Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Misstep

Zhao Qian obediently took out a stick of high-end red incense from her bag, lit it, and stuck it into the ground. Even then, she was so terrified that she felt compelled to kneel and pay her respects.

"Why are you kneeling to it?" I pulled Zhao Qian up immediately and shone my flashlight toward the position of the hand. That can’t be right—it had been dead for several days; it should have been rotting by now. Why did it look so strange?

The limp hand moved, reaching into the grave-robbing tunnel from the outside. Zhao Qian, thinking the thing was about to lunge at her, turned pale with fright and nearly collapsed again.

Without a second thought, I grabbed a stone and threw it from a distance. I missed the tunnel, but I knocked over one of the sticks standing upright in the ground.

"Brother, those two have come back. They’re standing there waving their flashlights around," a sharp voice called out from the waist-high grass nearby.

"Stop blathering! Axe, hurry up, we've hit the lid," a voice similar to the first one echoed from inside the tunnel.

"I’m almost done peeing, hold on," the sharp voice replied.

I shone my flashlight toward the grass. A man was standing with his back to me, urinating into the thick brush. Under the glare of my light, he turned his head and cursed, "Hey! Mr. Hua, that’s enough! It’s just a piss, haven’t you ever seen a man pee before? Why are you shining that light at me?"

"Brother, I’m coming. Axe, right?" After finishing, the fat man ran back to the tunnel entrance and handed an axe from his waist to the person below.

"Brother Tian, it looks like they are grave robbers!" Zhao Qian whispered to me, her fear already fading.

"Right, grave robbers. Qian, did you bring a handkerchief?" I reached out my hand to ask for it.

Zhao Qian took out her handkerchief and gave it to me; she always carried one. Seeing that I needed it, she didn't even ask why.

I folded it diagonally and covered the lower half of my face. "Xijun, stay here and watch. If anyone is in danger, save them. Qian, you stay here too. I’m going to go get some 'yin soil'."

"Oh..." Zhao Qian watched me cover my face with the handkerchief, and her face instantly turned red.

"Why are you blushing?" As I spoke, I felt a sticky sensation on my lips. "Why is your handkerchief so wet?"

"Brother Tian... this handkerchief... I used it to wipe my runny nose when I was crying today..." Zhao Qian covered her face, not daring to look at me.

"Damn it! You!" I cursed inwardly, tears almost welling up in my own eyes. Forget it, Zhao Qian is a beauty; others wouldn't even get the chance to taste it...

Feeling quite embarrassed, I ran toward the tunnel. Zhao Qian tried to stop me, but I was already too far away.

Nearby, a pile of fresh soil had been dug up next to the tunnel—a stroke of luck. Neither Zhao Qian nor I had to dig ourselves or risk encountering ghosts. The soil had already been turned up for me. It looked blood-red, likely dug from right beside the corpse. It was excellent material; making a soul urn out of this would be incredibly effective.

When Zhao Qian and I first arrived, we were puzzled as to why the local ghosts and spirits had vanished. It seemed these two brothers had used some method to clear the area around the graveyard of all spectral presence. Judging by their tone, there were two others who had likely gone elsewhere.

However, the grass here was very lush. If someone crouched down without making a sound, they would be impossible to find.

My "Wife Sister" tugged at the corner of my shirt, but I ignored her. I wasn't going into the tunnel, after all. Those two were the ones digging underground; the debt would follow the perpetrator. I was just a bystander, so I should be fine.

Reaching the edge of the tunnel, I took out the courier box I had prepared and used a shovel to scoop up some of the high-quality clay, filling the box.

"Hey, Mr. Hua, what do you want this soil for?" the fat man asked.

"Keeping it as a souvenir," I said, disguising my voice to sound hoarse.

"Damn, do you northern grave robbers all keep soil as souvenirs? That’s fresh. How did I not think of that? Pretty artistic, damn it! But why are you covering your face?" In the dark, at a distance of two or three meters, the fat man couldn't see me clearly, but he would if he got closer.

"None of your business." Hearing that he didn't realize my voice was off, I cursed him, sealed the box, and prepared to leave. I had originally considered kicking him into the pit to prevent him from recognizing me, but now I decided against it. The fat man had mistaken me for someone else, saving me the trouble.

"Hey, Xiao Fei! Do you feel like something’s wrong?" The person below called out with a note of confusion, just as the fat man tried to pull off my mask.

Judging by the sound, they were already quite deep. How could they dig so fast? Truly professional.

"Brother, what could be wrong? I don't feel anything. Wait... actually, it does feel a bit wrong. It’s cold," said the fat man named Xiao Fei. He looked into the tunnel, but it was pitch black and empty.

"Zhang Xiaofei, I don't think we can break this coffin open. Is our Thunder Pattern Array working?" the person below shouted again.

"It is, Brother. There’s nothing dirty left around here, and the tomb owner hasn't made a move. Mr. Hua and his wife are still standing right there," Zhang Xiaofei said, glancing toward me.

What "Thunder Pattern Array"? It sounded impressive.

However, I also felt the chill in the air. I looked at Xijun, who was hiding in the grass with Zhao Qian, and then at the surroundings. I realized the Yin energy was beginning to gather!

Zhao Qian was making exaggerated lip movements in the grass, wanting to shout but not daring to. I didn't know how to read lips, so I couldn't understand what she was trying to say, only noticing how beautiful her lips looked.

But when I turned my head, I saw a white shadow emerging from the ancient tomb behind us!

Was this a vengeful spirit manifesting?

Could it be that the thing I hit with the stone earlier was actually important?

I looked around in every direction and found many waist-high sticks planted everywhere. I couldn't tell if it was because I had broken one, but the other dozen or so seemed to be trembling.

I shone my light on the stick I had knocked over, and my face turned deathly pale. This wasn't just a stick; it was wrapped tightly in yellow silk ribbons covered in eerie runes. They were clearly some kind of sealing charms.

"Brother Tian! Run! The compass is shaking!" Zhao Qian couldn't hold back anymore and screamed at me to run!

I finally understood. I ran, shouting, "Burn the incense! Scatter the paper! Use the charms!"

Zhao Qian had been prepared. She lit a bundle of incense—the tips had been soaked in oil for emergencies.

She wanted to blow them out before sticking them in the ground, but I yelled, "Why are you blowing on them! Just scatter the money and run! Do you want to die?"

Zhao Qian realized her mistake, shoved the incense into the ground, scattered a handful of spirit money and paper charms, and began chanting a plea for safe passage as we ran.

Zhao Qian was swaying as she ran, and I was frantic with worry. In the blink of an eye, I caught up to her.

Although I couldn't carry her like Zhao He could, pulling her along made us much faster!

"Brother! It’s bad! That man isn't Mr. Hua! The Thunder Pole at the eye of the array has fallen somehow!" Seeing me and Zhao Qian running like we had wheels of fire under our feet, Zhang Xiaofei paused for a moment before letting out a blood-curdling scream.

With the fat man named Zhang Xiaofei and his brother at the tunnel and Xijun with me, the pressure wasn't too great. After burning the spirit money and lighting the incense to borrow passage, no vengeful spirits chased us. Still, hearing the screams behind us left us shaken.

When we reached the ancient bridge, I looked back and saw two figures emerging from the grass, seemingly trying to save someone. But I couldn't care less. I kept pulling Zhao Qian, and it took us some time to reach the SUV parked on the outer road.

Just as I started the car, I heard the sound of another engine starting near the bridge. I frowned. Could those guys actually escape? That seemed impossible.

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

"I do. Zhang Xiaofei... he’s the youngest son of the Zhang family... their whole family are professional grave robbers," Zhao Qian said, gasping for air, her flushed face covered in sweat. She instinctively reached for her handkerchief, only to remember it was still with me.

"Just talk, why are you staring at me while you're panting like that?" I chided, noticing her looking at me. When she pointed at the handkerchief on my face and turned away with a blushing face, I realized I was still wearing it.

Embarrassed, I returned it and wiped my mouth with a napkin, regretting the whole ordeal. Sigh, my dignity had been lost once again...

In the county, the Zhang family was known alongside the Wang, Zhao, and Li families as one of the four great families of the occult. However, besides moving graves and excavating them, the Zhang family also took on the "shadowy" business of grave robbing. Because of this, even though they had some skills, their reputation was poor.

The Zhangs had their reasons. They didn't have the easy income the Zhao family made from finding dragon veins and reading feng shui, nor the steady flow of customers the Wang family's coffin shop enjoyed. Their livelihood depended entirely on tombs. Thus, grave robbing became their side hustle.

Because of this, the other three families never wanted to be grouped with them, and they had become the most disreputable of the four.

I didn't know why they were at the firing range, or why they had teamed up with two northerners to set up a Thunder Pattern Array to rob the tomb. Of course, if I hadn't accidentally broken their array, they might have actually succeeded.

I didn't want this ancient tomb to be robbed either. To subdue the spirit inside, I needed to keep the tomb intact. Only by finding out why it was guarding this place could I make it follow me willingly.

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

"Home. I still need to make the pottery; this is an urgent matter. Besides, you’d better stay with me at all times, except when you're sleeping. Also, I know you miss your grandfather, but you need to consider the current situation, understand?" After saying this, I stepped on the gas and headed for the county. I was actually afraid of running into Zhang Xiaofei's car.

"Oh, I understand." Zhao Qian nodded with a red face and fell silent.

"Hey, you're acting strange today. You agreed, so why are you blushing?" I didn't understand. How could a young lady like Zhao Qian blush every time she looked at me?

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

I frowned. Could it be... was she embarrassed because Xijun kept clinging to me?

That didn't make sense; Xijun was just a little girl who liked my scent. There was nothing shameful about that. Halfway there, I suddenly realized that last night at the hospital, when I was checking her body, I might have accidentally touched her chest.

Sigh, what a mess...