Chapter Thirteen: The Heaven's Eye Command

  A rusty big iron lock hung on the gate, Chen Ya saw it and worriedly said, "This iron lock is so rusty, can it still be opened?"

  The blue sky found the key from the bag behind him, "Try it and you'll know, if it can't be opened, just smash the lock." Jin Tianxing and Lan Xinlin searched around for stones or other objects to smash the lock. The blue sky easily inserted the key into the keyhole, turned it lightly, and the lock clicked open. With a push from the blue sky, the gate creaked, like an old man's heavy sigh, and a dusty history reopened.

  Lan Xilin picked up the iron lock and examined it carefully, a look of puzzlement on her face. She looked at the door again and Jin Kai leaned over to ask in a low voice, "Is there something wrong?"

  Lan Xilin said, "The village is located by the side of Poyang Lake, the air is more humid than usual places, we haven't come for a year, the iron lock must have rusted, it shouldn't be so easy to open."

  Jin Tian Xing understood what she meant, "You mean someone has been here? You're too sensitive just because of an iron lock."

  "Take another look at the door frame." Lan Xinlin pointed to the door frame and said, "We haven't been here for over a year. Look at the dust on the door frame, in a year's time the dust should have accumulated into a thick layer. Now take a look, it's just a thin layer. From this point alone, I can be certain that this door was last opened within a month."

  Jin Tianxing picked up the large iron lock and examined it, but didn't find any signs of it being tampered with. He asked Lan Xinlin, "This iron lock is intact, how do you think they got in?"

  Lan Xilin said, "There is only one key, and it has always been kept by my father. This is not strange at all, lock-picking is an ancient skill, and in this area I know two people who can open this lock with just a thin iron wire without any effort."

  While the two were talking, Chen Ya and Lan Tian had already walked into the yard. Chen Ya turned back to the two of them and said, "You two don't stand at the door anymore, come in quickly! After we finish cleaning up the old house, this afternoon we still need to go pay our respects to Linlin's grandmother."

  Jin Tian Xing responded with a nod and stepped into the courtyard, walking a few steps before feeling a chill. The temperature inside the courtyard was two to three degrees lower than outside, and the air was also more humid, mixed with a musty smell of decay. The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, and spider webs clung to the eaves of the roof. Under the eaves, a bird's nest held several small birds that poked their heads out at the sound, their beady eyes fixed intently on the four unexpected visitors. A large spider crawled nonchalantly across the faces of two people and into the underbrush, causing Chen Ya to let out a shrill cry and hide behind them.

  "Your guts are too small, aren't they? A spider has scared you like this. If you really saw a ghost, wouldn't you just throw us aside and run away?"

  "Hey, that's not just a small spider, it's a huge one! What if it's poisonous?" Chen Ya argued. Her appearance was really too flustered, and her argument had no effect, the three of them laughed even harder. Chen Ya's face turned red with rage, she finally lost her temper and shouted loudly "What are you three laughing at? Get back to work! First, go clear out the weeds in the courtyard, or else don't think about eating lunch!"

  "Old Mother Tiger is finally going to show her might," Blue Sky muttered quietly.

  Unfortunately, Chen Ya heard it and shouted, "Lan Tian, what are you talking about? After pulling out the grass, sweep all the floors of the house again for me. If you don't finish sweeping, you won't have dinner."

  The blue sky suddenly stuck out its tongue, rolled up its sleeves and pulled the grass away. After a pause of two or three minutes, Chen Ya, Blue Sky, and Blue Heart Lin burst out laughing from their hearts, it had been a long time since they laughed together like this as a family. Jin Tian Xing quietly watched the happy family on the side.

  The weeds in the yard were too many, and the yard was too big. The weeds were too hard to pull out, and the three of them pulled with soft hands, only pulling out a small half. Chen Ya couldn't bear it anymore and joined the weed-pulling team. By noon, they finally finished pulling out all the weeds in the yard. During the break time, Lan Xinlin pulled Jin Tianxing up to the corner tower. The two people on the corner tower had been thinking about each other for a long time, and earlier when they were pulling weeds, their eyes kept looking up at the corner tower.

  After observing the single eye at close range, both of them discovered something strange. Blue Heart Lin touched the lines of the strange eye with her fingers and turned to ask Jin Tian Xing, "Did you also discover it? Is what we found the same?"

  Jin Tianhang nodded and said, "The strange eyes in the previous painting have been blurred by the passage of time, but this one is newly painted, the brush marks are still fresh, and it's no more than two months old."

  Lan Xinlin tilted her head and said thoughtfully, "This is strange. Who would draw such a weird eye here? What's the significance of this weird eye?"

  "How would I know." Jin Tian Xing had a pile of unsolvable problems in his heart, and for him, having one more didn't make any difference.

  "Lingling, Mr. Jin has eaten." Chen Ya shouted loudly in the yard after preparing the meal but couldn't find anyone.

  "Here, here." Lan Xinlin pulled Jin Tianxing down from the corner tower and ran down. Jin Tianxing looked back at the corner tower again and saw a circular hole the size of a coin, with sunlight shining through it onto the ground in the courtyard. Maybe it was a gun port, but Jin Tianxing didn't think much about it. After pulling weeds for half a day, his stomach was a bit hungry, so he decided to fill his belly first.

  Lunch was some village dishes sent by the villagers, Chen Ya's cooking was also very authentic. Jin Tianxing had the opportunity to taste these dishes, and he almost swallowed his tongue while drinking rice wine with egg flowers. The beauty of the world is nothing more than this. Lan Xinlin hadn't eaten authentic hometown flavors for a long time, and the four of them ate up all the dishes on the table in no time.

  After having enough wine and food, Jin Tianxing patted his belly and strolled leisurely in the small courtyard, letting out a satisfied belch, with the fragrance of wine still lingering in his mouth. The old house had one large hall, five main rooms, and three side rooms. Tonight, they would be staying here, so Jin Tianxing took the opportunity to familiarize himself with the surroundings. In the center of the hall stood an altar, dedicated to the Three-Eyed Deity Erlang Shen. Upon seeing the deity's statue, Jin Tianxing felt a strange, inexplicable sensation. Lan Xinlin noticed him gazing at the Buddha image and said, "I heard from the villagers that my grandmother didn't believe in deities at first, but after something happened, she began to worship them."

  The image of Erlang Shen made him think of the strange experience in the cave, he didn't want to stay in the hall for a moment, pulling Lan Xinlin out of the hall, he had a strange feeling, this feeling he also had in the mysterious cave, he was being watched!

  Jin Tian walked cautiously and observed his surroundings, but didn't find any suspicious people. The feeling of being watched didn't last long and soon disappeared. Fourth Master arrived with a large pile of ingots and candles, and Lan Tian immediately went to greet him, supporting Fourth Master and saying, "Fourth Uncle, you've come so early."

  Fourth Master said, "People are old, their legs and feet are not flexible, they are buried in the mountains, the mountain roads are not easy to walk, bringing me this burden, if we don't set out early, we won't be able to return before dark."

  "Who says Fourth Master is old? Fourth Master is getting more vigorous with age, and if Second Miss were to be bullied by someone, she would still need you to back her up."

  Fourth Master burst out laughing and said with his eyes fixed on Jin Tian Xing, "Second Young Mistress, rest assured that if anyone dares to bully you, Fourth Master will risk his life to avenge you." Fourth Master gave Jin Tian Xing a meaningful glance, leaving him somewhat perplexed. After tidying up, the five of them set off early.

  What a wonderful mountain, Jin Tianhang sighed, only to see the red cliffs and strange rocks, the steep walls and strange peaks. On the red cliffs, birds chirped constantly; in front of the steep walls, ancient pines lay alone. At times, the sound of golden roosters could be heard from the peak, and dragons could be seen entering and exiting the stone caves. In the forest, foxes and rabbits ran about, and on the trees, a hundred spirits and yellow orioles played. The beautiful flowers and grasses never withered, and the green pines and cypresses remained evergreen. The immortal peaches bore fruit constantly, and the bamboo shoots always retained clouds. A brook flowed through the dense wisteria vines, and the four sides of the original embankment were covered in fresh grass. Although the scenery was beautiful, the road was difficult to travel. Fourth Master was already advanced in age, and he couldn't walk more than a few steps before needing to stop and rest.

  He also felt that he was holding everyone back and said apologetically, "I'm old, I'm useless, I'm holding everyone back."

  "Blue sky way," said the fourth master, "look at what you're saying now. It was you who brought people to carry my mother up here for burial back then. I don't even know how to thank you."

  "Hey, Dad, didn't Grandma advocate for cremation when she passed away? Why is she buried on the mountain top?"

  "Your grandmother was strongly opposed to cremation before she passed away," said Lantian. "The grave site was chosen by your grandmother herself, and from there you can see the whole view of Poyang Lake. After your grandmother's death, the officials in charge of the cremation hadn't even arrived yet when your fourth uncle led a few brothers to secretly bury the coffin at night. The old brothers also kept the orientation of the grave site a secret, so the matter was dropped."

  Taking advantage of the break, Blue Heart Lin asked again, "Dad, why is there a vertical eye painted on the corner tower of the old house? Do you know what's going on?"

  Lan Tian shook his head and said, "I don't know, you should go ask Fourth Master, there are some things that Fourth Master knows more clearly than I do."

  Fourth Master took two deep breaths and said, "I'm not very clear about this matter either. After I got injured, I stayed in the village to recover from my injuries and didn't ask about the gang's affairs anymore. I heard it was Qingqing who led people to rob a tomb, but something went wrong, and half of our brothers were killed. When they came back, Qingqing ordered someone to paint a single eye on the corner tower of the old house. He also commanded the brothers in the gang not to discuss this matter again, and those who disobeyed would be punished with three cuts and six holes. It was after this incident that your grandmother began to believe in supernatural beings. Now, all the brothers who survived back then are dead, so you can't know the truth."

  Another mystery, Qingqing is a water bandit on Poyang Lake, mostly making a living by robbery, how could he suddenly think of going to rob a tomb? With the water bandits' bravery and ferocity, they actually lost half of their brothers who went with them. What kind of tomb did they rob? What happened in the tomb that made them draw a single eye on the corner tower after returning and establish the most severe punishment of three knives and six holes? But Blue Heart had a strange idea in her heart, could it be that Grandma's robbed tomb was actually the ancient tomb discovered a few years ago that caused the Zhongtian Group and the police to fight over it? Is there really such a coincidence in the world?

  After walking for almost an hour, they finally arrived at their destination. The cemetery was near the top of the mountain, with a broad view, and from there you could see the whole of Poyang Lake, and the waters of Lao Ye Temple were particularly clear. Jin Tian Xing found that Qingqing's grave was very simple, just a mound made of earth and stones, with a plain tombstone and nothing else. A bunch of dried flowers in front of the grave caught the attention of Jin Tian Xing and Qingqing. The villagers would not have used fresh flowers to pay their respects to Qingqing, so who could have come to pay their respects? Judging from the dryness of the flowers, it must have been within the last month. Before they had time to think about it, the funeral ceremony began. Jin Tian Xing faced Qingqing, who had just been alive and was now nothing but a handful of yellow earth, with a bitter and astringent feeling in his heart, unable to express his emotions.

  After the worship, everyone set off down the mountain. As the saying goes, "going up a mountain is easy, but coming down is difficult." Fourth Master almost slipped several times, and in order to ensure safety, everyone had to slow down their pace. By sunset, they finally returned to the old house. Fourth Master was exhausted and went home to rest. Jin Tianxing was extremely tired and sat on a stone in the small courtyard to rest. He discovered a strange phenomenon: as the sun set in the west, the corner tower and courtyard wall cast huge shadows, but under the shadow of the corner tower, there was a patch of light, and on the western corner tower, there was a small hole.

  Lan Xilin walked around the old house and came closer, whispering, "After we left, someone broke into the old house, seemingly looking for something."

  Jin Tianxing carefully observed his surroundings and didn't find anything unusual. He asked back, "How did you discover it? Did something go missing at home?"

  Lan Xilin said with a pleased smile, "Before we left, I made small marks in many places. Just now when I checked, I found that most of the marks had been destroyed. From the analysis of the traces, it can be seen that only one person entered. I also carefully checked the things, and nothing is missing."

  Jin Tianhang said, "Since nothing was lost, it's not a thief. Could it be that someone in the village knew you were back and came to see you? When they found no one home, they left."

  Lan Xinlin said firmly, "It won't be someone from the village. When villagers see that no one is home, they won't enter the inner room. But my marks in the inner room were destroyed the most."

  "Is it possible that your old house has some antique artifacts hidden inside, which attracted the thief?"

  "Impossible," Lan Xinlin retorted, "the old house used to have many cultural relics and treasures, most of which were donated by my grandmother. The few that remained were either stolen or destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. What's left are just some worthless trinkets or Buddhist statues, they've been lying around in the old house for over a decade without being stolen, how could they suddenly attract thieves?"

  Jin Tianxing was speechless when asked, so for the sake of saving face, he said, "There's no use talking too much. Since the thief didn't get what they wanted, we can just wait and catch them off guard. Once we catch the thief, everything will be clear."

  The sky quickly darkened, and the villagers still adhered to the ancient custom of rising with the sun and resting with the sunset. After dinner, the whole village quieted down, and Jin Tianxing returned to his own room to read books. He had never felt such tranquility before, and the occasional barking of dogs proved the existence of the world. Jin Tianxing quickly became immersed in the book, savoring the flavors of life with the protagonist, experiencing the ups and downs of the world, and only when he closed the book did he realize it was already past 11 o'clock at night, time had unknowingly slipped away beside him.

  After turning off the lights, the white moonlight poured in through the window, casting a silver glow over the room, and the outlines of all objects inside became clear. Jin Tianxing lay on his bed, unable to sleep, staring at the ceiling with his eyes open. The room was very quiet, and a small spider was slowly crawling on the ceiling. Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound that made him think of the big spider he saw during the day. It seemed like there were countless huge spiders crawling under the bed, and just thinking about their fluffy legs brushing against his body gave Jin Tianxing goosebumps. In the dark corners of the old house, which was over a hundred years old, there might be even more terrifying things, but he didn't want to think about it anymore, so he turned over and went to sleep. The strange little hole on the corner tower kept appearing in his mind, making him toss and turn with insomnia.

  The strange noise of "susu" and "suosu" did not disappear.

  Jin Tianxing sat up abruptly, the sound was not something that snakes, insects, or rats could make, it was the sound of human footsteps. There's a thief! Jin Tianxing got out of bed barefoot and walked quietly to the door, opening it slightly. Indeed, he saw a black shadow moving quickly in the corridor. The shadow bypassed the rooms of the four people and headed straight for the inner hall. It seemed that this thief had come more than once, was quite familiar with the old house's layout, and the "ghost" mentioned by the villagers was probably him. What was he looking for? He could have waited until everyone left tomorrow to search again, why did he take the risk of coming now? Was he afraid that someone would get there first?

  It wasn't until the dark figure disappeared from the end of the corridor that Jin Tian Xing carefully followed out, his bare feet treading on the cold stone floor, and he shivered. The dark figure entered the inner hall and began to search around, he was very focused, even when Jin Tian Xing sneaked up behind him, he didn't notice.

  Jin Tianxing seized the opportunity, let out a loud shout, "Little thief, where are you going?" and took off in a sprint. The black figure was caught off guard and forgot to dodge. Just as Jin Tianxing was about to apprehend the thief, another black figure rushed out from the other side at an extremely fast speed, and the two of them collided heavily. Jin Tianxing only heard a loud crash, and his vision was filled with countless golden stars. Amidst the numerous golden stars, he saw that the person he had collided with was none other than Lan Xinlin. It turned out that she too had discovered the sneaky thief coming to capture him, but didn't expect the two of them to collide.

  The thief did not leave quickly, on the contrary, he stared at the two people who fell to the ground for a few eyes, and then slowly turned around and left. Chen Ya and Lan Tian heard the movement and searched out, the two only saw a black shadow flashing in front of them like the wind, and the wall over two meters high was crossed in a few steps. Jin Tianxing looked at his back and felt that he was very familiar, as if he had seen him there before.

  Chen Ya and Lan Tian hurriedly helped the two people who had fallen to the ground. Jin Tian Xing and Lan Xin Lin each had a big bump on their forehead, and they looked at each other with mutual resentment. If it weren't for the other person suddenly appearing, the little thief would have been caught long ago. Regret was too late now, so the two of them rested for a while before returning to their rooms to sleep.

  On the second day, early in the morning, Jin Tianxing was woken up by a loud crowing of chickens. He touched the big bump on his forehead and walked into the courtyard to breathe some fresh air. Lan Xinlin almost simultaneously came out of the house as well, also touching the big bump on her head. The two looked at each other and smiled. After they finished smiling, Jin Tianxing once again noticed that under the sunlight, there seemed to be a small hole in the corner tower to the east.

  Jin Tian Xing's curiosity was piqued, and he told Lan Xin Lin about his discovery. As a result, the two of them found small holes in all four corner towers, with light shining through the holes and converging on the same spot in the courtyard. This was a major discovery, and the two of them quickly fetched tools and started digging, convinced that something must be buried beneath.

  Lan Tian and Chen Ya were woken up by the two, after listening to the explanation, they stood on one side with great interest, wanting to see what kind of treasure could be dug out from the old house.

  After digging more than a meter deep, Blue Heart Lin dug out a small copper box with rust spots on its surface. She hastily opened the box and found that there was only a palm-sized token inside. It looked like gold but not jade, and it was hard to tell what material it was made of. On the front of the token, a strange eye was engraved, just like the one on the corner tower, with nothing else. Blue Heart Lin asked, "Dad, is this the token of the Water Gang?" In her opinion, since grandma had hidden it so secretly, it must be something very important.

  Lan Tian took over the token and looked at it for half a day, saying firmly, "This is absolutely not something from the Water Gang. I've never heard of the Water Gang having such a token."

  Another weird eye! Jin Tian Xing couldn't figure out what this strange eye represented. Could it be the three-eyed deity?

  The four of them were not experts, and they couldn't say anything about the strange token. Blue Sky handed the token over to Blue Heart Lin, since it was their discovery, he might as well let the two of them handle it.