Chapter 282: Chapter 249: Grave Robbing and Tomb Digging

The Huang Family Manor.

"What did this Qiu Ze guy say?"

"Mr. Qiu said this is the Huang Family’s own matter and that he won’t get involved..." the person who returned from the Huang Family reported to Huang Baiyuan.

"You, didn’t you say you’d give him five thousand taels of silver once the task was done?"

"I did, but Mr. Qiu didn’t agree. He said no matter how much silver offered, he wouldn’t accept the job." The Huang family member replied.

Huang Baiyuan was greatly puzzled: "Why? We’re not asking him to kill or commit arson, just to help drive the people occupying the ancestral hall out?"

"Mr. Qiu said this is the Huang Family’s ancestral hall, it’s our own affair. If the Huang Family can’t drive them out, why should he help us?"

Huang Baiyuan was furious: "This Qiu Ze, if he weren’t still of use, I would have eradicated him long ago!"

"Patriarch, what do we do now?"

"Tomorrow, I’ll go in person to negotiate with the other party. As long as they’re willing to vacate the ancestral hall, if spending money can avert disaster, that would be best..." Huang Baiyuan gritted his teeth and said. As long as the other party is willing to talk and hasn’t discovered the weapons in the warehouse, everything is negotiable.

Even if it costs a bit of money, the original medical hut and land were worth at most five hundred taels of silver, offering a thousand taels should be enough!

...

Ancestral hall equipped with clan school has a dining hall and naturally, a kitchen.

It saved Lin Miao and others the trouble of setting up a temporary stove.

However, fetching and using water was more cumbersome. The original medical hut had a well, but when the Huang Family built the ancestral hall, they filled it in.

The Huang Clan’s school also fetched water from outside for cooking, so if they needed water, they had to get it from outside.

There is a water tank in the courtyard of the ancestral hall used for water storage and fire prevention.

But this water can’t be drunk or used for washing.

He was quite aware that the Huang Family would try to drive them out of the ancestral hall, so until Pei Jian’s men arrived, they couldn’t leave even for a moment.

If they left, and the Huang Family came in and moved the weapons out of the full warehouse, there would be no evidence.

So, at the first instance, Lin Miao had Liansuo accompany Yun to the town to purchase a batch of daily supplies, enough for at least half a month.

Traveling there and back for Mr. Xie would take at least four or five days, maybe even longer, so more preparation was necessary.

"Let’s settle down first. Over at the kitchen, water should be tested before each use, and food needs to be monitored. Let the cat handle this to prevent someone from sneaking in and poisoning us."

"Cat, as per my instructions, string these bells together and place them where someone might sneak in."

"Also, the traps must be hidden well. We are few in numbers, so it’s best not to separate in these few days..."

"Tomorrow, I’ll go alone to check my master’s grave. Stay here, and no one acts alone," Lin Miao instructed gravely.

"Understood."

Upon discovering the house full of weapons, Yun and Sun Youwei realized the seriousness of the situation, and it was no time for capriciousness.

After a sleep.

After washing and breakfast, Lin Miao reminded them again before taking an umbrella from the ancestral hall and heading to where his master, Sun Simiao, was buried.

...

"Patriarch, that Lin guy left early this morning!"

"Oh, where did he go?"

"He seemingly went to his short-lived master’s grave..."

"What, he went to Sun Simiao’s grave?" Huang Baiyuan, upon hearing this, was greatly shocked and slapped his forehead, realizing he had forgotten such an important matter.

This was now a big problem.

...

Before the master’s grave.

Lin Miao felt like he was hit by lightning.

His master’s grave had been dug up, the coffin was exposed, and the lid was askew. Inside, the body had already become a pile of white bones...

Left like this under the open sky!

No need to ask, this was surely done by the Huang people. To dig up a grave, what kind of beast could do such a thing!

This must have been done by the Huang Family in retaliation for not obtaining the deeds to the medical hut and lands with Sun Youwei!

To commit such outrageous acts!

Ah!

Lin Miao shouted out to the heavens in anger and grief.

Suddenly sensing someone approaching, Lin Miao turned his head and shouted: "Who, come out."

"Mr. Lin, it’s me, Qiu Ze." A man in his thirties slowly approached and introduced himself to Lin Miao.

"The thief Qiu Ze?" Lin Miao frowned. He had heard of this name, it was one of the most active bandit groups near Baihe County in recent years, escaping repeatedly from government eradication efforts, elusive, always appearing and disappearing without a trace.

This guy, despite being a thief, has a code. He robs money but doesn’t harm innocence, nor actively hurts people...

"Why have you come to find me?" Lin Miao was very curious; he had nothing to do with Qiu Ze, so why would Qiu Ze be looking for him?

"We’ve met before, last year..."

"But I don’t remember ever meeting you?"

"At Black Wind Ridge, Mr. Lin fought the Huang Family people then. Qiu Ze was amazed!" Qiu Ze explained.

Lin Miao’s eyes filled with a murderous intent.

"No, I only saw you injure the Huang Family people, but they all died later, did you know?" Qiu Ze hurriedly explained.

"Dead?!"

"Yes, I just took their horses, only later did I learn that those from the Huang Family who were chasing you all died," Qiu Ze said.

"You came just to tell me this?" Lin Miao frowned. He hadn’t killed Huang Yiming and the others, yet Qiu Ze said they were dead. This was strange; was it possible someone else killed Huang Yiming and the others after he left?

But why?

"Also, yesterday evening, the current patriarch of the Huang Family, Huang Baiyuan, sent people to find me, wanting me to help drive you away from the ancestral hall, offering five thousand taels of silver!"

"Did you agree?"

"No, I wouldn’t do such an ungrateful thing. Mr. Sun once saved my life; though I can’t help him, I wouldn’t attack the offspring of a benefactor," Qiu Ze explained.

"What is your relationship with the Huang Family?"

"No relationship, just getting paid for work, that’s all."

"You’ve never done anything unjust or immoral?"

"If you mean highway robbery, then yes, but I, Qiu Ze, only seek wealth, not lives," Qiu Ze nodded slightly. "I’m here today just to warn you, the forces behind the Huang Family are beyond your imagination, leave quickly, don’t lose your life here."

"Since you take money to do jobs, can I also pay you for jobs?" Lin Miao called out to the departing Qiu Ze.

"What did you say?" Qiu Ze turned around in surprise.

"The Huang Family offered five thousand taels, I’ll offer ten thousand. Help me keep an eye on the Huang Family. Anyone from the Huang Family who leaves Qingping Town, you must stop them," Lin Miao said.

"What exactly do you want to do?" Qiu Ze frowned, puzzled.

"Just say, are you going to take this job or not?"

"You know, if I take this job, I won’t be able to survive in the area anymore, I don’t want to risk losing big for small gains."

"Fine, then go, for giving me the news, I’ll let you go this time!" Lin Miao understood the choice.

After taking two steps, Qiu Ze turned back: "Do you want to completely uproot the Huang Family?"

"You’re not foolish. Since the Huang Family arrived in Qingping Town, they have oppressed the good and committed crimes, becoming a massive tumor. They coveted my master’s medical cottage, falsely accused him, leading to his depressing death. Failing to obtain the deeds, they furiously desecrated my master’s grave, opened the coffin, and exposed the corpse to the wilderness, committing such heinous acts. Do you think, I would let the Huang Family go?" Lin Miao pointed to a mound of earth atop a coffin. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Qiu Ze was silent for a moment: "The person in the coffin isn’t your master, Sun Simiao."

"What?"

He knew about the Huang Family desecrating the grave, so secretly replaced Sun Simiao’s corpse with that of a dead beggar the next day.

As long as the Huang Family didn’t see the coffin disturbed, they wouldn’t check. Once the body decayed, they’d naturally not notice.

"Where is my master’s body?"

"There’s a mountain temple ahead, after taking your master’s body, I hid it inside the mountain deity statue, sealing it with clay," Qiu Ze explained. "I intended to tell you before you left, but I had to say it now, to prevent rash actions."

"Take me there!" Lin Miao demanded.

"Alright."

Qiu Ze nodded.

Lin Miao wasn’t afraid it was a trap; even if it was, he had to retrieve his master’s remains.

At their pace, four or five miles took only the time of a stick of incense.

Lin Miao recognised the mountain temple, having visited it; otherwise, he wouldn’t be questioning Qiu Ze’s words.

The mountain temple was small, just a main hall, unattended.

Built to worship the mountain deity for peace, it also served as a shelter for those trekking the mountains.

Where the deity was, evil spirits dared not enter.

Lin Miao with his master had sheltered from rain and stayed overnight here, hence his familiarity.

Long abandoned, few visited, its disrepair led to a rotten stench upon entry.

No ambush met him, had there been one, he would’ve sensed it, unless the attacker vastly surpassed him in skill, in which case they’d have dealt with him at the master’s grave.

The deity statue was clay, color-painted. Over time, its colors faded and chipped.

Clay statues, typically hollow, as those with some knowledge knew. Hence, Qiu Ze hiding the master’s body inside the statue wasn’t impossible.

The deity statue was larger than a person, easily fitting a body.

Behind the statue, mud of a different color than the statue was evident, clearly patched later by someone not skilled in claywork.

"Qiu Ze, you do it."

"Alright." Qiu Ze didn’t refuse; he knew Lin Miao’s mistrust. Having sealed the body in, it was right to unseal it.