Chapter 197
Chapter 197
I drew the Longbow to its limit again and again, loosing fiery blossoms in rapid succession. Every shot struck the zombie.
The instant Fengwu’s flames touched it, the zombie burst into flames.
It let out a series of eerie cackles and leaped around wildly. Before long, it had become a massive ball of ghostly green fire, barreling blindly in every direction.
Qiu Fengnian’s father had only been buried ten years ago. The zombie had not been formed for long and had little cultivation to speak of, so it was not difficult to deal with.
Besides, I was burning it with Fengwu’s flames.
Within a few short minutes, the zombie could no longer move.
Its only possible fate was to be reduced to a pile of bleached bones. Not even its soul would survive.
As the zombie perished, the ground stopped shaking, and the chorus of frogs from moments ago fell completely silent.
It was as though everything that had just happened had been nothing but an illusion.
However, a faint light was shining from the bottom of the split grave pit. I frowned in confusion. Where was that light coming from?
Holding the Longbow in one hand and gripping the Copper Coin in the other, I cautiously approached the grave pit.
Just as I was about to reach its edge, a powerful arm swept around me from behind and yanked me back.
It was Liu Junyan.
“Careful. It could be a trap!”
The moment he finished speaking, Qiu Fengnian’s puzzled voice came from behind us. “Huh? Isn’t that the man who performed Feng Shui Site Selection for my father’s grave ten years ago? Is he… dead?!”
I turned and saw a middle-aged man dressed in black lying on the ground.
I frowned, and Liu Junyan explained, “He had some cultivation. When I captured him, he killed himself.”
I glanced at him, then walked over to Qiu Fengnian and asked, “Boss Qiu, are you sure he’s the expert from ten years ago? You haven’t seen him once since then?”
Judging by everything that had happened tonight, the man must have remained on this mountain all along.
He had been guarding this grave.
“No,” Qiu Fengnian replied. “My business has grown larger and larger over the years, so I spend most of my time in the city. I rarely come back to pay respects to my ancestors, and he must have deliberately avoided me whenever I did. When trouble struck my family this year, I tried to contact him, but I never heard back. I thought he’d died years ago.”
At that moment, Qiu Fengnian finally realized the full extent of the trap that had been laid for him.
Furious, he kicked the corpse twice more.
Rumble!
The ground suddenly shuddered. A burst of golden light flared up, accompanied by loud croaking.
Only then did I realize that while I had been talking to Qiu Fengnian, Liu Junyan had already gone over to the grave pit and begun summoning Golden Scale.
The croaking rose continuously from underground, growing louder and louder.
Just as Liu Junyan was about to succeed, the ground beneath the grave pit shook violently again. A sound resembling a Dragon’s roar came from deep underground.
The sound was deep and penetrating, like the mournful cry of a stranded Dragon.
The next instant, the croaking stopped, and the golden light vanished with it.
Even the split ground compressed and fused back together.
Liu Junyan was now pressing one hand firmly against the spot between his brows while rapidly turning his Prayer Beads with the other. His head lowered, he chanted incantations with practiced ease. Under the moonlight, a bead of sweat the size of a soybean rolled down his sharply defined jaw and fell…
Something was very wrong with him!
I took a few steps forward but did not dare rush over immediately.
In a situation like this, I could not interrupt him. Doing so might cause irreversible harm.
Qiu Fengnian was also dumbfounded. He asked in a low voice, “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, the master…”
“He’s fine. He’s performing a Release from Suffering ritual for your father’s soul,” I lied casually, hoping to calm Qiu Fengnian down for the moment.
The moment Qiu Fengnian heard this, he dropped to his knees with a thud. Facing the grave pit, he kowtowed over and over, respectfully seeing his father off on his final journey.
This continued for a full five or six minutes.
Throughout it all, I kept my eyes fixed on Liu Junyan, terrified that something might happen to him.
Fortunately, he soon managed to steady himself, though by then, sweat had already soaked through his clothes.
The moment he stopped turning the Prayer Beads, I strode over and cautiously asked, “What happened to you just now?”
“This land can’t be disturbed for the time being,” Liu Junyan said. “Xiao Jiu, take Boss Qiu and the others down the mountain and negotiate the formalities for pawning this grave site. The Pawn Ticket we issue may not remain valid in the future, but complete the paperwork first. We’ll deal with whatever happens later when the time comes.”
Liu Junyan’s words made my heart clench.
What kind of secret was buried beneath this grave site that could make even Liu Junyan act so cautiously?
We had come here for the Golden Scale, with the intention of taking the Black Toad while we were at it.
Yet before we could secure either of them, we were suddenly going to take possession of this grave site instead?
I didn’t ask any further questions. Liu Junyan stayed behind to set up the Seal, while I returned to the village with Qiu Fengnian and the others.
Qiu Fengnian’s family still had an ancestral home here. Every year, he poured more than a million yuan into the village to repair and maintain the ancestral hall and ancestral home, as well as look after the villagers.
Thus, even though he hadn’t returned in a long time, the ancestral home remained spotless.
The clan chief had even boiled water in advance and left it to cool for us.
Qiu Fengnian spoke to me alone in the study.
I got straight to the point. “You saw what happened today. Ten years ago, someone set a trap for you. Your father underwent corpse transformation, and his remains have now been destroyed. After this, we’ll help the Qiu Family find another auspicious burial site. It may not propel the family to meteoric heights, but it will at least ensure a stable and peaceful future.”
Qiu Fengnian nodded repeatedly. “Good, good.”
Then he asked, “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, what about that Three-Eyed Golden Toad…?”
“That wasn’t a Three-Eyed Golden Toad. It was something harmful. Our master is currently setting up a formation to suppress the Evil Spirits within that grave site.” I took out the Pawn Ticket and continued, “For now, the deal to pawn the Black Toad cannot proceed. However, our master wishes to take possession of your family’s grave site. If you’re willing to pawn it, Boss Qiu, we can discuss a fair price.”
Qiu Fengnian clearly hadn’t expected matters to develop this way. He asked cautiously, “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, that grave site is no good. It’s downright sinister. You saw what happened-my father turned into a zombie. You still dare take it?”
I smiled. “The more sinister it is, the more willing we are to take it. Keeping that land in your hands will only bring harm to your entire family, but the Pawnshop can keep it under control!”
My answer clearly reassured Qiu Fengnian. “So if I pawn the grave site to you, everyone in my family will return to normal, right?”
“That’s right!”
I answered without hesitation.
In truth, Old Master Qiu had already been completely incinerated by Fengwu’s Flame. Once Liu Junyan set up a formation to suppress the grave site, the Qiu Family’s troubles would be resolved.
As for performing the necessary rites afterward and finding a new auspicious site for the Qiu Family’s ancestral grave, I would ask Master Hui Quan to handle it.
But since Liu Junyan wanted this grave site, the deal still had to be negotiated.
Qiu Fengnian immediately said, “Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu, to be perfectly honest, this entire mountain belongs to me. If you want that small ravine, just take it.”
“No. We must keep business separate from favors,” I said solemnly. “We only want that ravine, and it must be transferred to us as a Dead Pawn. Those are the rules. I know you mean well, but we have to do this properly.”
Only then did Qiu Fengnian begin discussing the matter with me in earnest. In the end, the ravine was pawned to the Pawnshop as a Dead Pawn for a payment of 888 yuan…