Chapter 4: Grave Robbery

  I made up my mind, went back to my room, drank a lot of cold water, and then found an iron shovel in the yard. I resolutely headed towards the mountain tomb again. This time, I didn't feel any fear at all. Even if I saw that disgusting ghost thing again, I wouldn't retreat. To figure out everything, even if it really became food for evil spirits, I would accept it.

  But things turned out to be simpler and more peaceful than I had imagined. This time, as I traversed the mountain ridge, I didn't encounter that terrifying thing again.

  Soon, I found the conspicuous stone monument and quickly came to the front of the tomb mound. I raised the iron shovel in my hand and started digging without hesitation.

  Digging up a grave, I heard an old man say before that this is a move that exhausts heaven's conscience and will be retaliated. But I'm not afraid, in order to find the answer that puzzles me, I am willing to accept the retaliation.

  As the mound wasn't very big, just a small earth pile, I quickly dug it up. As I dug deeper and deeper, my brow furrowed more and more.

  "What? Is this really an empty tomb?"

  Now, I have dug deep enough, with a height of about one meter. Looking at the time, it's not early anymore, and the sky above has already turned white, this unbearable night seems to be passing by inexplicably like this.

  "Is that it?..."

  But just as I thought there was no value in continuing to dig, I felt that my iron shovel suddenly hit something hard!

  "Huh? Could it be that someone is really buried here? Is it really the old man?" In an instant, my tears couldn't stop flowing.

  In extreme despair and grief, I threw away the iron shovel and started digging with my bare hands at that unknown thing underground. Slowly but surely, I finally touched something hard!

  It was probably because I increased the force and speed of my hands. Since I had never done any hard labor since childhood, in no time, my hands were already bruised and battered.

  Finally, my intuition told me that there was a cold and hard thing that I could bring out from the mud. With one effort, I made no hesitation to use force, like pulling out a radish, and "pulled" this unknown hard thing out of the mud along with the mud.

  I managed to get hold of it and wiped off some dirt. When this thing showed its true face, I was so scared that I threw it far away with my hands.

  Isn't this the half skull covered with maggots that I found before encountering the ghost? How did it appear in the deep pit of this grave mound? Wasn't it far away from here before?

  I was stunned, and even more frightened. I never dreamed that such a terrifying thing would happen today. In an instant, my body also trembled with convulsions, as if I had been struck by lightning.

  Looking at those disgusting maggots, I suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness. In my heart, I was mocking myself, thinking that I was overestimating my abilities and not even acting like a man, being scared out of my wits by just a broken bone. But how many people can remain calm in such an environment?

  As a result of this half skull being brought out, an empty hole was found in the deep pit dug under the grave.

  Try to keep calm and encourage yourself: "My grandfather is a Taoist priest, specializing in catching ghosts. I'm not afraid of these dirty things, I'm not afraid!"

  After repeatedly hypnotizing myself countless times, I finally gathered the courage to look down into the hole that had appeared.

  What's over there?

  How could this be?

  Is he a ghost or his grandfather!

  Along this pit, I saw a skull wrapped in blood gauze at a glance. The skull was blurry with flesh and blood, and the empty bloody eyes kept flowing down those thick, neither black nor red **.

  Isn't this thing just that guy I met before?

  I panicked, possibly due to excessive tension, and frantically retrieved a few talismans from the package my grandfather had prepared for me earlier, then wildly flung them at the ghostly face in the pit.

  "Get out!"

  "Get out!"

  "Go die!"

  I'm hysterically screaming...

  "Boom——"

  After a few talismans were thrown down, the blood-and-flesh-blurred ghost face was suddenly burned by clusters of flames with a crackling sound. Then, from the pit hole, a burst of red flames suddenly erupted, burning the entire pit hole into a sky-high firelight.

  I don't know, this talisman I hastily drew is called Fu Xiao, it's a super powerful talisman that burns and destroys evil spirits and souls, but it's not something someone with my shallow Taoist skills can create.

  After the fire went out, I plucked up my courage and cautiously looked into the pit again.

  This time, inside was clean and nothing existed. Obviously, the ghost thing in the pit was burned to ashes by the talisman I threw out.

  Out of sight, out of mind. Seeing that ghostly thing being burned to ashes by the talisman left by my grandfather, my pale face finally regained a hint of color. Then I fell to the ground, panting heavily with my four limbs facing upwards, staring at the sparse stars in the sky.

  I saw what I was supposed to see, dug up what I was supposed to dig up, and proved that this is indeed not an empty grave. But a new question has arisen. That terrifying ghost-like thing from earlier, is it really a ghost or an old man? Could it be that the old man was really killed by this ghostly creature sucking out his yang energy, giving me a sense of familiarity? Where is the old man's corpse?

  And this ghost thing was clearly floating around in the woods before, how did it suddenly appear on this grave? The tombstone in front of the grave has the old man's name on it, what does this represent again?

  "What the heck is going on?!"

  The more I think about it, the more confused I become, and my train of thought is like walking into a dead end.

  With a heavy heart, I slowly got up and picked up the iron shovel again, filling the pit with sand and soil one shovelful at a time. Then I piled up a mound of earth, restoring the grave to its original state as much as possible. After taking a deep breath, I knelt down in front of the tombstone, kowtowing three times.

  Although I often argue with the old man, after all, he is the one who raised me up with hardship and taught me to read and write. He also taught me some ghost-catching skills that I didn't want to learn at first. If what he said was true, then over the years, he has been protecting me from being disturbed by evil spirits and ghosts.

  Now that I've grown up, the old man mysteriously left behind a final letter and took his leave without saying goodbye. To this day, I don't know whether he's alive or dead, which makes me feel somewhat guilty towards him.

  I kowtowed respectfully and said to the stone tablet with a solemn oath: "Godfather, rest assured that no matter what the future holds, I will definitely investigate this matter until the truth is revealed. Just as you said in your letter, I will be with you forever."

  The breeze gently strokes my slightly tired cheeks, feeling so cold, so painful...

  So I chose to leave quietly before it was completely light.

  But I overlooked a crucial point! Although I burned that ghostly object to ashes with one fire, I forgot about the half skull covered in maggots earlier. Because of this tiny detail that can't be considered a mistake, it brought me infinite disaster in the future...

  I returned to my residence and thoroughly cleaned the interior and exterior of both my room and the old man's. From time to time, some visitors would come asking about the old man's whereabouts, seeking his help in curing their illnesses. In the past, I would always rush out to tell them they were superstitious, that there was no cure for their ailments. But this time, I simply told them the old man had gone far away and wouldn't be back for a while, then chose to remain silent.

  The whole day, I didn't choose to rest, for some reason, no matter how tired my body was, I still didn't feel sleepy.

  It's another night, the moon is bright and the stars are sparse. I'm carrying my backpack and holding a torch, looking back at the thatched cottage on this mountain with nostalgia. To be honest, in the past, I wouldn't have given a second thought to any of the trees or plants here. But now, I'm carefully taking in every detail, hoping to etch them firmly into my memory.

  "Alas! He's gone!"

  I let out a faint sigh and threw the torch onto the thatched roof of the hut before turning around to leave.

  Behind me, the soaring flames illuminated the dark night. The thatched hut, which had been there all along, was destined to disappear from this moment on.

  With a nervous heart, I walked towards the foot of the mountain. Following the old man's instructions, I was to go to D City to find an elderly person named Zuo Guanyun, and thus start a brand new life.

  I don't know what the future holds, but since I've met this Left Guan Yun, I want to learn more about Old Man's affairs from him. No mistake, I won't forget about Old Man's mysterious disappearance. I still want to unravel this mystery, and I won't leave here without a clear understanding, nor will I lose my dear Grandpa like that. Although on the surface it seems like I don't like him...