The cemetery keeper was an old man in his fifties, hunched over, a cheap cigarette dangling from his lips, sitting in an old rocking chair in the duty room, his cloudy eyes watching the outside.

He was wrapped tightly in a military green coat, resisting the biting cold wind of the night.

*Clack!*

Li Tianran pushed open the door of the duty room and walked in, bringing a gust of dusty cold wind that made the old man shiver.

"Grandpa, I'm Li Tianran... were you the one who called me just now?" Li Tianran looked at the cemetery keeper and asked in a deep voice.

"It was me." The cemetery keeper stood up when he saw this. He was hunched over like a hunchback, wrapped his coat tighter, picked up the flashlight on the table and walked outside. "Come on, I'll take you to see."

The huge cemetery was dimly lit, covering an area of ​​several kilometers. Li Tianran's parents' tomb was in a relatively remote corner. The two walked towards that location.

Li Tianran felt anxious and couldn't help but quicken his pace. The cemetery keeper followed behind, panting after a few steps.

Li Tianran couldn't bear it when he saw this, and slowed down.

The cemetery was divided into four areas, and each area was separated by wire mesh, which served as an anti-theft function. Usually, only the cemetery keeper had the key to open the locked wire mesh.

Even in the new century, some people are still engaged in tomb robbery. They steal the ashes of women in the cemetery and arrange ghost marriages for some dead people. The price is very high. It is said that the ashes of a woman can be sold for tens of thousands of yuan...

"Grandpa, is it just you in such a big cemetery?" Li Tianran asked softly.

"Yeah." The cemetery keeper didn't seem to want to talk and just nodded slightly.

"The world has changed now, danger is everywhere, and many people are hiding at home afraid to go out... Why are you still coming out to work?" Li Tianran asked again.

"Hehe... even if the world changes, I still have to eat!" The cemetery keeper smiled bitterly, "Working here is a bit dangerous, but I can still get three hundred yuan a week to buy rice and noodles; hiding at home is indeed safe! But I'll starve to death in less than three days!"

The cemetery keeper's words revealed a strong sense of sorrow.

Before the cataclysm, even the once affluent people lived hard, while those who were already living hard lived more like small insects in the mud, gambling their lives for tomorrow.

The two fell silent and walked forward, soon arriving at the area where Li Tianran's parents' tomb was located.

The cemetery keeper took out the key and opened the gate made of wire mesh, and shined the flashlight on a building in the corner that was more than two meters high, like a small ancestral hall.

A stone tablet stood in front of the small ancestral hall, and in the very center of the hall, there should have been a stone door sealing the entrance, but now the two stone doors were scattered on the ground, revealing the dark gap inside.

The two wooden boxes containing the ashes were gone.

Li Tianran felt his whole body turn cold when he saw this.

"I discovered it an hour ago when I was patrolling here." The cemetery keeper's tone was also a bit low. Then, he shined the flashlight on the wire mesh on the adjacent wall. He saw a hole in the wire mesh that separated the cemetery from the outside world. The wire was twisted off as if by pliers or something.

"There is only one entrance to this cemetery. The person who stole your parents' ash boxes should have sneaked in through this hole." The cemetery keeper pointed the flashlight at the hole in the wire mesh, and then pointed to the small ancestral hall again.

"Go and see if the tomb robbers left any clues!"

Li Tianran gritted his teeth, didn't look at the small ancestral hall, but walked towards the wire mesh.

The cut ends of the wire on this were new, the cut surfaces were shiny and bright. Obviously, it had just been cut not long ago, otherwise in this humid and cold weather, these cut ends would rust in less than a day.

There were some footprints under the wire mesh. Li Tianran compared them, and they were about size 44.

"Are there any surveillance cameras in the cemetery?" Li Tianran asked after a moment of silence.

"Who dares to install that thing in a cemetery..." The cemetery keeper shook his head and said, "It's too scary! If I glance at the screen in the middle of the night and see a figure, should I go out or not?"

The cemetery keeper's salary and benefits are very low, and it is just a job to muddle through. No one will be too dedicated.

Li Tianran didn't argue with the cemetery keeper or scold him for not doing his job well.

Because it was useless at all.

He just wanted to see if there were any traces left by the other party here, trying to find some clues.

"You better check the small ancestral hall to see if those tomb robbers left any clues..." The cemetery keeper said, handing the flashlight to Li Tianran, and pointed to the small ancestral hall again.

Li Tianran's heart was in a mess. He took the flashlight and walked towards his parents' small ancestral hall.

On the tombstone, photos of a middle-aged couple hung above, revealing gentle smiles. Li Tianran felt a pang of sadness in his heart.

He trembled and muttered to himself: "It's my fault, I didn't think comprehensively enough... I should have taken you back the day the world changed."

When the world changes, anything can happen.

In case of any crustal movement, or some mutated beasts break into the cemetery, it will also make a mess here.

Li Tianran forced himself to endure the pain and kowtowed twice in front of the tombstone.

In the photo, the woman's eyes were extremely gentle.

Li Tianran stood up and wanted to go to the small ancestral hall to take a look, but at this moment he suddenly froze, as if he had thought of something, and suddenly turned and walked towards the direction of the hole in the wire mesh.

He stood there again, using his hand to gesture the size of the hole.

He quickly realized the problem.

This hole seems a bit small!

Its diameter is only half a meter. Although it can accommodate some adults to pass through here, it must be very difficult.

Li Tianran tried to squeeze through and spent more than ten seconds to pass completely.

Then, he stood outside the hole and looked at the edge of the wire. He saw that nearly half of the dozens of sharp branches where the wire mesh was cut were hanging with some threads. Those were the fluff from Li Tianran's clothes. If you don't look carefully, you can't see them at all.

Li Tianran's figure is not strong, but rather thin among adult males. Moreover, when he squeezed through this hole, he was very careful to avoid the wires as much as possible, but even so, his clothes still caught on the sharp branches of the wires, leaving traces.

The footprints under the wire mesh were about size 44. According to this ratio, this person's height should be between 1.78 meters and 1.83 meters, which is considered tall among men. If he wants to pass through this hole in the wire mesh, it is impossible to be very easy.

Li Tianran remembered very clearly that there were no traces of thread on these wires before!

Li Tianran tried to pull the threads. They couldn't be pulled off without force. There was absolutely no chance that they would be blown away by the wind.

Even a thin person couldn't have left no traces at all.

A flash of inspiration flashed through his mind, and his eyes turned cold.

He began to slowly recall everything that had happened since he came to the cemetery, including every word the cemetery keeper had said to him.

Perhaps, there were no tomb robbers sneaking in at all.

He raised his head, staring at the hunched-over cemetery keeper standing in the darkness, and his brow trembled.

If this cemetery keeper could stand up straight... he should be very tall!

At least 1.78 meters or more!