Chapter 001: Unclean Thing

  "Have you ever thought that the world you see may not be what it seems?"

  What is the world like, after all?

  "It's too big, we've only just discovered a small part of it, but even that small part has driven everyone who's looking for it completely crazy..."

  Why?

  He didn't answer my question, his thoughts seemed to have already left this world, and he laughed self-deprecatingly: "We really shouldn't have sought out that secret, haha, now it's like this, we brought it upon ourselves, completely our own doing!"

  "Zi'er, if one day Dad is gone, you must take good care of yourself and Grandma, never repeat the mistakes I made, the price is really too high..."

  I don't understand, why does Dad want to break up?

  "Hehe." He patted my head, his expression extremely desolate: "Dad just said that if he didn't want you to get involved in our line of work, you should study hard, find a wife and have kids, and live a down-to-earth life."

  ……

  "Hey, Fengzi, what are you thinking about?" Su Dai patted me and looked at me with a pair of bright black eyes.

  I came to my senses and suddenly remembered what my old man said to me more than a decade ago, did he foresee something was going to happen? So I said: "I'm thinking, is living forever really that good?"

  "Since ancient times, from emperors and generals to ordinary people, who hasn't thought that if things weren't this way, your dad and my brother wouldn't..." Su Dai didn't finish speaking and sat down beside me.

  "But looking at my own relatives and friends, they're all gone, yet I still exist, living alone generation after generation. Looking around, everyone is a stranger, no true companion, no family, no friends, nobody understands, is this really okay? Is this really fun?"

  She stared quietly at her hand for a while, then smiled faintly: "You say, if that thing didn't exist, would everything have ended?"

  Su Dai looked at me in surprise and asked: "What do you want to do?"

  "I want to destroy it!" If it weren't for that thing, Dad wouldn't have been taken away by those people, and our home wouldn't be like this now. Now I've lost everything... nothing is left...

  "You're crazy!" Su Daikin said firmly.

  I laughed and said to her: "If one day you see me go crazy, it's actually because you've gone crazy."

  A gust of cold wind blew, and the small grass hidden under the night sky swayed gently, making a 'susu' sound, different from the hustle and bustle and brightness of the city. In this remote and desolate high mountain forest, silence and depression have always permeated everywhere, making the already irritable mood even more depressed.

  Looking up at the dimly lit stars hidden under the dark clouds, I suddenly felt that everything was so unreal. One moment ago, I was still complaining about the dullness and busyness of college life, and the next second, I fell into a nightmare from which I couldn't wake up. I really can't understand how my uncle and aunt could have encountered a maritime disaster out of the blue, with all crew members missing, not to mention that my dad was kidnapped by someone. Our originally peaceful but happy life shattered in an instant, leaving only irreparable pain.

  Perhaps our voices were a bit loud, Song Ah walked over after settling the tent and asked in confusion: "What are you guys talking about that's so crazy?"

  Su Dai looked at me and said: "Feng Zi said he wanted to destroy that thing."

  Song Ah didn't show surprise, but thought for a moment and said: "If I'm not mistaken, even your dad and the others don't know what that thing is. Even 'long life' is just speculation from our predecessors, no one has seen someone who's lived forever, nor do they know if it will really make people immortal or not. That's why we need to go find out. What do you think should be done with something like this?"

  "Yes, I don't know what it is either, nor do I know where it is, but I believe that thing must have a source, and since there's a source, we'll definitely find the location. Once we get explosives, I'm sure we can destroy it!" I said.

  "This is extreme!" Su Dai frowned, looking speechless at me.

  "Whether it's radical or factual." Anyway, my life has already been ruined. Since they destroyed the loved ones I cherish most, why can't I destroy their most coveted treasure? I know it's hard, and I also know that my strength is still far from enough, but I'm still young, aren't I? I can learn, I can study desperately, as long as I'm still alive...

  "Alright, come and eat, don't think too much about it." Song Ah sighed helplessly, the last sentence was directed at me.

  I nodded, then got up and walked with Su Dai to the fire pit. Wu Ma You had already prepared the soup and enthusiastically helped us each have a bowl. We didn't stand on ceremony, so we ate compressed biscuits with the hot soup. After a while, Wu Ma You couldn't help but complain again: "Where is that damned place anyway? It's really exhausting!"

  Wu Xiao Shou didn't mention it, but as soon as he said that, Song Ah jumped up and scolded angrily: "You still have the nerve to ask, who was it that said they were good at fighting ghosts and could scare those things in the grave until they wailed and howled like a pack of wolves?"

  Because I, Song Ah and Su Dai were all going down to the ground for the first time, we had no choice but to look for someone locally who knew how to read the feng shui, especially someone who could find dragons and explore caves. We thought it would take a long time, but this kid found us the next day. He said his name was Wu Ma You, nicknamed Wu Xiao Shou, a well-known feng shui master in the area, often "going down to earth" to work, but unexpectedly he's a complete charlatan! More than ten days have passed, and we haven't found anything at all!

  But Wu Ma was scolded and didn't get angry, instead he smiled and said: "Don't be angry, don't be angry, I didn't cheat you guys, I can read Feng Shui and have 'gone down to the ground' too, but the premise is that you find the tomb entrance ah!"

  "If we can't find it tomorrow, let's just change the person!" Su Dai said lightly, but I still heard her displeasure.

  "Wait, wait!" Wu Xiaoshou felt something was off and hastily explained: "Actually, I was with someone else, but last time I got hurt so I didn't go. I reckon they'll be back soon, and when the time comes, let them find it together, no mistake!"

  "Are we going to keep waiting forever if the person who's supposed to come back doesn't return?" I'm not happy about this either, it's a matter of life and death. Even if we accidentally fall down there, without professional knowledge, we're just asking for trouble. I don't want to die before even seeing my dad's shadow on our first time down the well, so let's find a reliable local guide instead!

  The witch doctor, having nothing to refute with, forced a smile and said: "I guarantee it, give me three more days, the last three days, if I still can't find it, I'll refund your money!"

  For someone with such a thick skin, we were also quite helpless and could only agree for the time being. Perhaps to dispel the awkwardness that had just arisen, Wu Ma You asked me with a smile: "Brother Feng, I heard your father is Old Man Feng?"

  I didn't want to chat nonsense with him either, so I just nodded weakly. Unexpectedly, he continued to talk shamelessly: "It's said that Old Master Feng has never lost a fight before, and since you're his son, you must be very formidable too?"

  "If you're so capable, then why would I need a half-baked person like you?" I retorted irritably.

  "Alright, alright, I don't know how you cultured people can be so reckless, not understanding anything and daring to run underground, aren't you afraid of encountering something unclean?" Wu Ma You said with a deliberate drawl, looking at us three with a nervous expression.

  "Shut up, a dog's mouth can't produce ivory!" Su Dai scolded Wu Ma You mercilessly, and then said: "It's the middle of the night, what nonsense are you spouting? If it were true..."

  Song Ah also furrowed his brow, lowering his voice and looking around: "This thing is very evil, you'd better not talk nonsense!"

  "It was just that at first we believed you, this cheat!" Su Dai glared at Wu Ma You with a look of discontent in his eyes.

  Seeing Su Dai's reaction was so big, Wu Ma Youfei didn't see a hint of self-reflection, but instead laughed and teased: "I didn't expect Miss Su to believe in such things too, haha, this kind of thing rarely appears, don't worry, Grandpa Wu is here, with one seal on my hand, ghosts and gods will all avoid!" As he spoke, he patted his chest confidently, guaranteeing it.

  I really want to slap him in the face right now, but I'm a cultured person and can't be bothered to hit him!

  Seeing that we all looked down and ignored him, Wu Xiaoshuai clicked his tongue and smiled somewhat awkwardly: "Don't worry, don't worry, didn't you know I have a treasure in my hands?"

  But before his smile could reach the bottom of his mouth, a sudden gust of cold wind blew by, and the fire we had lit in front of us was instantly extinguished, plunging us into darkness.