Chapter 75: Mysterious Organization Reveals A Corner Of Its Veil, Wang Family
Su Mo naturally did not know Professor Sun; he had only read about this person in the original work.
Earlier, he said he knew Professor Sun just to get the Militia Platoon Leader to agree to let him go down, but now he was immediately exposed by the Militia Platoon Leader.
Hu Ba Yi and the others were immediately stunned and all looked toward Su Mo.
Su Mo, however, remained calm and composed, smiling faintly on his face as he said:
“Professor Sun, we are consultants from the Capital City Archaeology Academy, and we are all good friends with Professor Chen, Professor Hao, and the others. This time, passing by the Stone Tablet Shop, we heard you were in trouble, so we hurried over to take a look.”
Professor Sun was overjoyed upon hearing this.
He had known Professor Chen for many years and considered him an old friend. Hearing that Su Mo was a consultant at the Archaeology Academy, he couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised:
“You all look quite young. To think you’re consultants at the Archaeology Academy? That’s truly rare!”
Su Mo smiled and said:
“Previously, we went with Professor Chen to explore Jing Jue Ancient City in the Western Regions. The so-called consultant role was just part-time guide, team leader, and bodyguard!”
Professor Sun laughed:
“You’re being modest. I’ve heard about your trip to Jing Jue Ancient City. If Professor Hao and the others hadn’t had you, they probably would have died there! Thank you, rushing over upon hearing I was in trouble!”
He then hurriedly asked:
“I heard Old Chen went to the Beautiful Country for treatment. How is he doing?”
Su Mo nodded:
“When we came, he had just gone to the Beautiful Country with Miss Xue Li Yang. He is just old and frail, plus he encountered some things in Jing Jue Ancient City, but it shouldn’t be a big problem!”
Professor Sun then nodded and said no more.
In the cave below the cave, there were only many stone tablets, but no tomb grave goods or the like. Seeing that they had brought so many people because of him, Professor Sun stopped his research and followed everyone back to the ground.
Seeing that there were no tomb grave goods underground in the Coffin Shop, Su Mo and the others felt a bit disappointed. Plus, they weren’t familiar with Professor Sun, so they bid farewell to everyone and prepared to leave.
Just as they were about to leave, Chen Xia Zi groped over from the side:
“Sirs, could you take this old man to the Capital City?”
Wang Pang Zi couldn’t help but tease:
“You’re already so old and have lost a pair of eyes. What are you going to do in the Capital City? The Capital City is cracking down hard now, no superstitious activities allowed. Begging for food probably won’t be easy to live on either!”
Chen Xia Zi, upon hearing this, immediately said proudly:
“You look young, yet you show no respect for this old man! Back in the day, this old man was the Xie Ling Bandit Leader. Though I’ve lost a pair of eyes, my skills are still there. In the Capital City, whether trading grave goods or divining bones, reading fortunes, or surveying Feng Shui for officials and nobles, I’m an expert. Absolutely no need to beg for food!”
Fatty was usually irreverent, just joking around, but whether to bring the old blind man to the Capital City, they would follow Su Mo’s decision.
Su Mo thought for a moment and then said:
“Since you want to go to the Capital City, just come with us. Then have Master Jin set you up with a stall at Panjiayuan, or fortune telling in the park, that’ll be enough for you to live on!”
“This fellow Mountain Mover is truly righteous!”
Chen Xia Zi sighed, clasped his fists toward Su Mo, and said:
“Thank you. Since you keep your word, Chen is also prepared to give you this《 Duo Zi Mi Di Yan Tu》. Anyway, this old man is blind, keeping this book is useless!”
“There’s one more thing that you probably haven’t noticed. Though this old man is blind, he sees more clearly than you all. I’ll tell you now!”
Hearing Chen Xia Zi say there was one more thing, Su Mo and the others listened attentively.
Chen Xia Zi paused, then lowered his voice again:
“This Coffin Shop’s old shopkeeper is not an ordinary person. He’s definitely not just a descendant of the Ancient Dian Kingdom!”
It turned out that when Su Mo and the others went down into the cave, Chen Xia Zi stood waiting above on the surface, but actually quietly felt over the entire situation in the Coffin Shop.
After some groping around, he discovered that this Coffin Shop was far from simple. The shop’s layout seemed straightforward, but the floor tiles were arranged with hidden mechanisms, vaguely forming an ancient Yin Yang Feng Shui wealth-gathering formation. And right behind the old shopkeeper’s counter, Chen Xia Zi had actually felt out a book from a hidden compartment.
Unable to see, he naturally didn’t know what was written in the book, but since the old shopkeeper had hidden it in a compartment, it was definitely something very important.
Hearing this, Wang Pang Zi couldn’t help but tease again:
“Uncle Chen, since you got this book, why not hand it over to the militia or Professor Sun? At least it’s a great merit, maybe even get some commendation!”
“Those militiamen are just rough bumpkins, and the so-called Professor Sun is just a poor pedantic scholar. What do they know! This old shopkeeper set up a cave here; below can’t possibly just hide some stone tablets and strange fish. This old man absolutely cannot hand this book to others. You all are fellow daoists like me, so of course the book goes to you!”
With that, Chen Xia Zi took out a tattered old booklet from his bosom and handed it to Su Mo.
Su Mo took it and looked; it was an account book, recording transactions, but not of how many coffins were sold, but some very strange things:
“On the fourteenth day of the second month of the Wu Chen year, from Wang City in the northwest, four pairs of vases delivered in coffins, two gold-inlaid jade boxes, fifteen white jade pendants…”
“On the second day of the third month of the Jia Chen year, Wang Jie from Yulin delivered fifteen jars of silver dollars!”
“On the eighth day of the tenth month of the Bing Xu year…”
It seemed that every certain period, someone would deliver valuables like antiques and silver dollars to the Coffin Shop under the guise of delivering coffins. Besides what was brought in, the account book also recorded what was sent out, like on a certain year, month, and day, so-and-so Wang transported away how many things.
Strangely, whether bringing in or taking away things, they were all surnamed Wang!
Hu Ba Yi frowned upon seeing this:
“Why are they all surnamed Wang? Could this old shopkeeper also be from the Wang Family?”
Chen Xia Zi shook his head:
“No, I’ve been at the Stone Tablet Shop for many days and heard that the old shopkeeper is not surnamed Wang. Seems like Sun or Li or something!”
Hu Ba Yi also shook his head:
“That doesn’t add up. From the account book, all the dealings are with Wang Family people. The old shopkeeper is very likely also surnamed Wang, and the name outsiders know is probably just a cover!”
Chen Xia Zi nodded:
“That’s quite possible. Since all the dealings are with Wang Family people, there’s no reason for him to be the only one with a different surname!”
While they were talking, Su Mo’s brows had already furrowed tightly.
Though it was just an account book, Su Mo had already vaguely seen some clues from it!
This Coffin Shop was far from just a harmful place; it was a storage and transit hub for some organization. This old shopkeeper was not only a descendant of the Ancient Dian Kingdom but very likely belonged to a mysterious organization!
His staying at the Stone Tablet Shop and selling coffins was just a cover job; his hidden identity was managing this organization’s hub and storage at the Stone Tablet Shop, responsible for maintaining and managing the incoming and outgoing goods.
And raising Razorfin Viperfish in strange jars was just a secret technique he learned from the Ancient Dian Kingdom, a personal hobby.
And the people in this organization were all surnamed Wang!
Thinking of this, Su Mo’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Wang Canghai?
