I gently pushed open the iron gate and stepped out onto the slope below the hill. Then, I raised my infrared binoculars and scanned the hillside.

All I found were a few sleeping crows; there was no sign of anyone.

I frowned and started walking up the hill.

Just then, a night breeze swept in from the distance, causing the trees across the graveyard to sway gently. As the headstones, each bearing a photograph of the deceased, drifted past me one by one, my scalp began to prickle.

I mumbled inwardly, “Amitabha. I didn’t mean to disturb any of you gentlemen while you sleep. Please forgive me, and please don’t come out for a stroll.”

Thinking that, I had already climbed to the highest point of the graveyard mound.

There were several large tombs here, much taller than ordinary headstones—clearly built by wealthy people.

But no matter how rich they were, death claims everyone. So, I paid little attention to the names or faces of the dead. Instead, I took out the infrared binoculars again and looked around.

Still no one. The graveyard at night was terrifyingly quiet.

For some strange reason, not seeing anyone actually brought me a wave of relief.

Because in this situation, if someone had suddenly appeared, it would surely have given me a heart attack.

This was odd. Their vehicles were clearly parked here, yet no one lived in this area, not even a nearby house. Where could they have gone?

I muttered my speculations to myself when suddenly, I heard a strange, low rumbling sound not far from my ears.

Acting purely on reflex, I immediately found a tall tombstone and hid behind it.

Just as I concealed myself, I watched as a hole slowly opened in the ground beneath a massive tombstone not far from me, and a person slowly emerged from within.

The person seemed to be wearing a black suit and had a cigarette dangling from their lips. They grumbled, “Stuck in this place in the middle of the night, just to kidnap some foreigner. What bad luck. I’m suffocating.”

I sneakily glanced over and saw the man unzip his trousers and begin urinating on a tombstone.

He was also saying, “Sorry about this, buddy. Black Blind Man just watered your grave today. It’ll surely make those two cypress trees grow even better. When your descendants prosper, don't forget to thank me.”

I thought this guy was just a complete hooligan. He wasn't even afraid of getting an upset stomach for peeing on a grave, and he was spouting such flippant nonsense.

After finishing, the man called Black Blind Man shivered delightfully, then zipped up, whistled a tune, and pushed open the hidden door in the ground again, climbing back into the tomb.

After a while, seeing that there was no more movement, I crept over and squatted by the hidden door, listening intently.

At that moment, I could clearly hear voices coming from inside the hidden door.

If that was the case, I had every reason to go down and check it out.

So, I searched along the edge of the hidden door and sure enough, I found a small indentation where I could hook my fingers.

Just as I was about to pull the door open, a sudden gust of cold, eerie wind swept across the hill, whooshing coldly.

Then, the crows that had been resting in the trees were startled awake and flew off, cawing loudly.

Seeing this commotion, a chill immediately ran down my spine.

It was at that precise moment that a cold hand landed squarely on my shoulder.

Every hair on my body instantly stood on end. I dared neither move nor turn around.

A sinister voice whispered close to my ear, “I’m scared down there all by myself.”

Without thinking too much, I stammered, “Y-you’re scared down there alone, but you can’t ask a living person to come down and keep you company.”

“That’s right, so I came up to find you…” the sinister voice continued.

I felt as if my entire body had plunged into an ice cellar. After a moment’s thought, I said haltingly, “Th-this isn’t a place you should be. Even if you’re scared down there, if you behave, you can surely be reborn soon. If you come up here to harm people, does King Yama know? Do your parents know?”

“King Yama?” the person sounded puzzled. “What King Yama? Officer Nie…”

I recognized the tone of the voice and quickly spun around to look at the 'ghost' behind me.

What greeted me made me freeze in my tracks. This was no ghost at all—it was clearly Xiao Feiyang.

His face was pale, looking thoroughly frightened from being alone below. He stammered, “Officer Nie, can you take me with you? I’m really scared.”

I was left speechless for a moment, then sighed and said, “Fine, but when I signal you not to speak, you absolutely must keep quiet.”

Xiao Feiyang nodded aggrievedly, like a bullied child.

I thought to myself, You’re not just timid. You’re scared silly down in a cemetery, yet you dared to come up to the grave mound. You were clearly trying to scare me.

Although I was annoyed internally, for now, I had no choice but to work with him to push open that hidden door.

We both pushed very carefully, trying our best not to make any noise.

After opening it, I didn't dare use my flashlight. I simply gestured for silence to Xiao Feiyang and jumped down first.

The hatch must have been about 1.5 square meters. After jumping down, it was only a little over two meters deep. The bottom wasn't cement, but damp earth.

After landing, I first took out my night-vision binoculars to survey the area. Seeing that there was indeed no one else, I whispered up to Xiao Feiyang, “Come down, it’s clear.”

Xiao Feiyang’s legs were trembling. He stammered to me, “I—I mean, Officer Nie, this is inside a tomb. In the middle of the night, maybe it’s not appropriate?”

I whispered back, “Then fine, if you’re too scared to come down, go back down the hill and don't cause me trouble.”

Saying that, I started to walk further in, but Xiao Feiyang called me back from above. He said, “I’ll—I’ll jump, I’ll jump. But can you tell me, once we get inside, will we see the Mainland God of Gamblers, Six-Fingered Lu Jinfeng?”

I was utterly exasperated and said, “Yes!”

The truth was, I didn’t want to say yes, nor did I want him following me. But at that moment, I didn't know why—perhaps that sudden cold wind had made me feel a bit scared too, and I wanted company?

As soon as Xiao Feiyang heard my answer, he forgot everything else and jumped down immediately.

I caught him, but he still landed clumsily on his backside, grimacing in pain.

I couldn't be bothered to help him up, so I let him get up on his own and forged ahead.

Xiao Feiyang, clearly timid, dusted off his backside hastily when he saw me moving and hurried to follow.

As I walked forward, I cautiously flicked my lighter to life.

Looking at the winding passage that stretched diagonally downward, I saw that the earthen walls were covered with marks from shovels—this was clearly a looted tunnel, dug by grave robbers.

This tunnel hadn't been dug recently, because I could tell that apart from the ground being slightly damp, the walls were quite dry, and many weeds had already grown there.

The dampness on the floor was likely due to recent rain, causing water to seep in.

I had never heard of any significant tombs in the western suburbs—at most, some burial sites belonging to ancient local officials or warlords. Xie Yuting, hailing from a massive family of tomb raiders, wouldn’t possibly travel all this way to plunder an unremarkable grave.

Could it be that this tomb holds something extraordinary?

Pondering this, I extinguished the lighter and continued forward.

Not long after, the faint human voices from up ahead grew distinctly clearer.

At that moment, Xiao Feiyang tapped my shoulder from behind, saying nervously, “Someone’s here!”

I patted him with extreme exasperation and whispered, “Of course, someone is here. If no one was here, why would we come? Stop talking, let me listen.”

So, we both fell silent. I pressed my ear against the wall, listening closely. Indeed, I could hear Xie Yuting’s voice.