Chapter 29: Corpse Nurturing Jade

  Without Chen Da's obstruction, the construction went very smoothly. In less than half a day, the house was demolished and, as instructed by Chen Jian, all usable building materials were preserved in good condition. Many of them could be reused when rebuilding the house. Ancient building materials were very durable, unlike many modern buildings that are like tofu dregs.

  Of course, this is not Chen Jian's 'door' to save money. When he instructed Chen Tong at the beginning, he told him that when repairing the ancestral house, he must try his best to use the original building materials. In fact, this can be understood. Chen Jian wants to return to his hometown to spend his old age and pursue his roots. If everything is new, there will be no trace of years.

  "Alright, cleaning up these is done, Chen Jian, it's your turn next." The east wing had become a flat ground at this moment.

  "Can I replace my dad?" Chen Zhongren said, and Chen Tong asked, after all, his father was already old, had not done any physical labor for many years, usually just watering his flowers.

  Chen Zhongren remained silent and didn't say yes or no.

  Chen Jian picked up the iron shovel, "I'll do it myself, no one can help me with this, and it's something I should do."

  Chen Zhongren has already laid out a square shape with red rope, and Chen Jian just needs to dig two meters along the outer edge of the red rope.

  It was okay at first, the surface soil was relatively soft, but the soil quality underneath was harder. After all, it's a house foundation that needs to be built very solidly. Although this is where Chen Zhongren had done some handiwork, the backfilled soil should still be the original foundation soil, and it's even more solid than the house's original foundation.

  Sweat dripped down Chen Jian's face, his shirt was soaked through, a gust of wind blew over and Chen Jian shivered with cold, his body swayed and almost fell.

  "Dad, take a rest," Chen Tong handed over a cup of tea.

  Chen Jian did not respond, nor did he lift his head. Although his movements had slowed down a lot, he didn't stop for a moment.

  Seeing this scene, Chen Zhongren, who had been sitting aside drinking tea, stood up and walked to Chen Jian's side. He bent down and picked up the red rope, ignited it with fire until it turned into ashes, then took out a black rope and put it in the original position of the red rope.

  "Alright, dig again this time."

  Everyone was unsure what Chen Zhongren's actions meant, presumably it was some local custom or taboo.

  But what happened next surprised everyone, including Tian Qi and the three others. The soil seemed to have changed suddenly, becoming extremely soft. Chen Jian could just stand the iron shovel there without using any force, and the iron shovel would enter the soil layer by itself.

  "Tian Qi, pinch me quickly, I'm not dreaming, am I?" said the fatty.

  Tian Qi didn't understand why he was fat, it's a fact that can't be doubted, and he had seen it with his own eyes.

  The red rope was replaced with a black one, and it actually changed the soil quality. This is too unbelievable, Tian Qi will have to ask this old man about it later.

  It was soon all cleared up, and everyone went over to take a look. It was a tomb with brick walls on all sides, with an upright coffin in the middle.

  Chen Zhongren had the coffin brought out, and upon inspecting the material of the coffin itself, it was quite ordinary. However, what was strange was that after so many years had passed, there wasn't a single sign of decay on the coffin, just like it had been buried just yesterday.

  "Open the coffin," Chen Zhongren ordered.

  "Uncle Chen, shouldn't you be laid to rest immediately?" As soon as he heard about opening the coffin, Chen Tong somewhat disagreed, after all, it was his own biological father buried inside.

  "Alright, listen to Uncle Chen," said Chen Jian, he believed that Chen Zhongren must have his reasons for doing so.

  His father said so, Chen Tong naturally couldn't object. In fact, he also wanted to see his biological father with his own eyes again. This kind of blood relationship is something that can never be cut off at any time, even if it's only seen once in a lifetime, and no one else can replace it.

  "It's too amazing, Tian Qi said the corpse didn't rot and I didn't believe it, but it really is like that. Decades have passed, how can there be no change at all?!" The coffin was opened, without the foul smell that everyone expected, Chen Da's corpse had no signs of decay, even the long gown and horsehair cloak he wore were undamaged, the only thing missing was the corner of Chen Da's head, which should have been cut off by a knife back then.

  "Is this... black 'jade'?" Fatso was sharp-eyed and the first to spot something at the foot of Chen Da's corpse.

  Black 'jade' is a very precious and rare natural resource, the ancients called it "noble stone" together with diamond, gemstone and colored stone. The black 'jade' in the coffin is round, shiny black, without any impurities, with a diameter of about twenty centimeters, which can be said to be worth a city.

  "This must be why there have been so many corpses and coffins all these years," Tian Qi said.

  "That's right, you're talking about the black 'jade' thing, I'm too familiar with it, we call it a corpse-keeping 'jade', as long as this 'jade' is here, the corpse will never..." As he spoke, Chen Zhongren took out the black 'jade' from the coffin.

  Chen Jian and Chen Tong were somewhat moved, but neither of them spoke up. Of course, what they cared about was not the value of this black 'jade' itself, but its effect in preserving the corpse's original appearance. One was his own elder brother, and the other was his own biological father, so they naturally hoped to keep it for a long time.

  "You don't have to worry, the corpse 'Yu' has been nourished for so many years, the corpse itself has undergone changes. Even if this piece of 'jade' is gone, the corpse will not easily rot. Moreover, it was Chen Da who asked me to help him with this matter in his dream, and it's not like he himself would benefit from it. Now it's fine, the environment around the tomb hasn't changed much, but who can guarantee that it will always be so? Maybe after a few years or decades, the environment will change, Chen Da's corpse will be affected, and something will happen to his body. At that time, not only you two, but also our Chen family members will suffer." Chen Zhongren naturally knew about Chen Jian and Chen Tong's concerns, so he explained the reason himself without waiting for them to speak.

  What Chen Zhongren said is reasonable, and Chen Jianhe and Chen Tong cannot object to it. Moreover, the other party has kept such a valuable thing here for so many years without saying anything, what can they say when they want to take it back today?

  It's just that Tian Qi didn't know, if it wasn't for his appearance, Chen Zhongren was going to leave 'Yu' in the coffin all along, anyway, it had been there for so many years, and only took it out because of him.

  "Alright, I've done all that needs to be done. The rest is up to you guys. You, come with me." Chen Zhongren pointed at Tian Qi and then left first.

  Tian Qi was shocked, how could this old man who was neither a relative nor an acquaintance call him alone? Was there something hidden that he couldn't resolve and wanted to discuss with Tian Qi? Apart from this reason, Tian Qi really couldn't guess why. But it was good this way, as he had been wanting to ask the old man about the red string and black string, maybe one day he could use them too.

  "Sit down and wait for me," Tian Qi followed the old man to his home, the old man let him sit on a chair, and he himself went into the backyard. The layout of his house was not much different from Chen Jianjia's ancestral home, after entering the door it was a living room, and behind it was the formal courtyard.

  Tian Qi saw a painting on the wall in the living room, right in the middle. The person in the painting wore an eight-trigram robe, was tall and majestic, with clear eyebrows and eyes, and had a white mustache under his forehead, exuding an otherworldly air.

  No wonder this old man also understands this, it seems to be a family heirloom, and the person in the painting must be an ancestor of the Chen family.

  "This is our Chen family's ancestor, a very powerful 'yin' yang master, who is said to have a close relationship with the royal family, but it's all legend, whether it's true or false is unknown." Chen Zhongren has already walked out of the backyard, holding a black jade in his hand, and on top of the black jade, there is also a small booklet that looks very old.

  "Is this black 'jade' then something that was passed down by our ancestors?" Tian Qi asked.

  "That's right, and there's this book. Of course, because the era is too far away, this book wasn't passed down from our ancestors either. It was copied by later generations and was already incomplete when it reached my grandfather's hands. However, I think it should still be of some use to you." Chen Zhongren stroked the surface of the book with his palm, a hint of reluctance in his eyes - after all, this was something that belonged to their ancestors.

  "You want to give him to me? No way, that's too precious. If you don't mind, just let me take a look!" Tian Qi was overjoyed.

  "Not just this little book, but also this piece of 'jade', I want to give them both to you."

  "Ah!" Tian Qi's eyes widened in surprise, not to mention that this was a rare 'jade' for raising the dead, even if it were an ordinary black jade, its value would be worth tens of millions now, and if the timing is right, it could be worth hundreds of millions. After all, this is something that can be encountered but not sought after, and the old man said that this 'jade' was naturally formed, without any artificial polishing.

  Such an opportunity is hard to come by, and many people may not encounter it in their lifetime. However, Tian Qi still shook his head, the thing was too valuable, he couldn't accept it.