Chapter 652: Extra Chapter 1: Karmic Retribution

I shoved Jin Wuya away hard, lunged to the edge of the grave, and with both hands thrust inside I began to dig frantically.

Jin Wuya didn't stop me; instead, he squatted beside me and said, "Shi Rou, listen carefully again—this sound doesn't seem to be coming from the outer coffin."

My digging hand paused.

I struggled to calm myself down, then listened again, and discovered the problem.

Yes, although the sound of fingernails scratching the inner coffin wall was loud, it seemed to be muffled by something, yet upon close listening it was still very clear.

So, it wasn't Grandfather scratching the coffin wall for help; it was... the earth fetus!

Jin Wuya reached out and pulled me to the side; I stared at him, dazed, and asked, "What exactly is an earth fetus? Does it also have a human shape? Does it also have fingernails?"

Jin Wuya shook his head: "I've never opened the small coffin to see what's inside, and I know nothing about the earth fetus, but since I already promised Grandfather, I must keep my word. Shi Rou, come back to Jiangcheng with me."

Go to Jiangcheng with Jin Wuya?

I shook my head: "I can't leave Lingnan for now; give me some time, okay?"

Jin Wuya said: "Okay, I'll accompany you."

Shi Yin and his men quickly filled in the grave, and I and Jin Wuya burned paper money and offered incense for Grandfather.

We stayed in the ancestral cemetery until the ground began to tremble slightly, then we left.

Just as we had run a hundred meters away from the ancestral cemetery, there was a loud boom, and the whole area collapsed; immediately followed by thunder and lightning, a torrential downpour poured down, constantly washing the ground.

We stood in the rain for a long, long time.

After this heavy rain, the area will be washed flat, and the original Shi Family ancestral cemetery will cease to exist.

But I need to stay behind to handle the aftermath.

If anyone really comes to dig up the small coffin, they will inevitably open Grandfather's coffin as well; I'm afraid that if I leave, his corpse will be exposed in the wilderness.

That night, we stayed until someone came to report that the Shi State Army had died, and then we hurried back.

The Shi State Army lay on the ground with eyes wide open, stiff as a board; before death he seemed to have seen something extremely terrifying, and was frightened to death.

No one knows what actually happened.

Over the next two days, I have been sorting through Grandfather's belongings.

Jin Wuya accompanied me.

After the old residence had been completely cleaned out, Jin Wuya wondered, "Shi Rou, don't you find it strange? Among the old man's belongings, there isn't a single item related to the great tomb from years ago or the earth fetus."

Yeah, there really isn't any!

That shouldn't be the case.

The earth fetus concerns the fate of the entire Shi Family; Mysterious Grandpa couldn't possibly have left no clues.

Grandfather also said that after Mysterious Grandpa settled in Lingnan, he had gathered a lot of information about the thousand-year-old female corpse in that great tomb.

Not even that.

Was it all destroyed by Grandfather, or did he hide it elsewhere?

Grandfather doted on me; the hidden compartments and secret rooms in the house were never kept from me, so there shouldn't be any overlooked spots.

After two days of fussing, I suddenly calmed down and then realized a problem: "Where is Shi Yin?"

Jin Wuya said: "I haven't seen him these two days."

I hurried out to look for him.

Upon searching, I discovered that not only was Shi Yin missing, but the death-warrior squad he led had also vanished as if evaporated from the human world.

Various signs indicate that the information about the great tomb and the thousand-year-old female corpse that we cannot find might have all been taken away by Shi Yin.

My whole body went cold in an instant: "Wuya, do you think Shi Yin betrayed the Shi Family, or did Grandfather have some other arrangement for him?"

"'Death warriors like Shi Yin generally wouldn't betray their master,' Jin Wuya said, 'I lean more toward the second possibility.'"

I thought the same.

Grandfather still had a backup plan.

Doubting those you employ, employing those you don't doubt—I chose to trust Shi Yin.

After Grandfather's old residence was tidied up, I began to consolidate the various industries under my control, dealing with what could be disposed of first and holding tightly to what I needed to keep in my own hands.

I was busy to the point of being frazzled, while Jin Wuya had already started packing our luggage.

And so another three days passed.

On the night after three days, there was movement at the ancestral cemetery.

Someone had dug up the already collapsed ancestral cemetery, and it wasn't just one group.

Jin Wuya and I even secretly kept watch, seeing one batch after another go to dig, then another batch after another leave, our hearts filled with mixed feelings.

Many of those faces were all too familiar to me.

Indeed, when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.

Later, the small coffin made of golden-thread nanmu wood was finally dug out.

Exactly who dug it up, we didn't see.

However, the other party was a meticulous person; after taking away the small coffin, they also properly buried Grandfather's coffin, burned paper money, and offered incense.

Everything settled at last.

Jin Wuya said to me again: "Shi Rou, come back to Jiangcheng with me; for the rest of our lives we will support each other and grow old together."

I understand in my heart that I could never really settle in Jiangcheng with Jin Wuya, after all the Shi Family's main industries are in Lingnan; although I've already disposed of part of them, the remaining majority still need me to manage them slowly.

But for now, I also want to find a place to calm down: "Okay, I'll go back to Jiangcheng with you for a while; we'll discuss later matters later."

Jin Wuya is also not unreasonable; he agreed.

But just as we were preparing to leave, someone from the Shi Family died.

The deceased turned out to be my second cousin's father!

Our schedule was thus delayed, and I and Jin Wuya had to stay to attend the second cousin's funeral.

We had only just arrived at Second Uncle's house when we found his home in utter disarray, and Second Aunt stood there dazed, as if she had suffered a tremendous fright, her soul seemingly lost.

I walked over and called "Second Aunt" several times; she suddenly snapped back to awareness, but she jumped like a startled bird, twitching at every sound.

"Second Aunt, please accept my condolences."

Upon seeing it was me, Second Aunt burst into tears, two streams of clear tears streaming down uncontrollably.

She fell to her knees with a thud before me, wailing: "Arou, I'm sorry, we were wrong; we shouldn't have had a moment of madness and followed others in digging up your grandfather's grave—your Second Uncle… he… has met with karmic retribution."

I frowned: "Did Second Uncle also go grave‑robbing? When did that happen?"

When I and Jin Wuya stared, we didn't see them or their lackeys.

Jin Wuya reacted more quickly, lowering his voice to ask: "Was the Golden‑thread Nanmu Small Coffin that was buried with the old gentleman the one you dug up?"

Second Aunt nodded through her tears: "Yes, although many people went to dig and couldn't find it, we dug and found it right away; we thought it was heaven's mercy, but… we never imagined… that little coffin was actually a death‑summoning talisman."

I simply couldn't believe it.

I never expected Second Uncle and his lot to be so foolish!

The thing that Grandfather could never shake off—if they had used even a little brains, they shouldn't have entertained the wicked idea of grave‑robbing.

I demanded: "What about that small coffin? And how exactly did my Second Uncle die?"

Second Aunt shook her head: "Your Second Uncle merely had a nightmare; he dreamed his belly was cut open. I was sleeping beside him, and when I lifted the blanket, there was indeed a hole in his stomach, flesh mangled…"

Saying this, Second Aunt seemed to recall a horrifying image, her whole body trembling: "After your Second Uncle breathed his last, that small coffin vanished without a trace."