Shang Zhongtian spoke softly, "I tiptoed through the cold, dry tunnel, with fist-sized night pearls glowing dimly for who knows how many years. The faint blue light only illuminated my figure, not even my features. I always felt like someone was watching me, making my hair stand on end, but when I looked back, there was nothing there. At that moment, I thought it was just my imagination."
"I followed the light through the rugged passage and arrived at the main tomb."
"The size of the main tomb left me speechless. For a moment, I forgot that I was in a dark and terrifying burial chamber."
Shang Zhongtian closed his eyes for a moment, as if recalling every little detail of what he had seen. After finishing his memories, he slowly spoke again, "I had never seen such a large tomb. The ceiling was so high it seemed to reach the sky. Beneath that sky, the soldier figurines, holding sharp bronze spears, faithfully guarded their master. The numerous burial items were arranged in a Bagua formation, subtly aligning with the order of heaven."
"The ancient corpse had been dead for hundreds of years, yet the terrifying aura it emitted from the coffin still made my heart race, as if that old Nascent Soul expert had not truly died, but was merely sleeping, ready to awaken at any moment."
"I’m not one to hesitate, so I quickly decided to take half of the burial items. Just as I was about to leave, I heard footsteps nearby. The sound echoed in the empty tomb, sending chills down my spine."
"Then I encountered a terrifying situation I had never faced in all my years in this line of work."
At this point, Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye leaned forward, eager to hear more.
Shang Zhongtian showed an extremely pained expression, his voice trembling, "I ran into a descendant of that Nascent Soul expert who came to pay respects to their ancestor!"
"What?" Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye heard clearly but were still processing it.
"Those people brought offerings and magical tools to worship their ancestor, praying for their family to thrive, for talented individuals to emerge, and for success in exams. On their way to pay their respects, they noticed me stealing in the tomb, and they rushed at me. It was terrifying, and even now, I break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it."
"…I think their reaction was pretty normal," Lu Yang said honestly. The family not killing you on the spot shows they have some restraint.
"This is what you call great terror?" Tao Yaoye asked.
Shang Zhongtian scratched his head, confused by their reactions. "Yeah, digging in a tomb and running into the descendants of the tomb owner. Isn't that more terrifying than anything else?"
"And then what happened?"
"Then I got beaten up. They knocked me down from the peak of Qi training to the mid-level, threw me in jail, and the authorities made me pay back everything I had stolen before. They locked me up for ten years. After getting out, I decided to wash my hands of this and start anew, avoiding all this trouble."
"Honestly."
"I can't face my peers."
"…"
Shang Zhongtian sincerely left both of them at a loss for words.
After he personally buried the skinless body of Steward Zhang, he invited Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye to stay another night before leaving, but Tao Yaoye declined.
If it weren't to lure out the skin-changing ghost, she wouldn't have chosen to stay. Traveling at night posed no difficulty for the two of them in the Foundation Building stage.
Before leaving, Lu Yang found Shang Yuan and patted the parrot's head.
If Taiping Township hadn't mistaken the parrot for a demon beast, they wouldn't have had the chance to deal with the skin-changing ghost at the Shang family.
"This parrot is pretty good. It might really be a demon beast. Take care of it well."
Shang Yuan was surprised and quickly asked why.
"The strength of early demon beasts is quite vague, making them hard to distinguish from wild animals. I can't tell them apart either."
"But Little Green left your house and didn't fly far away. Instead, it kept flying around Taiping Township. It knows your family is in danger and didn't approach. Maybe it's a coincidence, or perhaps it's a sign of awakening intelligence. It's hard to say."
Lu Yang smiled and didn’t say more.
Shang Zhongtian felt he hadn’t hosted them well. They had saved twelve lives from the Shang family, and all he could offer was his retirement story.
"This is my experience in tomb raiding. If you don’t mind, take it. You might find it useful someday." Shang Zhongtian took out a blue-bound book and handed it to them.
Lu Yang politely accepted it, and then they waved goodbye.
On the way back, Lu Yang asked, "Do you want this book on tomb raiding?"
Tao Yaoye shook her head. She wasn't a tomb raider, so what would she do with it?
Lu Yang also thought it wasn't very useful but still kept it.
"Why didn't you tell me in advance when you poisoned my room?" Tao Yaoye was still upset about it.
Fortunately, her Immortal Body had a high resistance to all poisons; otherwise, wouldn’t she have ended up with athlete's foot like Steward Zhang?
A beautiful girl getting athlete's foot? How ridiculous!
Lu Yang shrugged. He had only poisoned the room because he knew it wouldn't harm Tao Yaoye: "I did tell you."
"When?"
"During dinner, with my eyes."
"So you weren't just unable to reach the dish and wanted me to pass you the plate?"
"I'm not that shallow."
The two successfully returned to the Asking Dao Sect, just in time to see Meng Jingzhou finishing a task and complaining to the senior brother who assigned it.
"Meng Jingzhou, your task was pretty simple. How did you end up with a fox demon complaining about you, saying you had an attitude problem and wouldn’t cooperate?" The senior brother was puzzled. After all, he just provided a dual cultivation method; how could there be an attitude issue?
"Senior brother, you need to check that fox demon. There’s definitely something wrong. I just went to provide the dual cultivation technique, and she actually wanted to inspect the goods and practice the technique with me to see if it was real."
Meng Jingzhou said angrily, "If I weren't a pure Yang body, I would have practiced with her!"
It was unclear if he was angry about being a pure Yang body and missing a chance for a meeting or if he was upset that the fox demon underestimated his pursuit of the Dao.
Seeing the senior brother looking helpless, Lu Yang stepped in to help: "Senior brother, we completed the task of dealing with the demon beast."
Lu Yang explained in detail how the people of Taiping Township mistook a parrot for a talking demon beast, how he and Tao Yaoye revealed their flaws, lured the skin-changing ghost out, and then dealt with it.
At the end, Lu Yang handed the ashes of the skin-changing ghost to the senior brother.
"You did exceptionally well for your first task," the senior brother said, looking at Lu Yang with new respect. He thought the task would be simple, but he didn't expect there to be more to it.
Hearing how Lu Yang had quickly resolved the situation, he was even more impressed. Without the poison, it would have taken a lot of effort to subdue the skin-changing ghost, and it might have even escaped.
Most importantly, this junior brother carried the poison for athlete's foot with him, and the senior brother, thinking of this, quietly moved a little further away.
"You two exceeded the task requirements. Your original contribution points will be quadrupled, giving you 120 contribution points. Tao Yaoye, you played a supporting role in this task, earning 90 contribution points."
Tao Yaoye had no objections. Lu Yang had played a crucial role in this task; she was just the bait.
(End of Chapter)