The Complete Collection of Yellow River Ghost Coffins

Chapter 38

Ordinary people can contact each other any distance with just a phone number, but Donghua Town is so poor that even the post office is far away, let alone a phone. Although I would never go to any demon's lair, since he went to the trouble of coming to find me and saying all that, it would be good to exchange contact information.

The old man said everyone around here knew him, and they could just ask around. He paused, as if remembering something, hesitated for a moment, then grinned again. This time, the smile wasn't the eerie, menacing one from before, but a perfectly normal one, like that of a neighbor next door—I must have been mistaken earlier.

Then, the old man sitting on the corpse uttered a sentence that puzzled me: "My surname is Xuanyuan!" I was stunned. Xuanyuan—this was no ordinary surname. According to legend, the emperors of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were surnamed Xuanyuan because they invented the wheeled vehicle. The Xuanyuan clan were descendants of the emperors, not to be trifled with. Of course, thousands of years have passed, and Xuanyuan no longer means anything; it's just a surname. The old man told me that it was probably to make it easier for me to find him in the future.

As I was thinking, I returned to the guesthouse and saw the young master, the maid, and the others in the dining hall downstairs. The old man from the South was smoking, puffing out clouds of smoke, while Wang Ming was smiling obsequiously, talking about something. When he saw me come in, the young master hurriedly greeted me and asked me what the old man sitting on the corpse had said.

Thinking that the old man from the South was knowledgeable and experienced, I couldn't help but ask, "What is the Demon King's Ghost Cave?" Upon hearing this, the old man from the South, who had been calm and collected, suddenly opened his eyes wide, stood up with a "whoosh," and asked in surprise, "What did you say?"

Suspicion crept into my heart. Could it be that there really was a Demon King's Cave, and that even the old man from the South clearly knew about it? A cold sweat broke out on my back, a mixture of fear, shock, and a hint of anger. These strange people were all bizarre. "Old and still alive is a thief," but these old men were practically monsters! I asked with a cold laugh, "What is a Demon King's Cave?" Sure enough, as soon as I asked, the old man sat down, continuing to happily smoke his erotic cigarette, no longer spouting nonsense. I was annoyed and said nothing more. If they didn't want to know, I didn't care. I immediately climbed upstairs, intending to lie down on the bed and have a good sleep. Why bother with this nonsense? Things would work themselves out. At worst, I'd just lose my life.

Just as I was about to go upstairs, the old man looked up and asked me again, "What else did he say?" I smiled coldly and said, "He said his surname is Xuanyuan."

Xuanyuan… I clearly saw the old man's hand, which was holding a cigarette, tremble visibly. His face turned ashen, a stark contrast to his previous composure. Even this old man has fears. Damn it, if you walk the dark road too often, you'll eventually encounter a ghost? The more I thought about it, the more smug I became. That night, although I was lying on a hard wooden bed, I still slept soundly. The next day was a bright, sunny day. Huang Zhihua told us to get ready, and then we hired a hand tractor and set off in a grand procession towards the Yellow River.

The tractor drove for more than two hours, and when it was so bumpy that my bones felt like they were about to fall apart, it stopped. There was a mountain road ahead, and the tractor couldn't go any further. We had to get off and walk. My son, daughter, and I had been here once before, but we didn't hire a guide this time, mainly because we were afraid of implicating innocent people again. I thought that if Old Cai hadn't been dragged here by us to watch the spectacle, he might still be in the guesthouse, telling people weird stories to scare them.

I walked at the front along the mountain path, which was rugged. After about an hour, the Yellow River came into view in the distance. Although it wasn't the dry season, the area around the sand quarry wasn't deserted; even from a distance, you could see the roaring, muddy waters of the Yellow River, with some boats floating on its surface...

I couldn't help but point at the boats and ask the young master beside me, "I wonder if these boats belong to the Yellow River water ghosts?" The young master shook his head and said, "If I ask him, who should he ask? Should we go over and ask them later?" I saw that the boats were all quite far apart. As the old saying goes, "Even if you run yourself ragged, you'll still have to walk to the Yellow River's eye." I was afraid I'd have to walk until nightfall to get there. I dared not stay near the Yellow River's eye at night.

The old man arrived and began to explore the area, busily unearthing a bunch of strange and unusual things. After a long while, as the sun began to set, Huang Zhihua and Professor Sun asked him twice, but he ignored them. Unable to contain their curiosity, they asked him how things were going. Only then did the old man slowly pack up his things, saying he would go back and check, and come back tomorrow. I couldn't help but groan; did he really have to travel dozens of miles through the mountains every day just to follow him around? Huang Zhihua was clearly impatient as well, pressing the old man for details. The old man said he wasn't sure yet, and that it would be best to get a boat and go down the Yellow River tomorrow to see the terrain from there.

I know the old man was telling the truth. Over the years, the Yellow River has changed its course several times, and the surrounding mountains and rivers have been eroded countless times. It is perfectly normal that the Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye cannot be distinguished. I even hoped that the old man would never find the Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye in his lifetime, so that I would not have to dig and fill in tombs anymore.

We stayed at the guesthouse for one night. The next day, the old man said that if we didn't want to go with him, he would send Professor Sun and his two local deities to find the Shadow Kunlun Eye and then notify us. I was just happy to oblige; who would want to go hiking with him every day for no reason? But for several days, the old man and his two local deities went out early and returned late, without a single clue. My son, daughter, and I, along with that PLA uncle Huang Zhihuihua, were getting restless at the guesthouse. I remembered that I had promised Wang Quansheng that I would go to his house to collect bronze artifacts. Anyway, collecting one or two was the same. I secretly told my son, and the next day, as soon as the old man set off, we told Huang Zhihuihua and followed him. We hired a tractor and headed straight for the sand factory. The tractor bumped along the way and finally brought us to the Yellow River. Looking at the roaring Yellow River in front of me, I couldn't help but gasp. For some reason, a chill crept into my heart. I could even faintly smell the stench of rotting sand, just like in the underground pool in the Guangchuan Royal Mausoleum...

Chapter Four: Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye

Watching a group of people busily working on the Yellow River, my son and I looked around. Sure enough, they were "Yellow River ghosts"—several boats had pulled quite a lot of things out of the river, but not much of value; it was mostly just plastic trash bottles and the like. Some people were picking and choosing, picking out what could be sold, and dumping the useless, real garbage back into the Yellow River.

No wonder I smelled the stench of rotting yellow sand; those people deal with rotting yellow sand all day long.

Seeing a small boat dock, the young master and I hurried to greet it. The young master offered us cigarettes. The people on board were all honest, hardworking folks who made their living on the Yellow River. They had only thought of us as scholars who had come to investigate, or as city folks curious about this place. They were very kind and told us some interesting stories about the Yellow River.

However, when I patted a young man in his early twenties and asked him about Wang Quansheng, the guy's expression suddenly changed, as if he had seen a ghost. He then said he had something to do and turned to leave.

The young master and I were both puzzled. We came by train, and Lao Luo brought Wang Quansheng's body over via a side road. The living and the dead set off almost on the same day, so it was impossible for Wang Quansheng to have arrived here before us. Why did the people nearby feel disgusted as if they had eaten the flesh of a dead body when they heard the name "Wang Quansheng"? I can almost guarantee that these people did not know that Wang Quansheng was dead, let alone that his body had caused a zombie transformation.

We asked a few more people, and the result was the same. In the end, some people from the sand factory looked at us as if we were ghosts, filled with fear, and pointed and whispered behind our backs. My young master and I were even more suspicious. Finally, my young master secretly slipped a hundred silver dollars to an old man who looked rather old. Sure enough, a generous reward will surely bring forth brave men. The old man took us to a secluded place and started talking about Wang Quansheng's family.

It turned out that not long after Wang Quansheng left home, his wife had been cursing at the door for two days. A day later, seeing that Wang Quansheng still hadn't returned, she had no choice. The crops in the fields were ripe, and without a man at home, she couldn't manage. So she asked her neighbor, Old Zhang, for help. She helped Old Zhang with chores that day, agreeing to help him with chores the next day. However, the next day, when the sun was high in the sky, Old Zhang circled her door several times, but seeing it tightly shut, he had no choice but to go home. In the evening, Old Zhang came back to check, but Wang Quansheng's door was still locked.

Old Zhang felt uneasy, but it wasn't appropriate for a grown man like himself to knock on another woman's door. So he asked his wife to come and check on things. Old Zhang's wife, already furious with her mischievous son, arrived in a huff and pounded her fists on Wang Quansheng's front door, making the two wooden doors rattle loudly. She yelled several times, but there was no response from inside.

When they inquired with the villagers, no one said they had seen Wang Quansheng's woman leave the house. This was quite strange, but since the gate was locked, it was inconvenient to break in. So, Old Zhang and the woman went back first, planning to wait until tomorrow. If Wang Quansheng's woman had gone somewhere, she would surely come back tomorrow.

Old Zhang didn't sleep well that night, a huge worry weighing on his mind. The next morning, he went to Wang Quansheng's house to check, but just like the day before, the gate was tightly closed. Just like the day before, Old Zhang had no choice but to go back. Around noon, he couldn't sit still any longer and ran to the village chief's house to tell him the whole story.

There weren't many people in this small village. After Wang Quansheng left, only a woman and her child were left at home. The woman's family home was in the next village. The village chief wondered if Wang Quansheng's woman had gone back to her parents' home. So he sent his son to check. The village chief's son went to the neighboring village to inquire and found out that Wang Quansheng's woman hadn't gone back to her parents' home at all.

The old village chief was able to become the village chief because he was naturally more intelligent than the average person. He realized that this matter was strange. The area along the Yellow River was very poor, and the small village had only about twenty households. If Wang Quansheng's woman had gone out, it was impossible for no one to know. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He found a bicycle, rode more than ten miles, and went to the town's public security department to report it to the police.

A disappearance is a serious matter, and the police arrived quickly. Many villagers also came to watch the commotion. Seeing that Wang Quansheng's door was tightly shut, the police decided to break it down and check inside. Two very ordinary wooden doors; the two young men worked together and smashed them open with a "bang"...

Wang Quansheng's house was very ordinary, almost the same as all the other houses in the village by the Yellow River. If there was anything different, it was that Wang Quansheng's house seemed to have a strange, foul smell. The two young police officers easily opened the door and stepped into the room. Immediately, the two officers let out a strange cry and rushed out, covering their noses.

We learned from the old man that after the two young police officers came out, they refused to go back in, saying that it was unbearably smelly inside and they didn't know what was making it smell so bad.

As soon as the door opened, the old village chief's face changed. A stench wafted from the room, somewhat like the smell of rotting mud and sand from the Yellow River, and also somewhat like the stench of a decaying corpse. Seeing that the police officers were unwilling to go in, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and call his son to bravely go in together.

Inside the room was an ordinary old-fashioned bed. Stepping inside, the stench became even stronger. However, an old-fashioned gauze curtain hung over the bed, obscuring the view; it was blurry, but one could vaguely make out that someone was lying on it. The village chief knew in his heart that things were bad; he feared Wang Quansheng's woman was likely in grave danger.

Mustering his courage, the old village chief lifted the curtain. Upon seeing what was there, he let out a strange cry and rushed out, covering his mouth. Several young men beside him followed, and by then they could see clearly—Wang Quansheng's woman lay dead on the bed, a狰狞恐怖 (zhengning kongbu - a slang term for a hideous, terrifying smile) smile on her face, her eyes wide open, staring fixedly at the sky, seemingly dying with unfulfilled grievances.

It wasn't uncommon for people to die in the village; the old village chief had seen all sorts of corpses. People who made a living along the Yellow River had pulled many bodies out of it. But this woman's death was not only bizarre, but the way she died was truly gruesome and incredibly foul-smelling.

Wang Quansheng's wife died, and Wang Quansheng was not at home. Her family rushed over and cried loudly. With the help of the police, they prepared to send Wang Quansheng's wife's body to the nearby crematorium for cremation. However, when everyone bravely lifted Wang Quansheng's wife's quilt, they were stunned. The quilt was completely soaked with water, and the entire body was soaking in it. Moreover, under the body was rotting yellow sand, which smelled terrible.

The old village chief, being of advanced age, knew this was a bad thing; everything about it seemed eerie. Moreover, Wang Quansheng had a seventeen-year-old son studying in the town who hadn't returned for two or three days. Everyone was so preoccupied with the woman's corpse that they'd forgotten about the child. So the old village chief sent someone to look for the child again. The person who went returned saying that the school had reported Wang Quansheng's son hadn't come to school for three days.

Missing? The old village chief was immediately at his wit's end and busied himself asking around about Wang Quansheng's whereabouts, but everyone said they hadn't seen him.

Just as he was getting anxious, Old Zhang's woman rushed in, looking flustered. Upon questioning her, the village chief learned that under the woman's bed lay a corpse, already half-decomposed. Worse still, the corpse was none other than Wang Quansheng's son. Like Wang Quansheng's woman, the body was surrounded by damp water and decaying yellow sand…

When the old village chief saw the scene, his eyes widened in shock. The child's face had a mouth that was split open at an unbelievable angle, revealing a hideous and eerie smile. His eyes were not wide open, but half-closed, which made people even more involuntarily afraid.

The old village chief was immediately alarmed. Two deaths had occurred, what should he do? Fortunately, there were police officers present. After investigating the scene, they found no trace of the murderer. However, it would be hard to believe that Wang Quansheng's woman and child had died of natural causes.

The two corpses were so foul-smelling that they had to be revived as quickly as possible. That afternoon, after the bodies were removed, two police officers returned to Wang Quansheng's house to carefully examine the scene, hoping to find something. They discovered a tattered cloth behind the bed, covering something that appeared to be a person squatting on the floor.

So the two of them mustered up their courage and went up to lift the tattered cloth—and they were both dumbfounded.

When the young master and I heard him say this, we vaguely understood that the thing... was probably the bronze artifact that Wang Quansheng had salvaged from the Yellow River, because he had mentioned that he had salvaged a bird-shaped bronze vessel.

The old Yellow River water ghost looked around and said in a low voice, "Do you know what that thing is?"

Seeing that both the young master and I shook our heads, the old water ghost seemed a little smug. He gestured with his hands and said, "This bronze thing is so big and so tall, it's heavy, weighing at least several thousand pounds. It looks like an owl, I don't know what it's for, but it has many patterns and characters on it that I don't recognize..."

The young master became anxious upon hearing this and hurriedly asked, "Then what happened? Where did this thing go?"

"Yellow River Water Ghost" deliberately smacked his lips. The young master understood and hurriedly handed him a cigarette. The old man lit the cigarette and then continued, "When those two policemen saw this thing, their eyes turned red. They said it was an antique and no one could touch it. Then they left one of them to guard Wang Quansheng's house, and the other went to town to call for help."

I thought to myself, "This is really bad. I'm afraid the Bird-shaped Vessel has fallen into the hands of the state. After all, it's a national treasure, not something to be trifled with. And, to be honest, I also hope that such a thing can be properly preserved in the national museum." I wasn't particularly disappointed, but the young master was clearly very disappointed, shaking his head and stamping his feet.

But then, as the "Yellow River water ghost" was finishing his cigarette, he said, "You have no idea how bizarre and terrifying this is..."

Upon hearing this, I thought, "Is this not over yet? Another person has died?" I hurriedly pressed for details. The old man, having bought enough jars, then explained that he had only heard about it. When another police officer went to town to fetch people, they found Wang Quansheng's door tightly shut. It was already getting dark, so the officers knocked loudly, but no one answered.

So they broke down the door again and went inside. The heavy bronze object and the police officers who were on duty were nowhere to be seen. Everyone rushed to the village to inquire if anyone had seen it.

Upon hearing this, my heart sank involuntarily, and I asked, "Could it be that the police officer and that bronze thing have simply disappeared?"

The "Yellow River Water Ghost," seemingly terrified, nodded repeatedly and whispered, "They've vanished without a trace, neither alive nor dead." Many now say that the bronze object was the treasure of the Yellow River God, stolen by Wang Quansheng. Now the River God is enraged, so his entire family is dead, and that policeman is probably dead too...

At this point, he pointed ahead and said, "Look, that's the place. Now, no one dares to cross that section of the river."

I saw that the place he was pointing to was the same pond at the eye of the Yellow River when we first came here. However, it wasn't the season when the water was dry, so it was naturally surging and flowing endlessly.

After saying goodbye to the group of Yellow River ghosts, the young master and I climbed back onto the tractor. Listening to the "clattering" sound of the tractor, I couldn't calm down. Wang Quansheng's whole family was dead, which must have been due to the curse of that terrifying Yellow River ghost coffin. I hope that our trip to the Kunlun Wind Eye will allow us to find a way to lift the curse.

But I still don't understand, how did that police officer disappear? If it were a small bronze artifact, I could suspect that he was greedy and ran away with it. After all, police officers are not like those poor Yellow River ghosts. They are probably college graduates who have some insight and know that such things are valuable outside.

But the bird-shaped bronze vessel—it's so big and so heavy—there's absolutely no way he could carry it away in broad daylight without being noticed. Wang Quansheng once told me that the bird-shaped bronze vessel he salvaged was half a person's height, and the "Yellow River water ghost" just now described it the same way. Such a heavy bronze artifact is definitely not something one person could easily carry away.

The young master asked me what I was thinking about. My mind was in a mess, so I just shook my head and didn't say anything. Just then, I saw the tractor heading along the Yellow River. When it passed the eye of the Yellow River, I quickly shouted, "Stop!"

The tractor was hired by my son and me, which was quite convenient. We stopped by the Yellow River, and my son and I jumped off and looked around. Looking up, we could see the opposite hillside. The old man from Nanpaizi said that the hillside was modeled after the Kunlun Mountains, but no matter how we looked at these ugly mountains, they couldn't compare to the magnificent beauty of the Kunlun Mountains.

What a joke! Kunlun Mountain has always been a legendary fairyland, a place where immortals are said to have originated. But what I see in front of me is a barren wasteland, a place where even birds don't poop and turtles don't come ashore.

I stood on the banks of the Yellow River, with the surging river on one side and barren mountains on the other. There was really nothing to see. The young man driving the tractor urged me twice, but I couldn't figure out what to look for. I'm not some old man who can spot a spot just by glancing around, so I readily got in the tractor and went back.

Unexpectedly, as soon as we arrived at the guesthouse, we found old man Nanpaizi, who had been leaving early and returning late these past few days. As soon as he saw us, he hurriedly asked, "Where have you two been? I've been waiting for you for ages."

I thought to myself, how am I supposed to know you're waiting for me? Besides, you're not a young lady. Just because you're waiting for me doesn't mean I have to run to see you like a puppy.

The girl gently pushed me and whispered, "Grandpa said he has found the Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye, and we will set off first thing tomorrow morning."

Damn it, ever since this girl accepted the old man's bribe, she's been calling him "Grandpa, Grandpa" so affectionately, she really thinks that cunning old man who's still alive is "Grandpa".

Finding the Shadow Kunlun Eye means my carefree days are over, and I'll have to venture into the tomb and fight for my life. I took a deep breath. To be honest, I really can't understand ancient tombs. So many traps, massive structures, people, corpses, plants, ghosts... I can't even describe it. It seems like anything can happen in a tomb. But for some reason, whenever I think of the missing police officer and the bronze bird-shaped vessel that went missing from Wang Quansheng's house, I feel uneasy. A vague fear creeps into my heart.

As a seasoned southerner, he spent a long time calculating on his fingers and said that it was not advisable to start construction tomorrow, but rather the day after tomorrow.

I thought to myself, "Damn it—why are there so many rules for tomb raiding?" When the young master and I went to raid that old pervert Liu's Nine Dragon Pit, we never even considered it. But since he chose an auspicious date, we didn't object.

Another day passed idly in the tenement building. On the morning of the third day, the old man instructed us to take all our equipment and follow him. Just as we were leaving the tenement building, I saw the old man sitting like a corpse again at the door. He just stared at me. I wanted to greet him, but I didn't know how to start.

Even after we had walked quite a distance, when we looked back, we found the old man sitting on the corpse still standing blankly at the entrance of the tenement building. This old man exuded a mysterious aura from beginning to end, and he and the old man from the south were both shrouded in a ghostly atmosphere, making them very unfathomable.

Huang Zhihua had never done anything like this before. He hired a few locals from the small village to work as laborers. Due to the long passage of time, the entrance to the tomb chamber had long been buried deep in loess. Huang Zhihua really thought of us and hired laborers directly, so we didn't have to lift a finger. The main job of me, the young master, the maid, and I was to go into the tomb chamber and take out all the good things inside.

As we walked, I quietly asked Professor Sun, "Since it's such a large-scale project, why bother with us? Wouldn't it be better to just do an archaeological research project, clear out the tomb, and have the best of both worlds?" Professor Sun sighed, pointed to the old man from the south walking at the front, and shook his head, saying, "If that were the case, the old man would have already left. Besides, the Yellow River Dragon Coffin incident is too bizarre; it's not convenient to report it. The best way is to lift the curse as soon as possible and stop the deaths."

I think so too. I haven't told Huang Zhihua about Wang Quansheng's wife and children yet; otherwise, I'm afraid this young soldier might go crazy with worry. Although Huang Zhihua didn't say it, I could tell he was indeed anxious. Otherwise, he wouldn't have betrayed his consistent principles and accompanied a group of tomb raiders and antique plate collectors to the Yellow River to rob tombs.

Lost in thought, Professor Sun lowered his voice and told me that the old man had been researching the Yellow River Dragon Coffin for more than just a year or two. Hu Lai and Wang Ming's visit to Huadong Town that time wasn't a random coincidence; they had come specifically for it. It's just that the old man is too old to go down into the ancient tomb, so he asked us to do it.

The young master sneered, "He can't go down into the ancient tomb, but his two apprentices are in their prime. Are they also unable to go down? It's clearly a dangerous thing with no benefits, yet they make others risk their lives. If we die down there and become the burial companions of some ancient pervert, he won't suffer any loss."

The young master spoke loudly, presumably intentionally so the old man would hear. Sure enough, the old man turned around and looked at him, but said nothing, instead striding forward. He climbed onto a hand-operated tractor that had been prepared beforehand, and the tractor bumped along the road toward the so-called Shadow Kunlun Eye.

After a two-hour tractor ride, when my bones felt like they were about to fall apart, the tractor stopped. Ahead was a mountain road that the tractor couldn't drive up; we had to walk.

After getting off the car, the old man still walked in front. The mountain path was rugged. At first, there was a narrow trail to follow, but gradually the old man strayed off the path. The surrounding hillsides were covered with low shrubs, some even with long, hard thorns. The girl was careless and got a red mark on her face from a branch. The young master felt sorry for her and told her to go back first and not suffer with us. I had the same thought. Who knew what powerful mechanisms or mystical arts were hidden in this Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye? It would be too dangerous for the girl to go with us.

I was about to say a few words to the girl when, before I could even open my mouth, she kicked the young master in the buttocks. I rubbed my backside to avoid the kick and obediently shut my mouth. The old man walking ahead said, "The girl absolutely has to go!"

"Why?" I asked curiously. "It's just tomb raiding, why drag a girl into it?" But the old man said something like that, and then ignored my question completely, as if he were a dead man.

Hu Lai, on the other hand, turned around and winked at me. Taking advantage of the old man's inattention, he lowered his voice and said, "Brother, I heard Master say... something about... yin and yang in harmony... As for what it means, I'm ignorant and really don't know."

Holy crap! I gave the old man the middle finger as he walked away. That damn old man, his head is full of lewd thoughts. What's with this talk of yin and yang harmony? He even needs men and women to work together when he's robbing a tomb? Doesn't that get tiring? Damn it!

The further they went, the more rugged and difficult the mountain path became. Just when everyone's patience was about to run out, the old man stopped, pointed to the ground, and said, "This is it! Let's start digging!"

Here? I looked around curiously. This should be considered a mountain valley, surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the Yellow River on the other. However, the mountains on three sides were all barren, with at most some weeds and shrubs growing on them. It looked completely different from the auspicious place I had imagined.

Think of the Nine Dragon Pit at the Guangchuan King's Mausoleum—how grand it was! Compared to the Nine Dragon Pit, this place is as simple as a tenement building in Huadong Town. The only thing that interests me is that this place echoes the Yellow River Eye below, one above and one below, forming a correspondence.

The five workers hired by Huang Zhihua first looked at their employer, and seeing that he had no objections, they immediately started working with hoes and shovels to deal with the yellow earth.

But after digging down more than a meter, there was still no movement. The loess was just loess, mixed with yellow sand, which clearly indicated that this place had been washed by the Yellow River.

Young Master, Huang Zhihua, and I were all getting a little impatient. I walked over to the old man, offered him a cigarette, and he looked at me, took it, lit it, took a drag, and slowly exhaled the smoke, saying, "Unsolicited kindness is either a trick or a scam!"

I was so angry I almost vomited blood. What kind of theory was this? But arguing with this old man was pointless unless I was bored out of my mind. So I ignored him and said with a forced smile, "I just wanted to ask you, sir, how much longer will it take to find the tomb?"

The old man rolled his eyes at me and said listlessly, "How would he know? He's not the owner of the tomb. Anyway, keep digging until you find something."

I was both amused and exasperated. What if the old man was mistaken, and there was no ancient tomb underneath? Wouldn't all our efforts have been for nothing? Would we just dig a huge pit ten meters wide and bury him there? "Kid, don't curse me in your heart. If I, an old man, didn't have this much skill, what would I be doing here?" the old man said, patting my shoulder and lowering his voice. "Kid, this time it's up to you." Although I was furious, feeling like I'd been framed, I couldn't vent my anger. I frowned and asked, "You said that what's buried in the Shadow Kunlun Wind Eye is definitely a woman. Could you please tell me who's most likely buried here?" The old man frowned, his already thinning brows furrowing, and thought for a moment before saying, "Since it's the Golden Thread Maiden recorded on the Guangchuan King's tomb, it's probably from a time long before the legendary Yellow Emperor's wife. It's hard to say for sure about things that are too old. Of course, the possibility of it being the tomb of a legendary Yellow Emperor's wife is also unlikely. It's most likely a queen from the Western Zhou Dynasty..."

I nodded. The Western Zhou Dynasty—an era brimming with legends, an era where gods and demons supposedly roamed freely—is so distant that it seems to have left very few traces in our history. When people mention the Western Zhou, they naturally think of the Investiture of the Gods. Many people's understanding of the Western Zhou comes almost entirely from this Investiture of the Gods. Without it, many would likely be unaware that in ancient China, amidst a torrent of legends, there once existed such a glorious period.

I sighed. I didn't know much about the Western Zhou Dynasty either... and the old man's statement was probably based on the bronze artifacts unearthed from the Yellow River dragon coffin, leading him to speculate that the tomb buried in the Kunlun eye of the storm might be from the same era. The old man looked at me and asked, "Do you know what the Yellow Emperor, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, originally surnamed?" "Xuanyuan!" I answered almost immediately. The old man shook his head, remaining silent, just smoking his pipe. After a long pause, he smiled bitterly and said that he didn't know which legend was more accurate; the legend said the Yellow Emperor's original surname was "Ji."

Ah… I couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise. The bronze artifacts I found in the Yellow River’s eye, and the inscriptions on them, all seemed to have featured this character before. Of course—I knew that “Ji” was the royal surname of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the emperors of the Western Zhou Dynasty were surnamed Ji. I also remembered that, according to legend, the Yellow Emperor was also surnamed Ji, and another legend said that the Yellow Emperor’s surname was “Gongsun”.

I lowered my head in thought, remaining silent. The old man who was our guide, sitting on a corpse, introduced himself as "Xuanyuan," and Nanpaizi was visibly surprised upon hearing this surname, even somewhat losing his composure. After digging for what seemed like seven or eight meters until the sun was setting, one of the laborers suddenly cried out that they had hit something hard and couldn't dig any further. We, who had been waiting impatiently on the ground, immediately jumped up. Huang Zhihua, with his paint-like sharpness, was as expected of a PLA soldier; his training was excellent. Even from that height, he made no move and had already run down. Nanpaizi was also quite agile; the old man's nimble movements almost made my eyes pop out. The three of them ran down in a few strides, while the young master and I, supporting the girl, brought up the rear.

Although our servants worked very hard, the opening was still wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. Looking up from below, it felt like being at the bottom of a well. I don't know why, but standing in that position made me very uncomfortable. It felt like a stone was pressing down on my heart, making me feel heavy.

"Quickly clean up the topsoil!" Huang Zhihua took a shovel from a servant and tapped it on the ground. Sure enough, a metallic clanging sound came from below, not from the soil, confirming the old man's words: it was indeed an ancient tomb. I began to have a little bit of respect for this old man. He had found such a hidden ancient tomb; what couldn't he find? No wonder this old man was rich.

No one knew how much commission Huang Zhihua had given them, but the laborers worked incredibly fast, quickly clearing away the surface layer of soil to reveal a smooth, polished bluestone underneath. Huang Zhihua was so excited that he personally helped dig, doubling his pay. His shout spurred the already somewhat equipped laborers to action, their spirits soaring. But the old man's words quickly silenced them—this rock connected to a cliff face in the mountain range, and they feared it was impossible to dig through.

Huang Zhihua and I originally had the same idea: dig away the surface soil, pry open the stone slabs by force, and the entrance to the tomb would naturally be revealed. But now, it's right there in the mountainside—what's the point of talking about it? The old man asked Huang Zhihua if he knew how to use explosives. Even with Huang Zhihua's good temper, he couldn't help but glare at the old man. What kind of soldier is he if he doesn't know guns and cannons? Was this a pointless question? I was stunned. Could this old man have ill intentions and actually want to force his way into the tomb of the ancient beauty? "You mean, just use explosives to blast this place open?" Huang Zhihua asked, frowning. It would be very unseemly if word got out. "Of course, otherwise, opening it would be very troublesome," the old man replied slowly. Huang Zhihua seemed a little troubled, and after a long pause, he said that he hadn't managed to get his hands on any detonators or explosives. I couldn't help but laugh when I heard that. Seriously, being a soldier for too long has rusted your brain. We could get that stuff ourselves; why bother him? Sure enough, the old man slowly exhaled smoke, chuckled, and said, "No problem, I've got it all sorted out." As he spoke, he gestured to Hu Lai beside him, who quickly took off his backpack and handed it to Huang Zhihua. Huang Zhihua opened it and his face immediately changed. He exclaimed in surprise, "Where did you get these things? This is illegal!" I was standing right next to him and could clearly see that the backpack was full of detonators, and they all looked extremely powerful. For a rigorously trained soldier, these things would be familiar, but what surprised him was that these things were being sold in the civilian market.