Chapter 13: Fox Immortal Statue, Tombstone

Qin Jiang's heart was slightly startled, his breathing becoming somewhat chaotic, and then he adjusted his breathing in an instant.

Sure enough, there was another fox spirit! And it was humanoid!

Pulling out the Black Water and gripping it in his hand, he slowly mobilized the internal Qi in his body, observing the structure of the mine through the copper mirror.

Now that he had killed two fox spirits, it could be considered an irreconcilable feud; he had no other choice.

Before long, his internal Qi gathered to its peak. He rushed out of the corner fiercely, stepped on the mine wall, his legs bent like springs and then straightened instantly, his body rushing fiercely toward that female figure.

Just as his blade was about to fall, he suddenly discovered that this was no woman at all; it was clearly a female statue.

His body flipped, and he landed lightly on the ground with a leap, without making a sound.

He looked at the statue; it was larger than an ordinary person, about two meters tall, and the dress was painted with colored paint, the face looking lifelike.

Looking around, there were a few tables and chairs, cleaned very neatly, similar to the main room of an ordinary family.

The source of the light in the mine was a few white fat candles, and the grease used to make the candles burned with a bit of fragrance.

In the corner were a few wooden boxes. He walked over and opened them gently, neatly stacked with some blood-red metal the size of a palm.

Blood gold! He picked up a piece and weighed it; it was ten catties heavy! Just this piece of blood gold the size of a palm was as heavy as his Black Water.

He put down the blood gold, gently closed the lid, and looked toward the inner side of the mine, where a wooden door appeared before his eyes.

He looked back at the statue, thought for a moment, walked over, and raised his hand to the statue's skirt.

No potential points.

He withdrew his hand, somewhat disappointed, gripped the Black Water in his hand, and held the copper mirror in the other.

He approached the wooden door slowly and carefully extended the copper mirror.

Through the copper mirror, what he saw wasn't the bedroom he imagined, but a row of stone tablets, and apart from that, nothing else.

He walked in with some surprise, and a row of stone tablets came into view, totaling seventeen.

He walked forward to check the inscriptions on the stone tablets.

"The zither and strings remain, but the strings are broken; the appearance is gone, and tears are hard to dry."

"Xia, the late Li Wei Heng Gong, originally born in the Dingwei year, fourth month; passed away in the Guimao year, twelfth month."

"Husband, son of Yingsheng, grandson of Zhaohuan. Concubine records the husband's monument; who knows the bitterness of my sorrow?... I have no hope, leaning on the husband's tomb, prostrating on the husband's monument, weeping in vain."

This is... missing the husband? Qin Jiang's eyes were confused, looking at the other stone tablets and tombstones. Seventeen husbands?

There are monuments but no graves; no corpses left behind?

His fingertips lightly stroked the tombstone; there was no dust at all, clearly someone cleaned it often.

But what kind of person would come here?

"Young Master~"

Just as he was confused, a charming voice rang out behind him, making him jump. He slashed a blade toward his back fiercely.

Internal Qi surged, blade light appeared, and his body also turned toward the room door.

*Sshh! * The blade light swept across the air, slashing onto the doorframe and leaving a mark.

"Young Master is truly mighty~"

Charming laughter rang out. Qin Jiang looked over, and two figures he hadn't expected appeared before his eyes.

They were exactly Xian'er and Yu'er from the fox spirit illusion, only now, the skirts of their lower bodies appeared somewhat illusory, not walking on the ground but floating an inch above it. Through the illusory skirts, one could see the rubble behind them.

And the blade he had just swung had passed directly through the two figures' bodies without causing any damage.

"What... are you things?"

The Black Water hung at his side, already prepared to attack at any time. Xian'er covered her mouth and laughed. "Young Master, don't be nervous. After you killed those two fox demons, my sister and I were liberated. Now that a thought remains, we just want to come back and see the gentlemen."

Qin Jiang's eyes moved slightly. Demons?

"What is your relationship with those two fox demons? Are the gentlemen referring to the owners of these tombstones?"

Xian'er nodded slightly, her bright red skirt moving without wind. "Young Master, have you ever heard that a mountain lord eating people can turn them into *chang* ghosts?"

Qin Jiang looked at her, didn't say anything, just nodded slightly.

"A mountain lord eating people can turn them into *chang* ghosts. My sister and I are similar to those *chang* ghosts, forced to obey the fox demon's orders."

"Xian'er and I are originally from the Lin clan of Yuan Prefecture City. Sixty years ago, we followed the family caravan passing through this place and unfortunately died at the hands of the fox demon, becoming the fox demon's accomplices."

"As for the gentlemen Xian'er spoke of, they are the owners of these tombstones. The gentlemen were all unfortunate people lured here by my sister and me."

"Seventeen people in total, all husbands who have bowed to heaven and earth with us. After the gentlemen died, my sister and I set up these tombstones without graves."

Speaking of this, Xian'er and Yu'er's expressions were lonely. The gentlemen were all top-notch people; if it weren't for that fox demon, how could it have come to this? Qin Jiang's expression was indifferent, without any emotional fluctuation. "You just said you were going to be liberated; what does that mean?"

Xian'er smiled bitterly. "In less than half a quarter-hour, my sister and I will dissipate and go to that illusory reincarnation."

She looked at the tombstones, her eyes lowered, carrying an unspeakable sorrow.

"It's just a pity for the gentlemen, who were swallowed by that fox demon and ended up with their souls scattered, unable to even enter reincarnation."

Qin Jiang didn't speak and walked silently to the side.

Xian'er smiled slightly, like a charming peony in full bloom.

She and Yu'er looked at each other, each took out a handkerchief from their bosoms, and the two women floated to the tombstones to gently wipe them.

A moment later, after wiping the last tombstone, the two women's figures gradually became faint, and dots of fluorescent light drifted from beneath their skirts.

Xian'er looked at Qin Jiang. "Young Master, the night is long, and the firelight is hard to see clearly. My sister and I are leaving. It's just a pity that we couldn't form a good relationship with Young Master."

As the words fell, the two women's figures shattered, turning into dots of fluorescent light and dissipating.

A jade pendant appeared in his palm. Qin Jiang looked at the dissipating two women, his eyes strange.

Reincarnation—does this world have reincarnation? He shook his head, put away the jade pendant, and returned to the mine, walking to the wooden box containing the blood gold.

He tore off half a sleeve, took out ten pieces of red gold, wrapped them up, and shouldered them.

One hundred catties, not heavy, and the volume was just right, not affecting his body's movement.

If it were too much, he would have to put some down. The location of the mine was already in the inner circle of Daheishan; he had to ensure his own strength wouldn't be affected when returning.

Walking to the corner of the mine, he looked back at the statue and left without looking back.

After walking through the black dense forest, it was already afternoon when he walked out of Daheishan. Looking in the direction of Black Mountain City, he saw black smoke rising from afar, like a pillar rising into the sky.

After walking for a long time, before he was near the city gate, he smelled a burnt smell. He saw a group of gang disciples outside the city gate, about two miles away, holding torches and constantly throwing corpses into a pit to burn.

Looking at the city gate, there were fewer refugees, and the original pile of corpses was gone.

Walking into the city, the streets were much deserted, and almost no one could be seen.

"Who goes there! Stop!" Wang Dali at the checkpoint stood up abruptly, gripping the saber beside his feet.

"It's me, Qin Jiang," Qin Jiang said, looking somewhat helplessly at his own fair skin.

???

Wang Dali tilted his head, his gaze confused.

It wasn't until Qin Jiang walked up close that he recognized him from his appearance.

"My little teapot mouth, Xiao Jiang, what happened to you? You're so beautiful! Even prettier than the women in the brothel!" Wang Dali said stutteringly.

Not only him, but even the subordinates beside him couldn't help but look at Qin Jiang, their gazes restrained but unable to stop themselves.