Chapter 58: The Sinister Graveyard
Jiang Yunxiu and her companion were both struck by an inexplicable sense of dread, while Song Zi couldn’t suppress her amusement, her shoulders trembling with laughter.
Only now did she realize that the one with the darkest heart here was not the so-called “smiling tiger” miracle doctor, Jiang Yunxiu, but rather the alabaster-skinned Sui Yi.
———
After breakfast had filled their stomachs, Sui Yi was just about to rise when someone burst in, breathless.
“Sister Sui Yi, something’s wrong... those bad people are back! They say they’re going to dig up the grave... Grandpa Village Chief and the others have already gone, and so have my parents...”
Wang Pu was frantic, but upon seeing so many gathered at the table eating, he grew awkward. Luckily, Sui Yi merely dabbed her mouth and said calmly, “Mm, I know... Have you eaten?”
“Me?... No...” Wang Pu replied, somewhat feebly.
“Sit down and eat.”
“Ah?”
“No rush,” Sui Yi repeated with her usual composure.
The calmness in her voice inexplicably soothed Wang Pu’s heart, making him sit down at once.
Only after Sui Yi finished her glass of milk did she wipe her mouth and leave the house.
A-A quickly followed.
Jiang Yunxiu and Song Zi, not quite understanding what was happening, nonetheless sensed the commotion outside was unusual for so early in the morning. Convinced something was amiss, they followed as well.
Out in the fields, villagers were hurrying toward a desolate area, only a ten-minute walk away. Soon, Sui Yi and her companions saw, a hundred meters ahead, a lone grave rising from the barren plain, surrounded by tall, wild grass. Among the thickest clumps, serrated blades of grass looked sharp enough to slice one’s cheek.
From the high ridge where they stood, they could see a mighty old banyan tree twisted behind the grave, its gnarled roots exposed, the shape menacing even from afar. Its branches were hung with dark, withered leaves.
The scene was unnerving, yet the commotion by the grave diluted some of the horror.
“What is this place? It’s so eerie,” Song Zi whispered in amazement to Jiang Yunxiu. “To put a grave here, of all places...”
Along the way, they’d heard Wang Pu’s explanation and were incredulous—who still pays people to dig up ancestors’ graves these days?
Stranger still, the family whose ancestor’s grave was being exhumed seemed to accept it cheerfully.
“Sister Sui Yi, look, they really plan to enter the forbidden zone!” To the young villagers, anything within three hundred meters of the grave was a no-go area—a habit formed over generations.
Now, Monkey and his men were crossing the trench marking the boundary, forcing their way past protesting villagers.
“Ha! These ignorant fools won’t dare come in!”
“Big Brother, they’re just superstitious old geezers…”
Ye Zhang hadn’t brought his wife today. When Monkey asked why, he muttered that Wang Yu was too noisy.
“Your wife really is like a duck…” Monkey sneered. Ye Zhang forced a laugh, secretly cursing—wasn’t it just that woman saying she was afraid of ghosts and wouldn’t come here? Was this place really that scary?
Women were just timid and meddlesome!
Ye Zhang glanced back at the villagers, too scared to cross the line, cursing from a safe distance, and was filled with smug satisfaction.
His gaze swept further, and he spotted Sui Yi and the others on the ridge beyond the villagers.
His pride swelled.
By now, Monkey’s burly subordinates were already at work—some sketching the grave’s size and structure, some examining the tomb, others crouched at the vertical stone door in the center, measuring with hammers and explosives.
Should they break it open by force, or just blow it up?
———
One man hefted a hammer, positioned it on the tomb floor, raised it, and brought it down hard.
The villagers cried out in horror, righteous fury on their faces, especially after the hammer struck.
Thud!
A heavy, muffled groan.
“Aah—!!”
A shrill scream, sudden as thunder on a rainy night, shocked everyone, even Sui Yi’s party, who stared in stunned disbelief.
Sui Yi peered intently—her eyesight was the keenest among them—and immediately, her attention was drawn to the old banyan tree.
Whoosh!
At the moment the scream rang out, the banyan’s black leaves rustled and rose into the air, flapping wings—black wings. Crows!
All around, the sky filled with the cawing of crows, their cries chilling.
Could anything be more terrifying? Crows, harbingers of ill omen, now swarmed from a tree that had lately seemed dead—enough to frighten anyone!
Jiang Yunxiu and the others flinched. Song Zi shivered. “Good heavens, is this a horror movie?”
“What happened over there?”
Over by the grave, Monkey and his men, startled by the crows, felt a cold dread creep into their hearts. Bravely, they hurried over to look.
A man who’d been clearing weeds by the grave rolled on the ground in agony, clutching his hand.
“What happened! Ah Mao, did something bite you? Let me see—”
Monkey, bold as ever, stepped closer and froze. His eyes bulged and his face turned green. “Good god!” he shouted, stumbling backward in horror.
The stricken man suddenly raised his hand, whimpering in pain, crawling toward Monkey. A sinister green vapor hissed from his palm, and before their eyes, his wide hand oozed green slime, the white bones beneath exposed.
Ah Mao’s face was tinged blue; his eyes bulged and foam bubbled at his lips.
With a final anguished howl, he lunged at Monkey in a frenzy.
Monkey’s legs shook as the man—once his joking companion—charged at him.
A long leg lashed out, kicking Ah Mao’s head, sending him flying. The blow was powerful; Sui Yi could well imagine the force behind it.
Ah Mao crashed to the ground and lay still, only a hissing sound escaping him.
His entire arm had turned to bone, and the green vapor was swiftly spreading up his neck.
It was clear he would soon be nothing but a skeleton.
Everyone present fell silent at once.
———
“God have mercy!”
“I knew it, I knew it—evil deeds end in death!”
“A ghost! Run, run!”
Some villagers, pale as death, fled in terror. Only a few elders remained, calling out to Monkey and his men, urging them to come out quickly.
———
At that moment, Ye Zhang stood frozen, catching a whiff of urine—his own, and Monkey’s too.
———
“What on earth…” Jiang Yunxiu, ever the rational doctor, tried to maintain composure. In medicine, there were rare poisons that could kill so quickly, but none so horrifying or efficient.
Song Zi and Wang Pu, however, were trembling, faces drained of blood.
Monkey and his men stared at the corpse, someone murmuring, “He’s gone… just bones…”
It seemed the man had already turned to a skeleton.
Jiang Yunxiu wanted to examine the body—his medical curiosity piqued—but Wang Pu held him back, and Sui Yi shook her head, so he relented.
Sui Yi fell silent for a moment. “Let’s go.”
The green vapor reminded her of that monster… The more she thought about it, the more she felt this seemingly ordinary village was shrouded in menace.
No, not just eerie—downright perilous.
She recalled the green liquid that monster spat in the pond, which had splashed onto her. She wondered if it would have any effect.
Instinctively, Sui Yi touched the Xieya dagger hidden at her waist.
———
For now, it seemed no one would dare disturb the grave again—a small blessing, perhaps.
Still, Sui Yi felt something was amiss.
There was a secret buried with that grave.
When they returned home, even Song Zi, fond as she was of Sui Yi, didn’t want to linger. Jiang Yunxiu felt he had imposed on her; after all, few women could remain calm after witnessing such horrors.
“Sui Yi, we’ll be heading back. About your grandmother… my advice is to get her to the provincial capital as soon as possible—the medical facilities there are better, and I’ll be able to help in the future. If this happens again and I’m not in Nanxun…”
Jiang Yunxiu spoke matter-of-factly. This time they’d been lucky—next time, perhaps not. In medicine, it’s said that each relapse makes a disease harder to cure.
The old lady’s condition was not optimistic.
Sui Yi understood his meaning and nodded. She had about 1.2 million yuan—a small fortune in Nanxun, but not enough for a house or proper treatment in the provincial capital. She could just about manage, but transferring schools would be difficult, and convincing her grandmother was the hardest part.
Jiang Yunxiu wanted to offer help, but knowing Sui Yi’s character, he suppressed the thought and left with Song Zi.
He’d considered investigating the strange grave, but Sui Yi forbade it, and with Song Zi present, he didn’t want to involve her. As for the dead man…
He wasn’t a fool. One glance told him those young men were no ordinary thugs, and the grave itself was odd. All things considered, it was best not to meddle.
“I’ll go consult Old Yi… This place is too damned sinister. That girl needs to get out of here as soon as possible,” Jiang Yunxiu resolved.
———
(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian and support the author with a vote or a ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile readers, please visit m.read.)