The large Qin dynasty tomb was robbed and even resulted in a death, which naturally alarmed the relevant authorities. The local archaeological department originally intended to carry out a protective excavation, but unexpectedly, on just the first day of digging, a laborer hired from a nearby village died. It’s said that even the stationed troops were alerted at the time. In the end, experts from Yanjing were called in and determined that there was mercury gas in the tomb, and that excavation conditions were not yet suitable, so the robbery tunnel was simply buried and the matter was dropped.

These two incidents caused quite a stir, especially in the grave-robbing circles—almost everyone knew about them. There were rumors that the underworld of Mang Mountain had been disturbed and had punished those people, and others said that they had dug up zombies and all had their life force sucked away. In short, all kinds of rumors were flying everywhere.

Those who make a living from the dead naturally have a bit more reverence for heaven, earth, ghosts, and gods. After these two incidents, almost no one dared to rob graves in the Luochuan area anymore. Many gangs fled to the two provinces of Shan and Shaan, and for a while, Luochuan City, which had been plagued by tomb robbers, instead became peaceful, and even public security improved a lot.

“To be honest, it really is a bit strange. When we went down to the tomb recently, I always felt like something was watching us. Second Brother, we should find a master to take a look at us and maybe get a protective talisman or something.” Talking about this, even under the blazing sun, Mr. Cooper still felt a chill down his spine.

Recently in Luochuan City, especially near the Mang Mountain area, all sorts of inexplicable things kept happening. Just a few days ago, something very bizarre happened in the village where William Cooper and his group were renting. Maybe it was because of too much hormone feed, but in the household of the village’s big chicken farmer, over a dozen roosters somehow managed to mate with several thousand hens in a single night, causing utter chaos and unrest throughout the village.

After this incident, Brian Cooper and the others were so frightened that they immediately gave up their rental in the village and moved into Luochuan City. It was precisely because of this that he ran into Nancy Stewart, who was running a street stall.

Chapter 4 Siblings

“Want to block me? Maybe in your next life.”

A little after four in the afternoon, Nancy Stewart pressed down the brim of his sun hat and walked out the back door of a shop in the antique market. He had long since noticed Brian Cooper and his group blocking the front and back entrances of the antique market, but there were more than just two doors in and out of the market—many shops had back doors. Without a hundred or so people, there was no way to block someone here.

After passing through a few alleys, Nancy Stewart arrived at a vegetable market in a residential area, bought half a jin of meat, an old hen, and some vegetables. After thinking for a moment, he also bought half a jin of chicken feet that his little sister loved to eat, and then carried everything back to his place.

The cost of living in Luochuan City isn’t very high. The place Nancy Stewart rented wasn’t far from the antique market or his little sister’s high school. It was an old apartment built in the 1980s, older than Nancy Stewart himself, so the rent was naturally cheap—just nine hundred yuan a month for two bedrooms and a living room, with all appliances and furniture included. Even though his sister only came home once a week, Nancy Stewart still reserved the sunlit room for her.

It cost five yuan to have a chicken slaughtered at the market, but Nancy Stewart was reluctant to spend it. He boiled a kettle of water and, with practiced hands, slaughtered and plucked the chicken himself in just a few minutes. Then he put it in the pot with seasonings to stew chicken soup. Basically, Nancy Stewart made this meal for his sister every week. In his words, chicken soup had all the nutrients, and the chicken meat, shredded and dipped in ginger sauce, soy sauce, and vinegar, was both delicious and a treat for his little sister.

Turning on another burner, Nancy Stewart stir-fried shredded pork with garlic shoots, smashed a cucumber for a cold dish, and turned the chicken soup down to a simmer. Only then did he return to the living room, turn on the fan to cool off, and check the time. He estimated his little sister would be home in about half an hour, just in time for dinner.

“The number you have dialed is not in the service area. Please try again later.”

Listening to the telecom lady’s voice on his phone, Nancy Stewart helplessly hung up. Lately, he had been calling his dad several times a day, but he had no idea which ocean his dad’s ship was in now—he could never get through. But it was normal to have no signal at sea, so Nancy Stewart wasn’t worried about his dad’s safety, just a bit anxious about his sister’s tuition.

Although he had made eight thousand yuan from that guy surnamed Wu by skirting the rules, Nancy Stewart only had eighty-five thousand yuan on hand now, still fifteen thousand short of a hundred thousand. And according to Nancy Stewart’s thinking, besides tuition, he should at least prepare another ten or twenty thousand for his sister just in case. As the saying goes, “save at home, spend on the road.” Nancy Stewart didn’t mind living frugally himself, but he absolutely couldn’t let his sister suffer while studying away from home.

“There’s really nothing valuable left in this house.” Nancy Stewart looked around the living room a bit gloomily, but aside from some molds for making bronze ware, there was nothing else.

“Wait, I wonder if this thing is worth anything?”

Suddenly, Nancy Stewart undid his collar and pulled out a pendant hanging from a gold chain around his neck. The pendant was oval-shaped, pitch black all over, with an irregular hole in the middle just big enough for the gold chain to pass through. The whole pendant looked very unremarkable—if it were thrown on the ground, probably only a scrap collector would pick it up as junk.

According to his dad, he had come across this thing by chance a few years ago while working overseas.