Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The few of us glanced toward the stone door and were struck with shock.

Director Chen rubbed his eyes.

“Taishan Shigandang?”

“Am I seeing things? Why are there Chinese characters on this stone door?”

Looking at those massive characters written in cinnabar, a strong sense of unease welled up in my heart.

Shi Gandang originated from the ancient worship of spirit stones. Its peak was during the Ming and Qing dynasties, when small stone tablets would be erected at shops, houses, bridgeheads, and main roads.

“Shi Gandang wards off a hundred ghosts, suppresses disasters and calamities, brings fortune to officials, health to the people, prosperity to the faith, and spreads etiquette and music.”

Shi Gandang is typically used to suppress evil spirits. Legend has it that one of the entrances to China’s Ghost City is located at Mount Tai. Therefore, stones from Mount Tai are as heavy as a thousand catties to ghosts, possessing a natural suppressive power.

In this foreign castle, they had first laid out a Qi Men Dun Jia formation and then used a Shi Gandang as a tomb door. Could it be that they were suppressing something truly evil?

Seeing my grave expression, Lu Lingzhu gave a tactical dry cough.

“Qiao Moyu, how about we just forget it?”

Director Chen was aghast.

“That won’t do! Master Qiao, both of you masters, I’ll add another million! Six million each! The tomb door is already open; we can’t back down now.”

“It’s not about the money. To bring such a large piece of Mount Tai stone thousands of miles here just to suppress an ancient tomb-if there’s something down there-”

“Ten million!”

“What kind of evil spirit could possibly be too much for a dignified Earth Master and a Maoshan descendant to handle?”

With a firm expression, I patted Director Chen on the shoulder. Then, I pulled a mineral water bottle out of my bag, filled with green pagoda tree sap. The pagoda tree belongs to the yin element, and its sap can easily dissolve cinnabar.

I poured the sap over the stone tablet. Soon, the bright red color of the cinnabar characters faded, and the stone tablet emitted a faint clicking sound.

Together, we lifted the stone tablet and moved it aside, revealing a bottomless hole beneath.

I took out my cinnabar brush and redrew the characters. Then, I instructed Director Chen to find someone to build a rain shelter nearby. This place had a typical maritime climate where it could rain at any moment, and we couldn’t let the cinnabar be washed away.

“Keep a close eye on the stone tablet. After we come back up, we have to put it back.”

The opening wasn’t large. Song Feifei had brought professional climbing equipment, so we secured a Flying Tiger Claw at the entrance and then slid down the rope one by one.

This hole was much deeper than I had expected, and it didn’t go straight down. Instead, it had a significant westward slope. We slid for at least a hundred meters.

I was the last one down. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I saw the other three staring behind me, looking like statues.

I turned around and instantly sucked in a breath of cold air.

In the darkness stood a towering, majestic castle. The light from the searchlights on our heads scattered around, only allowing us to vaguely make out its silhouette.

The four of us were stunned by the castle’s imposing aura and fell silent together.

After a long while, Lu Lingzhu let out a jealous sigh of admiration.

“Damn, these foreigners really know how to enjoy life. This tomb is built so grandly. Feifei, this must belong to at least an Earl or some kind of noble, right?”

Song Feifei had studied abroad since she was a child and knew more about European culture than we did. She knitted her brows, looking puzzled.

“It’s really strange. British people don’t value tombs as much as we do.”

“Their tombs aren’t usually underground either; they’re mostly above-ground structures. For example, most of the British Royal Family are buried in St. George’s Chapel. They don’t insist on one tomb per person; a church basement is divided into small compartments. It’s said that over 1,800 royal members are buried in St. George’s Chapel.”

Lu Lingzhu’s envy immediately turned into disdain.

“Ugh~ that must be so crowded. Even after death, you’d still have to listen to aunts and uncles nagging.”

My heart skipped a beat as I caught the main point.

“Are you saying there might be hundreds of people buried in here?”

Song Feifei nodded.

“If it’s the burial site of some noble family, it’s very possible.”

“Ah! Hundreds?”

“Doesn’t that mean-”

Lu Lingzhu cried out in alarm, and we looked at each other with a shared realization.

The corners of my mouth curled up uncontrollably.

“That means there are at least hundreds of sets of funerary objects! We’re rich!”

Lu Lingzhu rolled her eyes.

“Qiao Moyu, can you not be so money-grubbing? We might have to deal with hundreds of ghosts!”

“Hmph, you’re so noble, you’re so great. Why don’t you just go back then?”

“Heh, trying to burn the bridge after crossing it? I knew you wanted to keep it all for yourself! You insidious, cunning, despicable, and shameless person!”