Chapter 211 (End of this volume)

As night falls, Lin Fu’an holds a candlestick and walks through the main hall of the temple, where rows of statues of the Official Generals are displayed.

Every night before sleeping, the old man will check here, looking to see if the altars have been cleaned properly and if the incense and candles in front of the statues are still burning brightly.

Reaching the area near the back door, Lin Fu’an stops.

The statue at the very end of this row is the White Crane Boy.

Seven days ago, the boy’s statue developed cracks.

Initially, people inside the temple thought it was because the boy’s statue was located near the back door, making it most susceptible to wind and sun damage.

But gradually, the cracks became more numerous, and the statue’s head, chest, and even feet were covered in dense cracks. The outer paint also started to peel off in large areas. Even after cleaning, a pile of debris would accumulate at the statue’s feet again after a while.

This degree of damage could no longer be explained by its position. All the statues in the temple were custom-made at the same time, set up and consecrated together. It was impossible for only this one to have such serious quality issues.

The temple invited a master who specializes in statues to repair it. Before the repair, the master first followed the process of holding a bowl of water, then tapping a copper coin along the rim of the bowl, and finally throwing it into the water. This is commonly known as “opening the sound to distinguish the color.”

Their line of work has three things they won’t repair.

One, they won’t repair temples without owners or those involved in lewd practices, fearing they might provoke evil spirits. Two, they won’t repair temples where the atmosphere is wrong, fearing they would be assisting tyrants. Three, they won’t repair things where the merit is damaged, fearing they would fill the void themselves.

The first type of non-repair can be done if local virtuous elders lead villagers to invite them. The second type of non-repair can be overlooked if enough money is given.

After all, if they don’t repair this or that, how will everyone make a living? Furthermore, how many temples are there in the world, and truly efficacious ones are a minority among minorities.

Therefore, this “opening the sound to distinguish the color” is often just a formality. But this time, the copper coin cracked as soon as it hit the bottom of the bowl.

This scared the statue master, who ran away with his two apprentices without a word.

As a local, he knew this Official General temple was efficacious, and a cracking copper coin meant the White Crane Boy’s merit was damaged. If he were to repair it arbitrarily with his apprentices, he would be offering his and their lives as sacrifices to the boy.

Their meager flesh would be enough to stuff the gaps in the yin god’s teeth?

There was no other way. The statue of the boy could only be placed like this for now.

Lin Fu’an looked at it, feeling very uneasy. Although the boy’s rank in the Official General hierarchy was not high, compared to other yin gods, the boy was considered hardworking and contributed immensely.

At this moment, Lin Fu’an’s eldest apprentice, Chen Shoumen, walked over. He is Lin Shuyou’s master and also the temple master of this generation.

Chen Shoumen said to Lin Fu’an, “Master, I have also inquired at other Official General temples. The boy statues enshrined there are similar to ours and have all shown obvious damage. One family invited a master for repairs. As soon as the repairs were completed, that master suddenly had a heart attack. Fortunately, he was sent to the doctor in time and his life was saved.”

Lin Fu’an nodded when he heard this.

The temples Chen Shoumen could inquire about were all those with spirit mediums that could indeed summon spirits, not those that were purely for performance. In those kinds of temples, the boy’s statue itself was intact, as they couldn’t even summon the boy.

Lin Fu’an asked, “The children, still unable to summon the boy?”

Chen Shoumen replied, “I had them try today, but they all failed. I even tried to summon him myself once, but I also didn’t succeed.”

Because the White Crane Boy is the easiest to summon, He is also the first yin god many young spirit mediums contact and attempt to summon. Ordinarily, He is also the busiest.

When the boy no longer responded to the spirit mediums, it had an extremely significant impact on the daily work of the entire Official General temple.

Other yin gods are difficult to summon, and young spirit mediums cannot summon them. Originally simple minor matters now all had to be handled by the older generation in the temple inviting other adults.

Chen Shoumen opened his mouth again and said, “Master, could it be Ayou…”

Lin Fu’an glared, and Chen Shoumen stopped mid-sentence.

“Nonsense! What are you daring to say!”

“Yes, yes, yes, I was negligent.”

Lin Shuyou worshipping the Dragon King’s method of “walking the river” was known only to the two of them who initially went to Jinling among everyone in the temple. Even Lin Shuyou’s parents did not know about this matter.

One could say this was the biggest secret in the temple.

Moreover, as time passed, this secret became heavier and heavier, even more terrifying.

Because the two of them had made efforts to inquire and absorb news from the rivers and lakes, but they had never heard of the descendants of the Qin and Liu families “walking the river.”

Logically speaking, with that young man’s identity, “walking the river” and becoming famous would surely cause immense attention and sensation. How could it be so quiet and without a sound?

This sense of quietness made the master and apprentice feel a chill down their spines, and they guarded this secret even more tightly.

However, last time when Lin Shuyou returned home and participated in the spirit medium’s wandering deity ceremony, he showed an extraordinary intimacy and interaction with the boy that even virtuous and respected elder spirit mediums couldn’t achieve with a yin god.

In fact, Lin Fu’an was also inwardly guessing whether it was because of his grandson that the boy had encountered problems.

“Forget it, go rest. Tomorrow you try to contact Ayou once. Don’t mention anything about the temple. Just ask him how his recent life has been.”

“Understood, Master, you should also rest early.”

The master and apprentice walked out of the main hall, closed the door, and then returned to their rooms to prepare for sleep.

Unexpectedly, just as they lay down, firelight emanated from the main hall.

Someone in the temple thought there was a fire and started shouting.

Lin Fu’an and Chen Shoumen immediately got up and ran over. Through the door, they saw a flickering light within the main hall, and their nostrils caught the smell of smoke and fire.

Pushing the door open, they discovered the light and fire were only in the area at the very end of the statue group.

Lin Fu’an and Chen Shoumen exchanged glances. The latter immediately signaled the core disciples in the temple to maintain order and prevent others from entering. Then he personally closed the door and walked with his master to the very end.

At this moment, the damaged statue of the White Crane Boy was emitting white smoke, with streaks of orange-red alternating colors overflowing from the cracks, creating a visual effect of fire.

Chen Shoumen sniffed. He smelled a pleasant scent and couldn’t help but say in doubt,

“Master, this is…”

Lin Fu’an pursed his lips a bit, saying in disbelief, “I heard the previous generation mention that this is a yin god manifesting his divine power.”

Besides the light and mist, the two also discovered that the White Crane Boy’s statue had been moved.

He was no longer positioned at the end among the other Official General statues, but had turned his body, facing the back door alone.

In this manner, He was not positioned at the very end, but stood in the first row by Himself. Vaguely, there was a sense of disdaining the other statues in the temple as companions.

Chen Shoumen said, “Master, I will arrange for people to contact other temples early tomorrow to see if their boy adults also showed anomalies tonight.”

Lin Fu’an raised his hand, “No, the first thing you do tomorrow is not this…”

Chen Shoumen asked, “Master?”

Lin Fu’an solemnly bowed to the White Crane Boy statue and said seriously,

“You will immediately arrange for people to add another row of altars here early tomorrow and move the boy adult into a separate row.”

As soon as the words fell, a piece of paint from the boy’s statue’s palm fell off, fluttering down and landing precisely on top of Lin Fu’an’s head.

The boy was satisfied, a yin god patting his head.

……

On the rooftop of Fat Jin Ge’s family homestay in Lijiang, Lin Shuyou, who could finally get out of bed, was practicing ‘Chasing Far Nourishing Fist’.

He originally had a decent foundation in kung fu. This set of fists was initially learned secretly by him. Later, after Little Far Ge improved it according to his own situation, when he practiced it, there was a sense of whole-body integration and artistic conception.

As Lin Shuyou practiced, he recited the formula:

“Practice body shape like crane shape, under thousand pine trees two boxes of scriptures.”

Zhao Yi and Lin Shuyou had the “best” relationship.

In his free time, Young Master Zhao was willing to chat with Ayou.

Therefore, when Lin Shuyou was practicing his fists, Zhao Yi was watching from the side.

Gently pressing his fingertip against the gauze-wrapped seam of life and death, Zhao Yi saw a light shadow seemingly circulating within Lin Shuyou’s body.

This did not belong to Lin Shuyou’s own power, but the divine power of a yin god.

During the secret realm period, Lin Shuyou, with his originally weak body, repeatedly and forcefully summoned the boy to descend. Each time the boy descended, He was afraid this spirit medium would die suddenly. The first time, He instilled His divine power into him to maintain his body.

The more He instilled, the more remained. It didn’t show during his coma, but now that he was awake, through this set of nourishing fists, while invigorating the blood in his body, he also stimulated the residual divine power and absorbed it together.

Zhao Yi licked his lips, thinking inwardly: Damn it, what is this world exactly, to actually produce a spirit medium capable of absorbing a yin god’s divine power?

He repeatedly touched his fingertip, beginning to calculate how much merit exactly that person surnamed Li had distributed to his subordinates, so much so that that yin god was willing to do this kind of thing.

The Northeast Immortals’ former bodies were demons, and the yin gods’ former bodies were ghost kings… Furthermore, the more so-called “gods” are often the more detached from emotions and desires, and the more selfish.

Only if that boy thought there was an absolute profit would it be possible for him to be so generous with his source divine power.

No, it must be that the one surnamed Li gave too much!

But, to get this opportunity to absorb divine power into the body, one must also have a corresponding and tailor-made method. This set of fists practiced by the boy, wasn’t it created by that one surnamed Li himself?

After practicing one set, Lin Shuyou felt refreshed. He put his hands on his hips and began to practice qi towards the beautiful scenery in front:

“Hoo… Hoo hoo hoo… Ha ha ha ha.”

This action disturbed Tan Wenbin, who was walking on the field ridge in front.

More precisely, it startled the two children.

After Tan Wenbin woke up, the two children were obviously much sturdier again. They sat on his shoulders, twisting their buttocks non-stop, with energy too much to vent.

There was no other way. Tan Wenbin could only borrow a demon whip from Yin Meng, tie it to his two god-sons, and take them out for a walk to consume some energy, purely like walking children.

Yin Meng had several spare demon whips in her bag. This one was not poisoned, and the demon whip itself had a suppressing effect on evil things. Using it as a leading rope was also to prevent the two little ones from playing greedily and running too far, alarming other people.

After all, if you walk a dog without a leash, it’s easy to scare people who are afraid of animals, but if you walk ghosts without a leash, you might not know what bad luck you’re inviting. If these two little fat ones bumped into someone, they might directly roll their eyes and return to the west in one life.

The two children were originally playing very happily, looking around here, sniffing there, discussing which place below buried abandoned white bones and which place had the landlord’s small tomb.

While Tan Wenbin was smoking, the two children actually shouted up a resentful soul of a child buried with the landlord, and they played together.

Further away, there was another household. Someone in the family must have had a miscarriage or abortion, and there was a faint figure of a small resentful infant putting its hand in its mouth, looking as if it wanted to play together but didn’t dare to approach.

By the time Tan Wenbin reacted, he was dumbfounded.

If he had dazed for a while longer, these two sons of his were probably capable of shouting out all the resentments in the village for a meeting.

There was no other way. He also knew that his two sons’ soul thoughts were becoming more and more solid now. They were originally higher in grade than ordinary ghosts due to their origin as curses and resentments. After following him and eating their fill every meal, their grade also rose.

That was while he was looking after them. If he truly released them to become “wild children,” they might cause chaos in an area if he wasn’t careful. Ordinary Taoist monks and Taoists, let alone subduing them, would almost be subdued by them.

“Come back, come back, stop making trouble!”

Tan Wenbin put on a strict father posture and hugged his two god-sons back.

Ordinary resentments interacting with the two of them more easily produced changes. They didn’t want them to become ghosts and harm people, which they originally should have dissipated with time. This was not looking for trouble with their own karma. This ghost handler himself was prone to such problems in this area, so naturally, he had to be more careful.

Tan Wenbin observed a bit. The resentment of the figure in the distance was very faint and had no strong desire for revenge. It should have been a difficult life, and the fetus was aborted before being born.

The one in the landlord’s temple had been refined over the years and would not harm people. However, its body was bound by accompanying burial items. Without destroying the pattern below, it would be very difficult for it to break free and dissipate.

“Ha ha ha!”

Lin Shuyou’s qi practice sound was transmitted.

The two god-sons immediately turned their heads and glared. In this sound, there was a distinct aura of a yin god.

Like the Official Generals, who took refuge in Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and turned to slay demons and eliminate evil, in the eyes of ghosts, they were almost traitors to their kind.

Although it wasn’t the boy himself who came, the two god-sons dared to show disgust and repulsion towards the sound containing the aura of a yin god, which was enough to explain how bold these two guys had become.

Tan Wenbin touched their heads to soothe them, “Ayou is one of our own. If there’s a problem, go find the one surnamed Zhao.”

The two god-sons clenched their fists and nodded forcefully: That’s right, the worst one is the three-eyed one!

Looking at these two children, Tan Wenbin’s face showed satisfaction. It seemed that the day to send them for reincarnation was very near.

His own “fetal education” also had to be accelerated. He couldn’t just teach nursery rhymes. He should bring elementary school textbooks and enlighten them in advance.

This way, after reincarnation, the two children might study better from a young age.

Tan Wenbin resented Tan Yunlong and Zheng Fang for the study pressure they put on him when he was little, but it didn’t affect him now pushing his own “babies” to study.

Back at the homestay, he got some incense sticks and a small table, set up simple offerings, and performed a sacrifice for the child who couldn’t be born. The child nodded to Tan Wenbin, then waved at the two little fat ones on his shoulders. His figure became fainter and fainter until he was liberated and disappeared.

As for the poor child accompanying the burial, Tan Wenbin was too lazy to go dig a grave himself with a black-handled Yellow River shovel. Instead, he went to the small store in the village, used the public phone to call the town, first reported his identity, and then notified the relevant units to come for cultural relics protection.

He had many various certificates and work proofs in his bag, all opened by Xue Liangliang. He just said he discovered it while doing a geological survey, a very sufficient reason.

After all, not every place can be like Luoyang and Xi’an, where you can’t take a bean bag as dry food, especially in an area where the tourism industry is rising. Everyone is eager to dig up their own cultural value… Many times, they just rely on digging.

After this call, Tan Wenbin remembered his mother’s birthday was approaching.

He just called his bio-dad’s office. The reason for calling his bio-dad was because his bio-dad always forgot these important days due to being busy with work.

The office phone was unanswered. Tan Wenbin then paged his bio-dad.

“Give me a pack of cigarettes, that pack.”

“Here.”

The store owner was an old lady. After giving the cigarettes to Tan Wenbin, a delivery person happened to come in. The old lady said to that person, “That soda bottle hasn’t been returned, I’ll make up for it.”

The delivery person said, “Have you heard? Yulong Snow Mountain had a big avalanche a few days ago.”

The old lady asked, “What happened? Did people get hurt?”

“No, it wasn’t on a tourist route, it was very deep. Probably no one got hurt.”

The old lady patted her chest, “That’s good, that’s good.”

“Many tourists heard about this and still want to go up and take photos and look at the scenery, hehe.”

The old lady shook her head, “Didn’t they say it’s the Wood King who is angry?”

Tan Wenbin interjected at this point, “The Wood King has a very good temper.”

After a while, the phone rang. Tan Wenbin answered the phone, and Tan Yunlong’s voice came from the other end:

“You’re still in Yunnan?”

“Um, the mountains are good, the water is good, the people are good. I’m reluctant to leave.”

“Take care of yourself, and pay attention to safety.”

“Um, I know, Dad. Mom’s birthday is coming up.”

“Um, I remember.”

“Ghosts believe that.”

As Tan Wenbin spoke, he picked up the sugar on the counter of the small store, peeled open two pieces, and handed one to each of his two god-sons on his shoulders.

“Dad, remember to prepare a gift.”

“What gift is suitable?”

“Go to a gold store and buy a light necklace or bracelet.”

“I… I only have cigarette money here.”

“It’s okay, I’ll wire you some money.”

“Okay…”

“Bang!”

The phone on the other end was forcefully hung up.

Tan Wenbin looked at the receiver in his hand: Who is the son and who is the dad exactly?

A series of theft cases had occurred within the jurisdiction, and the thief even stole from the district chief’s home. The matter and its influence were quite serious. The higher-ups demanded the case be solved within a strict deadline. Tan Yunlong was leading the team in investigating near the case site today.

He just happened to receive his son’s page and casually found a small store to call back from.

He was in a police uniform. As he walked over, he just saw the expression of the store owner’s son, who was sitting inside eating, looking a bit off.

Ordinary people feel pressure when they see police. Initially, Tan Yunlong didn’t take it to heart, but as the call went on, the store owner’s son started to feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.

The intuition of an old criminal police officer played a role at this moment. When he saw the store owner’s son put down his bowl and chopsticks and prepare to leave, he immediately hung up the phone and stopped him, preparing to question him.

Who knew that when the boy saw the situation, he directly ran? This was almost openly admitting guilt. Before he ran a few steps, he was pressed down by Tan Yunlong.

Before other police officers arrived, Tan Yunlong just casually bluffed a bit, and this boy confessed his theft and the location of the hidden stolen goods.

When the colleagues arrived and captured the criminal suspect, everyone was already accustomed to this and started discussing which restaurant to go to for the celebration meeting this time.

Tan Yunlong silently lit a cigarette. He himself was also a bit accustomed to it. Just as he was exhaling smoke rings, he looked at the telephone on the counter again.

……

“Sizzle… Sizzle…”

Fat Jin Ge helped move a small grill over. Zhao Yi personally grilled beef, and the overflowing oil made a sizzling sound, emitting fragrance.

“Come, eat. This is tender.”

Li Zhuiyuan picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.

The two of them, or rather, their team, had been together from dawn to dusk these days. Zhao Yi bringing a medical team was indeed very useful, greatly accelerating the recovery speed of their side.

But there is no banquet that doesn’t end, and it was also time to separate.

“I have a new idea now.” Zhao Yi put down the tongs and turned his hand to uncover the gauze on his chest, “Give me some advice.”

These days, Zhao Yi would pull open the gauze every morning and expose his heart to the sunlight.

The more he sunbathed, the more an idea came to him. This idea was quite radical.

“I plan to move the seam of life and death from my forehead to my heart. This way, I can continue to use the effect of the seam of life and death, and two, I can avoid feeling weak and powerless.”

Li Zhuiyuan waved his chopsticks and said, “We’re eating.”

When you’re eating, and the person sitting opposite you suddenly exposes their heart for you to see, anyone would lose their appetite.

Zhao Yi covered the gauze back and asked, “What do you think?”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Theoretically feasible. The seam of life and death on your forehead only has dead energy, which is why you experience side effects every time you open it. The heart is the source of life energy in the human body. If you move the seam of life and death here, you might have a chance to achieve a balance of life and death. The drawback is, you only have one chance to get it wrong.”

Zhao Yi said, “Haven’t I just finished a wave? This time with merit added to my body, it’s just suitable for dying once.”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. Doing this when his luck was best was indeed the wisest thing to do among the unwise.

Zhao Yi said, “As long as I succeed, I won’t be the me I am now.”

“Um.” Li Zhuiyuan finished the beef on his plate and used his chopsticks to point at the meat waiting to be grilled beside him, “Should add more meat.”

In fact, Zhao Yi had many methods, but many of his methods could only be understood and used when the seam of life and death was open, and at the same time the seam was open, his weak body couldn’t support the display of these methods.

Therefore, Zhao Yi always “walked the river” with illness; but if this problem could be solved, then his personal overall strength would undergo a huge leap. He would no longer be crippled, capable in both literature and martial arts.

Zhao Yi said, “I also got inspiration from the time the Observation Tower was destroyed. Becoming immortal and destruction, a moment of overturning change, truly is the extreme of life and death.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “You had this idea early on, but before, your heart couldn’t bear it. Now that the Wood King has filled your stones, you feel you might have a chance to try.”

Zhao Yi said, “Um…”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “How guilty and uneasy are you? You even need a big scene to cure a disease.”

Zhao Yi curled his lips, “After I go back, I also want to start cultivating Xu Ming and Sun Yan.”

“Um.” Li Zhuiyuan continued to eat the beef.

Zhao Yi smiled and said again, “Oh, right, the location you asked me to help you find, my family has found and notified me.”

Li Zhuiyuan put down his chopsticks and picked up a tissue to wipe his mouth.

Zhao Yi said, “Hey, at least pretend a little. I told you earlier I had a chance to go up one floor, and you didn’t seem to care at all.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “It’s meaningless how many floors you go up. Upstairs will always be me.”

Zhao Yi said, “In the twelfth year of Yongyuan in the Eastern Han Dynasty, a landslide occurred on the bank of the Qingtan River, forming a dangerous shoal that blocked navigation. This place is located downstream of Zigui County’s old city.

There is a saying, ‘Qingtan releasing the shoal doesn’t count as a shoal, Kongling is the real ghost gate pass’. However, although this Qingtan cannot compare to Kongling, it is also an extremely dangerous place.

Three Month Forest does not refer to a forest, but a canyon adjacent to Qingtan. It is withered in all four seasons. Only during the Qingming Festival are the flowers blooming and leaves lush, full of vitality.

This is the specific location, take it.”

Zhao Yi handed over a piece of paper.

“Thanks.” Li Zhuiyuan accepted the paper.

Zhao Yi said, “Are you returning to Nantong next, or going here?”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “First go here and take a look, then return to Nantong.”

Zhao Yi said, “I’ll give you a word of advice. Since this wave is already finished, there’s no need to branch out and cause extra trouble.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “I am different from you.”

Without thoroughly investigating this matter, Li Zhuiyuan could not feel at ease. Some matters, even if he wanted to avoid them, the river water would not go as he wished. So, he might as well take the initiative.

“If you go there and find that the corpse is not there… That would be truly a bit scary.” Zhao Yi stood up, continued to clip the beef onto the grill plate, and at the same time hummed,

“Children have their own fortunes, children don’t have I enjoy fortunes~”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “It’s not that scary. The longer a person’s lifespan, the lower the value of their descendants.”

Zhao Yi said, “Like your subordinate Mengmeng?”

Fengdu Great Emperor was just in Fengdu, yet he could sit and watch the Yin family’s population decline. Yin Meng’s grandfather and father all did not have good endings.

Zhao Yi took a sip of soda and continued,

“To be honest, I feel that in the eyes of Fengdu Great Emperor, you are more valued than his bloodline successor.

Listen to me, in the face of Taoist tradition inheritance, there is no misunderstanding that cannot be resolved. Whichever day you go to Fengdu, offer a ritual and admit your mistake, and the small enmity will also be eliminated.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “This requires a responsible intermediary.”

Zhao Yi said, “Fat Jin Ge, is there any more beef? Help me cut some more, not enough to eat!”

The next morning, Tan Wenbin went to settle the room fees and other expenses for these days with Fat Jin Ge.

Xu Ming wanted to settle his own, but Tan Wenbin actively covered it.

“This is how embarrassing.”

Tan Wenbin said, “It doesn’t matter, reimbursing the extra team also conforms to the process.”

After settling everything, Fat Jin Ge said with a smile, “I’ll send a car to take you to the station.”

Tan Wenbin said in surprise, “Didn’t you say last night you wanted to personally drive Zhao Yi and them to Lugu Lake?”

Zhao Yi ultimately worried he would fail. The consequence of this failure was one life’s wail. So, he chose a place with beautiful scenery nearby, convenient for burial on site if he failed.

Fat Jin Ge said, “I just recently recruited a new employee. I’ll have him borrow a car. He’ll arrive in a while and he’ll drive you.”

Tan Wenbin said, “Alright then.”

Because of the recent increase in rainfall, Fat Jin Ge was worried about the mountain road situation and drove Zhao Yi and them to Lugu Lake early.

Looking at the disappearing car shadow, Lin Shuyou finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Last night, he saw Brother Bin’s two god-sons sneaking into Zhao Yi’s room to cause trouble, but Ayou didn’t stop them.

Unfortunately, those two god-sons were trapped by Zhao Yi’s array. If Brother Bin hadn’t arrived in time, Zhao Yi would have used a peach branch to spank their buttocks.

In the end, this Young Master Zhao might seem a bit inadequate in front of his Little Far Ge, but outside, he was an extraordinary figure.

It’s just that this figure lacked any tolerance. Where does a master who can rely on a secret to make a living put on airs? Even kindergarten children aren’t this childish.

Sitting in the car, looking at the passing scenery on both sides, Zhao Yi said to Xu Ming and Sun Yan sitting in front,

“If something happens to me, just bury me. Remember to bury me a bit deeper, so I don’t get dug up again later when tourism develops and hotels are built.”

Hearing these words, Xu Ming and Sun Yan didn’t know whether they should respond or not.

Zhao Yi continued,

“If I succeed, I will treat you better from now on. Regardless of whether I can become a Dragon King or not, I won’t let you follow me in vain.”

……

While waiting for Fat Jin Ge’s new employee to arrive with the car, Tan Wenbin led everyone to check the homestay from top to bottom, making sure not to leave anything that shouldn’t be left, especially Yin Meng’s poison jar.

Li Zhuiyuan then walked to the counter, where a small Wealth God was displayed.

The young man’s original intention was to press a seal in mud. After hesitating for a moment, he changed to condensing blood mist in his right palm, which finally turned into blood beads on his fingertip, and performed a curse painting on the Wealth God statue.

As the last stroke fell and his fingertip pressed on the Wealth God’s face, the color of the Wealth God statue immediately became brighter.

Having lived in someone else’s home for so long and receiving such care, it was no longer something that could be repaid with just a sentence of giving money, not to mention Fat Jin Ge still brought them in and out of the snow mountain.

Opening a light for the Wealth God statue was purely a protection for his home.

As for the matter of “fortune,” Li Zhuiyuan felt that Fat Jin Ge didn’t need external force. With his current business mindset and courage, he would definitely earn money in the future.

“Beep beep!”

The car arrived.

Li Zhuiyuan walked towards the outside, and the rest of the people also packed their backpacks and came out.

The driver got out. He was a clean-faced young man.

Seeing him, everyone was slightly stunned.

The young man saw that there was no one around, so he leaned against the car body, planning to kneel down and perform a ritual.

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Since you’ve decided to be human, don’t kneel down.”

The young man was surprised. Doesn’t talent kneel down?

Everyone got into the car. The young man drove. As they passed through the ancient city, Tan Wenbin pointed in the direction of the Wood King Palace and teased, “Look, the Wood King Palace.”

The young man smiled. He was called the Wood King, but he was not the same as the historical Wood King.

After arriving at the destination, everyone got out.

The young man also turned off the engine and got out, bowing and standing by the car door, respectfully sending everyone off.

Li Zhuiyuan stood in front of him and said,

“Since you have decided to enter the world and cultivate humanity, I will give you a piece of advice. People are not just beautiful. Life is also like this. When you encounter the opposite side, remember to restrain yourself and respond with human thinking. Do not act impulsively and lead to failure.”

The young man bowed deeply when he heard this.

Lin Shuyou gently poked Tan Wenbin’s arm and whispered, “Didn’t expect Little Far Ge to say these things so professionally too.”

Tan Wenbin said, “Little Far Ge reads a lot of scriptures. Go back and copy all those scriptures. You can also become professional.”

“Really?”

“No, are you really planning to copy them?”

“I can ask the boy to come down and copy with me.”

“Heh, right, how is that boy at your home?”

Lin Shuyou’s eyes narrowed, and his vertical pupil opened. This time, the vertical pupil was not only deeper, but there was also a faint bloody light in the middle, looking very spirited.

Because of this action, the Wood King’s body trembled and he almost collapsed to the ground.

Tan Wenbin immediately covered Lin Shuyou’s eyes, “There’s a tourist store ahead. I’ll go buy you a pair of sunglasses.”

……

After several days of travel by boat and car without rest, they finally arrived at the place called Qingtan and also found the canyon called Three Month Forest.

Now it was not far from Qingming, and the valley was full of vitality. However, because transportation here was inconvenient, not many tourists came over.

Time was most suitable for burying sand, not to mention that the black-robed man killed his entire family that year and moved all the corpses to the bottom of the tower, which was equivalent to actively extinguishing the traces of his sect.

Li Zhuiyuan held a compass and walked among them, quickly locating the position.

As he approached that position, Li Zhuiyuan could perceive that there were originally prohibition arrays nearby, but now they had all dissipated.

One side of the canyon had a concave cave, and the cave mouth was covered by an old locust tree.

The old locust tree seemed to have been struck by lightning not long ago, with more than half of it burned black.

Runsheng and Lin Shuyou worked for a while to clear it before finally pulling out the cave mouth.

Pulled out together were also many animal and human bones. Obviously, they were all food for this old locust tree, detained and used as its nutrients.

If it hadn’t been struck by lightning, when they found this place, they would have had to deal with this trouble first.

The passage inside the cave was not downwards, but flat. The black-robed man’s family ancestral tomb should have been built inside the mountain body of this canyon.

The scale was not large, looking similar to a small noble’s tomb.

Who would have expected that the ancestor who once planned the “ascension grand scheme” in the secret realm would build such a small and simple tomb for himself?

Li Zhuiyuan had read the ‘Qi Clan Annals’ and was also skilled in arrays. From the tunnel to the main tomb chamber, this short section alone revealed countless intricate mechanisms and profound array remnants.

Although the tomb was small, the depth of the killing formations inside made even Li Zhuiyuan feel shocked.

Fortunately, everything here was as the ancestor’s book said: When the time comes, the prohibition will resolve itself.

Otherwise, even Li Zhuiyuan would have found it extremely difficult to enter. Even if you break open the surface mechanisms and arrays, who knows how many invisible mysteries are still hidden below.

The black-robed man relied on his ancestor’s bloodline to obtain the favor of the rules in the high tower of the secret realm.

In fact, his array attainments, or at least his array level when he first entered here, were far inferior to Li Zhuiyuan’s current level.

Li Zhuiyuan could almost affirm now that the black-robed man’s statement that “because I am dead, I can enter the ancestral grave” was completely a joke.

When the prohibitions here were intact, not only could dead people not enter, but even if the White Crane Boy came personally, His divine position would probably dissipate here.

On the ground and on the walls, many corpses could be seen, already turned into dry bones. They should be the black-robed man’s successive ancestors.

Their ancestor left a message: Do not enter the ancestral grave until the time comes.

But who among later generations could resist this temptation? After all, no one knew if they could live to that time.

Then, they all died here, died in the prohibition personally laid out by their own ancestor, and only the black-robed man was the exception.

Tan Wenbin said, “Um, Little Far Ge, I have a doubt.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Speak.”

Tan Wenbin said, “The sentence left by the ancestor, wasn’t it intentional? He didn’t let later generations come in, so the things that happened afterwards have no causal relationship with him?”

“Um.” Li Zhuiyuan responded and then stretched out his finger to point at the residual traces of the prohibition around them. “Including the so-called self-resolution when the time comes, I suspect it wasn’t for the convenience of later generations to come in and take his book, but for his own convenience to come out.”

Lin Shuyou said, “He lived here for so long? What appearance did he live into?”

Tan Wenbin said, “Definitely not human form.”

Lin Shuyou said, “No, what I mean is, in such a small tomb, waiting for so long, what’s the difference from long-term solitary confinement? He can really endure it.”

Tan Wenbin said, “Inside the high tower, inside the kneeling corpse pit, inside the emerald, so many people, didn’t they all stay for so long? With the prospect of becoming immortal hanging in front of you, you just suck your nose and you can endure it.”

As he spoke, everyone had just reached the main tomb chamber.

The main tomb chamber area was not large, and the furnishings inside were also very ordinary, mainly made of stone.

However, there was no coffin, only a stone bed in the middle area.

There should be a crack above. At this time, it was noon, and a beam of sunlight shone down, landing precisely on the stone bed.

On the bed, except for some stones and lime, no corpse was seen.

Lin Shuyou said, “Did he get up and walk away himself, or did someone come in first?”

Tan Wenbin said, “The old locust tree blocking the cave mouth was cleared by you and Runsheng. Although it was burned black by lightning before, there were no traces of it being moved.”

Lin Shuyou said, “Then is it possible that he climbed out of the crack above?”

Everyone came to the crack and looked up from below. The crack was very narrow and small, and the wall surface was extremely smooth.

People with small and thin bones could barely squeeze in, but that was the extent of it. There was fundamentally no space for upward climbing.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the stones and lime piled on and under the stone bed and said, “He should have, drilled out from above.”

“Drilled?” Tan Wenbin noticed that Little Far Ge used “drill” instead of “climb” and immediately looked up again, observing the distance a bit.

This was inside the mountain peak on one side of the canyon. Drilling upwards from here, drilling to the very top where sunlight could directly shine, even climbing up from the side of the mountain peak was tiring enough.

“Oh my god, what kind of monster is this?”

He paused, then looked at Runsheng: “Runsheng, can you drill through?”

After all, Runsheng was the strongest among everyone present.

Runsheng stretched out his hand, touched Tan Wenbin’s forehead, and then touched his own.

Lin Shuyou used his lightness skill to fly up to the crack above, stretched out his hand to touch the smooth arc there, and then touched his own shoulder joint: “Brother Bin, Little Far Ge is right, he really drilled out himself!”

Tan Wenbin said, “I’m just expressing my exclamation, I’m not doubting Little Far Ge. Didn’t expect you with such thick eyebrows and big eyes to also learn to sow discord.”

Lin Shuyou landed, blinking his eyes. He didn’t understand.

Tan Wenbin patted Lin Shuyou’s shoulder, “Discuss it with that boy at your place another day. Let him come down and be human, and you go up and be a yin god adult. I see that boy adult knows how to be human very well now.”

Although Tan Wenbin deliberately used joking words to ease the suppression everyone felt, as long as one thought about a human-shaped guy who could forcefully drill out from this rock, it was already enough to make people shudder.

Li Zhuiyuan stretched out his hand and pushed aside the broken stones and lime on the stone bed. On the bed, he saw a row of words.

From the traces of the font, it should have been written directly with an index finger. It said:

“Come another day, half-face karma.”

—

(End of this volume)