False evidence

Chapter 246 Headless Statue
Gao He is Gao He; setting aside the illusions surrounding Xiao Shen San's appearance, he quickly grasped the key point.

Jiang Baohan left the map before the archway was destroyed.

The stone plaque has been moved countless times, so the direction the current markings point to is certainly not the original one.

Buildings may differ in appearance and purpose, but there are certain patterns in their construction.

Gao and others knew that this place used to be a memorial archway, and based on the pattern, they easily determined the original location of the archway.

Xiao Shen and I walked over, and Gao He looked up and asked, "The stone plaque should be at the very top, near the archway. How was the secret mark put up there?"

Xiao Shen said, "There are many ways. As for what method the person who left the secret mark used, we can only ask him."

He pointed in a direction, "We should follow the original location of the stone plaque; the arrow should be pointing there."

Gao and I exchanged a glance.

Gao He said jokingly, "Climbing a mountain in this heavy snow, are we just bored or is it considered romantic?"

I laughed and said, "It seems like we just finished eating."

"We've come this far, we have to get to the bottom of this." Xiao Shen San had already started walking up the mountain.

It's snowing heavily right now, but thankfully it's not frozen, so going up the mountain isn't too difficult.

After walking uphill for a while, Gao He finally couldn't help but say:
"The person who marked the archway would never have imagined that someone would destroy it. I won't ask what you're looking for, but just tell me, so many years have passed. If someone had hidden something on the mountain, would it still be standing by now?"

"Who can say for sure?"

I said that, but my heart was already pounding.

Jiang Baohan is a grave builder. If he were to hide something in the mountains, where would he hide it?
If he really puts Dong XZ in some grave, are we supposed to dig up the grave with Gao He?
Xiao Shen has been winking at me since earlier, so he's obviously thought of this too.

When we were almost halfway up the mountain, I stopped, looked back down the mountain, judged the direction, and called to Gao He and Xiao Shen to move to one side.

As Xiao Shen walked, he glanced sideways at Gao He and suddenly asked, "Are there any graves in these mountains?"

I knew he was giving Gao He a heads-up, so I grinned but didn't say anything.

Gao He actually listened, rubbed his face vigorously, and said:

"Putting Dong XZ in a grave is possible. If that were to happen, ha..."

He didn't say anything more, but his meaning was already very clear.

I said, "Don't worry, Brother Gao, I'm just curious. I'm not really interested in that thing."

Gao He nodded: "Your words have put my mind at ease. But I still have one more question, could you tell me what it is?"

I chuckled dryly: "It's said to be a very mysterious treasure. Obtaining it not only grants the power of life and death over people, but also allows one person to have one wish granted."

Gao He laughed and said, "If that's really the case, and you find that treasure, what's your wish?"

I paused for a moment, exchanged a glance with him, and neither of us continued speaking.

What is my wish?
In the past, it seemed like there was plenty of money, houses, and beautiful women... But we're just ordinary people; if we didn't have greedy desires, we wouldn't be ordinary people.

But now, if my wish could really come true, and it could only be one wish, I would only help Pidan get rid of his illness...

Xiao Shen San, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped. "Thank goodness, it seems we don't need to dig up the grave."

Gao He and I both saw that a corner of the roof was visible not far ahead.

"Who would build a house in the mountains?" Gao asked.

I said, "In the mountains of my hometown, there are also houses. They don't belong to anyone; they are built by the villagers through collective fundraising, for people coming into the mountains to rest and take shelter from the rain."

As they spoke, they arrived in front of the house.

Gao He glanced at the building and said, "This doesn't look like a place for people to rest. It looks more like a Buddhist temple to me."

Xiao Shen said, "This is a temple, but there were definitely no monks inside before."

Gao He was already quite interested in him and asked, "How do you know there are no monks?" "Are you kidding? Haven't you heard the saying, 'A small temple can't hold a big monk'?"

Xiao Shen chuckled and said, "I'm not kidding you anymore. It is a temple, but it should be a family temple, built by wealthy people in the past. Calling it a temple is more like being part of an ancestral hall. In my opinion, there were indeed graves on this mountain before, and another function of this temple was for the people who looked after the graves to live in."

Gao He said, "You know quite a lot at such a young age."

Xiao Shen rolled his eyes: "You know my family runs a funeral parlor, right? If I didn't even know these things, what would I be doing here?"

The building in front of me was really dilapidated; the gate had been removed by someone. Through the gate, I could see three traditional houses arranged in a triangular shape. Except for the main house in the middle, which was still relatively intact, the other two had collapsed to varying degrees.

As the three of them entered the courtyard, I suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

I instinctively pressed down on Xiao Shen San's head.

Unable to dodge, Xiao Shen glared at me and said, "If you dare to use me as a human shield or a human cannonball again, I'll never forgive you!"

"I just felt this place was a bit weird, so I told you not to wander around. You were drunk last time, weren't you?"

I feel a little embarrassed to mention being a 'human shield'.

Xiao Shen San said, "I also find it a bit strange. Even the most dilapidated temples still have some spiritual energy, so why is this place so gloomy and creepy?"

Stepping into the only relatively intact main room, I looked at the headless, colorless clay sculpture on the altar in the center, revealing only the bare earthen bricks, and asked Xiao Shen San:

"Can you tell who was worshipped here before?"

"Judging from his appearance, he's not a Buddhist monk; he's probably some Taoist immortal. But how would I know who it is?"

Xiao Shen finally escaped my clutches and suddenly asked, "What is this? Why wasn't the house demolished?"

Gao He said, "It's said to be a family temple, and it's halfway up the mountain. Those guys aren't a demolition team. Why would they bring their equipment and climb up to demolish the house? Wouldn't that make them idiots?"

I shook my head slightly: "I don't think that's the case."

I didn't experience that absurd era, but after entering the room, that uncomfortable feeling from before became even stronger.

I said to Gao He, “I just saw that the stone trough where the courtyard gate used to be has been filled with soil. The gate must have been removed back then. Back then, everyone wanted to ‘make the most of everything.’ Anything useful would be taken away, right? But look at this house, not only are the doors and windows still there, but even the altar is still there… This shouldn’t be happening.”

Gao He shrugged: "Let's not talk about anything else. You guys are looking for something, right? Now go find it."

Xiao Shen said, "The item has been found. Now we need to consider whether or not to take it out."

Gao He was taken aback: "Found it? Where?"

Xiao Shen didn't say anything, he just stared at me.

I understood what he meant, thought for a moment, and shook my head, saying, "I have a feeling that the thing isn't here."

Gao He was getting impatient: "Stop playing games and hurry up, or it'll get dark."

Xiao Shen San shrugged: "I felt there was no spiritual energy here when I came in. Now I can confirm that someone tampered with the enshrined statues. After such a disrespectful act, how could the gods in the temple be willing to return to their positions? Naturally, there is no spiritual energy here."

"So, according to you, the object is hidden inside this clay sculpture?"

Gao He walked over as he spoke, then jumped directly onto the altar. He peered behind the statue.

I was just about to warn him to be careful when he suddenly exclaimed "Huh?" and reached his hand behind the clay sculpture.

"what!"

He suddenly let out a shout, hurriedly pulling his hand back, and in his panic, he fell directly off the altar.

Gao was terrified like never before; I could even clearly see that the hairs on the back of his hands stood on end.

Xiao Shen and I were just as shocked as he was.

That's because when he pulled his hand back from behind the clay sculpture, both Xiao Shen and I saw a pale, bluish human hand being pulled out from behind the clay figure!

(End of this chapter)