Chapter 1 The Tomb Robbery

The group hurried as fast as they could, finally reaching Master Wu's tomb before dawn. The scene before them made everyone gasp. The tombstone had been pushed over, and the paper figures and incense offerings were trampled into a mess. The most terrifying thing was that the hard tomb had been dug open, revealing a dark hole.

The edge of the hole jutted outwards, meaning… the hole was dug from the inside out. Judging from the traces at the scene, only Master Wu's corpse could have done this.

Luo Tianhe crouched down and picked up a brick from the chaotic scene. After shaking off the dirt, it could be seen that the brick was cyan in color and relatively fine in texture.

"This brick… is there a problem?" Ding Zongzhen looked at the dark hole, then at the brick in Luo Tianhe's hand, a sense of unease rising in his heart.

"It's a qing tomb brick, taken from an ancient tomb. This kind of tomb brick is very strong, and a layer of glutinous rice juice was poured on it when this tomb was built." After saying that, Luo Tianhe gently tapped the tomb brick with his knuckles. Sure enough, the sound was very dull.

"But even so, it was still dug open, and most of these bricks are broken." Li Bai stared at the ground, where many broken bricks were scattered.

Faced with the scene before them, the Second Master and his party seemed prepared. They immediately mobilized people to move bricks, clean up the scene, and some even took out incense and offerings from the carrying poles they had brought.

After some commotion, they finally managed to rebury Master Wu's body in the tomb.

Saying it was a burial was more like stuffing him back in, but since they were pressed for time, there was nothing to complain about. The ceremony was simplified, and everyone simply lowered Master Wu's body into the dark hole with ropes, then sealed the opening with bricks, as long as it didn't look wrong from the outside.

After all this was done, everyone felt relieved.

Supported by Lai Fu, the Second Master came over and thanked Jiang Cheng and the others profusely, especially Luo Tianhe, promising to give the masters an extra gift after this matter was completely resolved.

On the way back, Luo Tianhe took the opportunity to ask about the cause of Master Wu's death.

"My father… he was killed by those things." The Second Master's voice was very low, as if squeezed out of his throat, making it uncomfortable to listen to.

"Those things…"

"Yes, what else could do such a cruel thing! When we arrived, my father's stomach was torn open, and his heart, lungs, intestines, and everything were… were hollowed out, leaving only a layer of skin on his entire abdomen! Blood… blood was everywhere." As if recalling the scene at that time, the Second Master's tense voice trembled.

Luo Tianhe was silent for a moment. "Then, was Master Wu's heart and lungs found later?"

The Second Master pursed his lips and shook his head painfully. "No, we looked everywhere, but we couldn't find them. We had no choice but to find someone to make a set of heart and lungs out of fine wood, and then…"

The Second Master suddenly choked up, unable to finish his sentence. But everyone already understood that the dead should be buried with a complete body. In the end, they stuffed the wooden heart and lungs into Master Wu's abdomen and buried them with the corpse.

This could also account for the weight of the corpse.

They sent the corpse out through the side door in the alley, the same door they used to enter the residence. By now, it was already dawn. To avoid attracting attention, they quietly returned the same way.

As soon as they entered the door and took a few steps, someone ran over and called the Second Master away. Before leaving, the Second Master gave Jiang Cheng and the others a token, saying that they could freely enter and exit the Wu residence with this token, making it easier for them to investigate.

After the Wu family members left, Ding Zhenzong couldn't wait to ask, "Do you remember those shelves in the warehouse? Do you think the wooden heart and lungs in Master Wu's body might also be made of that coffin wood?"

"Such an evil thing stuffed into the body must be uncomfortable. Master Wu's corpse transformation may be related to this coffin wood. The finger gesture he made every night was to remind us of this," Ding Zhenzong said with increasing certainty.

Until…

"No, if it's coffin wood inside the body, then the corpse wouldn't be so light. It would be very heavy, much heavier than a normal person." Luo Tianhe frowned slightly, unconsciously stroking the token in his hand.

Yao Shunyu stared at the token in Luo Tianhe's hand, and then said, "There are too few clues. It's useless to rack our brains here. Should we go back to that warehouse and take another look? Maybe there will be new discoveries."

Back in the hall, the bloody footprints were still there, giving the feeling that an invisible person was standing there, covered in blood.

The warehouse door was unlocked and opened with a push. A musty smell hit them in the face, and Lin Qianqian kept fanning the air in front of her.

Although it was daytime, the warehouse was still relatively dark, with only a little light coming in through the cracks in the windows.

Fatty found the location of the windows and tried to open them, but was surprised to find that the windows were sealed. He tried several windows in a row, but they were all the same.

"Don't try. This place is not suitable for sunlight, otherwise the things on those shelves can't stand it." Luo Tianhe's tone was as simple as eating and drinking, but his wording gave Fatty a creepy feeling.

Those things can't stand it…

Could it be that the things once stored on the shelves were still alive?

Thinking that the shelves were made of coffin wood, and that there were coffins, could it be that what was stored on them were corpses that had been dead for countless years? Fatty immediately imagined a few zombies wearing Qing Dynasty official uniforms, with blue faces and fangs.

The zombies' fingernails were still that kind of cyan-black color, more than an inch long.

No, it's getting too specific. Fatty immediately interrupted his imagination.

Over here, Luo Tianhe and others seemed to have made a discovery.

Luo Tianhe stood in front of the problematic wooden shelf, lowering his body and constantly twitching his nose, as if sniffing the smell on the wooden shelf. As his body lowered, he was almost lying on the ground.

When Fatty got closer, he could also smell a faint, fishy smell in the air.

"It seems… to be the smell of corpses." Li Bai squatted down, her expression very serious, coupled with her white coat, giving the feeling of a forensic doctor at a crime scene.

Yuan Shanyuan seemed to have thought of something, and also lowered his body with Luo Tianhe, twitching his nose gently. Then, his expression changed. "There's more than just the smell of corpses, there's another smell, covered by the smell of corpses."

"Come over and help, move this shelf away." Luo Tianhe seemed to have confirmed the source of the problem. He immediately stood up and called everyone over.