37: Misstep

Zhao Qian obediently took high-grade red incense from her bag and lit it. But when she stuck it into the ground, she was so frightened that she still knelt down to worship. [Burn^Text^Library]

"What are you kneeling to it for?" I yanked Zhao Qian back up, then swept the flashlight toward the hand again. No way. It had been dead for several days already, so it should have rotted. Why did it look so wrong?

The dangling hand moved and reached into the tomb shaft from outside. Zhao Qian thought the thing was about to come running over, and her face went pale with fright. She nearly collapsed again.

Without a word, I picked up a stone and threw it from a distance. I missed the tomb shaft and instead knocked down one of the upright poles.

"Bro, those two are both back. They're standing there and waving their flashlights around," a shrill voice came from the head-high grass nearby.

"Quit wasting your breath. Axe, hurry up—we've hit the coffin," a voice similar to the first called from inside the tomb shaft.

"I'm almost done peeing. Wait a second," the shrill voice continued.

I shone my flashlight toward the grass. The man was urinating with his back to us in the thick vegetation. Under my flashlight, he turned his head and cursed, "Hey! You, Hua! That's enough already. It's just taking a piss. Never seen a man pee before? Why are you shining that thing at your bro?"

"Bro, I'm coming. An axe, right?" After the fat man finished peeing, he ran back to the mouth of the tomb shaft and handed the axe from his waist to the person below.

"Brother Tian, they seem to be grave robbers!" Zhao Qian whispered to me. She wasn't afraid anymore.

"That's right, they're grave robbers. Qian, did you bring a handkerchief?" I held out my hand to ask Zhao Qian for one.

Zhao Qian pulled out a handkerchief and gave it to me. She usually carried one, and when she saw me asking for it, she handed it over without even asking what I wanted it for.

I folded it diagonally and covered the lower half of my face. Then I said, "Xijun, keep watch here. Save whoever's in danger. Qian, you stay here too. I'm going to get some yin soil."

"Oh..." Zhao Qian watched me cover my face with the handkerchief, and her whole face immediately flushed red.

"Why are you blushing?" As I spoke, I felt something sticky around my lips. "Why is your handkerchief damp?"

"Brother Tian... I... I wiped my nose with it when I was crying today..." Zhao Qian covered her face and no longer dared to look at me.

"For crying out loud! You!" I cursed inwardly, and tears nearly sprang from my eyes. Whatever. Zhao Qian was a beauty, after all. Other people didn't even have the chance to taste it...

I couldn't bring myself to face her, so I ran toward the tomb shaft.

Zhao Qian still tried to pull me back, but I had already run far away.

Another pile of fresh soil had appeared beside the tomb shaft not far away. This was a perfect opportunity. Neither Zhao Qian nor I needed to dig, and we didn't have to risk encountering ghosts. The soil had already been turned up for me. It looked bright blood-red, probably dug out from beside a corpse. It was excellent stuff, and a Soul Urn made from it would be absolutely top-notch.

When Zhao Qian and I had first arrived, we had wondered where all the wandering spirits and wild ghosts nearby had gone. It seemed these two brothers had used some method to completely block out all the yin spirits and fierce ghosts around the graveyard. Judging by the way they spoke, there seemed to be two more people. They had probably gone somewhere else.

The grass here was extremely thick, though. If a person kept quiet and crouched down in it, they couldn't be found at all.

My wife-sister tugged at my clothes, but I ignored her. I wasn't going into the tomb shaft anyway. Those two had already dug down below. Debts had their creditors, and grudges had their culprits. If the ghosts wanted anyone, they would go after those two. I was only here to watch the excitement. I should be fine.

When I reached the tomb shaft, I took out the parcel box I had prepared earlier, dug up several shovelfuls of clay that looked good, and packed them into the box.

"Hey, you, Hua! What do you want this soil for?" the fat man asked me.

"To keep as a memento," I said, pretending to have a hoarse voice.

"Fuck me, grave robbers from the north even keep soil as souvenirs? That's new. How come I never thought of that? That's damn artistic! But why are you covering your face for no reason?"

In the darkness, the fat man couldn't see me clearly from two or three meters away, though he would have been able to make me out if he came closer.

"None of your damn business." Seeing that he didn't seem to notice my voice was wrong, I cursed him, sealed the box, and prepared to leave. I had originally been afraid he would recognize me and had even considered kicking him into the pit. But now that I thought about it, I decided against it. By a twist of fate, the fat man had mistaken me for someone else, saving me the trouble of that kick.

"Hey, Xiaofei! Don't you feel like something's wrong?" The fat man reached out to pull down my face covering, but the person below called out in confusion.

Judging by the voice, they had dug quite deep. How had they dug so fast? They were far too professional.

"Bro, what's wrong? I don't feel anything. Tsk, something does seem a little off..." The fat man, Zhang Xiaofei, said this and looked into the tomb shaft, but it was pitch-black inside and nothing could be seen.

"Zhang Xiaofei, I don't think we can smash this coffin open. Did our Thunder Inscription Formation work?" the person below shouted again.

"It worked, bro. Aren't there no filthy things around us anymore? The tomb owner hasn't made a move either, and Young Master Hua and his wife are still here." As Zhang Xiaofei spoke, he glanced at me.

What was a Thunder Inscription Formation? It sounded ridiculously impressive.

But I also felt the chill surrounding us. I glanced at Xijun, hiding in the grass with Zhao Qian, then looked around and realized that the yin energy seemed to be starting to gather!

At the other end of the grass, Zhao Qian's mouth moved wildly. She seemed desperate to shout but didn't dare. I didn't know how to read lips, and when Zhao Qian gestured at me, how was I supposed to know what she was saying? All I could see was that her lips were pretty.

But when I turned my head, I saw a white shadow seemingly emerge atop the ancient tomb behind me!

Wasn't this a fierce ghost manifesting?

Could the thing I had hit with the stone earlier have been more important than I thought?

To make sure, I looked around in every direction and found many head-high poles planted all around us. I didn't know whether it was because I had broken one just now, but the other dozen or so seemed to be trembling too.

I shone the flashlight at the pole the stone had knocked down. My face instantly turned deathly pale. What kind of pole was this? Yellow ribbons were wrapped densely around it, and the ribbons were covered in strange talismans. They seemed to be some kind of sealing spell.

"Brother Tian! Run! The compass is shaking!" Zhao Qian couldn't hold it in any longer and shouted for me to run.

Now I understood. I ran while shouting, "Burn incense! Scatter paper! Talismans!"

Zhao Qian had prepared them long ago. She immediately lit a bundle of incense. Since she often needed it in emergencies, the incense tips had already been dipped in oil.

After lighting it, Zhao Qian still wanted to blow it out before sticking it into the ground. I instantly cursed, "Why are you blowing it out? Scatter the spirit money and run! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Only then did Zhao Qian realize what she was doing. She stuck the incense straight into the ground, scattered a pile of spirit money and talisman paper, and ran while muttering that she was borrowing a path from the ghosts.

Zhao Qian's ample backside swayed as she ran. Watching her nearly drove me crazy. In less than the blink of an eye, I caught up with her.

I couldn't carry her over my shoulder and run like Zhao He could, but tugging her along still made us much faster!

"Bro! This is bad! That person isn't Young Master Hua! Somehow the Thunder Pole at the formation's eye fell over!" Zhang Xiaofei saw Zhao Qian and me running as if we had Wind-Fire Wheels beneath our feet. He froze for a moment, then let out a pig-slaughtering howl too.

Zhang Xiaofei and his brother were by the tomb shaft, while Xijun was with me, so the pressure wasn't too great. After burning the spirit money and lighting the incense to borrow a path, no fierce ghost chased us. Still, when we heard the screams behind us, our hearts trembled with lingering fear.

When we reached the ancient bridge, I looked back and saw two figures emerging from the grass, seemingly going to rescue someone. But I couldn't worry about that. I kept pulling Zhao Qian along, and after some more time, we finally made it back to the off-road vehicle parked beside the road outside.

After I started the car, I heard another vehicle starting up by the ancient bridge. I frowned. Could those people have escaped too? Impossible, right?

"Do you know that fat man named Zhang Xiaofei?" I asked Zhao Qian out of nowhere.

"Of course. Zhang Xiaofei is the youngest son of the Zhang Family... Their entire family specializes in robbing and excavating tombs." Zhao Qian panted, her flushed face covered in fragrant sweat. She instinctively reached for her handkerchief, only to remember that it was still with me.

"Can't you just talk? Why are you looking at me when you're panting like that?" I clicked my tongue when I noticed her watching me. But when she pointed at the handkerchief on my face, then turned away with both cheeks burning red, I finally realized that it was still tied around my face.

Awkwardly, I returned it to her, then wiped my mouth with a napkin. Regret filled my heart. Sigh, without even realizing it, I had once again thrown away all my damn dignity...

In the county, the Zhang Family was known alongside the Wang Family, Zhao Family, and Li Family as one of the four Aristocratic Clans of the Arcane Sect. But besides relocating and excavating graves, the Zhang Family had also secretly taken up grave robbing as a side business. So even though the Zhang Family had some skill these past few years, its reputation wasn't very good.

The Zhang Family had its reasons. Unlike the Zhao Family, which could make easy money by locating dragon veins and reading feng shui for others, and unlike the Wang Family's coffin shop, where people came bearing money, the Zhang Family's livelihood came entirely from graves. So besides digging and relocating graves for people, grave robbing had become their sideline.

Because of this, the other three clans had never been willing to call themselves the Four Clans alongside the Zhang Family. They had practically become the most shameful existence among the four.

I just didn't know why they had appeared at the shooting range and joined forces with two northerners to set up a Thunder Inscription Formation for grave robbing. Of course, if I hadn't accidentally ruined their Thunder Inscription Formation, they probably would have succeeded.

Actually, I didn't want this ancient tomb to be robbed either. To subdue the fierce ghost inside, I had to preserve the tomb's integrity. Only after finding the reason it guarded this place could I make it obediently come with me.

"Brother Tian, where are we going now?" Zhao Qian asked, looking toward the Zhao Family manor. She actually wanted to go burn incense for her grandfather.

"Home. I still have to make pottery. It's an urgent matter. And for the next few days, you'd better stay with me whenever you're not sleeping. Also, I know you miss your grandfather, but you need to consider the current situation too. Understand?" After saying that, I stepped on the accelerator and drove toward the county. I was actually afraid of running into Zhang Xiaofei's vehicle.

"Oh, Qian understands." After hearing me, Zhao Qian nodded with a red face and fell silent.

"Hey, I think you're acting strange today. If you agree, then agree. Why are you blushing?" I couldn't understand it. Why did Miss Zhao Qian blush every time she looked at me?

"I am not!" Zhao Qian immediately shook her head in denial, but her cheeks were still as red as apples.

I frowned. Could it be... that seeing Xijun constantly clinging to me made her feel embarrassed?

That didn't make sense. Xijun was just a little girl. She hugged me because she liked the aura on my body. What was there to be embarrassed about? Only halfway through the drive did I suddenly remember that when I had examined her body at the hospital last night, I seemed to have accidentally touched her breasts.

Sigh, look at the mess this had become...