Chapter 1: A Group of Mountains (Part 1)

  When Xiaoyanfei and two others came down from a small van that seemed to be making every effort to make noise except for the horn, carrying backpacks full of stuff, Fang Chenyu still didn't know that he had been demoted from being the second most senior in the team to the least senior.

  "Sitting in a car that's climbing a mountain, with all parts making more noise than the horn, anyone would think an ox cart is better, Xia Qian Fei!!!! By the way, I just used three exclamation marks!!!"

  The last one to climb down from the car was a little loli with an apple face... Fang Chenye felt that his three views were shattered and reorganized in this instant.

  Alright, even if he knew that the profession of a street performer was often passed down through families, but seeing such a young child performing in person still made him want to exclaim that the parents were truly heartless.

  "I think, Lan Ruoxue, you've been mistaken for a little loli by Gu Shu again~"

  The man who spoke was not unfamiliar to Fang Chenye, the head of the Fang family (after all, every year during Chinese New Year, he would still have to reluctantly call out "Young Uncle Fang"). This young master was truly an oddity in the Fang family, refusing to take over the family business and instead studying biopharmaceuticals, not to mention getting a scholarship every year to study archaeology all over the country. Since graduating from junior high school, Fang Chenye had looked down on this uncle who only knew theory.

  However, this time he couldn't put these emotions on the surface to speak out loud. After all, it was him who asked Xia Yu Fei for help and it was also Xia Yu Fei who brought this person over. Even if he was extremely annoyed, he could only keep it in his heart and grit his teeth silently.

  But there is one left...

  It seemed that he saw the puzzled eyes cast at him, and Xiaoyan Fei, wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses to shield himself from the glaring sunlight, opened his mouth calmly: "Lan Ruoxue, a member of the Lan family in Yangzhou."

  "By the way, this old woman is a Ph.D. student in mathematics. In other words, she is older than both me and Yanfei." This is Fang Ying, who delights in chaos.

  Fang Chenyan was thoroughly shocked.

  Just as he had thought, it was actually difficult to invite the four major families of grave robbers, after all, in this era, one could not make a living solely by relying on this skill. Setting aside the system, the struggle for such things is a zero-sum game, belonging to non-renewable resources, so the four families have actually gradually whitewashed themselves and sought out family industries outside of tomb raiding.

  However, the four major families' reputation is still a resounding golden signboard, and each of the four families has its own strengths. For example, the Xia family in Beijing is best at breaking mechanisms and so-called "qí mén dùn jiǎ" (a type of puzzle), the Lan family in Yangzhou excels at finding dragon veins and acupuncture points, the Zhang family deep in the mountains of western Hunan has a unique skill for disarming poisonous traps that no one can understand, while the Fang family in Hangzhou is most skilled at opening locks.

  He never dreamed that he would have so many people helping him this time.

  But in this way, he showed a fox-like smile in a place where three other people couldn't see him, and the room for choice was also greater.

  However, whether they are selected or not, these three people will forever stay in this mountain range.

  Xia Yifei was too lazy to respond to Fang Yong and Lan Ruoxue's habitual joking, after all, she had tried many times in her youth to get the two chatterboxes to shut up and be quiet, but eventually confirmed that this was not a very possible thing, so by now she had learned that even when the other two got together, they were still squared chatterboxes, and she remained unmoved like Mount Tai.

  The girl with beautiful eyebrows and eyes looked around, this is a small mountain village, surrounded by mountains on all sides, with only one exit leading to a asphalt road. Perhaps because of the few passing vehicles, she felt that the air here was exceptionally good, and looking along the asphalt road, you could see the village's traffic, chickens and dogs hearing each other. What's unexpected is that behind this mountain valley, which can only accommodate two-way traffic, hides a village much larger than imagined.

  At this time, Lan Ruoxue slowly swayed to her side and opened her mouth. Her standard Lolita voice with the unique charm of a Jiangnan woman matched her apple face, which was quite tempting: "With mountains and rivers, looking at the feng shui is indeed a good location. Perhaps the young master of the Fang family said that the treasure really exists."

  Actually, there was no need for her to say it, the few people present could see that the feng shui here is very good. Ordinary people may only see the continuous mountains and hills, but in the eyes of these few people who take the land as a part of their life or even the main part, although there are continuous mountains, there is a mountain peak with a majestic attitude overlooking all the other mountains. These peaks seem to have the posture of a "朝案" (a type of auspicious mountain). And in front of the mountain, there is a surging river that never stops, which matches the saying "气乘风则散,界水则止,古人聚之使不散,行之便有止.故谓之‘风水” (When the air rides on the wind, it disperses; when it meets water, it stops. The ancients gathered it to prevent dispersion and made it convenient for travel. This is called "feng shui"). It's a perfect spot.

  Xia Yu Fei nodded with a serious expression, but before she could respond, Lan Ruo Xue lowered her voice and said: "I'm saying, have you thought this through? I feel like there's something not quite right."

  "It was wrong from the start. Fang Chenye, although a branch family member, still has some face in front of Old Master Fang. He should have found someone from the main house to fight with, why did he have to run all the way to Beijing to find me?" Xia Yu Fei said with his hands in his pockets, looking relaxed, "But this also indirectly proves that there's something here after all. Anyway, you're so idle and bored, why not come with me for a trip? It'll be good exercise for your old arms and legs before they rust away."

  "What the hell, Xia Yu Fei! Can't you say something nice for once?! I curse you to be single for the rest of your life!" Lan Ruo Xue was instantly enraged. Xia Yu Fei didn't even bother to look at her and walked towards the car with the equipment, calling out to the other two as he went: "Let's find a place to stay for the night and ask around for some information from the locals. Fang Chen Ye, you can share your findings with us so we don't waste our time."

  When tidying up her equipment, Xia Yifei always felt that something was off about this mountain village. But since it was clearly a place with excellent feng shui, and even Lan Ruoxue hadn't found anything wrong with it, she simply attributed the feeling to being overly cautious.

  As she thought about this matter, she didn't notice that the jade pendant hidden under her clothes had begun to emit a faint red glow, like a warning and an enticement, the crimson light flickering with her heartbeat. The entire warm white jade dragon-shaped pendant seemed to have come alive, its eyes gleaming with golden light.

  Long after, she thought back to this place and still felt a lingering fear, breaking out in cold sweat. The exit of the mountain village, the surrounding mountains, even the river that encircled the village, wasn't it just a waiting sack with an open mouth?