Chapter 76: Digging Graves

The villa caused quite a stir after this trouble. Xu Qing couldn't stay long, so he stored Qing Luo and a group of cultist corpses into the Box Garden and didn't linger.

When he reached the courtyard gate, he suddenly remembered something, so he took out pen and ink from the Mountain and River Map and left a few lines on the door.

The general idea was that it was a Heaven Heart Sect stronghold, containing strange poisons, so visitors should be cautious.

He had said all he could; as for whether those who came later listened or not, that was none of his business.

After all, it is hard to persuade a ghost who is destined to die with good words. This is self-inflicted, not that he didn't warn them.

"Don't say, the almanac I bought at the temple fair is quite accurate."

Sitting in the front room of the carriage, Xu Qing drove the carriage with one hand and took out an almanac produced by Shangqing Temple to read with the other.

"The fifteenth day of the third lunar month, suitable for travel and meeting friends; unsuitable for burial and encoffining."

This meeting of friends today can be said to be a pleasure for both host and guest.

As a corpse-driver, Xu Qing gained quite a few corpses; as for these Heaven Heart Sect cultists, as their doctrine says, after death, they should be led to the upper realm by the Maitreya Venerable God and ascend to immortality through corpse-dissolution.

As for whether they would really ascend to immortality through corpse-dissolution, that is unknown. After all, this is not within his business scope and is not his concern.

In Jinmen Prefecture, Xu Qing finished his last job, used the excuse of going to Jiangnan for study, returned all the way to Linhe, and began to prepare for the breakthrough of the Silver Armored Corpse.

Fifty miles outside Jinmen Prefecture, Wanshou Township.

"Whoa—" The Crown Prince's attendant Li Zhong and Zhang Jun's party were escorting the coffin here. When the poker-faced groom saw the boundary marker of Wanshou Township, he couldn't help but order the team to stop.

In front of the boundary marker, two people and two horses had been waiting for a long time.

The horses were thousand-mile horses, and the people were phoenixes among dragons, all of them extraordinary.

"Where is Your Highness going? Why not dismount for a while and let the two of us wash away the dust for Your Highness? When the time comes to go or stay, it will be entirely up to Your Highness."

The groom reined in his horse and looked out, letting the horse under his crotch kick its four hooves restlessly.

"Companion, the road to the capital is long. If I have any mishaps, you must handle the Crown Prince's funeral well and let him enter my Zhao family's imperial mausoleum safely."

Li Zhong looked at the two figures at the boundary marker and frowned.

"Your Highness!"

"Do not say more, this is the last thing I entrust to you."

The groom sighed deeply, as if he had used up all his strength after saying this.

He pulled the reins and reined his horse to the front of the boundary marker.

The first person was wearing a feather fan and a silk scarf, dressed as a scholar. When he saw the expressionless groom, he arched his hands and bowed deeply to the groom.

Zhao You, dressed as a groom, ignored the other party and looked up at the stone tablet in front of him.

"Wanshou Township..."

Zhao You looked out of focus at the mottled handwriting engraved on the stone tablet. The gold paint used to trace it had already fallen off for the most part, leaving only the intaglio characters still resisting the erosion of time.

"These three words were personally bestowed by the Father Emperor back then and were personally engraved by the Sword Saint Zhou Qifeng, an offering from the palace, using the Son of Heaven's sword."

"It has been thirty-three years."

Zhao You's palm, which had been hidden in his sleeve, stretched out, as if wanting to touch the handwriting on the tablet.

Beside the scholar, the old man in plain clothes narrowed his eyes when he saw Zhao You's hand.

What kind of hand was that? Rotten and gray, as if covered in chilblains. It was exposed to the air for only a moment before the aloe powder used to cover the ugliness fell off with a rustle.

Zhao You's poker face finally couldn't help but twitch.

No one knew what he was thinking at this time.

"The Father Emperor is now eighty-three years old. It seems he really lived up to the name of 'Ten Thousand Longevity'."

"It's just that I am not as good as him. At fifty-something years old, I am already like a rotting tree, only able to rely on witchcraft to linger on."

Hearing this, the scholar finally couldn't help but say: "Although the Imperial Grandson's appearance is 80-90% similar to Your Highness, in terms of wit and forbearance, he is not as good as Your Highness by one in ten thousand."

"If it weren't for the Imperial Grandson's straightforward character, Your Highness might really have been able to pass off fish eyes as pearls and let the Grandson inherit the throne in the future."

Zhao You had no reaction to these flattery words at this time.

He turned his head to look at the retainer of the Third Prince. The moment he saw the other party, the doubts he had had for many days were mostly cleared.

The Longping Emperor had five sons. Crown Prince Zhao You was intelligent and stable, but his only shortcoming was that he was born weak and sickly. To raise his body, Zhao You began to deliberately practice archery and riding after he came of age, but instead made his already weak body worse, and he was already at the end of his rope at fifty.

The Second Prince, Zhao Yan, was strong and healthy. Although not intelligent, he was honest and valued etiquette and filial piety. If he were the monarch, he could also be a monarch who guards the achievements. But it is a pity that Zhao Yan developed a soul-losing illness ten years ago, and neither the imperial physicians nor the hidden medical experts could do anything about it.

The second year after Zhao Yan developed the soul-losing illness, the Longping Emperor gave an order, and the Third Prince volunteered to fight the Nancuo Kingdom, which had many sorcerers, because the Second Prince's soul-losing illness was suspected to be related to Nancuo witchcraft.

The Third Prince, Zhao Rong, was clever and intelligent. In the eyes of outsiders, he was extremely filial. The four words "brotherly love and brotherly respect" seemed to be written for the Third Prince.

The Fourth Prince was dull by nature. When he came of age, he still couldn't calculate simple arithmetic and was the most useless of the five princes.

The Fifth Prince was born with a dragon appearance, but unfortunately, he died accidentally at the age of three, so there is no need to mention him.

Zhao You looked at the Third Prince's advisor at this time, but still had some doubts in his heart.

"When did Zhao Rong know that the Crown Prince was the Imperial Grandson in disguise?"

The scholar smiled and said: "Everyone knows that besides the Emperor and his parents, the person the Third Prince respects most is the Crown Prince."

"The Crown Prince likes sweets, so the Third Prince would always leave the preserved fruits and honeyed snacks bestowed by the Empress and specifically send them to the Crown Prince. Unfortunately, the Imperial Grandson doesn't like sweets. From that time on, the Third Prince began to pay attention to the Crown Prince's movements. After all, if you talk about who knows the Crown Prince best, besides the Third Prince, I'm afraid there is no one else."

Hearing this, Zhao You's mind immediately flashed with the image of his younger brother Zhao Rong following him and calling him "Imperial Brother" when he was young.

Zhao You let out a long breath and suddenly said: "I have one more thing to ask, please, Mr. Cai, tell me the truth."

"Your Highness, please speak."

"Are the Second Prince's soul-losing illness and the Fifth Prince's sudden death related to the Third Prince?"

Cai Shichun fell into silence.

Zhao You understood instantly.

"Why go to such lengths? The Great Yong is already troubled internally and externally. Even if he doesn't think about brotherly feelings, he shouldn't do such things that are intolerable to heaven and earth." Zhao You couldn't hide his disappointment: "Even if he wants to be the emperor again, I am over sixty, how many years can I live? Why go to such lengths?"

"Your Highness, why say this? Have you forgotten the Imperial Grandson? The Emperor is over eighty, the Third Prince is nearly fifty, and the Imperial Grandson is only thirty. If the Imperial Grandson inherits the throne instead of the Crown Prince, wouldn't the Third Prince have to wait until he is old like Your Highness?"

Cai Shichun shook his head and said: "Furthermore, even if the Imperial Grandson abdicates in the future, the throne will only be passed to his own descendants. When would it be the Third Prince's turn?"

"Your Highness is sighing about these things now, but it is not beautiful."

Zhao You sneered, his face miserable: "My means, although they cannot see the light, cannot be called despicable. He killed his brother and nephew. Even if he can sit on the throne, I am afraid he will be collected by heaven sooner or later!"

Beside Cai Shichun, the old man who had not spoken frowned and said: "Military Advisor Cai, delay will lead to changes. You and I have already delayed for many days, it is better to finish it as soon as possible and return to the capital."

Cai Shichun nodded: "Your Highness, you shouldn't have survived ten years ago. Now, in the eyes of the world, the fact that you died at the hands of the Heaven Heart Sect deviants is even more unchangeable."

"Before leaving, the Third Prince specifically instructed me that the Imperial Grandson's descendants will be protected by him, this imperial uncle, so that Your Highness can rest assured."

Zhao You fell silent again.

The Imperial Grandson's descendants, his grandchildren, should now be considered the Crown Prince's orphans in the eyes of outsiders.

These grandchildren of his had actually grown a generation in vain.

Taking a deep breath, Zhao You suddenly felt relaxed.

In the past, in order to let his eldest son Zhao Cong inherit the throne safely, he worked day and night, but now he was unloading his burden in this way.

Cai Shichun took the wine pot handed by the old man and filled a cup for Zhao You.

Zhao You looked at the thick, paste-like substance mixed with wine in the poison and couldn't help but twitch his mouth.

He suddenly had a sense of resistance to drinking various decoctions when he was weak as a child.

Looking at the wine in the cup now, it was even more willing to spend money than the decoctions of the Imperial Hospital.

"This old gentleman looks familiar. I wonder if he is the Heavenly Master of Yunzhao Mountain?"

The old man who handed the wine said indifferently: "It is rare that Your Highness still remembers this old man."

Zhao You held the wine cup and said in surprise: "Yunzhao Mountain is a place outside the world, always not asking about worldly affairs, only cultivating the immortal path of longevity. Why, after many years, do you want to intervene in worldly affairs?"

"Your Highness, this wine has already been warmed by this old man with true Yang Qi. If you don't drink it, it will be cold."

"Alas, forget it." Zhao You raised the wine in the cup and drank it in one gulp.

Then he drank three more cups.

In the end, when Zhao You was dazed, he muttered:

"I have too many regrets in this life. If heaven has eyes, I only ask not to be born in the imperial family in the next life..."

Cai Shichun put away the wine pot and cup and looked at the farmhouse in the distance with curling smoke.

"I have to trouble the Heavenly Master to find a place with good Feng Shui for the Crown Prince to rest."

The old man with white eyebrows and hair, and the bones of a fairy, nodded, then took out a compass from his sleeve, and while observing the Feng Shui, he kept calculating with his other hand.

Jinmen Prefecture, Xu Qing drove the carriage and rushed to Linhe.

When passing by Wanshou Township, he slowed down and looked sideways at the farmhouse in the distance.

When he came, he had stayed here for half a day, taught Wang Liang the martial arts practice method, and gave him some strength pills and elixirs to enhance blood and Qi.

At the time of parting, the sky blocked the road, and the wind and rain fell suddenly. The seven or eight-year-old Wang family little sister specifically brought a straw raincoat to shelter him from the wind and rain.

Thinking of the past, Xu Qing couldn't help but smile.

Such a sensible little girl, it is hard not to make him, this zombie uncle, like her.

Driving the carriage to the familiar cottage, Xu Qing pushed open the fence and saw Wang Ling's younger sister helping their grandmother make flatbread in the courtyard.

Beside the stove made of mud mixed with wheat straw, the Wang family little sister squatted at the mouth of the stove, constantly stuffing dried millet stalks into it.

Seeing Xu Qing, the Wang family grandmother hurriedly patted her hands on her body and then enthusiastically greeted him to sit inside.

Xu Qing waved his hand to stop her and said: "I am here to return the straw raincoat. You don't have to worry about me, just continue doing what you are doing."

"Does Mr. Xu want to eat a pancake? A pancake roasted with millet flour, it's so fragrant!"

Xu Qing looked at the little girl who was stuffing millet stalks into the stove and asked curiously: "Where did your brother go? Why didn't you let him get firewood for you to burn, but instead use these things that are not durable?"

The Wang family little sister said crisply: "Today is the tenth-day sacrifice, brother went to worship Father and Mother. There is still a lot of firewood at home, but Grandma said that roasting millet pancakes is not easy to burn, and it can be waste utilization. It is two... what is it?"

"Two perfect things?"

"Yes! It's a good thing that is two perfect things."

Xu Qing didn't wait for Wang Liang to come back, only left a book he had copied himself and a bag of silver in the straw raincoat, and planned to leave this place.

Before leaving, he said to the Wang family little sister: "There are things left by the teacher in the straw raincoat. Remember to tell your brother after he comes back."

The Wang family grandmother packed some millet pancakes and insisted on stuffing them to him.

Xu Qing didn't refuse and accepted them with a smile.

Now that the straw raincoat had been returned, his fate with the Wang family siblings was almost exhausted.

Leaving the cottage, Xu Qing drove the carriage and hadn't gone far when he saw a teenager rushing home in a hurry.

When he saw the figure sitting in the front room of the carriage, the teenager was clearly stunned, and then said happily: "When did the teacher come back?"

Xu Qing smiled and shook his head: "Just passing by, by the way, returned the straw raincoat, and will go to other places for study later. What about you, why are you in such a hurry?"

Wang Liang slapped his forehead and said: "Almost missed a big thing! Teacher, I went to worship at my parents' grave today, but I don't know what strange thing happened. Not far in front of my family's grave, there is a new grave..."

"I don't know which fool it was, didn't say hello, and set up a new grave."

"Now I have asked all the way, asked several villagers, and no one knows about this. I couldn't make up my mind, so I thought about going back to ask Grandma to see how to deal with it."

Xu Qing was surprised: "The grave land of your parents was specially selected by me as a Feng Shui treasure land. According to you, I'm afraid some expert has taken a fancy to this place..."

"I ask you, does that grave have a tombstone?"

Wang Liang thought for a while and said: "The grave does have a tombstone, but there is no inscription on it."

"Strange."

Xu Qing felt that this matter was strange. He thought for a moment and suddenly remembered a legend in the corpse-driving industry, saying that some ghosts in the graves have a certain level of cultivation, they will autonomously move the graves and look for Feng Shui treasure lands to use as their own cultivation dojos.

This situation is called "running grave."

Could it be that a zombie or a ghost that can run graves has come to the Wang family grave?

Xu Qing suddenly became interested. He had just learned the "Out-of-Horse" skill of setting up a hall. If there was a ghost in that grave, maybe it could let him have his first "Sorrow Immortal."

At the moment, Xu Qing did not hesitate. He went to the hill he chose when he looked at the grave for Wang Liang's parents, and then manipulated the automaton to touch the Feng Shui treasure land not far away.

Quickly crossing the rugged mountain road overgrown with weeds, Xu Qing crawled on all fours like an ape, and not long after, he arrived in front of a grave.

The joint tomb of the Wang couple was still as it was when he just left, without the slightest abnormality.

Only in front of the tombstone were some incense and offerings.

Xu Qing skipped the graves of Wang Qiao and Li, and his gaze fell on a new grave not far away.

The soil layer of the grave was still new, and even a bit moist. Looking at the tombstone, it was indeed as Wang Liang said, without any inscription.

The automaton cannot unfold the Qi-observing technique, and Xu Qing couldn't tell for a while whether this was man-made or ghost-made.

If it was man-made, why was there no inscription on the tablet?

Furthermore, Wang Liang asked the villagers, so it shouldn't be that no one knew.

Even if transporting the coffin and tombstone, one had to pass the village road.

Strange.

Xu Qing circled the grave a few times, and after still having no harvest, he took out a shovel and controlled the automaton to start digging the grave.

No matter if it is human or ghost, dig it first!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 77 =====