Zhixiong’s heart leaped with joy, and he immediately asked, “Elder, we wish to know the secret behind the Four Great Forbidden Grounds.”

Unexpectedly, after Zhixiong finished speaking, Zabacuo gently shook his head and said, “Zhixiong does not know the secret of the Four Great Forbidden Grounds.”

Lu Zong looked puzzled. “You don’t know? That can’t be right. Old Monk Kongdu said you could answer our questions.”

Zabacuo replied, “Zhixiong truly doesn't know this; you can ask someone else.”

Zhixiong shrugged helplessly, then continued, “What is the connection between the Four Great Forbidden Grounds and the Demon Pagoda?”

Zabacuo pondered for a moment before saying to Zhixiong, “Among the Four Great Forbidden Grounds, the Ghost Fire Cremation Tomb is rumored to contain the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul, which is one of the four great treasures of the Forbidden Grounds. However, the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul was unearthed during the Tang Dynasty. At that time, one of Emperor Taizong of Tang’s concubines was afflicted with a cold poison, and only the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul could cure her. Therefore, Wei Zheng retrieved the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul from the Ghost Fire Cremation Tomb to treat the Emperor’s concubine. After she recovered, Wei Zheng constructed another ancient tomb to seal the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul. Because the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul must be sealed in a Spiritually Haunted Place for long-term preservation, Wei Zheng built the ancient tomb into a Ghost Palace.”

The three of us were astonished upon hearing this! So that was the story behind the Ghost Palace, and the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul was inside it. This meant the Ghost Palace was essentially equivalent to one of the Four Great Forbidden Grounds.

At this moment, Lu Zong suddenly said to Zhixiong, “Zhixiong, look, could the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul be that…”

Zhixiong immediately nodded. Since the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul was sealed in the Demon Pagoda, the object the Elder was sent to retrieve by ‘Heaven’s Punishment’ must be the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul—that crescent-shaped agate! Now it made sense why that agate could kill the Earthly Cold Firefly; the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul contained the scorching energy of the Profound Fire, which was the perfect counter to the Earthly Cold Firefly’s chilling energy!

Suddenly understanding the issue, everyone felt a surge of happiness and exchanged smiles. Just then, Zhixiong had another doubt and turned to Zabacuo, asking, “Elder, how do you know about this?” Zabacuo replied, “The previous King of Tomb Raiders often communicated with Zhixiong. I learned from him that when he led a group of experts into the Ghost Fire Cremation Tomb, they discovered the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul was long gone. In the tomb chamber, they found an ancient sheepskin scroll, and only then did they learn of this matter from it. However, they searched the entire southern region, scoured the entire Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, and even ventured to Nanyang, but they could not find the Ghost Palace.”

Zhixiong mused to himself: Another sheepskin scroll! The one recording the legend of the Nightingale in the Han Dynasty was a sheepskin scroll, and the one recording the legend of the Ghost Palace was also a sheepskin scroll. However, it seemed the sheepskin scrolls were divided into several parts: the part detailing the Nightingale of the Han Dynasty was obtained by Zhixiong, the part detailing the Ghost Palace was obtained by the Elder, and the part detailing the Ghost Fire Fierce Soul was obtained by the previous King of Tomb Raiders. Zhixiong then considered that it was no wonder the previous King of Tomb Raiders couldn't find the Ghost Palace; from the outside, the Ghost Palace appeared entirely as a place of excellent Feng Shui, bearing no connection to the character for ‘Ghost.’

Yet, from this, Zhixiong gathered that the previous King of Tomb Raiders had also entered the Four Great Forbidden Grounds. Zhixiong had heard tales of the previous King of Tomb Raiders. About thirty years ago, after Fire Wolf, the King of Tomb Raiders, passed away, the tomb raiding world entered a new contest for the title. At that time, there was an ancient tomb containing an ancient sword, a treasure of incalculable worth. However, three previous teams of tomb robbers had already died inside this tomb, so the tomb raiding community declared that whoever could retrieve the sword first would become the next King of Tomb Raiders. At that time, the previous King of Tomb Raiders, Guo Mingxiao, was still just an ordinary Mo-jin Xiaowei (Gold-touching Colonel), but he already possessed exceptional courage. He entered that ancient tomb single-handedly, and three days later, he emerged with the sword. From then on, Guo Mingxiao became the new King of Tomb Raiders. Later, whenever Guo Mingxiao needed to raid a tomb, a mere command would bring forth many experts in response. When Guo Mingxiao reached the age of fifty, he decided to retire from the tomb raiding world. But before washing his hands in the golden basin, he intended to challenge the Fierce Infant Corpse-Guarding Tomb, one of the Four Great Forbidden Grounds. At that time, Zhixiong’s father accompanied Guo Mingxiao into that tomb and never returned. It was rumored that Guo Mingxiao’s entire team perished inside, with no one emerging.

After Guo Mingxiao died, the contest for the new King of Tomb Raiders reopened. This time, the tomb was a crypt with malevolent Feng Shui, known as the Headless Ominous Grave. Inside the Headless Ominous Grave lay a thousand-year-old Zombie, and many robbers had met their end at its hands. Within this thousand-year-old Zombie was a thousand-year Zombie Elixir, which could be used to create a potent medicine to counter corpse poison. Whoever could retrieve the thousand-year Zombie Elixir would become the next King of Tomb Raiders. At that time, Zhixiong was exactly eighteen years old. In order for our Ouyang family to be revitalized in the tomb raiding world, Zhixiong shouldered this heavy mission and entered the Headless Ominous Grave. During that time, the thousand-year-old Zombie rose from its coffin and chased the team led by Zhixiong through the ancient tomb. We were about to be killed by the Zombie when Zhixiong unintentionally entered a side chamber. In that chamber lay the corpse of an old cat, holding a thousand-year Inner Elixir in its mouth. Zhixiong used this Inner Elixir to stuff into the thousand-year-old Zombie’s mouth, neutralizing its corpse qi, thereby barely managing to subdue the creature! So, truthfully speaking, Zhixiong’s title as King of Tomb Raiders was gained half by luck. However, tomb raiding often relies on luck; for a robber, luck is part of their capability. Thus, Zhixiong became the contemporary King of Tomb Raiders. As Zhixiong was lost in thought, Lu Zong spoke up, “Zhixiong, it seems Guo Mingxiao has indeed entered two of the Four Great Forbidden Grounds. But how come we never heard that Guo Mingxiao had entered the Ghost Fire Cremation Tomb besides the Fierce Infant Corpse-Guarding Tomb?”

Zhixiong nodded and said, “It seems Guo Mingxiao kept his entry into the Ghost Fire Cremation Tomb secret from the tomb raiding world at that time. I suspect they were guarding some secret.”

Zabacuo stated, “When Guo Mingxiao came out of the Ghost Fire Cremation Tomb, he sought out Zhixiong to ask for his help in finding the Ghost Palace. He didn't know what had happened at the time; all his sharpness was gone, and he was utterly dispirited. Zhixiong is a Lama, so naturally, he couldn't involve himself in such matters, and thus he refused. Guo Mingxiao later searched all over Nanman but never found the Ghost Palace. Zhixiong thought he had given up, but unexpectedly, he went to the Fierce Infant Corpse-Guarding Tomb, and never returned after that. Alas…”

Zhixiong said, “It appears Guo Mingxiao was obsessed with the Four Great Forbidden Grounds; the reason must be far from simple!” After discussing for a while, everyone felt that Guo Mingxiao must have been deeply entangled with the Four Great Forbidden Grounds back then, but now, even Zabacuo didn't know exactly what happened to Guo Mingxiao in those Forbidden Grounds. Seeing that this line of questioning had reached its end, Zhixiong asked Zabacuo other questions: “Elder, do you know about the Nightingale?”

Upon hearing this, Zabacuo shook his head and replied, “I do not.”

The three of us felt a wave of disappointment when Zabacuo shook his head. Zhixiong saw that many questions still needed answers, but the sheer number was confusing his thoughts for a moment, so he said to Zabacuo, “If you know anything more about the Four Great Forbidden Grounds, please tell us.”

Lu Zong added, “Yes, yes, old man, if you know anything else, please tell us.”

Zabacuo nodded, followed by a period of silence, as if deep in thought. Only when the milk tea in our cups was almost finished did we hear Zabacuo speak slowly, “The legends of the Four Great Forbidden Grounds probably started circulating during the Qing Dynasty, though it wasn't widespread then, known only to a few tomb robbers. However, no one can pinpoint where the legend originated; it seemed to have appeared out of thin air.”

He took a sip of milk tea and continued, “In the Qianlong era, a group of earth-diggers heading to raid tombs in northern Shaanxi encountered a band of mountain bandits while passing through Yan'an. The earth-diggers were all brave men and wouldn't tolerate being threatened by bandits, so a fight immediately broke out between the two groups. Just then, the sky suddenly darkened with thick clouds, and lightning flashed and thunder roared. Neither group had experienced such strangeness, and both stopped fighting to look up. What they saw terrified them. The dark clouds in the sky had gathered into the shape of a monstrous python!”

“Seeing this celestial python manifestation, both groups believed it was a demon and scattered in fright. However, one young man among the earth-diggers, nicknamed 'Ground Mole,' did not flee with the others. He possessed immense curiosity, and being young and full of spirit, he feared nothing and remained where he was, wanting to see what was happening in the sky. After a while, the head of the strange python formed by the clouds slowly moved, pointing toward the northwest before stopping. Ground Mole, seeing this, wondered if the direction the monstrous snake’s head pointed indicated something significant in that direction.”

“Ground Mole then walked along that direction. Before long, he arrived at a patch of woods. When he pushed aside a thicket of bushes, he was stunned to find a black snake coiled up behind it! This black snake lay motionless on the ground, as if dead. Ground Mole pondered: The head of the monstrous python in the sky likely pointed to this black snake. This black snake must be a demon that has achieved spiritual transformation, causing the strange celestial phenomenon. I’ve long heard that a snake spirit’s gallbladder is worth a fortune. Now that this black snake is still, Zhixiong might as well take this opportunity to kill it, not only to claim its gallbladder but also to remove a menace to the public!”

“Thinking this, Ground Mole immediately drew the machete at his waist and swiftly chopped off the black snake’s head. Strangely, no blood flowed after the head was severed. Ground Mole found this very odd and was about to approach when the severed snake head suddenly sprang up and lunged to bite him!”

“Ground Mole was quite skilled; with a swing of his blade, he cut the snake head in half. As the head split down the middle, no blood appeared either; instead, a piece of cloth fell out from within. This cloth was golden, embroidered with eight ancient characters—four on top, two in the middle, and two at the bottom—appearing to be in Seal Script. However, Ground Mole could not decipher the writing.”

“He surmised the golden cloth was likely a treasure and took it back with him. Later, he discovered that his companions and the band of mountain bandits had all died mysteriously for some unknown reason. He felt something was amiss and believed the secret lay with this cloth. Later, he transcribed the six characters on the cloth onto paper and sought out a tutor who could recognize Seal Script characters. Through the tutor, he learned that the four characters on top meant ‘Four Great Forbidden Grounds,’ the two in the middle meant ‘Jade Pool’ (Yaochi), and the two at the bottom meant ‘Snake Mound’ (Shezhong).”