Chapter Fifty-One: The Grand Tomb

  At this time, it was still daylight, but the sun was about to set. Tian Qi and the others looked back and saw that someone was indeed driving a horse carriage over.

  "Old man, where are you going? Can we hitch a ride with you?"

  "Come on!"

  The man driving the cart was an old man with a head full of white hair, wearing a coarse linen garment, his face filled with wrinkles that had been weathered by wind and frost.

  A horse-drawn carriage is different from a passenger car. Although it's also bumpy, it moves slowly and doesn't have the unpleasant smell of gasoline, which makes it quite interesting.

  The fat man came with enthusiasm and started chatting with the old man who was in a hurry to catch the bus.

  "What are you pinching me for, Tianqi!" Fatso was in the middle of a lively conversation when Tianqi suddenly pinched his thigh.

  "It's nothing, just save some energy for now, there will be more work later." Tian Qi said.

  Bao Zi doesn't know what kind of 'medicine' Tian Qi is selling in this gourd, and he inexplicably says these words.

  Having a car would save them quite some time. Although they couldn't catch up with the bus, Tian Qi and the others would arrive at their destination in an hour and a half as well.

  "Hey, old man, stop for a moment, I want to talk to you about something." The four of them got off the carriage, and the driver was about to continue on his way when Tian Qi called out to him.

  "Hey young man, what's up?" The old man showed a kind smile like an honest farmer and was also curious about this young man who hadn't spoken much on the way.

  Tian Qi didn't answer immediately, but instead walked to the front of the horse carriage, stretched out his hand and patted the horse's head, "You're tired, right? If you're tired, then carry Master back home."

  As soon as these nonsensical words came out, everyone present, except for Qiu Shen, the old man who drove the carriage, the fatty and Yingying, didn't know what was going on.

  Tian Qi walked over to the old man who was rushing for the bus again, "Old man, aren't you tired? If you're tired, just go home and don't come out again."

  "Tian Qi, are you running a fever or something? You seem a bit off to me," said the fatty.

  "Are you okay, Qi Ge?" Yingying asked with concern as she walked up.

  Tian Qi didn't respond, but the old man who was driving suddenly clutched his head with both hands, looking as if he was in great pain.

  Seeing this situation, Tian Qi walked up to the horse again, patted its head and said, "Let's go, horse, take master home."

  The horse seemed to really understand what Tian Qi said, and it didn't need to be urged to move forward. After walking for over ten meters, the horse suddenly disappeared, taking the carriage and the old man driving it with it, completely vanishing into thin air.

  "What's going on, is this some kind of magic trick?" The fatty also saw the same scene and shook his head vigorously, thinking he was hallucinating.

  "Don't be fooled, this isn't a magic trick. That old man is someone who has already passed away, not long ago. He must have walked this road often when he was alive, that's why we ran into him."

  "That's not right, if we met a ghost, how can we still get on the car?" asked the fatty.

  "How can this be? Do you know how many haunted roads there are in the world? Do you know about all the incidents of people disappearing while hitchhiking?"

  Actually, Tian Qi doesn't know much about this aspect either. For example, the so-called "ghosts" have different types, and he has encountered more than one type so far. Some are just pure souls, if a living person accidentally bumps into them, they might just sneeze, but some ghosts are like human bodies, and some are just a gust of resentment, yet they can affect the entire environment.

  After listening to Tian Qi's explanation, Pangzi was still in shock, never expecting that he had been chatting with a ghost for over an hour.

  "You know why I pinched you, right? You're too chatty with the old man, and when the time comes, he won't want to let you go."

  "You little scoundrel, you knew it all along and didn't tell me! How was I supposed to know if you told me like that?" The fat guy looked very unhappy.

  Tian Qi smiled and shook his head, if he told Pangzi, what if Master found out that they couldn't hitch a ride? But if the instructor knew, he would scold him to death for knowingly taking a ghost-driven car.

  Because Tianqi and the others hadn't reached their destination yet, they walked along the road for over ten minutes. Ahead of them appeared a village, and by now the sky had darkened.

  "Hello, I'd like to ask if there's an inn in this village?" At the entrance of the village, there was a small shop. Tian Qi walked over and bought a pack of cigarettes for Pangzi, and also asked around casually.

  The vendor was a middle-aged woman who sized them up, "It's been a long time since outsiders came here, are you going into the ditch?"

  Into the ditch? Tian Qi didn't know what she meant, and naturally he couldn't say their purpose for coming. Should they say they came to catch ghosts?

  "We're here on vacation, just passing by," said the fat man.

  Looking at the middle-aged woman's expression, it was natural that she didn't believe what the fatty said. However, she also didn't plan to continue asking questions. "You guys keep walking forward for about 500 meters, there is a slightly larger bungalow, which is our village chief's house, his family has a house."

  After thanking Tian Qi, several people left the small shop.

  As they left, the middle-aged woman walked out from behind the counter to the door, looking at Tianqi and his friends' backs, muttering to herself: "In the past, it was always people who were a bit older, this time there are actually these young people, what a pity, so young and yet they've taken such a path, with no return." She then went back inside.

  "Are you going into the ditch?" The distance of 500 meters was very close, and Tian Qi and others soon saw the village chief who was said to be a woman, looking over sixty years old with a hunched back.

  "Village chief, I just heard the shop owner say 'jin gou', and you also said 'jin gou', what does it mean?" Tian Qi asked.

  "You guys aren't, right? But looking at your age and attire, it's indeed unlikely. There's a mountain valley up ahead, I heard there's a big tomb inside, are you guys going treasure hunting?"

  Tian Qi suddenly understood, it turned out that the shop owner and the village chief both thought they were going to rob a tomb, but the old ghost said their village was in the mountain valley ahead, without mentioning anything about a tomb.

  Tian Qi didn't plan on hiding it either, they weren't going to do anything shameful.

  "What? You're going to catch ghosts?" The village chief was even more incredulous at Tian Qi's words, thinking that this child was talking nonsense. Their village had also been visited by "Yin" Yang masters before, and they must have been over 70 years old, yet these kids in front of him were saying they were going to catch ghosts - wasn't this just a joke?

  As for whether the village chief believed it or not, Tian Qi didn't care about that. As long as someone could show him the way, that was enough. The old ghost originally didn't remember things very clearly. He said that when he escaped, he was only over ten years old. Later, he drifted to the city where Tian Qi was and worked as a laborer. Because of an accident, one leg was gone, and in the end, he ended up begging on the streets.

  Before coming, after inquiring from many sources, I finally knew the way here.

  "I advise you not to go, even if you are professional ghost catchers, it's definitely a one-way trip. In the past, those who wanted to dig up treasures in the tomb were seen going in, but never seen coming out."

  "Village chief, whether you believe it or not, we have to go." Tian Qi let the fatty take out 1,000 yuan, which is a considerable amount of money here.

  The village head took a look at the money that Fatty had taken out, but his eyes did not reveal any greedy gaze. He sat on the stool and took a sip of tea.

  After a while, the village chief stood up and let out a long sigh. "I'll just take 100, you guys put away the rest and I'll have it stewed for you tonight. First, follow me to where you're staying tonight."

  As for the village head's change in attitude, they didn't want that money either. Several people were a bit "perplexed", but there was no time to think too much about it. Since they had agreed, that was enough. Moreover, after a day of traveling, everyone was very tired and wanted to rest early.

  Dinner was just as the village chief said, for such a remote rural area, it was really very rich, with fish and meat, several people had a good meal.

  "Eat, eat some more." At the dinner table, the village chief surprisingly became very enthusiastic and frequently served dishes to Tianqi and others.

  "Village chief, I know you still don't believe us, but we really are professionals who specialize in catching ghosts. Can you tell me more about the situation inside?" Tian Qi knew that the village chief must know something and wanted to learn more so he could be better prepared.

  The village chief poured himself a cup of wine, and his eyes revealed a hint of sadness, as if recalling memories. "I don't know the specific situation, but it's very strange inside. Ever since the people inside suddenly disappeared..."

  Maybe it was the effect of the liquor, but the village head opened his mouth and started talking about what happened from when the people from the mountain valley suddenly disappeared to when his son went in.