The Autobiography of a Tomb Raider

Chapter 13: Injury

This was my first time doing this kind of work, and I had little experience. I thought the bones I found were the remains of the tomb’s owner.

Given the scale of the tomb, if there were remains of the tomb owner, there should have been burial goods nearby. That’s what I thought.

Maybe there would be small, exquisite ancient jade artifacts, gold items, or even a personal seal.

Greed overcame fear, and I kept reassuring myself: "It’s nothing, it’s nothing. There might even be a prince’s private seal in that black hole. If I’m lucky enough to fish it out, I’ll strike it rich!"

Summoning my courage, I reached into the bottom of the jar again.

Just as I was leaning sideways, feeling around, something bit my index finger! It hurt badly.

I quickly pulled my hand out and saw that the tip of my finger was bleeding, with two small puncture wounds.

My first thought was that I had been bitten by a snake.

I didn’t know if it was venomous, but I was terrified. I immediately pinched my finger and ran toward the east chamber, screaming for help.

"Second Brother! Third Brother! Help!"

The east chamber had a few scattered burial items, far fewer than the west chamber. The Sun brothers were squatting on the ground, sorting through the items to determine which were valuable.

"Yunfeng, what are you yelling about? Did you see a ghost or something? Who’s trying to kill you?"

I showed him my finger, which had stopped bleeding, and said urgently, "Second Brother! I was bitten by a venomous snake! I’m going to die from the poison!"

"What? A venomous snake?" Sun Laosan panicked.

After examining my finger for a while, Sun Laosan asked doubtfully, "Third Brother, do these two small holes on Yunfeng’s finger look like a snake bite?"

Sun Laosan thought for a moment and shook his head. "It’s a bit similar, but I don’t think it’s a snake. Look at the distance between the wounds. No snake’s head is that small."

Sun Laosan squeezed the wound, and bright red blood immediately flowed out.

"Don’t worry, Yunfeng. Look at the color of the blood. It’s not a snake bite, and definitely not a venomous one. I think it might have been a mouse, a small one."

"A mouse? Do mice bite people, Third Brother?"

"Of course they do, Yunfeng. You just haven’t seen it before. In ancient times, during rat plagues, rats could even eat people!"

"Yunfeng, you’re not feeling dizzy, nauseous, or anything like that, are you?"

I shook my head. "No, Third Brother, I don’t feel any of that."

"Then stop overthinking it. You’re fine. Come help us with the work. If you’re still worried, go get a rabies vaccine at the hospital tomorrow."

The emergency room doctor frowned as he examined my swollen finger. "Your temperature is normal, and there’s no infection. Let’s get an X-ray to see if it’s fluid buildup or something else. How did it get so swollen?"

After the X-ray, the doctor said, "It’s fluid buildup, and the wound is a bit inflamed." He asked if I felt any discomfort, and I shook my head.

Then, using a large needle from an acupuncture kit, he poked two small holes in my finger. I didn’t feel any pain.

He squeezed slightly, and a lot of yellowish-white fluid came out.

After draining the fluid, my finger immediately shrank back to normal size. The doctor prescribed amoxicillin and told me to take two pills, avoiding spicy food.

Thanking the doctor, we returned to the inn.

"Is your hand okay now, Yunfeng?" Boss Wang asked.

I looked at my now-deflated finger and sighed in relief. "It should be fine, Boss. It doesn’t hurt or itch anymore."

Boss Wang nodded, then turned to Sun Laosan.

"Laosan, I’ve been thinking about it all morning and even called a few other bosses in the industry. We all agree that the main burial chamber might have collapsed due to water damage, or it could be buried somewhere else."

"Yunfeng, go rest for now. Laosan, come with me. We need to discuss this."

Back in my room, I took the anti-inflammatory pills and lay down on the bed. Feeling exhausted, I quickly fell asleep.

I had a nightmare. I dreamed of that lonely, large water jar.

A rotting hand slowly reached out from the hole and grabbed my wrist!

"Ah!"

I woke up from the nightmare, drenched in sweat.

I felt something strange on my hand and looked down.

At that moment, my finger...

was swollen with fluid again.

And it looked even worse than before.

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