His words put Qin Manjiang on full alert.
He had been wondering all along: why did it have to be this village?
According to Li Xijiu, two groups of people had each created an artificial ghost story, one in Lower River Village and the other here at Guanyin Flat Lake.
Qin Manjiang himself had grown up in Lower River Village and had never really felt anything eerie about it. As for this place... if any village and any accident could give rise to an artificial ghost story, surely there would have been more than just two.
Now, hearing what Zhao Laoda said, Qin Manjiang began to vaguely understand something.
The ghost story here at Guanyin Flat Lake might well have been created by taking advantage of what was already here!
"The place you're taking me tonight wouldn't happen to be..."
"That's right." Zhao Laoda did not wait for Qin Manjiang to finish. He lowered his eyes, a hint of mockery showing in them. "Scared? Actually, it's all hollow underneath the village. There's a huge tomb down there. The whole village is basically someone's burial mound, and we've been trampling all over it."
Qin Manjiang knew he was trying to goad him, afraid he would back out.
"I'm not scared... how big is the tomb? Whose is it?" Qin Manjiang asked, feigning curiosity.
Zhao Laoda turned his head away. "How the hell would I know? I'm not an archaeologist. Let me tell you something else."
Qin Manjiang listened closely as Zhao Laoda said, "The current villagers aren't the original inhabitants."
He caught his breath as he spoke. "We're the second batch. There are records. Our ancestors stumbled across this village. When they arrived, they found it empty, but it had everything-grain, farm tools, stoves, furniture. It was like people had been