Chapter 72: Eerie Coffin Shop, Capital City Old Cadre
Fatty carried the armillary sphere on his back, muttering in his mouth:
“Good grief, so we’re just here for a quick visit. Master Jin can go back with a good reputation, Master…”
He glanced at Su Mo, but didn’t dare mention that dragon bone again. He turned his face to look at the mummified corpse of Golden Abacus behind Hu Ba Yi:
“Old Hu, you got yourself a Second Martial Uncle, but I’m the one stuck carrying this thing. It can’t be exchanged for money, no reputation, I’m just doing the work for others!”
Hu Ba Yi smiled and said:
“There’s definitely nothing good here anymore. Fatty, if you’re still not satisfied, how about we go check out Li Chun Lai’s place? Maybe we can find some good stuff!”
Fatty perked up at that, indeed somewhat tempted.
That Li Chun Lai had casually pulled an embroidered shoe from a coffin that was worth a few hundred bucks, and Shaanxi here was the old land of Qin and Han, so ancient tombs were everywhere. Maybe there was an ancient tomb there too, and if they got some grave goods to take back, this trip would be worth it!
Thinking of this, Fatty stopped complaining, carried the various parts of the armillary sphere on his back, and followed Su Mo out.
The four walked out along the tomb raiding hole they came from, no longer passing the suspended soul ladder, so it was much faster. Soon they reached the previous tomb raiding hole, then crawled along it back into the fish bone temple.
When they came out again, it was already late in the night. They’d stayed in the pit for nearly a full day.
They rested in the fish bone temple, and when daylight came, they followed the road back down Dragon Ridge, then took a car to Gu Lan County where Li Chun Lai was.
Gu Lan County wasn’t far from Dragon Ridge; by car it was just half a day. The four got off in a town called Stone Tablet Shop, and further on they could only go on foot.
After getting off, the four were preparing to eat some lunch in town before heading to Li Chun Lai’s place when suddenly two people came walking up ahead: one old and one young. The old one wore a red armband and looked very serious, while the young one was only seven or eight years old, holding a wooden stick.
This old man and young boy walked up to Su Mo and the others, eyed them suspiciously, and said:
“What are you doing here?”
Wang Pang Zi and Hu Ba Yi were stunned:
“Just passing through. What’s up?”
The old man said gravely:
“Stone Tablet Shop is under lockdown lately. Outsiders can’t stay. Eat your meal and get going!”
Hu Ba Yi and the others couldn’t help but laugh in anger upon hearing this.
Lockdown?
You issuing the lockdown order?
Wang Pang Zi couldn’t help but tease with a laugh:
“Old sir, we’re good citizens. What’s this about? We’re from the capital city. You know a lockdown isn’t something you just do casually. A whole town daring to lockdown and chase away travelers—watch out or I’ll report it when I go back, and when they investigate, you won’t be able to handle it!”
This old man was just a local farmer who didn’t know much. Hearing they were from the capital city, the heartland of Huaxia under the emperor’s feet, if they really reported it, that would be bad.
Thinking of this, the old man’s momentum softened, and he forced a smile:
“So you’re comrades from the capital city. We’ve had an incident here. The town head said no outsiders allowed to avoid problems. This isn’t my call!”
Hu Ba Yi couldn’t help but curiously ask about it.
This old man was straightforward and, with just a few words from Hu Ba Yi and Wang Pang Zi, spilled the whole story.
Turns out, Stone Tablet Shop had a coffin shop. Legend had it that when the coffin shop boss had no business, he’d slap the coffins, and people nearby would die, then come buy coffins. This tale had circulated for many years, and lots of folks believed it.
A few days ago, the coffin shop boss suddenly died. He had no wife or kids, and with the slapping coffin death legend so scary, normal people wouldn’t go near him. By the time others found him dead, it had been days, and the corpse stank up the street.
Everyone saw the old shopkeeper was dead, and there were ready coffins in the shop, so they decided to put his corpse in a coffin and bury him.
But when they moved the coffin, they found a tunnel under it. The town’s militia platoon leader was bold, lit a torch, and went down to check. But what he saw scared him so much he nearly pissed himself.
He said the pit below was very deep, full of yin energy, just like the underworld. He only dared go halfway and didn’t dare go further, just saw a stone bed over there with a stone box on it.
Villagers saw the stone box looked like an antique, so they didn’t dare touch it and immediately notified the county. Luckily, there was an archaeological team there, led by a Professor Sun. They rushed to Stone Tablet Shop and had the townsfolk maintain order, not letting idle people gather.
In this old man’s telling, it became Stone Tablet Shop under lockdown, strictly forbidding outsiders to stay.
Truly wielding a chicken feather as an arrow!
Su Mo knew right away there was something mysterious in that coffin shop, and according to the original story, Chen Yu Lou, who had fallen to the rivers and lakes as a fortune-telling blind man, seemed to be around here.
Chen Yu Lou had been poisoned by miasma in Yunnan back then, forcing him to destroy his own eyes to barely escape with his life. The once Xie Ling Bandit Leader ended up wandering the rivers and lakes, making a living by fortune telling for others—tragic and lamentable.
As Su Mo knew, Chen Yu Lou had a human skin map of the Tomb of King Xian on him, and the second dragon bone was likely hidden in the Tomb of King Xian.
Thinking of this, Su Mo wanted to go check out the coffin shop, but judging by the old man’s look, he wouldn’t let them near it.
While Su Mo was thinking of a way, suddenly two people came rushing up ahead:
“Bad news! That old cadre from the capital city is in trouble—probably dead in the pit!”
The old man paled instantly.
Su Mo had a flash of inspiration and grabbed the old man:
“Old sir, we’re from the capital city too, we know this Professor Sun. Can you take us there? Maybe we can help out!”
The old man was panicking and didn’t care to verify if Su Mo was telling the truth. Anyway, these four were from the capital city too—maybe they really could save that old cadre.
He then led Su Mo and the others to the coffin shop, where a crowd had gathered outside, all chattering, but hardly anyone dared go in.
A few militia-looking folks stood near the shop door, looking anxious. A militia platoon leader was yelling at the top of his lungs:
“No one dares go save that old cadre? Whoever pulls him up, I’ll reward him ten bucks!”
In rural Shaanxi those days, ten bucks was no small sum, but the onlookers just looked around shiftily—no one dared claim that “generous reward”!
At that moment, Su Mo suddenly shouted:
“Platoon Leader Comrade, I’m from the capital city, I know this Professor Sun. Let us go down and take a look!”
