Tomb raiding: Carrying a coffin during a funeral procession, rewarded with the Dragon Elephant Prajn

Mercenary Mike released the old ape, who squeaked twice at the group, then darted to the mine shaft, leaped up several times, and quickly disappeared into the mountains.

Clearly, after the Feng family, who were the family of the old ape, smuggled themselves out of the country, the old ape wandered in Wushan.

Having been raised in captivity since childhood, it was not accepted by wild ape groups and could only wander around the mining area, occasionally coming to the mine to pick up snails to eat.

Less than two kilometers further on, the air-raid shelters were completely cut off.

To everyone's surprise, there was a heavy steel gate at the end, with some rubble scattered in front of it. Traces of stone carving could still be faintly seen on the stones.

The more complete one seems to be the black sheep stone carving seen in the Feng family mansion.

Upon seeing this, Aning frowned and asked, "Are there black sheep stone carvings here too?"

Zhang Wei explained, "The stone carvings in the Feng family mansion were transported from here. Last year, I specifically visited the retired secretary of the local construction team. According to him, when the air-raid shelter was being dug into the mining area, these black sheep stone carvings were discovered underground, along with a strange coffin. After the construction team reported this to higher authorities, the project was halted shortly afterward. Finally, the higher authorities sent the army, who emptied the contents and sealed it off with a steel gate."

"coffin?"

Ah Ning keenly sensed the key point and quickly asked.

"What kind of coffin?"

"I don't know. The retired secretary wouldn't say, saying it was a secret. But I guess the coffin might contain the Black Sheep King."

Hearing this, Ah Ning felt slightly disappointed.

Li Changsheng's heart stirred slightly as he secretly pondered.

The Black Sheep King is a legend from the southwestern region.

It is said that in the Wushan Mountains, there is a deity with the head of a beast and the body of a human. When he is angry, plagues rage; when he is gentle, the weather is favorable.

Although legends are often ethereal and unfounded, there's no smoke without fire!

Just like the mountain people of Zhelong Mountain worshiping the mountain god, later generations may think that the mountain god is just a product of the mountain people's ignorance and imagination.

But if they had seen the spirit of the mountain demon or the corpse of the mountain god, they probably wouldn't think that way.

The ancients were simply ancient, not stupid!

Many of the strange tales and legends may have been things that the ancients saw with their own eyes.

However, as time went by, many legends were buried underground.

The air-raid shelter was only built this far, so everyone had to climb out through the nearest mine shaft.

Upon reaching the ground, everyone immediately saw a valley before them, with a rushing river at its edge.

The valley is dotted with countless mines, like stars scattered across the sky, like eyes hidden deep within the Wushan Mountains.

A few hundred paces away, there were rows of shipping containers and barracks made of sheet metal.

When the geological engineers from Pansuo Geological Exploration saw that Aning had finally led his team to the camp, they quickly came to greet them.

"Miss Aning!"

"Thank you for your hard work, Engineer Chen!"

This geological engineer, surnamed Chen, was in his forties, with a square face and a regular appearance.

He smiled and said, "It's not hard work. The conditions provided by the company are already very good. When we were conducting research in the Gobi Desert before, the conditions were much harsher than here."

Although the mining area is deep in the Wushan Mountains, it is connected to the outside world by waterways, and supplies can be replenished by boat.

Once you enter the Gobi Desert, you'll truly be helpless, with no one to turn to for help. You can only rely on the supplies you carry and your own willpower to persevere!

After the engineer surnamed Chen finished speaking, he called the main force to go to the camp to rest.

During the visit, Aning was also briefed on the current situation of the mining area.

The silver mine they discovered was even deeper into the Wushan Mountains.

It is estimated to be a medium-sized silver mine located in Coffin Gorge, about ten kilometers away.

However, once they reached Coffin Gorge, they could not go any further and always ended up back where they started, as if they were trapped in a maze.

More importantly, in addition to the hanging coffins placed by the local people over thousands of years, there is also a large Ming Dynasty burial complex in Guancai Gorge. The mining project cannot be started unless the burial complex is relocated.

The most important task for the team led by Aning was to go deep into the burial complex and relocate the cultural relics and coffins inside the tombs.

However, how to carry out the work was something that Aning needed to worry about, while Li Changsheng and the other specially appointed advisors rested in the camp.

Inside the tin-roofed house, Li Changsheng sat cross-legged on the black coffin.

Not far away, the bear was chattering incessantly.

"Advisor Li, are you hungry? I just saw a kitchen in the camp. Should I go steal some good food?"

Li Changsheng glanced at Hei Xiazi and said, "You're an advisor hired by Pansuo Geological Survey. How can that be considered stealing? You should be taking it openly and honestly."

"Yes, yes, yes, it's a scholar's business, how can it be called stealing?"

Black Bear looked enlightened and was about to take action.

But then they saw Xiang, the foreman, leading two of his men and the Taoist priest Gou, walk to the door of the tin shed.

This skinny, monkey-like Taoist priest claimed to be a descendant of Maoshan and was skilled in corpse-driving.

Whether he was a descendant of Maoshan Li Changsheng is unknown, but he had a copper bell in his hand that did indeed have magical power flowing through it, and it had a restraining effect on things like zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).

However, the Taoist priest's own magical power was too weak, barely enough to be of any use. Let alone a great corpse king like King Xian, he would probably have a hard time dealing with even an ordinary zombie.

A number of thoughts flashed through Li Changsheng's mind, and then he turned his gaze to Xiang Batou.

Xiang, the head of the gang, smiled and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards the two men.

Seeing this, Hei Xiazi stopped and subconsciously asked, "Is there something wrong, Chief Xiang?"

"There is indeed something important I'd like to discuss with you both."

As he said this, Xiang glanced at Hei Xiazi, then his gaze finally settled on Li Changsheng.

This time, the team included mercenaries, Taoist priests, and bounty hunters like Hei Xiazi, but the one he couldn't understand the most was the white-haired young man carrying a coffin all the way.

Xiang, the head of the gang, has been to prison, been to graves, fought rice dumplings, and encountered ghosts.

He believed he had developed a pair of divine eyes, capable of not only judging feng shui formations but also people.

But Li Changsheng couldn't understand it at all. His sixth sense told him that the person in front of him was the most powerful person in the entire team.

Li Changsheng neither agreed nor disagreed, but nodded slightly and said, "Tell me about it."

Xiang nodded and led his men and the Taoist priest into the tin shed.

"To be honest, I didn't realize it while we were in the underground air-raid shelter, but once we got to the surface, I discovered that the feng shui of this mining area is quite extraordinary!"

"Oh? How is it not simple?" Black Bear chimed in, playing the straight man.

The head of the burial shrine solemnly said, "The Book of Burial states, 'A thousand feet constitutes the momentum, a hundred feet constitutes the form; when the momentum arrives and the form stops, it is called complete energy!' A place of complete energy should be buried where the energy stops."

"This mining area perfectly embodies the feng shui pattern of a place where the energy flows in and stops, a place where all energy is present."

"The Qingwu Classic also states that in the art of feng shui, the divination of the earthly branches is like the head, and the divination of the burial mound is like the feet; obtaining water is paramount, followed by sheltering from the wind!"

"I observe that the feng shui layout of the mining area is exactly the auspicious burial site described in the Qingwu Classic!"

Although Hei Xiazi wasn't a professional researcher in this field, he lived a long time and naturally knew more about it.

After listening to Xiang's words, he shook his head and said, "I have heard of the 'Head and Foot Treasure Caves,' where one cave is called the 'Head' and the other the 'Foot,' corresponding to the sun and moon in the sky. But this mining area has been riddled with holes after thousands of years of mining. Even if there were any tombs, they would probably have been looted long ago."

"But that's not necessarily true!"

With a confident expression, Foreman Xiang said leisurely, "The cemetery behind the steel gate of the air-raid shelter was only discovered decades ago. I've observed it; the person who chose the site must have been a master among masters, well-versed in feng shui and the principles of feng shui, and the chosen cemetery site avoided all the mineral veins in the mining area."

"Although the wind-proof foot burial chamber in the air-raid shelter has been excavated, the first burial chamber has not been found, so I have come to invite the two of you to join us."

"Does Miss Aning agree?" Hei Xiazi asked, frowning.

"If you two agree, I will go and talk to Miss Aning right away. It will only take half a day to try, it won't take too much time."