Each of Lin Zhushui’s disciples, after following him for a few years, would venture out alone for travels.

Shen Musi had gone out, as had Shen Chaosan and Shen Erbai. So, only Shen Yiqiong remained who hadn’t experienced that.

When Shen Yiqiong left, it was the worst time for the Lin family. Zhou Jiayu was dead and buried, and Lin Zhushui, with his white hair, was almost uninterested in anything around him.

Shen Yiqiong left the Lin family under such circumstances. He couldn’t stand the suffocating atmosphere at home. Seeing Little Paper, seeing the weasel, he would think of Zhou Jiayu, and recall those unique times they had spent together.

Memories are the most tormenting. The night before he left, Shen Yiqiong and Lin Jue both got heavily drunk. They didn’t talk much, just kept drinking, yellow, white, red, everything the house had.

They say that drinking alone is the most intoxicating, and Shen Yiqiong felt the same way. That night, he drank himself almost senseless, not even knowing how he ended up back in bed.

The only memory he had was of crying incessantly, crying until his pillow was soaked.

The next day, a few senior disciples saw Shen Yiqiong off, also cautioning him about things to pay attention to. Shen Yiqiong, with a haggard face after his hangover, looked like he could drop dead at any moment.

Shen Musi could only sigh when he saw him like this, saying, “When you go out, don’t be like you are at home. At least don’t drink so much, or you won’t know what hit you if something happens.”

Shen Yiqiong covered his head and nodded obediently.

The other two senior disciples also cautioned him about other things. These were things Lin Zhushui, as his master, should have done, but everyone could see that Lin Zhushui had lost the will to live. If he weren’t still looking for something, he would probably have followed Zhou Jiayu long ago.

Shen Yiqiong felt quite uncomfortable with these admonitions and involuntarily thought of Zhou Jiayu again. He thought that if Zhou Jiayu were still alive, he might have cooked him a big farewell meal… but unfortunately, he hadn’t tasted that food in a long time.

The greatest distance in this world is nothing more than life and death.

“I’m leaving.” Carrying a simple backpack and bidding farewell to his family, Shen Yiqiong finally stroked Little Paper and the weasel, then embarked on his own journey.

The first stop for Shen Yiqiong was Northeast China. He wanted to see the last scenery Zhou Jiayu had witnessed.

Xu Rumang, acting as the host, received Shen Yiqiong.

The night Shen Yiqiong arrived, the two of them ordered a pile of barbecue, a few bottles of liquor, and sat at a roadside stall, drinking and chatting. Xu Rumang said, “Why did you leave so suddenly? There wasn’t any warning.”

Shen Yiqiong smiled bitterly: “How could there be no warning? When Master left in a hurry, leaving Zhou Jiayu alone, I guessed something.”

Xu Rumang asked, “What exactly happened?”

Shen Yiqiong slowly recounted what he knew. Lin Zhushui had actually never told them these things, probably thinking they couldn’t help much. Later, Shen Yiqiong learned the details from Lin Jue, but by then, everything was already too late.

“When Zhou Jiayu secretly ran off, I was still thinking if Master could bring him back,” Shen Yiqiong wiped his face and said, “Later, he did come back, but unfortunately, he was gone.”

Xu Rumang took a big gulp of wine, unable to say a word.

Shen Yiqiong babbled on and on, until finally Xu Rumang couldn’t bear to listen anymore. He reached out and pressed on his shoulder, saying, “Brother, stop talking. This time, you’ve come to the Northeast for experience; I’ll definitely provide you with the best place.”

Shen Yiqiong looked at Xu Rumang gratefully.

Xu Rumang said, “Wait until tomorrow; I’ll take you there!”

Shen Yiqiong nodded.

However, the outcome of discussions held while drinking is clearly best not taken too seriously. When Shen Yiqiong woke up from his hangover the next day, Xu Rumang appeared before him, full of energy, saying, “Shen Yiqiong, let’s go.”

Shen Yiqiong had completely forgotten his bold words from yesterday and asked with a bewildered face, “Go where?”

Xu Rumang said, “To a very interesting place, nowhere else has it.”

Shen Yiqiong was confused but was still dragged out the door by Xu Rumang. They then bought all sorts of random equipment from nearby stores.

Shen Yiqiong held a shovel and asked Xu Rumang, “What are we buying this for?” Xu Rumang said, “Didn’t we agree on everything last night?”

Shen Yiqiong: “???” What exactly had he agreed on with Xu Rumang?

Shen Yiqiong held it in for a long time, but finally couldn’t hold back when they got into the car. He said, “Xu Rumang, I kind of don’t remember what we talked about yesterday. Can you give me a hint?”

Xu Rumang sat next to Shen Yiqiong and said, “Hint? A hint… rat?”

Shen Yiqiong: “…” Better not to have said anything at all.

The two took a long-distance bus, then a green train, and finally arrived in a desolate mountain forest. Shen Yiqiong, being a fengshui master, felt that the feng shui of this mountain forest was excellent after getting off the car. Surrounded by mountains, it presented the shape of a soaring dragon. This forest was located where mountain ranges connected, making it a good place for burial in terms of feng shui.

Shen Yiqiong was still dizzy, his face pale, and worst of all, he was inexplicably a little carsick and wanted to vomit badly after getting out of the car.

Xu Rumang, as a typical Northern man, perfectly demonstrated his robust physique at this moment. He slapped Shen Yiqiong’s back heavily a few times, almost knocking Shen Yiqiong’s lungs out directly.

Shen Yiqiong almost cried out, “Stop slapping! If you keep it up, I’m really going to throw up!”

After gulping down several mouthfuls of water, Shen Yiqiong finally recovered, sitting by the roadside, gasping for breath. He looked around and asked, “Where are we going?”

“To catch rats,” Xu Rumang said. “Didn’t we agree yesterday?”

Shen Yiqiong: “…Can you be more specific?”

But Xu Rumang kept him guessing, saying he’d know when they got there.

So, urged by Xu Rumang, Shen Yiqiong had no choice but to get up and continue forward. The two trekked through the mountains and rivers, relying on GPS, and walked for two days. Just when Shen Yiqiong truly felt he couldn’t go on, he finally saw what Xu Rumang called the “rat hole.”

“A tomb raider’s hole??” Shen Yiqiong was startled when he saw the hole. Although he had seen pictures of them in books before, it was his first time seeing one in person.

The dirt on the tomb raider’s hole still looked fresh and emitted a damp smell. Shen Yiqiong looked closely and was surprised to find traces of gunpowder nearby: “Holy crap, someone actually went down this hole?”

“Yeah,” Xu Rumang said, “There’s a particularly famous unnamed tomb in this area that’s supposedly very large, but no one has dug it out, so people often come here.”

Shen Yiqiong: “Then why are we here?”

Xu Rumang patted his luggage: “Don’t you want to broaden your horizons? Tomb robbers are rare, right?”

Shen Yiqiong made a gesture of admiration towards Xu Rumang.

However, this tomb raider’s hole should be empty now, because normally, if there were people, someone would be guarding the entrance. The hole would only be empty after the tomb robbers had left.

Shen Yiqiong, seeing this for the first time, found it somewhat interesting. He propped his head and peered into the hole a few times. It was pitch black inside, and he couldn’t see anything.

“We’re not going in, are we?” Shen Yiqiong asked cautiously, startled when he saw Xu Rumang starting to organize his things.

Xu Rumang said, “Since we’re already here…”

Shen Yiqiong inexplicably felt Xu Rumang’s words were very familiar. After thinking carefully, he remembered the incident when he and Zhou Jiayu were trapped on the rooftop by Lin Zhushui. He remembered Lin Zhushui also saying back then, “Since we’re already here…”

It was just a pity that things were different now.

Thinking of Zhou Jiayu, the fear in Shen Yiqiong’s heart surprisingly lessened a lot. If someone as timid as Zhou Jiayu dared to set off alone, what did he have to be afraid of?

So, gritting his teeth, Shen Yiqiong followed Xu Rumang down.

The hole looked quite deep, and he didn’t know how long these people had been digging. Shen Yiqiong, tethered by a rope, quickly reached the bottom, following the winding passage.

Xu Rumang was ahead of him, with a small light on his chest, barely illuminating the situation below.

It took about ten minutes for them to finally reach the ground. As soon as Shen Yiqiong’s feet touched the bottom, he felt something was off; he seemed to have stepped on some kind of liquid.

“What is this?” It hadn’t rained here for days, so it shouldn’t be rainwater. Shen Yiqiong lowered his head and saw some strange liquid sticking to the bottom of his feet.

This liquid was black and very viscous. Shen Yiqiong moved his foot and saw a few strands being pulled from the liquid.

“I don’t know,” Xu Rumang was also examining it. “Maybe chicken blood?”

“Is blood this viscous?” Shen Yiqiong felt something was wrong. “You said there are so many tomb raider holes here, but no one has dug anything out, and no one has ever had an accident?”

No sooner had he asked than Xu Rumang nonchalantly said, “Yes, there have been accidents here frequently.”

Shen Yiqiong: “…”

Xu Rumang continued, “Several tomb robbers have died here, and they all died quite horribly.” He even seemed happy as he spoke. “I even came to see it with my master back then. My master said it seemed like they were killed by something in the tomb.”

Shen Yiqiong: “…So why are you so happy?”

Xu Rumang: “I’ve always wanted to come here, but no one would come with me. Now that you’re here, isn’t it perfect?”

Shen Yiqiong fell silent, feeling that even Zhou Jiayu wouldn’t be able to comfort him this time.

Xu Rumang said a few words to Shen Yiqiong, then pulled out his flashlight and prepared to continue forward. But after only two steps, he saw something even worse.

They saw three corpses.

The corpses, clad in black climbing suits, lay sprawled in the corner. Because the corner was very dark, they were easy to overlook at first glance. Xu Rumang must have seen them somehow.

Shen Yiqiong: “…” He was about to curse, but since he had already seen many corpses and had felt something was off when he stepped on the liquid earlier, he wasn’t too surprised to hear Xu Rumang say this. Instead, he felt a sense of inevitability.

“These are the tomb robbers who dug this hole,” Xu Rumang first walked to the corpses and inspected them. He quickly identified the bodies by their clothing and the equipment they carried. “How did they die here?”

Shen Yiqiong said, “How would I know?” He also found some strange marks on the wall, some resembling claw marks, very deep, but he couldn’t tell if they were left by a human or an animal.

Xu Rumang, however, wasn’t too nervous. He lit a cigarette and held it in his mouth, turning to ask Shen Yiqiong if he wanted one.

Shen Yiqiong didn’t hesitate, took one and lit it for himself. He said, “Can you tell the cause of death?”

Xu Rumang nodded: “Mm, there are wounds on their necks, like they were attacked by some wild beast that bit their necks…” He stood up. “Let’s go out.”

Shen Yiqiong said, “From your posture just now, I thought you were going to go deeper.”

Xu Rumang: “I’m not stupid…” No sooner had he said “I’m not stupid” than the two heard a sudden, loud rumble of thunder. This sound came abruptly, like a clap of thunder from a clear sky, and even the earth around them began to fall.

Shen Yiqiong was forced to hold onto the wall: “What was that?”

Xu Rumang said, “I don’t know—”

The two managed to steady themselves and didn’t fall, waiting for the vibration to pass.

However, when the tremor ended, Shen Yiqiong walked to the mouth of the tunnel and saw that the safety rope, originally tied outside the tunnel, had actually fallen inside. The safety rope was a standard outdoor sports tool, of excellent quality; even cutting it with a knife would probably take a while.

Shen Yiqiong’s face changed when he saw the rope: “Holy crap, how did this rope break?”

Xu Rumang quickly walked up, reached out, and pulled the rope inwards, soon dragging the broken end in front of them. At the end of the rope was a very rough break, as if it had been bitten off by some wild animal with sharp teeth. Shen Yiqiong touched it with his hand and even felt something similar to saliva.

“…There are wild animals here?” Seeing the rope in this state, even Shen Yiqiong, slow as he was, realized something was wrong. He wondered if that thunder-like sound earlier was related to this.

“Yes, but no wild animals like this,” Xu Rumang pondered. “Looks like our lives are in danger.”

“No signal on the phone either.” Shen Yiqiong studied it for a while, feeling that he and Xu Rumang were pretty much doomed. “What do we do?”

Xu Rumang raised his chin: “Let’s look inside; what if there’s another way out?”

Hearing this, Shen Yiqiong muttered to himself, thinking, “Isn’t this how it plays out in horror movies?” He just wondered if he and Xu Rumang had the same good luck as the protagonists.

Xu Rumang took out his flashlight, and the two began to explore deeper into the tomb.

Passing by the corpses, Shen Yiqiong glanced over again. It would have been better if he hadn’t looked; the sight made him shiver: “How is that thing moving??”

Xu Rumang initially thought Shen Yiqiong was joking, saying, “Can you not joke at a time like this, buddy?” But when he walked two steps forward, he really heard a strange sound coming from the direction of the corpses.

It was a viscous sound of slow movement in liquid, exceptionally clear in the empty, silent tunnel. Xu Rumang shined the flashlight directly at the sound source and found that what Shen Yiqiong said was actually true—the corpses in the corner began to move slowly.

More than moving, it was as if something was trying to burst out from within them. The surface of the corpses twitched continuously, and their skin began to become bumpy.

Shen Yiqiong and Xu Rumang exchanged glances: “Have you seen this before?”

Xu Rumang shook his head: “No.”

At that moment, Shen Yiqiong suddenly wanted to slap Xu Rumang’s reflective bald head. What evil had possessed him to come and reminisce with this bastard Xu Rumang, only to be led to this desolate wilderness? He now had a terrible premonition that he was going to meet his end here—he would never drink with Northeasterners again.

A strong will to survive saved the two of them. They ran as fast as they could, and just as they rounded a corner, they heard a loud bang behind them, like something exploding.

Undoubtedly, soon after they ran, the corpse exploded directly. A nauseating smell wafted through the passage. Shen Yiqiong was already a bit carsick, and smelling this finally made him unable to hold it in; he opened his mouth and vomited.

Xu Rumang, standing nearby, said, “Don’t throw up anymore; you’re making me want to throw up too.”

Shen Yiqiong: “Ugh—”

Xu Rumang’s face turned green and then pale as he watched Shen Yiqiong, his expression highly dramatic. Finally, he couldn’t hold back and vomited along with Shen Yiqiong.

So, in the tunnel, one after another, they both threw up all of last night’s dinner.

After vomiting, Shen Yiqiong leaned against the wall, panting for a while, and asked, “Are you alright?”

Xu Rumang wiped his mouth and said something that Shen Yiqiong would remember for the rest of his life. He said, “I feel hungry again…”

Shen Yiqiong: “????”

After recovering, the two observed their surroundings and realized that they had somehow entered a tunnel made of bluestone. On both sides of the tunnel were stone animal sculptures, but the sculptures were a bit unusual—none of them had eyes carved into them.

There were also some exquisite bas-reliefs on the walls. If the end of the tunnel was indeed a tomb, then the scale of this tomb was probably quite large.

Shen Yiqiong initially wanted to return the way they came, but the foul smell was too strong, making him dizzy after just two steps forward, so he had to retreat.

“Otherwise, let’s keep going forward. Since the smell isn’t as strong inside, there must be a ventilation spot,” Xu Rumang analyzed.

Shen Yiqiong: “Alright.”

So, the two of them bravely continued forward. They thought they would have a long way to go, but unexpectedly, they reached the end after not too long. The end was a seemingly heavy iron gate.

The iron gate was very tall and appeared to be very well preserved, with some carved patterns on it, but they were too abstract for Shen Yiqiong to recognize. He could only vaguely make out what seemed to be some plants, but he couldn’t distinguish exactly what kind of plants they were.

“Are there any mechanisms here?” Xu Rumang didn’t know much about tombs and turned to ask Shen Yiqiong.

“Highly likely,” Shen Yiqiong said. “Generally, at such entrance locations, many mechanisms are set up to prevent tomb raiding, such as poisonous smoke, flying arrows, or white phosphorus夹 in bricks are common methods.” As he spoke, he tentatively pressed his hand gently on the door.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, the seemingly hundreds-of-pounds heavy iron gate suddenly crashed backward, making a huge sound and raising clouds of dust.

Xu Rumang was startled, his eyes wide with surprise as he looked at Shen Yiqiong: “Shen Yiqiong, that’s impressive! When did you learn such a bare-handed iron gate-splitting trick?”

Shen Yiqiong: “…” I’m not, I didn’t.

Xu Rumang said, “It seems Lin Zhushui’s disciples are indeed extraordinary. This iron gate must weigh several hundred pounds.” He reached out and pushed the right door, but the iron door didn’t budge.

Shen Yiqiong: “Actually, I really didn’t use any force…”

Xu Rumang: “Alright, I understand. You don’t want to expose your strength. I won’t tell anyone.”

Shen Yiqiong was truly speechless. Finally, feeling that it was impossible to explain clearly, he quietly shut up and let Xu Rumang say whatever he wanted.

Beyond the iron gate was another passage, but this passage was much wider than the path they had taken to get there, and oil lamp-like lighting fixtures hung on the walls.

After entering, Shen Yiqiong looked at the iron gate he had pushed open and found that the inside of the iron gate was empty, with only a thin outer layer hanging on it. No wonder he hadn’t used any force just now, and the entire iron gate had simply been pushed open.

“This iron gate could be considered a cultural relic, right?” Shen Yiqiong felt a bit of pity. “I feel like it could be put in a museum if it were transported out.”

Xu Rumang said, “You have really good character. You’re still thinking about cultural relics now. I’m just worried that when we get out, we’ll also be transported out…”

Shen Yiqiong: “…” How dare you say that? Weren’t you the one who brought me in here?

Walking through the tunnel, Shen Yiqiong found that he couldn’t tell what dynasty the tomb belonged to from the architectural style. Tombs from each dynasty had their peculiarities, such as Tang Dynasty tombs liking to appear in the form of tunnels, Song Dynasty tombs being buried relatively shallow, and Ming Dynasty tombs mostly being mounds of earth. But the tomb before him left Shen Yiqiong completely baffled. It was empty inside, and the ground and walls were all inlaid with a black stone slab. This stone slab seemed to be specially forged and was very hard; the door falling to the ground just now hadn’t even left a single mark.

Shen Yiqiong, fearing they might get lost in the tunnel, took out his dagger and tentatively tried to leave a mark on the wall. Logically, these tunnels had some age and shouldn’t be as hard as they were initially. However, Shen Yiqiong’s dagger could only scratch shallow white marks on it and couldn’t even penetrate an inch.

“Good quality,” Shen Yiqiong studied it. “It’s such a shame that the ancient methods of brick making have been lost.”

Xu Rumang initially urged Shen Yiqiong, but then he just let him be, perhaps thinking that since they could die at any moment, they might as well be happier before they died.

After the tunnel was a huge hall. Normally, these halls would be filled with burial objects like porcelain, but this hall was empty, with nothing at all.

“Is this really a tomb?” Shen Yiqiong began to doubt the place they had entered. “How could there be no burial objects at all…”

Xu Rumang also appeared to be in deep thought. After thinking for a while, he suddenly said, “Shen Yiqiong, have you heard the story of the Yellow Weasel of the Northeast?”

Shen Yiqiong was startled: “You mean the family that raised weasels? But… isn’t that just a legend?”

“It’s a legend,” Xu Rumang said, “But doesn’t every legend have its basis?”

Shen Yiqiong frowned: “Why did you suddenly think of this?”

Xu Rumang pointed to the right wall: “Look at that painting. Doesn’t it look like a weasel with a human head?”

Shen Yiqiong followed Xu Rumang’s指 direction and found that, just as Xu Rumang said, a standing weasel sculpture was indeed on the wall, but its head was human-like.