Chapter 653

Things happened suddenly, the memorial hall hadn't been set up yet.

The second maternal uncle's corpse still lay on the bed in the bedroom, covered with a sheet, and a bloodstain seeped out from his lower abdomen.

The second maternal uncle had two sons and a daughter, all of whom had started their own families, and they were all rushing over at this time.

I lifted the sheet to examine the wound on the second maternal uncle's belly.

Just as I lifted it, before I could see clearly, Jin Wuya suddenly reached out and pressed down my hand.

I looked at him doubtfully, and he said, 'The wound isn't on the belly; turn your face away, let me examine it carefully.'

We're both adults; after he said that, I roughly understood.

I walked out of the bedroom and stood at the doorway.

Behind me came the sound of rustling, along with the frightened weeping of the second maternal aunt.

Not long after, Jin Wuya walked over.

We walked a bit further out, stood in the courtyard, and I asked him: "Is the wound lower?"

"Three inches below the navel." Jin Wuya said, "It was completely dug out; even if the person were alive, they would have no reproductive function."

I sucked in a breath of cold air, never imagining things would turn out like this.

At that moment, my eldest cousin returned with his wife and children, flung himself onto the bed of my second uncle, and wailed bitterly.

The time that followed was chaotic.

My second cousin and eldest aunt also returned one after another.

They cried and made a fuss, frightened and fearful.

My second aunt, overwhelmed by fright, ultimately couldn't hold up and fainted.

The funeral procession arrived, and I helped Jin Wuya with the arrangements.

Just then, my eldest cousin suddenly rushed over, grabbed Jin Wuya's collar, dragged him to the corner of the courtyard wall, lowered his voice and demanded: "I heard that small coffin was brought out from the ancestral grave by you—you killed my father!"

I shoved my eldest cousin aside, stood in front of Jin Wuya, and snapped at him: "That small coffin is a taboo of the Shi Family; Grandfather, on his deathbed, specifically ordered it to be buried with him. It was your second uncle who secretly dug up Grandfather's tomb and dug the coffin out again—no one else is to blame; it's his own doing."

"Shi Rou, you actually helped an outsider!" my eldest cousin cried, eyes bloodshot. "How did my father treat you since childhood? How have I treated you? The one who died miserably on the bed is your own kin! Yet you protect this culprit?"

"I'll say it again: the death of my second uncle has nothing to do with Jin Wuya!" I said firmly. "He was greedy for the Earth Fetus Spiritual Power; he wanted to seize power..."

"Bullshit! My father wasn't that kind of person!"

"……"

My argument with my eldest cousin grew fiercer, startling those nearby; my second cousin rushed over, ready to grab Jin Wuya's collar and fight him to the death.

Jin Wuya dodged several times, but the two cousins refused to listen, so I had to hurriedly pull him away.

After all, they needed to handle the funeral first; they couldn't keep harassing Jin Wuya.

I felt upset—on one hand, I felt Jin Wuya was wronged; on the other, I truly couldn't bear to lose my second uncle.

But things have come to this; I could only say helplessly: "Jin Wuya, why don't you return to Jiangcheng for now? I'll look for you after I settle my second uncle's affairs."

Jin Wuya refused: "If I leave Lingnan now, it would be fleeing from guilt, and I would never dare to show my face there again."

I knew in my heart that he understood I couldn't abandon Lingnan just yet, and that he had sworn to my grandfather to protect me for the rest of his life.

I didn't press him further, instead asking: "So many things have happened these days; I haven't yet had a chance to ask what happened to you down in the underground tomb."

I poured Jin Wuya a cup of tea, and we sat on the sofa.

Jin Wuya recalled: "That morning I met your eldest uncle at the ancestral tomb; the coffin had already been lifted up and was suspended. Your eldest uncle, while I was lowering my head to confirm the anchor point of the Tomb‑suppressing Beast, pushed me down and then immediately filled the grave with earth."

I gasped: "He actually dared to do that—how did you escape?"

"He wasn't trying to kill me," Jin Wuya said. "The area beneath the tomb had been hollowed out; after being pushed down, I landed in a narrow space lower down. The coffin above sealed it, leaving pitch darkness. Fortunately, I had prepared before leaving home and turned on my flashlight."

After the coffin lid was sealed, the space below became a confined, cramped area. The beam of my flashlight swept around and I discovered that I was standing on a bronze tomb door, engraved with the very Tomb‑suppressing Beast I had studied overnight the previous day.

At that moment I realized your eldest uncle's true aim was to use my hands to open this bronze tomb door. Although I had worked out a solution in advance, actually carrying it out proved far harder than I imagined, and I soon began to struggle for breath.

Probably on the first night of being trapped, I began to lack oxygen, my mind fell into chaos, and I unconsciously started calling for help…

When Jin Wuya said this, I had already grabbed his arm, repeatedly saying: "Sorry, the situation was too complicated back then; I knew you had been drawn in, but I couldn't go rescue you—it was my fault…"

"You're not at fault, nor is your grandfather; this is the decisiveness that those in power should have—it's just that I happened to be the one chosen." Jin Wuya was calmer than I imagined; he said, "I don't know how long my consciousness remained in Chaos; later I was awakened by a surge of Yin Cold Qi, which seeped out from beneath the Bronze Tomb Door that I had destroyed."

After regaining consciousness, I pressed forward in one go, broke the crucial mortise-and-tenon structure, and fell into the underground tomb.

That was originally an ancient grave, situated right on the dragon vein line; later it was probably remodeled by your great-grandfather. In the exact center of the Zhumushi stood an Altar, on which rested the Golden-thread Nanmu Small Coffin—the seal on its surface you had seen before. I expended tremendous effort to break the Formation Array of the Zhumushi and bring the coffin out.

Jin Wuya spoke briefly, but I know how helpless he must have been during that time and how much effort he exerted to escape death.

But there are still many doubts: "You said that this underground tomb was remodeled by your great-grandfather and then used to seal the small coffin; if so, the mechanisms on the Bronze Tomb Door and the formation array in the main burial chamber should have been set up by your great-grandfather—why then have your grandfather and even your uncle never been able to solve them?"

Not just your grandfather and uncle, right?

Over the years, many have coveted the dragon vein, yet no one has succeeded.

Besides fearing the Shi Family's prestige in Lingnan, what other reason could there be?

"Your great-grandfather designed the Bronze Tomb Door; he surely knew how to open the mechanism, but he didn't tell his descendants—he must have had his reasons." Jin Wuya analyzed, "In this world there may be few who surpass me in skill as a machinist, but there certainly are; over the years, all the powers in Lingnan have surely sought out skilled machinists to break the situation, yet they never succeeded—perhaps the fundamental reason is that they never studied the so-called Tomb-suppressing Beast in advance."