The Informal Tomb Raiding Diary: She is the occupant of the tomb!-Chapter 399 - 310: The Wounded (Part 3)

First, we need to ensure that the vicinity is safe; the injured person was attacked three streets away. When someone is hurt, they naturally head to a place they consider safe. However, their pursuer can also track them here.

Huang Zaijiang stayed to guard the entrance while Mike and Little Red went out with the two of us.

There always needs to be a team doctor; Doctor Du was attending to the injured and couldn’t leave. Little Red was temporarily appointed as the team doctor.

Of course, this is just temporary assistance. Little Red doesn’t mind. It’s on a mission to find Patient Number 37, and if it encounters someone needing medical attention along the way, it won’t ignore them. It’s part of its programming, or you could say, its duty.

Robots lack flexibility. They follow commands to the letter. Once in human society, who knows how much trouble it might run into.

Compared to Xiangyang, its situation is different. As I thought about this, I suddenly realized that ever since I emerged from the tomb, I’ve continually encountered these ’special groups.’

As for Patient Number 37, I believe it’s the phantom that scared Mike. She shouldn’t have been able to leave her room, but we ended up opening the door for her. The laughter Mike heard likely wasn’t an illusion; it was the joyful exclamation of the newly liberated Patient Number 37.

Yet, as we traveled by small train to the Ancient City, we didn’t see any sign of her, nor did Mike.

Perhaps she possesses a special skill, leaving no footprints as she walks, thus eluding our pursuit.

We can only surmise that she took another route. As for her intentions after leaving, or why the Ancient City inhabitants sealed her in a ward, we remain in the dark.

It invariably comes down to two possibilities: protection or prevention.

Patients requiring regular sedation from a robot are likely not being protected.

Even in ancient times, there were cases of agitated schizophrenia, and going further back, it’s not unheard of. Given her onslaught on Mike upon making her appearance and her manic laughter by his side, I have reason to question her mental state.

In fact, I previously asked Little Red how it was certain Patient Number 37 would come to the Ancient City. After finally seeing the light of day, why wouldn’t she venture into the vast world instead of returning to this perilous and deserted city?

Little Red didn’t reveal the specifics, only stating that Patient Number 37 is after something that wasn’t taken by the fleeing people and remains in the Ancient City.

As the recollection ended, I felt Mike’s body beside me move unnaturally, or more accurately, he jerked forward, as if tripped by something.

Out of sheer instinct, I grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him back forcefully.

But he not only leaned forward; as I pulled him back, he quickly dropped a notch.

It turned out there was something beneath his feet. No, to be precise, there was a hand, clawing his foot downward.

This hand resembled black stone. To my eyes, it was mere stone, grasping at Mike, pulling him underground. Mike maintained balance thanks to my grip, allowing him to use his legs to kick against the black hand.

The sound of his shoe against the black hand was akin to kicking stone. Mike, perhaps in a moment of panic, even lowered his gun as if he intended to shoot the hand.

Though his gun could fire in bursts, pulling the trigger would release several bullets at once. Whether he’d hit the hand, I couldn’t say; I only knew at least one bullet was likely to hit his own foot.

I, behind him, grabbed the gun strap and yanked it hard, redirecting the barrel, preventing him from pulling the trigger.

Chen Qinghan drew out the great treasure sword, now a short sword, and hunched down to sever the hand, cutting it off at ground level.

The hand was cut off, yet its fingers still clung tightly to Mike’s foot. He forcefully stomped the black hand off.

After dislodging it, he used a handkerchief to pick it up and inspect it. After examining it for a while, he handed it to Chen Qinghan. "It’s stone."

Chen Qinghan took it for a look and nodded, "Indeed it is."

"Are there stone men underground?" By now, we had distanced ourselves about ten meters from the area where the black hand attacked.

The city’s streets aren’t entirely cobblestone; some zones are pure dirt roads, like the path we just passed.

Could there be stone men hidden in the ground?

However, the stone men we encountered this time and those in the desert are not of the same color. Could stone men have different skin tones?

Chen Qinghan wrapped the black stone hand in a plastic bag, the kind often used by forensics.

Is this intended for research upon returning?

Mike meticulously inspected his foot, relieved that the stone hand only grasped his shoe and didn’t make direct contact with his skin.