Chapter Eighteen: Exiting the Ancient Tomb and Obtaining a New Inheritance

  After coming out of the ancient tomb, the topic that everyone discussed the most was still about what happened inside the ancient tomb. I and Sima Lin walked in the front, because we lost a few good friends, Sima Lin seemed to be a bit downhearted.

  Seeing him frowning and not speaking, I comforted him: "Brother Sima, you said in your last letter to me that the owner of this tomb is Cao Cao. What do you think?"

  Sim Lin saw me and asked him to answer: "This tomb is very different from the ones we used to dig. The owner of the tomb chose such a strange terrain structure to build the tomb, obviously to prevent us from entering. He seems to be very clear that people in our line of work usually rely on digging holes directly into the tomb, so those granite layers can completely prevent this method. Moreover, when we first entered, we encountered blood-sucking worms and several companions died. Since I started doing this, I have never encountered such a thorny master. I thought that only Cao Cao could be so meticulous in his defenses because he is the ancestor of treasure hunters and has done this line of work himself, so he is most clear about us. However, it doesn't seem to be his tomb now. Thanks to the arrival of Ghost Path brothers, I think that if all our brothers gather together, there shouldn't be anything that can stump us."

  After finishing, the excited light in his eyes made me know that he was proud of us brothers. So I told him about what happened at Mount Fanjing in detail. Surprisingly, Sima Lin's mouth was agape for half a day, and when he heard that the Japanese were defeated and killed, he exclaimed with regret: "Alas! Unfortunately, I wasn't there at the time, otherwise, I would have killed those dog traitors and Japanese."

  Simar Lindon hesitated for a moment before asking: "Ghost Dao big brother, little brother has something to ask, I don't know if it's possible?"

  I smiled and said: "Brother, speak directly now we are all brothers of our own family."

  "If my elder brother and all the brothers don't despise me, I'd like to make a pact with everyone as sworn brothers. On this tomb raiding trip, seeing that each of you are vigorous and righteous people, I couldn't help but have this thought." Sima Lin rubbed his hands, seemingly thinking what he said was quite abrupt.

  "Haha, we were just thinking of that, big brother." The sixth brother said loudly, patting his chest.

  "It's great! We shouldn't delay. I have incense and paper ready. Let's make a vow now to become sworn brothers." I suggested excitedly.

  Upon hearing my words, everyone hastily put down their bags and knelt together in front of the altar, facing the bright moon in the sky. They bowed and said: "We vow today before the bright moon that we do not seek to die on the same day and month, but rather to be born on the same day and month."

  After bowing, they were all overjoyed. According to the eight characters of birth, Sima Lin was six years older than Lao Liu and lived in Lao Wu's house. I helped Sima Lin up and brushed off the dust on his body, saying: "Younger brother, from now on we are our own brothers."

  "Ah, big brother." Sima Lin said excitedly.

  As they spoke, everyone gathered around and poured out their hearts. The words had already eliminated any estrangement between them.

  Many people happily rushed out of the mountain, and in a few days, they arrived at Xinyang. Since I started to come into contact with the crowd, in order not to cause trouble, I put on my big bamboo hat again, and Huo Ling also changed into men's clothing and hid among the team.

  At a high price, they bought several horses from the locals and set off day and night towards Hunan. After passing Chicken Mountain, they learned that the warlords' war was nearing its end, Duan Qirui had been defeated by Cao Kun, who had become the President of the Republic of China. It seemed that the entire Chinese political situation had undergone a tremendous change, but the common people were still suffering in misery and didn't know when such days would end. They tried to take some remote small paths to avoid those soldiers who retreated from the front line, who were more shameless and cruel than bandits.

  It was getting dark, and everyone was tired and wanted to find a village to rest. The days of rushing had made everyone a bit spiritless. The group dismounted and sat on the ground, calculating how many more days it would take to reach Changsha City.

  The fifth brother, Sima Lin, stood up and said: "From the map, it seems that we still have to walk for almost two days after leaving Henan. Everyone is already very tired, continuing on will greatly injure our physical strength. I think it's better to find a village and rest well for a day." The fifth brother's suggestion received enthusiastic support from Old Six.

  "This place is neither close to a village nor near a store, where can we find a place to rest?" asked the third brother.

  At this time, Sima Lin continued to say: "I think there should be a village nearby. You see that the ground has been trampled by donkey carts. Why don't we send someone ahead to take a look?"

  Following Sima Lin's pointing direction, there were indeed vague tire tracks on the ground.

  Seeing this, Old Six said with great joy: "Since there are households nearby, we can definitely see the lights when it gets dark. What I want to do most now is to find a village and have a good meal, take a bath, and sleep comfortably. Let me take care of this scouting mission."

  As he spoke, he got up and led the horse to prepare for departure. Seeing that Liu Tie was about to leave, I stood up and patted his shoulder, instructing him: "Liu Tie, be careful on the road, if you encounter any situation, don't rush back and tell everyone before taking action. If you can't find it, come back as soon as possible so we won't worry."

  "Don't worry, big brother." Lao Liu replied with a smile and rode off on his horse, quickly disappearing into the dark night.

  Sixth brother left, everyone had to sit on the ground with their eyes closed, meditating and leaning against my shoulder, already asleep. The exhaustion of the past few days, combined with the terrifying life spent in the ancient tomb without sunlight, had made her thinner than when she came from Chen Zhou.

  Listening to her uneven breathing, I suddenly felt a heartache that I had never experienced before. As a man, not only could I not provide my wife with a stable and happy life, but instead, I made her worry about me all the time, causing her to lose weight and become haggard. It's really unfair to her. Maybe she didn't think so, but as her husband, how couldn't I think that way?

  Beside him, Sima Lin didn't know when he had lit his pipe and was puffing away with a "huff huff" sound. Seeing me looking at Hou Ling with concern, he smiled lightly and said: "Big brother, it seems like you've already found your spiritual home."

  I looked up at the sky and sighed softly: "Alas, perhaps each of us will have our own spiritual haven. Fifth brother, you're searching for gold again, but for whom?"

  He saw me ask him, he lowered his head and puffed on his own tobacco pouch, no longer speaking as if he had a heart full of unspeakable grievances.

  The night slowly deepened, Liu Di had been gone for more than an hour, and he still hadn't returned. I couldn't help but secretly worry about him in my heart, hoping that nothing bad would happen to him.

  Just as I was about to fall asleep, the clear sound of horseshoes "dang dang" suddenly came from the darkness. Knowing that it was my sixth brother who had returned, I quickly woke up from my drowsiness. Seeing my sixth brother panting and riding his horse over, before the horse even stopped, he jumped off and fell to the ground, not even bothering to wipe away the sweat on his face, shouting loudly in a terrified tone: "Big brother is in trouble!