In Panjiayuan, the first thing they did was trick Lao Hu into going tomb raiding.

"According to my third uncle, he has already contacted Pan Zi and asked him to form a tomb-raiding team..."

"Whoa!"

Old Hu exclaimed in surprise, "Wu Sansheng always disappears, but I didn't expect him to show up for Misty Village. It seems there really is something in Misty Village!"

Zhang Haiqiao picked up a tissue to wipe his mouth and said, "What exactly is in Misty Village that makes so many people so interested in it..."

Su Mo said, "There's no need to worry about what it is. We'll find out when the time comes!"

Hearing Su Mo's words, Wang Kaixuan was overjoyed, "Brother Su, you're willing to do it?"

"Ok!"

Su Mo said, "I've already asked Chaos to prepare the equipment for tomb raiding. I'll be heading to Misty Village in a few days..."

Su Mo paused, then looked at Wu Xie, "Make a copy of the silk scroll and send it to your third uncle..."

Wu Xie replied, "Okay!"

Upon hearing that Su Mo wanted to rob tombs, everyone's expressions varied.

Wang Kaixuan immediately stood up and said, "Can I join you?"

Zhang Haiqiao and Lao Hu also looked at Su Mo.

Last time, everyone explored the underwater tomb together, but it turned out to be like playing house, with no real experience.

Su Mo thought for a moment, "Old Hu and Old Zhang should stay in Yanjing, just in case..."

With Lao Hu and Zhang Haiqiao being calm and collected, Su Mo felt at ease.

"All right…"

Although Lao Hu and Zhang Haiqiao were somewhat disappointed, they still nodded.

Su Mo was proficient in divination and prediction, and there must be a reason why he did this. Neither of them doubted Su Mo's judgment.

"Brother Su..."

Wang Kaixuan hurriedly said, "The company's business is handled by Staff Officer Yang, and with Lao Hu around, I can't get involved. Why don't I go to Misty Village with you..."

"I, Fatty, am the mascot of tomb raiding!"

With everyone present, and several children watching nearby, Su Mo didn't want to embarrass the fat man, so he reluctantly nodded, "Alright, alright, I'll take you along..."

"However, this trip won't be peaceful, so you'd better be careful..."

With Wu Sansheng, the Nine Gates, and the Wang family vying for power, Misty Village is clearly not going to be peaceful.

Chapter 303: The Mysterious Misty Village

A few days later, at noon.

Su Mo, Wang Kaixuan, the four villains, and ten experts who came from the orphanage boarded a plane and embarked on their journey to Guizhou.

After arriving in Guizhou, the group traveled by car to Miwu Village.

Guizhou is mountainous, making the journey quite difficult.

Wang Kaixuan suppressed his nausea and tried to distract himself: "Brother Su, is my apprentice here too?"

Su Mo nodded: "That's right, they're here. The two little ones are quite interesting; they don't want to come with us..."

"They drive cars, we fly planes, we're faster than them..."

Wang Kaixuan chuckled: "That brat, he follows Wu Xie around all day, but he doesn't even take anything when they go into the tomb. He's really disgracing the tomb raiders!"

Su Mo said, "There's no way around it. It's exactly the same as what happened to Old Hu back then. But Old Hu was a smart man. He didn't want to rob tombs at first, but he was so poor that he had no choice but to start doing it..."

"Wu Xie is the third young master of the Wu family, and Wang Yueban also has some savings, so naturally they can't compare to us back then..."

The fat man chimed in, "That's right. Our first haul was two pieces of ancient jade and a gold mask. Who would have thought that the ancient jade would be worth several thousand dollars!"

Su Mo recalled the tomb of the Jin Dynasty general at Niuxin Mountain, and that giant zongzi (rice dumpling)—the first zongzi he had ever seen since he came into this world.

He possessed immense strength and was impervious to swords and spears, yet he was killed by his own attacks in just a few moves.

The mountain road was winding and twisting, and the fat man became increasingly uncomfortable. "This road reminds me of Zhelongzhai, it's fucking roundabout..."

"Slow down, slow down... Ugh!"

"I rely on!"

Su Mo's face darkened, and he quickly stopped the car. "Damn it, you should have told me!"

"what…"

The fat man looked embarrassed. "I couldn't help it, I couldn't help it..."

Su Mo was speechless.

Having learned from the previous experience, Su Mo didn't dare to drive too fast, and they drove and stopped frequently. It wasn't until the fourth day that they arrived at Misty Village.

Misty Village is now a deserted village, with weeds growing to over a meter tall covering the ground.

Even many of the wooden houses inside have collapsed.

Su Mo: "Taotie, Qiongqi, you two each take a few people and familiarize yourselves with the surrounding area..."

"Also, the ancient tomb should be located in the forest behind the mountain. Go and check carefully to see if there is an entrance!"

"Remember, leave no trace!"

"Yes, Master Su!"

Taotie and Qiongqi took two people to the back mountain.

They didn't return until two hours later.

Qiongqi said, "Master Su, we have thoroughly investigated the terrain around here and have not left any traces!"

Su Mo asked, "Is the entrance to the tomb still there?"

Taotie nodded: "Yes, it's in the woods behind. There's a pit there. Jump down and you can enter the tomb passage!"

Su Mo did some quick calculations with his fingers, then opened his eyes and said, "Alright, you're free to do as you please. No one will come today, but there will be more people tomorrow and the day after!"

Everyone nodded and dispersed.

……

The next day at noon, Wu Xie and Wang Yueban arrived near Misty Village and found a mountain villager's house to inquire about Misty Village.

Wu Xie asked, "Grandpa, do you know about Misty Village?"

"Misty Village?"

The old man stopped what he was doing, thought carefully, and shook his head, saying, "I don't know!"

Undeterred, Wu Xie continued, "This Misty Village, 'Mi' means 'lost' and 'Mist' means 'fog' or 'smog,' and there's a lake next to the village!"

"lake?"

The old man stopped what he was doing and asked, "This well-off village has lakes at both ends, which one are you referring to?"

Wu Xie pointed out, "There's also a mountain tomb next to this lake!"

"There's another mountain?... Oh!!!"

The old man suddenly remembered: "Now that you mention it, I remember! Hey, you know what? Even if you asked other people, they might not know..."

"But you're talking about Misty Village, that was back when Yuan Shikai was on the throne!"

"It's long gone now!"

Wang Yueban asked, puzzled, "What's gone? Did they all move?"

"No ..."

The old man shook his head. "Sigh, everyone in this village is gone..."

That's all?

The entire village is dead?

How can it be!

Wu Xie and Fatty looked at each other in bewilderment.

Chapter 304: All Parties Gather at Misty Village

Wang Yue squatted down beside the old man and asked, "Grandpa, could you tell me what exactly happened?"

The old man didn't hide anything and said truthfully, "The year Yuan Shikai died, the world was in chaos. The lives of ordinary people were like those of pigs and dogs!"

"What kind of refugees, bandits, warlords, and foreigners? They simply don't leave the common people any way to survive!"

"Hey, we've gone off on a tangent!"

"Uh... back then in our city, the pawnshop was the best business."

"Inside the pawnshop, only people went in to pawn things; no one came out to redeem their items..."

"Later in this Misty Village, there was a man named Zhang Dazhu who pawned several good items at this pawnshop..."

"I've heard there's also an imperial edict granting a special certificate..."

"Children, do you know what a 'Dan Shu Tie Quan' (iron certificate of merit) is?"

The old man looked at Wu Xie and Wang Yueban with great enthusiasm.

Wang Yueban and Wu Xie exchanged a glance, then Wang Yueban shook his head in a mocking manner.

"Hahaha…"

The old man smiled smugly, "It's a get-out-of-jail-free card... something bestowed by emperors in ancient times..."

Wu Xie nodded, signaling the old man to continue.

"Later, in Zhang Dazhu's village, an ancient tomb was unearthed. Inside the tomb was buried a high-ranking official from some unknown dynasty!"

"This place is full of good stuff, tsk tsk tsk!"

The old man spoke with great envy.