Deep in the mountains, there are dense layers of trees and staggered branches. Even on clear days, it was difficult for the sun to shine on the ground. The sky was covered with dark clouds, and the wind was blowing hard, sweeping over the land. Those dark clouds were like tossing waves over the sea, turbulent and terrifying .
At this moment, when it was late at night, the gloomy and silent forest shivered with the darkness of the night, and the dark clouds appeared to be covering up half of the sky. As soon as the rain cloth was put on, there was another gust of wind. The daytime heat on the ground hasnât been completely removed by the cool wind, and intermingled with the fetid dry soil. It was hot and cold at the same timeâŠ.. The dark clouds in the sky were foreshadowing the arrival of some great disaster, making nature look as if it was panicking. The soaking big trees stood unsteadily against the strong wind, dancing wildly as the wind passed by.
âHow is Tang Chenggui?â
There are many things in the mountains, and this Crouching Tiger Mountain was too far from the Tang familyâs village. Before they could make a move on this big tomb, the things that should be prepared, were already prepared and have long been hidden in a cave not far away.
Hiding under a large rain shelter, Tang Jiaming turned on the lights and unblinkly gazed at the cave not far away. The entrance was narrow, dark and filled with a murky smell.
âI donât know, just now he was kicked down the mountain by that bastard. It seems that he knocked his head open and bleeded a lot. Since he fainted, we donât know if he had injured his internal organs.â The middle-aged man took a cigarette, placed it in his mouth and took out a lighter from his pocket. He tried to light the cigarette several times, but the flame was blown out by the strong wind every single time.
âFuck!â After trying several times, the middle-aged man angrily threw the lighter down the hillside. âJust now, I asked the two boys to carry him away, but I donât know if they had arrived yet, due to the heavy rain. I just hope that those two donât get killed inside the tomb, we should be the first ones to take their lives.â
âWho knowsâŠ..â
The middle-aged manâs name was Tang Yihong. His grandfather and Tang Jiamingâs grandfather were brothers. Although Tang Yihong is older than Tang Jiaming by twenty years, according to the generations, heâs also Tang Jiamingâs cousin.
Tang Jiaming stood for a long time, and his legs were very sore by now, so he found a wooden pier and sat down.
Seeing him like this, Tang Yihong couldnât help but sneer: âIf I remember correctly, youâre only 28 or 29 years old, right? If you canât stand for long periods of time, how is this the appearance of someone in their twenties? You donât even look as solid and energetic like me, who has one foot inside the coffin.â
As he gasped for breath, Tang Jiaming glanced at Tang Yihong with an ugly face. However, he didnât reply.
Although the two were cousins, their grandfathers had a conflict and the family was divided. Because Tang Yihongâs grandfather was the eldest brother, he was given the ancestral hall of the Tang familyâs village, the roots of the Tang family. However, Tang Jiamingâs grandfather left Pingyao because he was angry at his family for being biased, and at his eldest brother for being selfish. When he arrived at Jinzhong City, he asked his son, Tang Jiamingâs father, to not bury him in his hometown. Itâs true that the two sides havenât contacted each other for decades.
However, the two families contacted each other again because of the death of Tang Jiamingâs fatherâŠ. Thinking of the events of that year made it difficult for Tang Jiaming to calm down. Even after so many years, he still remembered the tragic death of his father!
âIf you keep looking like this, you will end up dying before you can get to revenge.â
âShut up!â While clenching his fist, Tang Jiamingâs eyes flashed with an unstoppable anger. His face was as yellow as wax, his lips were extremely pale, and his entire body was shivering: âIf you still want to get the Taowu bones, shut the fuck up!â
Tang Yihong was the most important person in the Tang family of Pingyao, and the most respectable figure in their Fa Qiu sect. He has alway looked down on those Tang family members who had left Pingyao, especially Tang Jiaming and his father, his youngest uncle. They were from the Fa Qiu branch of the Tang family, and even though they acted as righteous archeologists on the surface, they were in fact as much grave robbers as they were!
ButâŠâŠ When he thought of the legendary Taowu bones, Tang Yihong gulped a mouthful of energy.
Over the past thousands of years, natural disasters as well as man-made disasters have constantly been passing by. Time has changed, the Dynasties have changed, and the flames of war have swept this land countless times. The Tang genealogy has been recorded for thousands of years, and even though it was somewhat intermittent, the majority of it was recorded successfully.
The earliest trace of the Tang family can be traced back to the late Tang Dynasty, when the recorder of that time said that the Tang family were originally the gravekeepers of the Imperial Mausoleum of the Xu Dynasty, three hundred years ago. For this reason, they thought that it was a tiny mistake made by the recorder of that time, and didnât bother to do a deeper research. However, the Tang family did guard these mountains and forests for generations.
For more than a thousand years, a small family had grown up into an entire village. However, the village had a limited field, and slowly, Tang family members left, wave after wave.
Most of the Tang family members who have remained behind, were the most ordinary members of the thousands of people in the rest of the world. After more than a thousand years of wars, surviving wasnât an easy task, so who will guard the Imperial Mausoleum of a long-destroyed Dynasty? When you have to survive in bitter situations, an Imperial Mausoleum becomes an inexhaustible treasure. In the end, the Tang family members that had stayed in the village, changed from being the gravekeepers of an Imperial Mausoleum, to a grave robbing sect.
The ancients feared the graves more devoutly than the atheists do today. But once the theft begins, itâs difficult to stop. Thousands of years was enough for the Tang family to become a sect of their own, and there are a lot of people who study Taoism, Buddhism, and martial arts for this reason. Such as the family of Tang JiamingâŠ.
Tang Yihong wanted to take the Taowu bone, but he just knew the scarce information written in the genealogy, and the only thing he knew was that it could make people immortal. However, the specific function and method of using it were unknown.
Not to mentionâŠ
According to the genealogy, the bone of the Taowu, an ancient beast, can only be seen by people with spiritual eyes, and by people who had practiced some skills. Although he doesnât want to admit it, only Tang Jiaming has such a pair of eyes. So only Tang Jiaming has the ability to get it.
Because of this, there are some things that he has to listen to Tang Jiaming.
âHmph! You better not give me any troubles.â Tang Yihong snorted coldly. glanced at Tang Jiamingâs waxy-looking face, and frowned. The last time he saw Tang Jiaming, he clearly wasnât looking like this, and that was only three months agoâŠ..
âDonât worry, youâre indispensable to get that thing.â After saying this, a cold wind carrying a bit of rain crossed over, and Tang Jiaming couldnât help but shiver.
Tang Yihong didnât care about Tang Jiamingâs health anymore. In the end, whether heâs alive or dead has nothing to do with him. He just needs him to get that Taowu bone.
When they saw movement at the entrance of the cave, Tang Yihong hurriedly went over to Tang Jie, who had just come out after exploring inside.
âHow is it?â
âBecause itâs raining, some rainwater entered into the tomb. Itâs very slippery down there, I almost fell down.â Taking off the muddy spiked shoes, Tang Jie continued: âI just approached the entrance of the hole, but I couldnât find them. Perhaps, the floor of the passage turned upside down and they fell down.â
Tang Jieâs words let Tang Yihong silent. Tang Jiaming also knew that the situation in this tomb was different from the one in Ninghua Village. He knew that there were no ghosts inside this tomb, but it was filled with traps. At that time, he knew from Zhang Jun that Qin Cheng and Wu Hai had come to Shanxi, so he guessed that Qin Cheng mustâve gotten the information fromâŠ. the Emperor inside Ninghua Villageâs tomb. He thought that if Qin Cheng could find this place, then it proved that he was prepared, and this preparation was learned from the âmanâ who lived more than 1000 years ago. Maybe the same way as how Qin Cheng had entered Ningua Villageâs tomb unharmed, he will also walk out safely from this oneâŠ.
Because of this, he called Tang Yihong in advance, and then rushed over as fast as he could.
âTang Jie, did you find anything else?â
âI foundâŠ. hiss-itâs too dark, I couldnât see clearly at the bottom, butâŠ.â
âBut what?â
âTch, there seem to be several poles inserted on the walls of the tomb passageâŠ.â
Poles? Tang Jiaming was stunned for a moment, but then said with a smile: âEven though weâve explored for so many years, we havenât walked through the tombâs passage for long. Many people died, but we never saw any poles.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âI think that the two of them have walked through the tombâs passage, and theyâve gone deep.â
As soon as Tang Jiaming said this, the few people who were present couldnât help but feel goosebumps.
âBullshit!! How can they reach the depths of the tomb if they donât even know what Dynasty this tomb belongs to?!â
âHow is it possible?! We havenât even figured out where the trap switches are in this tomb after so many years?! How can they know?! They are outsiders, how can they know more than the Tang family that have been here for generations? How can they be more familiar with this tomb than we are?â
It had to be said that although Tang Yihong had such a premonition at the bottom of his heart, it was ridiculous to ask him to admit that a person who had just arrived, knew more about this tomb than the ones who had been here for decades. That they know more than the man who is the face of the Fa Qiu Sect. Itâs simply ridiculous!
Thinking of the time when Qin Cheng said that he didnât know anything, and that it was Li Guoxian the one who asked him to come⊠Where does it look like he doesnât know anything?! He was fooled by a boy in his twenties who hasnât even graduated yet!
Tang Jiaming naturally understood what these people thought. Qin Cheng is indeed quite annoying, especially in the archeological aspectâŠ.
Even Tang Jiamingâs attitude towards Qin Cheng was very complicated. At first, he was the one who knew the most about the big tomb in Ninghua Village. Apart from a few old professors, everyone else was simply arguing about the possibilities. Even if there were occasions when they had extraordinary theories, they still couldnât understand the tomb at all.
However, after Qin Cheng entered the tomb, everything changedâŠ.
Tang Jiaming didnât know why Qin Cheng was able to survive until now, or why Qin Cheng was suddenly able to see ghosts. Even more so, he couldnât even begin to imagine what Qin Cheng had learned from the mouth of the Emperor.
But in the past few months, things have changed dramatically. Now, he had to rely on Qin Cheng to get those things, to get what he wantedâŠ.
To be honest, it wasnât pleasant to be out of control. But in retrospect, if he can take advantage of others along the way, while also getting the supreme treasure without much effort, then the rest is nothing.
âAs long as we can get the Taowu bone, itâs alright for him to be there. If he canât do it, then when will you guys get the bones?â
After having said that, Tang Jiaming smiled coldly: âItâs better to guard the tree and wait for the rabbit <sup>1</sup> , rather than an ant trying to shake a tree <sup>2</sup> . Otherwise, weâll be like a moth flying into a flame <sup>3</sup> .â
They just have to wait here for the two ârabbitsâ to come outâŠ.
However, the ârabbitsâ in Tang Jiamingâs mouth were now attracted by the dense words engraved in the tomb: âIn the 14th year of Detian, Emperor Yang Zhuang Wen Ling Li <sup>4</sup> killed the Northern barbarians as a sacrifice to General NingâŠ.â
âšExtra Chapter thanks to Ko-fiâš [4/4]
Aaaaahhhh finally finished updating all the extra chapters!! (àčâąÌă âąÌ)Ùâ§
sdfghjdfghjk itâs so funny how QC annoys everyone with his archeological skills, like WH literally hated him until QC saved his life and now theyâre besties!!