Chapter 75: Child-Stealing Cave

Walking through the ancestral graveyard of the Zhao family, I suddenly realized that this cemetery was far from normal.

Looking closer, almost all of the Zhao family tombs were sunken in, and some had even been dug open. In broad daylight, only empty, crooked tombstones stood scattered among them.

It was evident that the Zhao family tombs had been severely plundered.

From Zhao Shuihe's previous descriptions, I already knew that since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Zhao family's ancestral tombs had suffered massive destruction. Even so, I never expected them to be in such a state of ruin.

Back then, the Japanese had ripped open these graves to search for the secrets of the Zhao family, and even hauled away the corpses of their ancestors, subjecting this lineage to centuries of humiliation and resentment.

That war had been a catastrophic disaster for Zhaojiaolou Village. Not only the village itself, but even the ancestral tombs of the Zhao clan had been reduced to a mere "empty shell."

And the entities inhabiting this empty shell nowadays were no longer the departed souls of the Zhao family, but rather malevolent freaks and monsters like the Master of Broken Heavens and the King of Bright Lamps.

With a heart full of anxiety, I closely followed little Ah Si's footsteps until we reached the "lair" where the Master of Broken Heavens was hiding.

At this moment, the three of us crouched behind a low grave. Following Ah Si's directions, we anxiously gazed toward the hiding spot of the Master of Broken Heavens, quickly locking our eyes onto a large, sunken mound.

Like the other tombs, this grave had been torn open. From the side of the tomb, a pitch-black tunnel opening was exposed, cleverly concealed by weeds and tree branches. Without Ah Si's guidance, it would have been nearly impossible for anyone to find.

The surroundings of the tombstone were eerily quiet. No stray cats, no crows, not even a single blade of living grass could be seen.

Even so, I spotted something interesting on the soil of that grave: a patch of dark, congealed blood.

That blood was matted with dog hair, silently testifying to the tragic scene that had taken place here earlier.

Recalling little Ah Si's words, I suddenly realized this was the exact place where the Master of Broken Heavens ate dogs!

It seemed we had truly found his hiding place.

With that thought in mind, I signaled Zhao Shuihe and Ah Si to come over and take a look together.

After exchanging glances, we quickly crept toward the looted entrance of the tomb.

I gently parted the weeds at the mouth of the tunnel and immediately saw a grave-robber's shaft slightly larger than a rabbit hole.

Upon closer inspection, the entrance of the shaft was far larger than I had imagined, yet it was still only wide enough for a single adult to crawl through. The smooth walls of the tunnel exuded drafts of chilling wind, sending a shiver down my spine.

At this point, I felt a bit troubled.

A tunnel this small was easy to enter but hard to exit. If we rushed in blindly and ran into any unusual complications, all of us would be trapped inside for good.

As I weighed my options, I suddenly remembered that little Ah Si had once dabbled in grave robbing. Didn't he join a gang of tomb raiders back when he was begging? It wouldn't hurt to consult him before making a final decision.

So, I pulled little Ah Si aside and asked, "Ah Si! I remember you used to rob tombs, right?"

Startled by the question, Ah Si nodded reluctantly and said, "I was forced into it back then! And I haven't touched it ever since I studied the Cultural Relics Protection Law."

Impatiently, I replied, "I'm not here to turn you in. I just want to know if you can tell anything from this tomb mound."

"Well," little Ah Si scratched his head, staring at the tunnel, "this is called a robber's shaft. It was blasted open using the pressure-fracture method. It's extremely precise and standard—a textbook demolition technique. Average tomb raiders couldn't pull this off. Only master thieves could do it."

Ah Si's words prompted Zhao Shuihe and me to speak almost in unison: "Precise and standard? Japanese engineering troops!"

Zhao Shuihe had told me before that among the Japanese troops who came to sweep through Zhaojiaolou during the War of Resistance were engineering troops. Furthermore, they had been well-prepared with clear objectives. This perfectly round robber's shaft was undoubtedly their handiwork!

In addition, little Ah Si noted, "A tomb blasted open with explosives is bound to be a major one. There's a good chance there's an underground palace inside."

Hearing Ah Si's words, a realization suddenly clicked in my mind.

The Japanese must have visited this underground palace. They surely hauled away some treasures, but left others behind. Later on, the Master of Broken Heavens—much like that fellow Li Douniou—must have accidentally stumbled upon the secrets within this grand tomb, learned the method to control the King of Bright Lamps, and subsequently occupied this subterranean space, turning it into his own thief's nest.

With this understanding, I knew we could not afford to wait any longer; otherwise, we would simply be wasting time, with no hope of ever uncovering the truth and the secrets of the ancient tomb.

Someone had to go down, but who would lead the way?

I first looked at Ah Si.

I knew he was well-versed in this trade, but constantly relying on him wasn't right. Besides, we were likely to encounter the Master of Broken Heavens down in the tomb. If we crossed paths in such cramped quarters, Ah Si, with his physical disadvantage, would certainly suffer.

He had already done his part; I couldn't let him take any more risks.

Therefore, after a moment of thought, I rolled up my sleeves, took little Ah Si's cell phone, turned on the flashlight, and prepared to crawl inside.

Before I left, Ah Si handed me a ball of string. "I'll hold one end, and you take the other. If it's safe, give it a few light tugs. If there's danger, pull hard! I'll come down and save you."

I smiled and replied, "If there's danger, you guys just run!"

Without waiting for their reaction, I dove headfirst into the robber's shaft.

The tunnel was far colder and gloomier than I had imagined.

Once inside, due to the contrast between light and dark, I was blind for a long time. Even so, I could feel myself crawling along a dry, cold dirt path. The soil was chilling to the bone, and occasionally, clumps of dirt fell onto my forehead, freezing my brain with sharp pain.

If little Ah Si hadn't seen it with his own eyes, I would never have believed that the Master of Broken Heavens would crawl into such a ghostly place.

For a human to act like a cat was simply incomprehensible.

Harboring this incomprehension, I crawled forward about five or six meters until my outstretched hand suddenly brushed against a block of ice-cold tomb brick.

As if acting as a signal, that touch spurred me to immediately raise my phone.

By the dim light of the phone screen, I saw the space before me suddenly open up.

At the end of the dirt tunnel was a brick tomb wall that had already been breached. Beyond it, a corridor over six feet high was faintly visible.

At the far end of the corridor, I could even make out a faint, eerie glow. That was likely where the Master of Broken Heavens was hiding.

At this moment, the tomb tunnel was very quiet, and the air was breathable. Although the smell of damp earth was thick, it lacked the filth and foulness I had imagined.

I straightened up and, once I confirmed it was safe, gave the rope tied around my waist a gentle tug to signal Zhao Shuihe and the others to come down.

However, while I was waiting idly, my foot suddenly sank into something soft, and with a crisp "crack," I crushed an object beneath my heel.

Subconsciously, I quickly swept the flashlight beam downward, only to be struck with utter astonishment: it was a crab?!

How could there be crabs in such a dry and freezing tomb chamber?

Driven by this shock, I raised the phone and swept the light across the rest of the corridor.

A terrifying scene slowly unfolded before my eyes.