CHAPTER 298: CHAPTER 167: A COLLAPSED CORNER (PART 2)

A perfectly fine mountain suddenly collapsed directly into a pile of stones, which was simply astonishing: "Could it be that the Feng Shui Master stirred something up? Or did the opposing side break the Feng Shui Grand Array?"

As Zhang Chen pondered in his heart, he suddenly saw the air above the rubble of stones and debris gather like storm clouds. Out of the originally dry atmosphere, a massive black cloud evolved, and within it, lightning flickered constantly as strikes of serpentine thunder snaked down from the clouds, striking the chaotic ruins below.

The might of the thunderstorms conjured by the black cloud was so grand that it was visible even from dozens of miles away.

"Damn! For the Empress Tomb to cause such a commotion, it’s bound to catch the attention of those with ulterior motives. I’m afraid the Empress Tomb will be exposed," Zhang Chen thought, as a bad premonition surged within him while looking at the thunder snakes connecting heaven and earth.

Why did a thundercloud appear so suddenly, with serpentine lightning connecting the skies and the ground?

"It must be the working of the Feng Shui Grand Array. To figure out what’s happening, I need to see that Feng Shui Master Chen Xu. Didn’t Chen Xu say they found the entrance—was it his doing?"

He suspected it was the work of Feng Shui Master Chen Xu, never considering it was because he had taken away the Twelfth Tier Mysterious Forces.

With a thought, Zhang Chen transformed into mist, heading towards Feng Shui Master Chen Xu. He found Chen Xu intriguing. Although he himself couldn’t locate the Empress Tomb, if Chen Xu managed to excavate it, it would save him quite a bit of effort.

By some coincidence, the previous earthquake and mountain collapse, as well as the lightning storm, were about fifty miles from the excavation site where Chen Xu and the others were working. At this moment, they were ensconced in the mountain hollows, their view blocked by the mountains as they had not witnessed the thunderstorms above.

Indeed, as the saying goes, ’Seeing not the true face of Lushan, just because in the mountain,’ as Zhang Chen arrived, the group was still cursing and swearing, continuing their excavation.

"Why did such an earthquake occur earlier? It felt just like when a dragon turns over! Our village has no record of earthquakes happening before," a hooligan digging the soil voiced his confusion.

"Who knows, the weather has been weird in the first place, and it’s not impossible for a dragon to turn over. Let’s not think too much and just dig!"

The group cursed and swore as Zhang Chen arrived at their dig site, applied an Invisibility Rune, and sat down silently ten meters away, observing the people digging.

Their pace was a bit slow. Zhang Chen looked at the old village head and those local thugs—they truly appeared weak and thin. It was clear from one glance that they hadn’t had adequate sustenance and faced hardship recently. In contrast, although Chen Xu was dark-skinned, he still had some flesh, suggesting he was faring better than the others.

As they dug and grumbled, Chen Xu stood tensely before the pit, hands clenched in his sleeves, his face full of anxiety.

From time to time, Chen Xu would glance up at the sky, seemingly sensing something, his face showing a glimpse of horror.

"Does Chen Xu truly have skills, or is he just a conman?" Zhang Chen wondered to himself, sitting nearby.

The crew dug for two days, with Zhang Chen watching from the side. When they reached fifteen meters, they heard a ’clang’ sound from the pit, distinctly the sound of a shovel striking stone.

"Village head, we hit rock! Its all rock beneath; there’s no cave at all," came an angry shout from below the pit.

Upon hearing this, the village head’s face darkened as he glared at Chen Xu. At this, Chen Xu panicked: "How could it be rock? This should have been the entrance to the tomb."

"Dig around it; perhaps you’ve hit the green stone slab that’s suppressing the tomb. This stone is just the builders trying to bewilder outsiders," Chen Xu shouted hurriedly at the pit.

Upon hearing this, the village head remained unswayed, speaking in a sarcastic tone: "How about Mr. Chen goes down and checks himself?"

Feeling a shiver from the village head’s cold tone, Chen Xu gritted his teeth and said: "I’ll go down myself. This should be the entrance; how could there be a stone layer?"

While saying this, Chen Xu descended using a rope, while those still digging immediately climbed out.

The old village head stood at the pit’s entrance, eyeing the bottom: "What do you have to say, Mr. Chen?"

"Impossible! How can this be? This should have been the tomb’s entrance, how could there be green stone?" Chen Xu’s voice was panicked.

"Bury him," the village head, his patience at its limit, waved dismissively, not hiding his disinterest.

A group of thugs started to fill the pit with dirt, causing Chen Xu to panic: "You can’t do this; you can’t treat human lives so lightly. Believe me just once, perhaps we haven’t dug deep enough. It’s just a stone blocking the entrance. If you manage to dig through the stone, you will surely find the Creation within."

Upon hearing this, the old village head chuckled coldly, his voice filled with harshness: "I’ve had quite enough of your nonsense. You’ve said that before."

"This is murder! You’re committing murder! If the court finds out, heads will roll!" Chen Xu’s voice was filled with agitation within the pit.

"Heh, as you said, the court has to find out first."

The old village head smiled before turning to leave.

"Help! Murder! Murder!" Chen Xu shouted continually from within the pit.

Accompanied by his cries, the old village head returned, smiling warmly: "Boy, you can shout all you want in this wilderness. If someone hears you and saves you, then you must have good luck. Keep shouting; even if you shout until your voice breaks, no one will come to save you."

"Help!"

"Someone, save me!"

"..."

As Chen Xu’s cries continued to fade, the thugs above shoveled with even greater enthusiasm.

Their unrestrained laughter echoed in the desolate mountains. Sitting aside, Zhang Chen felt a twinge of regret: "This is a world without any supervision. Such disregard for human life is truly horrifying. Ordinary people are like lambs to slaughter—killed in this vast wilderness and no one would know. Especially now with the drought, countless people have starved to death; a few less wouldn’t be noticed."

Watching the unscrupulous laughter of the village head and several others, Zhang Chen’s eyes showed a hint of coldness. He had indeed been bullied not infrequently in the village during his youth.

But, he took no action at this moment. He only needed to make sure Chen Xu wasn’t fully buried—he could rescue him after these people left.

With hands and feet intact, as long as the village head and his group didn’t stone him unconscious, Chen Xu wouldn’t be buried alive.

Seeing Chen Xu struggling in the pit, one thug picked up a rock the size of a child’s head and approached the pit’s edge: "Mr. Chen, I suggest you stop struggling. If you keep it up, I might just drop this rock down."

Chen Xu was dumbfounded on the spot, standing dazed in the pit, looking at the thug above with horror in his eyes.

To be buried alive, or stoned unconscious and then buried—which should he choose?

With chaotic thoughts, ultimately Chen Xu chose to die ’clear and understanding,’ preferring to die a bit later than be smashed to death right away.

Faced with the boulder, Chen Xu abandoned resistance.

As the dirt piled up deeper, soon reaching his shoulders, the old village head gestured for the thugs to stop, standing over the pit as he peered down at Chen Xu: "I think simply burying him is too easy a death. How about letting him starve to death as he watches helplessly?"

Upon this suggestion, the thugs around burst into laughter, praising the village head’s ingenuity.

"But if we bury him alive and let him starve to death and die of thirst, that would be too cruel; we should leave him some resources to survive," the village head said.

The thugs were taken aback, filled with astonishment—when had their village head become so kind-hearted?

Just as this thought crossed their minds, the village head unzipped and urinated straight into the pit.

The thugs laughed heartily, following suit as they unzipped, also relieving themselves on top.

Witnessing this scene from the side, Zhang Chen shook his head, his eyes burning at the sight of their antics.