"Why are all these grave markers narrower at the top and wider at the bottom?" Yao Shunyu had noticed something was wrong, too. Traditionally, grave markers were straight-sided, symbolizing a smooth passage into the afterlife. The more he looked at these wooden plaques, the more unnerved he felt.
The Fatty leaned in close, trying to make out some writing on a particularly large plaque. But no one expected him to step on a patch of slick grass and pitch forward uncontrollably. He landed face-first on the grave marker, and before Jiang Cheng and the others could react, he had knocked it over and ended up straddling it.
"Ow! Fuck, fuck, I'm sorry!!"
The Fatty stared at what he'd done, dumbstruck. Trembling, he climbed to his feet and immediately bowed to apologize to the battered wooden plaque, even though he had no idea who lay beneath the blank marker.
But in the next moment, the expressions of Jiang Cheng and the others changed. The fallen plaque hadn't snapped. Instead, the part that had been buried in the earth had turned up, and on that section... there were words!
Most of the writing had blurred after being buried for so long, but a few characters in the center were still just barely legible: Youji General Dai Mochong.
Someone had also drawn a thick red X over the name with a brush.
"Th-this is a general's tomb!"
Li Bai exclaimed in surprise. A Youji General wasn't a low-ranking official; across the dynasties, the rank had ranged from senior fourth grade to junior fifth grade. Established in the garrison armies from the Ming dynasty onward, the post ranked below Canjiang and involved leading mobile troops in defensive operations. It was a position of real military authority. Yet someone like that had been buried here