“I examined the hair found in the bone pit,” Shi Ting said. “Some was cut to shoulder length, while some was long braided down to the waist. Since these were all males, why would they have long braids? There is only one explanation — these men were born during the Xing Dynasty.”

Yan Qing had read the history of Xin Guo. This country was, in many ways, the same as her own homeland — from ancient times to the present, even the historical transitions had been nearly identical, as though in one timeline the same people had simply developed at different paces. Although the names differed, both moved slowly in the same direction. Before Xin Guo came the Xing Dynasty — the last feudal dynasty, equivalent to what was now called the Qing Dynasty.

“Male subjects of the Xing Dynasty all wore their hair in long braids down to the waist.” Shi Ting continued.

“You’re saying these men were from the Xing Dynasty?” Yan Qing said, surprised.

“More precisely, from the final years of the Xing Dynasty and the early years of Xin Guo — about twenty years ago.” Shi Ting explained. “In the waning years of the Xing Dynasty, the imperial family declined, and many people cut off their braids. But there were still those who refused to cut their hair, which is why the skeletal remains included both shoulder-length hair and braids.”

Old Li and Xiao Yue were even more astonished. What kind of people were these two? How could they deduce so much from a pile of white bones?

“What did these people do?” Old Li asked curiously. “Thirty-four people — all buried together like that — they weren’t soldiers, were they?”

“Their clothing was worn and tattered, made mostly from cheap hemp thread. On the few intact garments, I found severe wear at the shoulders and on the soles of the shoes. Furthermore, their hand and foot bones were thicker than those of ordinary people. I deduce that their occupation involved heavy carrying labor — they were porters.”

Old Li’s and Xiao Yue’s jaws nearly dropped open enough to fit an egg.

Yet what astonished this grandfather and granddaughter was, to Yan Qing and Shi Ting, merely the most ordinary kind of deduction — to them, however, it was already nothing short of extraordinary.

“Uncle, what was this place — Jiuyang Village — in the past?”

Old Li set aside his astonishment and slowly began to recall.

“I came to Jiuyang Village with my family fifteen years ago. Everyone in this village arrived around that time as refugees. In those days, various warlords were fighting each other without pause — everywhere was cannon fire and bullets, yet this place, though remote, was a peaceful haven. I heard people say that the location of Jiuyang Village was quite prosperous during the Xing Dynasty era. There was a dock built along the Red River, and the dock was lively every single day, with goods flowing endlessly. The place wasn’t called Jiuyang Village then — it was called Zhiqing County. Thanks to the dock, Zhiqing County was quite well-off. But later the warlords swept through, burning and looting and killing all the way, and quickly leveled Zhiqing County.”

Yan Qing couldn’t help glancing at Shi Ting. He understood her meaning and shook his head.

Although Jiuyang Village fell within the jurisdiction of Bei Di, he knew that the Commander had never sent troops to raze a county called Zhiqing. Moreover, at that time, the Commander had not yet unified Bei Di — that stretch of land was still a lawless mixture of many forces.

“Afterward, scattered refugees gradually gathered here, slowly forming a small village — what is now Jiuyang Village.”

“And this business of going up the mountain to dig for an ancient tomb — when did that start?”

“About four or five years ago, I think,” Old Li said, trying to remember. “A Taoist priest suddenly appeared, claiming that an ancient great general was buried on Qiong Mountain, and that the general had accumulated vast wealth in his lifetime — wealth that rivaled an entire kingdom. The village chief was taken with the idea and started sending people up every day to dig. The mountain you went to today is just one part of Qiong Mountain’s range. This Jiuyang Village is bordered by the river on one side and mountains stretching for a hundred li on the other. If that great general was truly buried somewhere in this area, they’d have to dig up the entire mountain range to find it. At the rate they’re going, it would take generations.”

Shi Ting thought of the Taoist priest who had been at Master Niu’s side today, and his gaze deepened.

That Taoist priest was clearly a fool — he was holding his geomancy compass upside down without even knowing it — yet he kept insisting the mountain held a tomb, and the digging had gone on for years. What was his purpose? Or rather, what was he really trying to unearth?

“Yan Qing — could you determine the cause of death?” Shi Ting asked.

“Some had shattered skulls; others had been pierced through the chest with a sharp weapon. Though the manner of death varied, I can say with certainty that all of it was caused by external force — none of these were suicides.”

Old Li was deeply shaken. Thirty-odd people had been killed. What manner of person had the power to kill so many at once?

“I also found many bones in the pit that had turned a darkened color — a symptom of poisoning during life. These people were very likely made to ingest poison first, and then killed one by one afterward. The reason for poisoning them first was probably that there were too many of them — and after they were poisoned, someone must have feared they might not all be dead and delivered a finishing blow to each one.”

The attacker had been ruthless — their sole aim was to ensure not a single life remained.

Shi Ting surmised that the people in this bone pit were most likely dock porters. They would have worked the docks, hauling loads back and forth to deliver goods.

Who had gathered all these porters together, and then killed them so brutally?

Though these people had died twenty years ago, he had the persistent feeling that this matter was anything but simple.

“The rain seems like it will keep falling — looks like we won’t be able to get back up the mountain tomorrow,” Old Li said with considerable relief. “Young man, young lady — I receive your good intentions gratefully. But going up that mountain to dig is a life-threatening affair, and I cannot watch you risk yourselves on my behalf. Once the rain lets up a little, please leave at once.”

“If we leave, Master Niu will take Xiao Yue away.” Yan Qing looked at Xiao Yue with concern. Xiao Yue lowered her head.

“Then so be it — I’ll fight them to the death. Even if I die, I won’t hand Xiao Yue over to them.” Old Li said with resolve.

Xiao Yue, hearing this, reached out and took her grandfather’s hand. The old man and his granddaughter looked at each other, and tears came flooding at once.

Xiao Yue shook her head, signing with her hands: I will never leave Grandfather. If we die, we die together.

Looking at this pitiful grandfather and granddaughter pair before her, Yan Qing felt her own nose begin to sting.

“Uncle, we are not leaving.” Shi Ting’s tone was calm and deliberate. “Rest assured — this matter, I will resolve.”

“You — how will you resolve it?” Old Li and Xiao Yue both stared in shock.

Old Li suddenly remembered something and quickly shook his head. “No, you cannot. That Master Niu has quite a few men under him. If you go head-to-head against them, you’ll come out the worse for it.”

As for going head-to-head, Shi Ting was not worried about that — dealing with a few thugs was easy enough. But the real culprit behind all of this was not the village chief or Master Niu; it was that Daoist Qianqiu.

Even if the village chief and Master Niu were dead, the Taoist would simply dupe the next village chief into digging for tombs. Solving the surface problem without addressing the root cause was treating the symptoms while ignoring the disease.

Shi Ting did not say how he intended to resolve it. Instead, he asked Xiao Yue to prepare a few things for him.

When they came out of Old Li’s room, Yan Qing asked curiously: “You’ve already thought of a way.”

Shi Ting smiled at her. “I do have an idea — but whether it works depends on whether the villagers here can be awakened.”

The two went into their room. Yan Qing noticed the roof was leaking — this was a mud-brick house with a thatched roof, and it always leaked when it rained. Fortunately, the area around the bed was still relatively dry.

Yan Qing took Shi Ting’s hand and sat him down, then began to unwrap the bandage on his head — though calling it a bandage was generous; it was really just a strip of cloth.

His wound had begun to heal, but it still looked quite severe.

“When you first fell into the water, I truly thought you wouldn’t survive.” Yan Qing said, her heart still gripped with lingering fear at the memory of that terrifying moment.

“I thought the same, especially the moment I struck the hidden reef.”

He and the assassin had fallen into the water together. That man was a death warrior — even after plunging into the river, he had clung to Shi Ting’s arm and refused to let go. Shi Ting had spotted a hidden reef ahead, so he had used all his strength to twist his body in the water. Under the force of momentum, the assassin had plunged headfirst into the reef and died on impact. Shi Ting himself had been driven directly into another reef by the current — but because the man’s body had shielded him, the impact had not claimed his life, though it had rendered him unconscious.

“In terms of martial skill, he was not someone I could match.” Shi Ting narrowed his eyes. “And he was determined to take my life, willing even to sacrifice his own.”

“Have you guessed who was behind it?”

“No matter who it was — as long as I return to Shun Cheng, I will drag them out into the light.”

Yan Qing saw cold, forest-like killing intent in his eyes.

He was usually cold and composed, and the schemes and assassination attempts against him were countless — but she had never seen this kind of emotion in his eyes before. She could faintly guess the reason: this time, she had been dragged into it as well.

These people could harm him — he had always stood on this arena, after all. But drawing her into harm’s way had touched the reverse scale of his dragon. He would exact retribution without fail. He would make those who had hurt her pay back everything, doubled.

Unable to stop herself, Yan Qing reached out and took his hand. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

That kiss seemed to hold some magic — the killing intent in Shi Ting’s eyes dissolved at once. He stared at her in a momentary daze, but quickly pressed his hand against the back of her head and lowered his lips to meet hers.

From the space between his lips and teeth, she felt his tension and his lingering fear. He must be regretting having brought her out here.

Her gentleness was melting him, bit by bit. Gradually, he began to calm. Those turbulent emotions slowly dissolved into the warmth of her lips.

Yan Qing pulled back, looking a little flustered: “I haven’t bathed in a week.”

All those days, she had been caring for him practically without taking off her clothes.

Shi Ting laughed and pinched her cheek. “I’ll go heat the water.”

“Never mind.” Yan Qing pulled him back. “Uncle doesn’t have much firewood left — it needs to be saved for cooking.”

In a place like this, even bathing had become a luxury.