The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 223 - 224: Escape from Big Bamboo

Otuna screamed and stepped back. When the blinding light faded, I sprang up and aimed a Fireball at her.

I can control the size and range of the Karmic Fire. There’s no need for a big fire against her; a small fire burning through her chest and a hole in her heart will be enough.

She herself doesn’t have an Undead Body, nor does Chen Xiaonuan, so even if she fused perfectly with Chen Xiaonuan’s corpse, she couldn’t gain abilities neither of them originally had.

But her original abilities remained. Before dying, her consciousness left her body and awakened the ’Easter Eggs’ hanging from the trees.

Or more accurately, her consciousness divided into several parts and infiltrated the shells of those Easter Eggs.

The Easter Eggs broke open in unison, and out jumped creatures of various shapes, making you realize what the product of random genetic pairings looks like.

"Go!" Qinghan leapt onto the tree trunk, raising the Crystal Ball, and the top of the ’Big Bamboo’ immediately opened.

Bi Shi and I followed and jumped on too. We raced upward along the dense branches, but those grafted mutant creatures tried to block us.

Earlier, while Otuna was going mad, Qinghan had set up a few devices around the trunk and stone platform, likely the timed explosives given to him by Bi Shi, so if we don’t leave now, this place will soon blow up. I don’t want to have all my bones broken again.

"Damn it, wasn’t plastic surgery supposed to make you prettier? Why does this lunatic get uglier every time?" Bi Shi kicked away a faceless monstrosity lunging at her; its head looked like a popcorn kernel.

I don’t get it. What did Otuna see in this popcorn’s genes that made them ’excellent,’ only to be kicked away by Bi Shi all the same?

"You said she’s crazy; her thinking isn’t like a normal person, okay? Watch out for the zigzag beetle behind you!" I dodged an attack from a porcupine monster. Though it was humanoid, it was covered in spikes, with spikes on its palms, back of the hands, and fingertips. Suddenly, I was curious how it would rub its eyes.

Bi Shi grabbed a branch overhead, flipped her body 180 degrees, dodging the human-headed moth’s attack from behind.

The human-headed moth truly had a human head, but its body was still that of a moth, with a pair of gray-white wings adorned with glowing patterns.

The spiral glowing pattern gave the visual illusion of continuous rotation, and the moth’s human head bore a breathtakingly beautiful face with an eerie smile. If I guessed right, its skill was to confuse or hypnotize people.

The human-headed moth tried to wrap Bi Shi with its wings, but she dodged with a forward flip. It flapped its wings in retreat and spat out a white silk thread at Bi Shi. Bi Shi quickly let go and leaped upward along the trunk.

Meanwhile, at the top, Qinghan was the primary target of the monsters’ attacks since he was holding the Crystal Ball. To reclaim the Crystal Ball, they launched a frenzied assault on him.

"Quickly..."

"The key..."

"Give it to me!"

Three monsters teamed up to finish a sentence, speaking was difficult for them, possibly due to having just been ’born,’ so they spoke in turns, with one monster saying two words.

Of course, their consciousness came from the same person; their thoughts, actions, and words were highly synchronized, making relay conversation effortless.

Qinghan drew out a dagger hidden at his waist and flung it, transforming it into a Longsword aimed at the monsters’ heads. He too had possibly realized all these monsters were controlled by Otuna’s consciousness, and if he decapitated them, Otuna’s consciousness would have nowhere to go.

I hadn’t expected her to have this move. The close cooperation among the monsters slowed our escape, so the explosion time Qinghan set might not be enough for us.

I glanced at Qinghan, who was about to reach the exit but was surrounded by monsters. Even without their heads, the creatures clung together, trapping him. I could only spare a glance, unable to see more.

Bi Shi was right below me, a monster with a mouth at its belly button biting her shoe heel.

Time was running out. Even if we three were made of iron and steel, recovering from being bent or broken by the explosion would take time, which was most dangerous. If other monsters or people seized the chance to grab us, we’d be at a disadvantage.

Using the Karmic Fire would be easier, but the consequences were severe. After a quick assessment, I made a compromise.

I grabbed Bi Shi’s wrist, leaped into the air, and stepped on the trunk, using all my strength to fling Bi Shi upward.

I used my full strength, catapulting Bi Shi and the monster biting her shoe heel out.

They crashed into the monsters surrounding Qinghan. Those monsters stumbled like bowling pins, and Qinghan and Bi Shi took the chance to leap out the exit.

"Little Fu—" Qinghan’s worried shout was quickly drowned out by the explosion’s sound, his outstretched hand frozen in my view.

I tried my hardest to leap upward, really, but maybe the explosion had damaged the internal structure of the ’Big Bamboo.’ The feeling of weightlessness abruptly disappeared.

The shockwave from the explosion should have had a propelling effect, but maybe the explosives Bi Shi gave Qinghan were too weak, or something else went wrong. Whatever the reason, the air wave only ’pushed’ me slightly. I felt heat engulf me as towering flames filled my vision, and my body immediately began to fall.

"Qinghan! Catch this—" I threw the pearl hairclip and necklace I had hidden in my clothes up; they had just enough weight to make it to the exit.

Alas... seems like I shouldn’t keep ’cremation’ on my mind; saying it too much makes it hard to escape one myself.

The fire scorched away my clothes; thankfully, I was smart enough to give Qinghan the valuables for safekeeping.

I fell into a mess of debris that... underground?

This is when I remembered the ’Big Bamboo’ rose from underground, meaning there was nothing below it. The explosion blew out its bottom, meaning I fell into the hole beneath it.

But it wasn’t over that quickly; the structure around the entrance was also destroyed. Not only did the ’Big Bamboo’ collapse, but so did the entrance. I, along with a heap of building remnants, bark, soil, rubble, and monster remains, ended up as fill for the hole, buried deep underground.

Ugh... there’s always a hole wanting to bury ’me’!

Does a zongzi never escape burial? Is an underground hole my nemesis? Why do I always end up buried?

Ah... my burial goods, just given to Qinghan. If he has a conscience, he’d better hurry and dig me out; I want to see daylight again~

"Oh dear..." I rolled around a few times and found I could actually move.

Also, after falling from such a height, I didn’t break anything.

Upon careful feeling, I realized the ground was soft, like a thick cotton bed, and of course there wouldn’t be a cotton bed deep underground. I estimated I landed on something alive, maybe an animal or a plant.