Chapter 321: The Divine Tomb of the Underground Palace (8)
The guests sat around the table, chatting and laughing about how they had just successfully tricked the villagers while eating the food those same villagers had brought.
The exhaustion from before was temporarily pushed down by the current excitement. With food in their stomachs, a sense of security settled in, easing the tension that had been stretched taut in their minds.
The old-fashioned light bulb cast a warm, dim glow. Inside the room, it was all laughter and a cozy atmosphere.
Only Ye Li and the general sat at a distance by the window, arms crossed over their chests, keeping away from the guests. Even the aura around them was cold and stern, making it clear they wanted no one near.
The guests had wanted to invite the two over—after all, they were grateful for Ye Li and the general’s protection.
But everyone just looked at each other—no one dared step forward under that kind of pressure.
An Nanyuan had just taken a step in that direction when Ye Li shot him a cold glance, as if warning him not to wander over.
He froze, scared stiff, and quietly retracted his foot, shrinking back to the table.
An Nanyuan: QAQ This guy’s aura is terrifying. Probably only Brother Yan could handle him without batting an eye.
Ye Li withdrew his gaze and went back to staring intently at the general across from him, as if trying to bore several holes through him.
If it weren’t for this guy, he and Shixun would’ve been back in Binhai City by now. They’d be home, just the two of them, in their own world, doing all sorts of fun things…
Not stuck in this place, searching for someone’s bones!
But the general hadn’t even looked his way. He simply stood by the window, listening quietly to the sounds outside.
Like a wife from ancient times waiting for her husband to return.
When the faint sound of voices came from outside, the general immediately shot up like a spring and dashed straight to the door.
The guests, who had just been eating, only felt a gust of wind sweep past them. When they looked instinctively, the door was wide open, and the world outside was pitch-black.
They were completely bewildered. They had no idea what had just flown past.
Ye Li, after a moment of shock, instantly understood what was happening outside. His expression twisted into anger, and he stormed out after the general.
There was no way he was letting the general have a moment alone with Shixun!
Trying to show off in front of Shixun?
Not a chance!
Yan Shixun and the King of Hell were walking side by side, just stepping onto the path back to the village house, when in the blink of an eye, they saw the general standing quietly ahead.
Gone was the cold and sharp edge from their first meeting. Without his armor, dressed in casual clothes, the general seemed much gentler—like someone at peace in the present day.
He watched Yan Shixun silently, a gentle smile playing on his lips. Even his expression had softened, as if his eyes held nothing but Yan Shixun.
Yan Shixun raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn’t expected the general to be waiting for him here.
“What are you doing here?”
He walked up, puzzled. “Did something happen?”
The general shook his head gently. His steady voice carried a hidden warmth as he said, “It’s dark at night. I was afraid you’d get lost, so I came to take you home.”
Yan Shixun paused mid-step.
No one had ever said something like that to a powerful exorcist.
Usually, when Yan Shixun walked at night, it wasn’t his safety people worried about—it was the ghosts.
For a moment, it felt like he was back in his youth. Li Chengyun had also once stood at the alley entrance, sleeves folded, smiling as he waited for him to come home.
A smile slowly spread through Yan Shixun’s eyes.
He accepted the gesture.
But before he could step forward and say anything to the general, a sudden gust of wind blew past—and Ye Li’s figure appeared beside the general.
Ye Li wore a dark expression. His face looked downright terrifying as he stared at the general, his hand placed on the general’s shoulder, as if gripping his lifeline and warning him not to make any reckless moves.
“Seems like you don’t trust Shixun very much.”
Thinking of the conversation he had just overheard between the two, Ye Li was furious. But with Yan Shixun standing right there, he had no choice but to restrain the urge to beat the man up. He forced a smile, which didn’t reach his eyes, and asked, “Do you think Shixun doesn’t even have the ability to protect himself?”
Yan Shixun was about to step in to defend the general, but from the King of Hell’s perspective, Ye Li’s motives were blatantly obvious. He was practically waving a banner that said Destroy the general’s image in Shixun’s heart, sabotage their relationship.
The King of Hell: ………
He gave Ye Li a complicated look, feeling like the past thousand years of knowing this man had been a complete waste.
How had he never realized the Lord of Fengdu had this side to him? Apparently, even the ghost deity lost their minds when in love.
—Especially when facing the threat of someone else stealing their beloved.
But the general remained calm—exceptionally so. He didn’t even spare Ye Li a glance. His eyes stayed on Yan Shixun, his expression unchanged, not a single ripple.
“With me here, Shixun doesn’t need to worry about anything. I’ll handle it all.”
His eyes softened, and he chuckled lightly. “If he wants to be like a child, that’s fine too.”
Yan Shixun blinked, then let out a helpless laugh. “That might be a bit tough—there are a lot of people waiting for me to take them back to Binhai City. What are you thinking?”
When Yan Shixun gave his answer, the King of Hell, who had been on edge with his heart in his throat, slowly relaxed again.
…Alright, not bad. As expected of Yan Shixun—he didn’t understand a thing.
The general raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised by Yan Shixun’s response.
Ye Li, on the other hand, looked quite pleased.
He casually let go of the general and stepped back a few paces to widen the distance between them. Before doing so, he let out a quiet, mocking chuckle.
Ye Li: Do you know how hard it is to pursue Shixun? He’s a rare treasure that took me forever to figure out. You think a few words from you could win him over? Hah.
“Let’s go, Shixun.”
As Ye Li passed by the general, he even carried the air of a victor, casting a disdainful glance at him before smiling and walking toward Yan Shixun. “Running around from one thing to the next—you must be tired. Go eat and rest early. Don’t worry, I’ll take the night watch.”
Yan Shixun remained completely unaware that a silent confrontation had just occurred between the two men. He simply nodded and started telling Ye Li about the abandoned yizhuang on the other side of the mountain.
As for the guests inside the house, who had witnessed the entire scene through the open door: “…………”
Although they already had a basic understanding of how Ye Li and Yan Shixun interacted, that still didn’t stop them from being amazed yet again at the drastic difference in how ghost deities treated people.
And no, it wasn’t that ghost deities were cold-hearted. They just weren’t the ones being treated gently.
“Shixun, you think there’s something wrong with that yizhuang?”
Ye Li didn’t really care much about whether it was an yizhuang or not—but he did care about Yan Shixun’s opinion. If Yan Shixun said he didn’t like the look of those ruins, then Ye Li could simply have them leveled.
Ten thousand ghost soldiers thundering across the land—no matter what kind of monsters or spirits were hiding below, they’d all be crushed into dust and wouldn’t get a second chance to stir trouble.
Yan Shixun shook his head. As he retold the story from the village chief, doubts still lingered in his mind.
“Even for that time period, it’s not normal to have a yizhuang with that many deaths.”
He spoke softly, “I saw wolves in this area—and a few of them were gathered around the yizhuang. It could be that after the place was abandoned, there were still corpses left behind, which attracted the wolves to feed on the remains. Or it could be something else.”
Yan Shixun paused before voicing his speculation: “What if that mass death back then wasn’t a natural disaster, but man-made?”
“Someone deliberately trained wild wolves to kill the villagers nearby—then pretended it was corpses rising from the dead, when it was really just wolves tearing into people. And so, even after all these years, the wolves still instinctively gather there, generation after generation, following the instincts they were trained into?”
But Yan Shixun was well aware that even if he’d guessed the truth, there was no way to confirm it.
Besides, the villagers who lived through that incident had long since passed away. No one knew what truly happened all those centuries ago.
And no one needed to.
When Yan Shixun stood on the mountaintop and looked toward the abandoned yizhuang, he sensed no lingering souls or wandering ghosts. It was as if the people who died there long ago had accepted their fate without resentment.
So, after his usual deduction process, Yan Shixun put the matter aside and returned to the village house amidst the warm laughter and welcoming voices of the guests.
Considering the nighttime temperatures, Yan Shixun didn’t allow anyone to sleep in the cars.
But given the village’s questionable history, he couldn’t fully trust the place either. So he had everyone gather in a single house, rejecting the village chief’s offer to free up a few more rooms.
This house was located on the outskirts of the village. Although the owner—a widow—was ostracized by the villagers, it was visibly clear that the young man who did tire repairs there was someone practical and serious about life. The house he’d built was large and sturdy, well-insulated against the winter wind, and full of a lived-in warmth.
Still, no matter how large a room was, it felt a little cramped with so many people sleeping together.
But no one complained. On the contrary, the guests felt safer sleeping close like this.
The people they cared about were right beside them. Just lifting their heads, they could see each other’s faces. Even their sleep felt sweeter.
After dinner, the fatigue from earlier on the highway—which hadn’t fully faded—crept back in alongside the drowsiness that followed a warm meal.
The initial excitement of fooling the villagers soon gave way to wave after wave of yawns.
They quickly washed up and crawled into the blankets provided by the village chief.
To get the money back from Yan Shixun, the village chief had gone all out in his preparations. He feared that if Yan Shixun was even slightly dissatisfied, he wouldn’t pay up. So everything he brought, from food to bedding, was the best the village had to offer—gathered from various households.
The quilts still held the scent of sun-drying, fluffy and cozy enough to make anyone feel content.
The moment An Nanyuan lay down under the covers, he let out a long, satisfied sigh and refused to move.
“I suddenly think, if I buy a big house in the future and you all come sleep over, and we all lay out bedding on the floor like this—it would be so beautiful.”
An Nanyuan said, almost touched to tears, “That way I’ll never have to be scared of ghosts again. With other people sleeping beside me, I won’t let my mind wander at all.”
Bai Shuang asked curiously, “Even if you were sleeping next to Director Zhang and his ghost-attracting constitution?”
An Nanyuan: “…Sorry, that was reckless of me. Never mind, then.”
He’d probably drop dead from fright in one go.
Song Ci scoffed, clearly unimpressed by the suggestion. “Why would I go live at your house? Is my own 1,000-square-meter house not big enough, or do you think I can’t afford something even larger?”
An Nanyuan: So unfair! Is being rich that great?! …Wait, it really is. Waaah, I’m so jealous!
Zhao Zhen, half-laughing and half-exasperated, quickly walked over and lay down between the two to stop them from bickering further.
Yan Shixun also came over, carrying his own blanket.
It was rare for him to be so relaxed while away from home. His coat was tossed aside, and the top four buttons of his black shirt were undone, changing his look from tightly restrained and ready for action to something more casual and at ease—like he was at home.
Perhaps it was because Ye Li was now by his side, allowing him to feel at peace, entrusting both his and everyone else’s safety to him.
“Get some sleep.”
Faced with the group’s surprised looks, Yan Shixun asked calmly, “Aren’t you tired?”
“It’s not that—this is just the first time I’ve seen Brother Yan resting with us.”
Nan Tian spoke sincerely, “This is really great. Before, Brother Yan always looked so tired. Now that he can finally get some rest, it’ll definitely help.”
The other guests who had secretly been concerned about Yan Shixun all nodded in agreement.
Yan Shixun was amused and gave Nan Tian a light pat. Then, he lay down as well on the large communal bedding.
Immediately, a wave of drowsiness and warmth washed over him.
Before closing his eyes, Yan Shixun glanced at Ye Li.
Receiving Yan Shixun’s signal, Ye Li gave a slight nod. He leaned down and gently kissed Yan Shixun on the forehead, murmuring softly, “Sleep. I’m here.”
The other guests, completely ignored as if they were air: Hic.
Whether it was Ye Li, the general, or the King of Hell—strictly speaking, none of the three actually needed rest. It was fitting for them to stand guard.
The three of them spaced themselves far apart, sitting or standing near the windows or behind the doors.
Once Yan Shixun—who acted as the central link between them—fell asleep, they had no intention of conversing with one another.
Especially Ye Li and the general—both of them seemed to wish the other would just vanish.
But because of their positioning, the guests were surrounded on all sides, completely protected. This sense of security made the guests smile as they drifted off to sleep.
Soon, the room was filled only with the sound of steady breathing.
Ye Li sat by Yan Shixun’s side, watching his beloved’s sleeping face, his expression gentle.
His slender fingers lightly brushed across Yan Shixun’s cheek, and when his fingertip swept past his lover’s lashes, it felt like being playfully scratched by a large feline’s paw—a tickle that spread straight to his heart.
Ye Li’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, then placed his palm next to Yan Shixun’s and interlocked their fingers. He would never let anyone take his treasure from him.
The general’s gaze was deep and icy, but because Yan Shixun viewed him and Ye Li differently, he could only stand silently by the window, watching, without stepping forward.
While the guests were fast asleep, many others lay wide awake.
At the village chief’s house, several villagers sat around a table, sighing with furrowed brows.
“This deal really wasn’t worth it. Not only did we not make money, we even lost a bunch.”
“Tell me about it. Just trying to get our money back was a hassle. I even gave up some brand-new bedding.”
“Come on, we all did. It’s all because of Third Ma’s family—shouting nonsense! If they hadn’t claimed there was a car near the village entrance, we wouldn’t have run out there and ended up butting heads with that bunch.”
The group sighed heavily, clearly frustrated and still hoping to find a way to profit. But when they recalled the terrifying aura of those people in the vehicle, their courage quickly vanished.
“What if… we wait until they’re sound asleep in the middle of the night, then sneak over and kill them?”
One of them whispered greedily, “I saw it—some of the things they brought were made of gold! That must be worth a fortune.”
As soon as those words left his mouth, the village chief was instantly reminded of the fear he had felt facing Yan Shixun. His fury surged, and he slapped the man hard. “Bullshit!”
“You think you can steal it and actually live to spend it? Those people talk about the dead like it’s nothing. You really want to mess with them? Are you tired of living?!”
The slap landed loudly on the man’s bald head, a sharp, almost comical sound like cracking a melon.
Everyone immediately fell silent.
Though they hadn’t personally seen Yan Shixun return from the mountain and didn’t fully understand the chief’s reaction, since it was coming from the village chief, they had no choice but to suppress their thoughts.
The group mumbled as they discussed ideas, but every plan got shot down. They sat around a dim candle, puffing on dry tobacco, a cup of cloudy liquor beside them, their expressions grim well into the late night.
The village chief shook off the ash from his clothes, his head filled with regret. He kept muttering, “All my life I’ve hunted geese, and now a goose’s peck has blinded me. We’ve really stumbled into something we can’t afford to mess with. What bad luck!”
“It’s already the middle of the night—go home already. Stop wasting my candles.”
Annoyed, the village chief kicked them one by one. “Get lost!”
The others grinned sheepishly, said their goodbyes, and headed for the door.
Just then, a bloodcurdling scream shattered the silence of the night.
“AHHH—!!! A ghost! A dead person, they’ve come back to life!!!”
It was a woman’s voice, shrill and piercing, filled with raw terror, as if tearing the night sky apart.
The villagers were so startled by the scream that their bodies jolted involuntarily, and they were instantly infected by fear. Unease crept in—they had no idea what was going on.
But gradually, one man sensed something off.
“That voice…”
He trembled, hesitating. “I think that was my wife?”
The others paused. As they replayed the scream in their minds, their expressions turned to shock. “Oh no. It really might be!”
“Oh my god! My wife!”
The man slapped his thigh in panic and immediately dashed toward his house.
The rest quickly followed.
But before they could get far, more screams rang out.
Male voices. Female voices.
From different directions across the village.
Each scream was filled with bone-chilling terror.
What terrified the villagers most was realizing the voices sounded familiar… like their own family members.
Panic took hold. They stumbled and scrambled toward their homes.
But before they could reach them, one of them noticed something strange.
On a village path half-hidden in darkness, a thin figure stood silently, head lowered.
From a distance, it was impossible to tell who it was. One villager squinted, trying to get a better look, but the more he stared, the more uneasy he felt. He shouted, “Hey! Who’s there pretending to be a ghost? Whose brat is that?!”
The figure gave no response, just stood there silently with head hanging low, arms dangling stiffly—like something not quite alive.
The village chief looked at the figure and suddenly recalled the story he had just told Yan Shixun.
—The dead rise and return as corpses, killing the living.
His face turned pale with horror, and he turned to flee in the opposite direction.
But the moment he ran, the once motionless figure started to move too—chasing after him relentlessly.
The other villagers who had been thinking of running now instinctively looked at the figure.
And the moment they got a clear look at it, every one of them screamed in terror.
“AAAAHHHH—!!!”
The scent of blood spread through the air. Mist gathered, then dispersed…
Yan Shixun’s eyes flew open, sharp gaze locking straight ahead.
Like a beast jolted awake, his claws ready to strike at any moment.
What roused Yan Shixun wasn’t just a vague sense of danger that even seeped into his dreams—it was also the distant, horrifying screams he had faintly heard.
As he sat up, Nan Tian rubbed his eyes and slowly poked his head out from under the covers, asking sleepily, “Did I just have a nightmare? Why does it feel like someone was screaming?”
Half-asleep, Nan Tian couldn’t tell if it was dream or reality.
But Yan Shixun had already thrown off the blanket and leapt to his feet, grabbing his coat and pulling it on, ready to head outside.
Near the flickering candlelight, three figures stood guard. Neither Ye Li nor the King of Hell showed any concern—they remained completely calm.
Ye Li didn’t try to stop Yan Shixun. Instead, he took large strides to walk beside him and even reached out to help open the door.
Before Yan Shixun could stride into the heart of the village, the first thing that hit him was the stench of blood carried on the wind.
The winter wind cut straight through his clothes.
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