I looked around carefully. Not far away, there was indeed a pitch-black pit the size of a well mouth, resembling the gaping maw of a demon hidden in the dark, ready to devour anyone at any moment. A sudden chill gripped my heart, and my palms broke out in a sweat.
Besides the people who had come with me, two others were already waiting there.
These two were dressed normally. One was about my age, with a small face, a big mouth, and bulging eyes—the classic dog-like facial features described in physiognomy books.
The other looked to be in his forties, with a large, bulging cloth bag slung diagonally across his shoulder and a Dragon-Seeking Ruler in his hand.
Both men exuded a heavy, fishy stench, smelling of damp earth mixed with the sickening odor of dead cats and rotting dogs.
It was an immediately unsettling presence.
"Master Huo, is this kid reliable? I remember that old fellow we found last time swore up and down he understood the Seven-Absolute Coffin, and look how that turned out—both his hands broken..." The young man was halfway through his sentence when the other man fiercely pinched him.
Then, the middle-aged man stepped forward, smiling as he shook my hand.
"My name is Old Pizi, and this kid is Lu Gouzi. Please take care of us!" The middle-aged man bared his teeth, his weathered face creased with a web of wrinkles.
Neither of them had given their real names.
"Jiang Feng!" I stated my name simply.
The old fellow who understood the Seven-Absolute Coffin?
And his hands were broken.
I instinctively felt that the person Lu Gouzi was talking about was none other than Old Bachelor Grandpa.
It seemed I had come to the right place.
The murderer might be among them.
"Time's up, let's go in and get to work!" Master Huo, who had hired me, checked his watch and said.
At his command, three of his subordinates crawled into the dark hole first, followed by Old Pizi and Lu Gouzi.
After I crawled in as well, Master Huo brought the remaining men in right behind us.
I inwardly frowned. This Master Huo was far too shrewd.
With three of his men in front and four behind, we were sandwiched right in the middle.
I had no opportunity to make a move against him.
I could only wait.
Once inside the dark entrance, Master Huo's men switched on their flashlights.
Taking advantage of the light, I looked around. The tunnel was not large, just wide enough for a single person to pass through hunched over. It had been excavated very recently, and the shovel marks were still fresh.
Strangely enough, a peculiar, decaying odor lingered here—the exact same smell that clung to Old Pizi and Lu Gouzi, only much stronger.
I suspected these fellows might be grave robbers.
If they were truly restoring coffins in their own ancestral tombs, they wouldn't have chosen the dead of night, when yin energy was at its peak.
Having me restore the Seven-Absolute Coffin was just a cover.
The truth was they couldn't open it without damaging the outer shell and the coffin itself.
They had tricked me here to open the coffin.
But I didn't care.
The moment I swore to avenge Old Bachelor Grandpa, I had already prepared myself mentally.
If I knew who my enemy was, I'd dare to slaughter the living, let alone steal from the dead.
"Stop, stop!" Old Pizi, who was walking ahead of me, suddenly called out in a low voice.
We stopped instinctively.
"What is it?" asked Master Huo, who was right behind me.
"The Dragon-Seeking Ruler is moving, the water currents have reversed—something big is about to happen!" Old Pizi muttered mystically, staring at the instrument in his hand.
I looked at the Dragon-Seeking Ruler he held. Sure enough, it was trembling slightly.
The Dragon-Seeking Ruler had a very simple structure, made of two metal rods with a movable joint. One rod was held vertically in the hand, while the horizontal one shifted according to the terrain and water currents.
Originally, this device was invented by the ancients for drilling water wells and searching for underground water sources.
Two wooden sticks were all that was needed, and this method of water divining was also very popular in medieval Europe.
The exact principle remained unclear, and I hadn't studied it closely, but I figured it had something to do with magnetic fields.
Old Pizi's Dragon-Seeking Ruler seemed to be a high-end piece—made of bronze and covered in rust, with two lifelike dragon heads carved on both ends of the horizontal metal rod. As the rod shook, the dragons' mouths even produced a strange sound.
It sounded like the chirping of insects in the fields on a rural night—very faint, very sharp, yet distinctly audible.
The soft chirping of the Dragon-Seeking Ruler and Old Pizi's reaction enveloped everyone in a heavy, oppressive atmosphere.
Images from various movies and TV shows of zombies biting people flashed uncontrollably through my mind, and goosebumps instantly broke out all over my body.
"Keep moving forward. We can't turn back. This is a setup by the God of Wealth Syndicate, and we've made a bet with them. If we don't open the coffin within three days, the God of Wealth loses!" Master Huo frowned and said.
I remained silent, but firmly etched the name "God of Wealth" deep in my mind.
If the old fellow Lu Gouzi mentioned really was Old Bachelor Grandpa, it meant the God of Wealth was inevitably tied to his death.
The moment I pictured Old Bachelor Grandpa's tragic state in death, a blazing fire of fury ignited in my chest.
All fear vanished in an instant.
"Master Huo, the two of us are just here for the money. We've done every bit of the work we were supposed to do. You can't expect us to throw our lives away for this bit of cash, can you?" Lu Gouzi grew somewhat reluctant, turning his head to complain to Master Huo.
"So, you're saying you want to die a little earlier, then?" Master Huo's pale face turned pitch black and grim, his unblinking gaze filled with murderous intent.
Lu Gouzi was about to speak again when Old Pizi pinched him, and he fell sullenly silent.
I realized I had boarded a pirate ship. With them sandwiching the three of us in the middle, resistance was impossible; I could only take things one step at a time.
I slid my hand into my jacket pocket, mentally reviewing my recent call logs, and sent a location message to Anzi.
Under Master Huo's coercion, we pressed on.
Old Pizi's Dragon-Seeking Ruler was still humming and vibrating, the amplitude of its shaking growing larger and larger.
He remained silent, but I clearly noticed he had already thrust his other hand into that large backpack, as if grabbing something.
It seemed this old fellow was preparing himself as well.
Knowing that Old Pizi, Lu Gouzi, and Master Huo were not cut from the same cloth, I deliberately used the footsteps behind me to gauge Master Huo's position, helping to cover for Old Pizi.
After walking for a while, the space inside widened, resembling a long corridor. The walls no longer bore shovel marks, but were lined with blue bricks.
I realized we had entered an ancient tomb.
Everything we had traversed just now was merely a robbing hole.
As the environment changed, the scent changed too. The damp earth smell was gone, but the odor of dead cats and rotting dogs grew even stronger, mixed with a heavy stench of blood.
At that moment, the men Master Huo brought with them shifted their positions.
Surrounding the three of us from front, back, left, and right.
"Look over there, there's an arm!" suddenly shouted one of Master Huo's subordinates walking in the lead.
We hurried over, and sure enough, it was a bloody arm.
The instant I saw the wound clearly, my heart jumped into my throat.
The wound on the arm was identical to the one on Grandpa's severed arm—jagged and uneven, as if it had been sawed off.
Grandpa's arm might have been severed right here in this ancient tomb.