Early the next morning, Aunt Jiang had already prepared white porridge, wild vegetable pancakes, and pickles, inviting them to wash up and come for breakfast.
While having breakfast, Aunt Jiang started a conversation: "I heard you are here for an adventure? Could it be that you came to check out the ancient tomb we have here?"
"An ancient tomb? Where?" Wu Yihao asked with great interest.
"There’s an ancient tomb here? From what era?" Liang Bing also asked curiously.
Their interest was genuine. Both of them, along with Zhou Kai, loved adventure and seeking thrills, so when they heard about an ancient tomb, their interest was piqued.
"It’s just at the foot of the mountain behind the village. We don’t know what era it is from. There’s nothing valuable inside, but there are some strange murals that we can’t understand," Uncle Jiang said with a smile. "We figured city folks like you might be interested, so we thought we’d mention it."
"After breakfast, can you take us to see it?" Tianmiao, still wearing her hat with her head down, asked.
"Sure, we can take you there after breakfast." Uncle Jiang nodded with a smile, though he felt a twinge of regret in his heart. This girl, although she always wore a hat making it hard to see her face clearly, had a really pleasant voice and a good figure. If she were to become his daughter-in-law, his son would surely like her. But given what Old Wu said, even if he didn’t quite believe it, it felt unsettling. On second thought, maybe it’s better to offer them all up.
Aunt Jiang also felt a bit of regret. However, she and Uncle Jiang had different preferences. She preferred Cui Wenyan and was muttering to herself about the younger girl, who looked around seventeen or eighteen, fresh and youthful, looked like she would be a good childbearer. But since Old Wu said so, it might be better to resolve it sooner. Just lead them down, and there would be no need to worry about the rest.
After breakfast, Uncle Jiang and Aunt Jiang led Tianmiao and the group out the door, intending to walk through the village to reach the mountain behind it.
As they walked through the village, the road was empty with no one around.
Yet, everyone felt as if there were people watching them from the shadows. Even ordinary people like Wu Yihao and Liang Bing felt this, not to mention the two fox spirits and Cui Wenyan with the Heavenly Eye.
But seeing Tianmiao calmly following behind Uncle Jiang and Aunt Jiang, no one said a word and quietly followed along.
As Cui Wenyan’s gaze swept over the entrance of one household, she suddenly jolted in shock. She blinked, confirming she hadn’t seen wrong. There were four ghosts at that doorway, and one of them was even an infant, floating next to the other three ghosts. The other three were little girls, none of them very old: one looked about seven, another eight or nine, and the oldest looked around fourteen or fifteen. They were all in ragged clothes and covered in wounds. Were they tortured to death?
As they continued forward, Cui Wenyan became more and more alarmed because there were ghosts lingering at the entrance of most homes.
And they were all female...
But yesterday, when they used the Ghost Radar, they didn’t detect anything unusual. Cui Wenyan increasingly felt that this place was eerie.
Bai Yue and Luo Peng also saw them.
Ahead, Aunt Jiang and Uncle Jiang continued to lead the way with smiles, talking about how their village was the most hospitable. They mentioned the wild vegetables on the mountain tasted great and that after the ancient tomb exploration, they’d prepare a tableful of food for them.
It didn’t take long before they reached the ancient tomb.
"Here’s the entrance. Inside, there’s just a small tomb chamber," Uncle Jiang said as they finally stopped in front of an underground entrance. It was a staircase dug out by humans. "Follow me down these stairs; it’s only a few meters deep," he continued.
Uncle Jiang said this as he took the lead and went down.
After a slight nod from Tianmiao, Wu Yihao and the others took out their flashlights and followed.
Uncle Jiang was right; the tomb chamber wasn’t deep. After descending about twenty steps, they saw the chamber door, made of two heavy stone slabs, now open, leading to darkness within.
Cui Wenyan took out her phone and turned on the Ghost Radar, then frowned.
The screen was filled with tiny white dots, representing the ghosts they saw in the village. But nearby, there was one very large white dot flashing.
Could it be a malicious ghost? Or the Ghost King?
Inside this tomb chamber?!
"There really are murals here. Oh, and candlesticks. What era do these cabinets belong to? They look a bit like dressing tables," Liang Bing said, shining his flashlight around.
"Why are there torches on the wall?" Wu Yihao also observed.
"We made those torches," Uncle Jiang’s voice abruptly sounded happily. "Sir, here are your offerings. Please enjoy."
As Uncle Jiang’s words fell, a loud bang was heard.
It was the sound of the tomb chamber door slamming shut.