The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 351 - 286: The Paint Melts

After hearing my ’easy target’ comment, everyone withdrew their gaze.

"Did you hear that? The person themselves didn’t say anything, some people are meddling unnecessarily."

"How could you dismiss a captain’s position which is appointed from above? If everyone disregards authority and acts recklessly, how will the frontline work not fall into chaos?"

The argument between the two sides did not cease because of what I said. Hearing the other side’s words, Lilith immediately retorted, pointing out that their team captain is Qinghan, but since they were rescued, every move has followed Moli’s lead, completely ignoring Qinghan.

Qinghan is even more low-key than me, rarely speaking unless necessary. It’s my first time seeing him have such little presence in a team.

The focus was on him, but before he could speak, Moli quickly admitted her mistake, saying it wasn’t Qinghan’s fault. It was her first time undertaking a task in a team format, and she hadn’t adjusted from solo mode.

Qinghan swallowed his words once more, and no one gave him a chance either. The two teams remained at odds, eventually sparring over food distribution.

I had met Qinghan’s team captain and knew members like Lu Hao and Baozi. I always thought a frontline expedition team was a happy family.

"Hey Professor Chen, look." I ignored the group embroiled in the argument, pulling Qinghan to the wall to show him the rose mural I had scraped off.

After scraping off the paint from the mural, a piece of crystal-clear stone was revealed. The stone was shaped like a flower, indicating that other materials were embedded within the granite wall.

"Is it crystal? Is it valuable?" I glanced at the others and whispered.

"No. I can’t tell what it is, don’t touch it." Qinghan grabbed my hand, stopping me.

"Look, isn’t the paint melting?" At the corner of my eye, red liquid was trickling down; just moments ago, when I was scraping it, they were still in a dry paint state, and now they had melted into a liquid.

Qinghan looked around, noticing that the paint on other walls was also melting; the red roses were turning white, and the transparent stones embedded in the walls were gradually becoming exposed.

"Careful, something’s not right." Qinghan finally spoke up, trying to stop the arguing group, but unfortunately, no one listened to him.

"No worries, it’s just a small scene." I had seen more chaotic squads; I pulled out a towel from my backpack, lit it, and tossed it between the two groups.

Woosh—

The two teams instinctively separated, dodging the fireball.

"Look at the surrounding walls, the murals are melting; everyone, better rely on your luck!" I raised my voice to remind them.

Over time, the paint might evaporate, but paint melting into liquid... I’ve never heard a tomb robber mention it. Now, several walls seemed to be oozing blood. What this eerie change would bring, none of us could predict.

Finally, everyone noticed the change around. Not only was the paint melting, but the transparent stones embedded in the rock also began to dissolve.

They weren’t stones but ice-like crystals, likely because our group’s presence caused a change in the temple’s temperature, as heat radiates from the body, and more people mean more heat. Possibly, that’s why the paint and crystals started melting.

However, this was just my guess. It’s not that easy for a group of less than twenty to heat up a large temple.

If it’s not the temperature change, then it’s the change in gas. In any case, the change on the walls occurred after the main group entered.

Even if someone claimed it was their arguing, with the spittle dissolving things, I’d believe it.

"In ancient tombs, to prevent theft, craftsmen sometimes mixed poison into the mural paint. Everyone, quickly put on your gas masks." Moli seized the initiative once more, reacting faster than Lilith.

If it’s effective, it’s foresight on Moli’s part. If not, and everyone gets poisoned, who would hold her accountable? If the paint is non-toxic, no one would blame caution as a fault.

Lilith, though in competition with Moli, wouldn’t risk her life in contradiction. She nodded at her team members, signaling them to put on the gas masks from their backpacks.

Only my backpack was empty, and Qinghan’s backpack had been lost days earlier.

"Captain, why aren’t you wearing one?" Cheng Xuelin asked as he fitted his gas mask and seeing me standing still, paused.

"I’m unprepared."

"Huh? It’s common sense to bring a gas mask into a tomb. Ancient tombs are full of harmful gases; not knowing this really makes you a newbie." Someone beside Moli commented in a moderate tone.

Everyone could hear what he said: I’m a newbie, inexperienced, stupid enough to get myself killed.

"What? You don’t know anything. The captain is amazing!" Cheng Xuelin, a scholar not adept at quarreling, turned red several times during the argument earlier but never got a chance to speak.

"Miss Leng’s talents are exceptional. She rescued both Professor Chen and me, her ability is unquestionable." Moli’s voice was muffled through the gas mask.

The problem now is regardless of praise or criticism, the team lacked extra gas masks. Moli’s ’affirmation’ was just empty words.

"When we were digging an escape route, she acted on her own, inadvertently finding you." Lilith caught the implication in Moli’s words and immediately clarified.

The transparent crystals within the walls completely melted into water, pooling on the ground in a puddle, not dispersing.

Creak... creak... creak...

After the crystals flowed out, an eerie sound came from the hollow in the wall. The rose blooms were larger than washbasins, definitely big enough for someone to crawl into, and of course, if someone was inside, they could crawl out too.

No one knew the temple’s purpose. Nanduo and the tomb owner might know, as they woke in the coffin and came here, later grabbing Moli and placing her on the altar, holding hands with Nanduo.

The temple’s style was different from the well outside, but the well was right at the temple entrance, so it probably wasn’t a coincidence. I guessed the temple and well existed first, later discovered by the Ancient Niloans, turning the temple into the Netherworld Palace and the well into a sacrificial site.

I had previously been puzzled by the temple’s murals, which were obviously vibrant flowers. Why did the Ancient Niloans consider it the Netherworld, depicting the temple doors as gates to the Netherworld?

"Everyone, be careful, prepare for level C!" Lilith shouted, and everyone reached for their weapons.

The timely strange sound from the wall resolved their awkwardness. Among the two teams, only Qinghan and I didn’t have gas masks. If not for external interference, they would have had to discuss whether someone should heroically give up their mask or hold a vote to leave us to our fate.

The subsequent moments left me bewildered. After waiting a while, nothing emerged from the hollows, yet the others, as if seeing something extraordinary, gasped, clustering around the altar in a circle.

I was like a clumsy student who couldn’t grasp abstract performance, looking left and right. While the others were so convincingly immersed in their act, I struggled to find a sense.