys chatter back and forth, did one of your brothers climb up?"

"I'm telling you, this nine-headed snake-cypress is also known as the man-killing vine. Those vines are extremely powerful, so watch yourselves."

The three people standing below watching Taili climb the tree were taken aback.

"Man-killing vine?"

Their looks of horror slowly shifted toward Taili.

Sure enough, those hanging vines were slithering through the air like snakes toward Taili's back!

"Hiss..."

Zhou Cheng drew in a sharp breath, his pupils slowly dilating.

Taili also seemed to sense something was amiss; he stopped climbing and looked back at the three of them: "Third Master!"

"How come I feel like I'm riding an elevator, automatically rising up?"

"What's going on?"

But Zhou Zeyiyi just wore a dark expression and remained silent.

Zhou Cheng kept shaking his head as well.

Only the tall, thin man pointed downward at Taili's feet.

Taili looked down and saw that vines as thick as hemp ropes had already wrapped tightly around his legs, pulling his body upward!

His face instantly turned pale: "Holy crap!"

"Why are these tree vines moving?!"

"What are you guys spacing out for?!"

"Hurry up and save me!"

Zhou Zeyiyi didn't budge an inch.

Zhou Cheng shook his head even harder: "Uncle Tai, it's not that we don't want to save you!"

"Look at how huge this man-killing vine is, there are vines all over it—if we go over there, we'll just be marching to our deaths!"

The tall, thin man muttered to himself: "If it grabs him, maybe it won't grab us..."

"If it grabs him, maybe it won't grab us..."

Yet no sooner had he finished speaking!

"Swish!"

Over a hundred vines shot forward like arrows leaving a bow, instantly hurtling toward the three of them!

The speed was so fast that the three didn't even have a chance to dodge!

The tree vines were thick yet as flexible as rubber.

After binding the three of them tightly, the vines instantly hoisted them high into the air, pressing them close together, face-to-face with Taili.

Taili: "I knew you guys wouldn't leave me behind!"

"You're true friends!"

Zhou Cheng: "..."

The tall, thin man: "..."

Zhou Zeyiyi's face was as dark as ink: "Stop talking nonsense, this is a man-killing vine, it'll cost us our lives!"

"Quickly think of a way to escape!"

Taili wriggled a few times, but his hands and feet were completely bound and he couldn't move at all: "It's too tight, I can't break free!"

Zhou Cheng also shook his head: "I can't move either!"

Zhou Zeyiyi was burning with anxiety.

His gaze swept rapidly around their surroundings and suddenly landed on the tall, thin man opposite him, noticing that his wrists could still move and he was clutching a tubular object in his hand.

His expression changed drastically: "What are you trying to do?!"

The tall, thin man said, "Blow it to pieces!"

Zhou Cheng and Taili also realized at that moment that what he was holding was a stick of dynamite, and their faces instantly turned white!

"Damn it, are you out of your mind?!"

The tall, thin man retorted, "I'm going to blow up the coffin!"

"Not commit suicide!"

Zhou Zeyiyi narrowed his eyes: "What do you mean?"

The tall, thin man looked up at the towering tree crown and said, "This is a man-killing vine!"

"Yet the tomb owner was able to bury their own coffin right inside the belly of the man-killing vine without being attacked by it!"

"I suspect this thing was specifically raised by the tomb owner to protect the coffin!"

"Since that's the case, I'm going to blow his coffin straight to hell!"

"Let's see if the man-killing vine reacts!"

Hearing this, Taili's eyes suddenly lit up: "Third Master, not gonna lie, this method might actually..."

Zhou Cheng, however, snorted, "Heh, might what?"

"I think it's a terrible idea!"

He glanced at Taili: "Do me a favor and use your brain, that's dynamite..."

"Huh?"

"Uncle Tai, what's wrong with you?"

Taili's body had suddenly gone rigid as if he were possessed by an evil spirit, his gaze completely unfocused.

Zhou Zeyiyi and the tall, thin man also noticed Taili's sudden change, and they stood there dumbfounded.

In the live broadcast room, Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes, his expression turning peculiar: "Brothers..."

"This is extraordinary!"

"It looks like the Heaven-Granted state is acting up again?"