Hedonist Prodigy

Chapter 83: The Ancient Tomb Buried Beneath the Ground

Jiang Feng was positioned just downwind, allowing him to hear every word spoken by the three men clearly, which left him momentarily stunned. He had thought the feng shui here was quite good, but since this area was originally a graveyard, he hadn’t given it much thought. Now, reminded by the three men, he realized that it was indeed possible that this mountain was hollow inside, concealing an ancient tomb; otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for the mountain to suddenly collapse for no reason.

At this moment, Jiang Feng understood the professions of the three men; they were definitely grave robbers. No wonder he had sensed a lingering smell of mud and blood from them earlier at the small inn, despite their clean clothes. However, he found it amusing that such a profession, which was typically shunned, was being flaunted so openly by these three, without any attempt to disguise their identities. Didn’t they fear being discovered and sent to the police station?

But this was also convenient for him, saving him the trouble of exploring alone. Jiang Feng decided to follow behind these three and see if they could indeed make any discoveries. With a thought, he flickered and quietly trailed after them.

The mountain where the graveyard was located wasn’t very high, only about four to five hundred meters above sea level. However, because no one had visited in a long time, the only path leading to the summit was overgrown with bushes and weeds, and there were rocks and soil that had fallen during the collapse, making the trail quite difficult to navigate. 

The three men ahead struggled up the slope, panting heavily, especially the chubby one. He had short, thick legs, was short and fat, weighing definitely over two hundred pounds. After this trek, he looked as if he had just been pulled out of water, completely drenched in sweat.

“Boss, I can’t go on, really can’t. Let’s take a break,” the chubby one said loudly.

“Keep your voice down, are you trying to get us killed?” the pockmarked man shot him a glare, speaking sharply.

The chubby one shrank his neck, chuckling awkwardly, and was about to sit down to rest. Just as he moved, he suddenly felt a chill at his neck, causing him to jerk back. His face turned pale as he looked back, only to see an expanse of darkness behind him, nothing visible.

At this moment, he thought he was hallucinating, but as soon as he turned his head back, he felt the chill again. His face changed drastically, and he shouted, “There’s a ghost! There’s a ghost!”

“Damn, are you losing your mind?” the short man said impatiently, slapping the chubby one on the forehead while covering his mouth with his other hand to prevent him from screaming.

The chubby one was now sweating profusely, shaking his backpack desperately, stammering, “Quick, quick, take out the black donkey hoof! There’s really a ghost; it just touched me!”

The short man laughed heartily, “A ghost touched you? You think you’re Song Yu or Pan An? Even a female ghost wouldn’t look at you; if anything, she’d go for someone like me…” 

As soon as he finished speaking, his expression changed dramatically, and he exclaimed, “Not good, boss, there’s really something wrong! Hurry, take out the stuff!”

Upon hearing this, the pockmarked man felt something was off. If it were just the chubby one having issues, he might think he was just being sneaky. But now that the short man was saying this, he realized they had indeed encountered something sinister. He hurriedly opened his backpack and took out a black donkey hoof.

The chubby and short men also pulled out their black donkey hooves, and the three of them exchanged glances, their faces alternating between green and purple. After a brief silence, the chubby one said quietly, “The black donkey hoof seems to be used against zombies, right? Is it effective against ghosts?”

“Should we burn some joss paper?” the short man suggested, trembling.

The pockmarked man fell silent, pondering for a moment before saying, “Don’t panic; we don’t even know what it is yet. It could just be someone playing a prank.” 

“But don’t you feel the heavy Yin energy here? It just doesn’t seem right,” the chubby man shivered as he spoke. 

The pockmarked man sneered, “This is a burial ground; the Yin energy is naturally heavy. If it weren’t, that would be truly abnormal. Stop making a fuss; let’s keep moving up.” 

“Keep going?” the short man replied, still shaken. 

“Now that we’re here, of course we need to go up and see what’s going on. You two don’t need to worry; whether there are ghosts or not is still uncertain. Even if there are, what’s there to be afraid of? The most dangerous thing in this world is the human heart. Just stick close behind me and don’t look around or touch anything, and you’ll be fine,” the pockmarked man said firmly. 

Jiang Feng, listening from a distance, felt that something was off as well. It was known that the temperature remained high at night in such weather, yet here it felt chillingly uncomfortable. 

As for the chubby man and the short man, their reactions suggested they had seen a ghost. Jiang Feng didn’t outright deny it; while ghostly tales didn’t hold water in modern urban society, in the Tianyuan Continent, the underworld spirits were very real, and there were even practitioners of ghost cultivation walking among the living. 

He had thought that after the earlier scare, these three tomb raiders would retreat, but he didn’t expect the pockmarked man to be so bold as to continue climbing. 

Soon, within Jiang Feng’s line of sight, the three tomb raiders continued their ascent. Each of them now held a black donkey hoof, and Jiang Feng silently followed, reaching the spot where they had paused. He then realized this was the shady side of the entire mountain, where the Yin energy was particularly heavy. 

He scanned the surroundings but didn’t notice anything unusual. Just as he was about to move up, he suddenly felt a chilling sensation at his neck, as if a cold hand had brushed against him. 

That feeling was harmless to the body but quite terrifying. Jiang Feng understood that the chubby man and the short man must have experienced something similar, and he couldn’t help but chuckle coldly to himself. 

Not to mention that this thing had no substance; even if it did, if it dared to appear before him, he would have no hesitation in killing it, whether it was human or ghost. 

He kept his feet moving, continuing to ascend. 

The three tomb raiders moved quickly, and after about ten minutes, they reached the mountaintop. Just as the news reports had stated, the middle part of the mountain had completely collapsed, with shattered rocks and fallen trees creating a chaotic scene. 

Having safely made it up the mountain without any incidents, the expressions of the three men relaxed a bit. The pockmarked man took out a Luoyang shovel from his backpack, examined it carefully, and then struck the ground in four places. After a while, he said, “The main structure of the tomb hasn’t been damaged; it seems to be a large tomb. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been built so solidly.” 

“If that’s the case, there must be treasures; we’re going to strike it rich this time,” the short man said excitedly. 

As they spoke, the three men split up to take action. Soon, the chubby man called out, “Over here, let’s dig a hole straight down.” 

The pockmarked man asked, “Are you sure?” 

“There’s no mistake; just try digging a few shovels down,” the chubby man replied confidently. 

The pockmarked man and the short man quickly began to dig, and soon the color of the soil inside began to change. Their faces lit up with joy, and after spending about ten more minutes, a tomb wall was exposed to their sight. 

The chubby man carefully climbed down and knocked on it, saying, “We can dig through here; it should lead to a tomb passage.”

Accompanied by a few thuds, the tomb wall was hollowed out, revealing a narrow passage that could fit a person curled up inside, right in front of the three men. They leaned in to take a look, and joy spread across their faces. The pockmarked man carefully lit a candle and placed it at the entrance; the candle flickered a few times but did not extinguish. The pockmarked man then said, “There’s wind blowing out from inside, it should be ventilated. It’s getting late; we should hurry down.” Without any hesitation, the three of them crawled into the passage. After their figures disappeared, Jiang Feng appeared near the excavation site. 

This scene surprised him; he hadn’t expected that the chubby man, who looked unremarkable, was actually an expert in finding dragon veins. However, the discovery of an ancient tomb underground greatly piqued his interest. As he moved, he followed them inside. 

The interior of the passage was damp. After walking a few meters, his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, and Jiang Feng found that the passage became flat, spacious, and dry enough for an adult to walk upright. He worried about losing track of the three tomb raiders and quickened his pace deeper inside. 

Not long after, Jiang Feng stopped in his tracks as a fork appeared before him, with two identical paths and no markings. He glanced at the chaotic footprints on the ground and discerned that the three tomb raiders had taken the left path. After a moment’s hesitation, he followed suit. 

However, soon ahead, another fork appeared, this time with four paths. The footprints of the three men were somewhat disordered here, but they ultimately chose the farthest left path to continue. Jiang Feng looked around and furrowed his brow, feeling that something was off. 

When he had walked in, he had estimated the distance; from the first fork to the second, it couldn’t have been more than twenty meters. If he continued at this pace, there was a high chance that more forks would appear behind him, and at that point, even he might get lost. 

Deciding not to follow the three tomb raiders anymore, Jiang Feng randomly picked a path and crawled in. Not far ahead, a tomb chamber appeared before him, and at the same time, he saw a green stone coffin. 

In the dark tomb chamber, the stone coffin emitted an unsettling, eerie aura that made Jiang Feng feel uneasy. He intended to step in and see what was going on when suddenly, a sound of wind arose from the darkness, and a shadow rushed toward him!