NR | Chapter 12

This sort of mnemonic chant was never originally meant to teach people how to find dragon veins or explore ancient tombs, but in the past, many low-rent tomb robbers really took it at face value. But how could something so profound that some people spend their whole lives and still never even find the door be compressed into just one little chant?

The chant’s original purpose was actually to introduce each of the Five Masters’ specialties, so that when people ran into big problems with house-reading and locating burial sites, they would know where to turn. In fact, the original version I learned from my grandfather went like this:

Seek the dragon, Tan family look, seek water, Liu family crook, through sweet earth, Guan sand, set direction to Tian, Golden Lock Jade Pass walks yin and yang, to fix the grave one should look to the road of the Nine Springs.

The whole chant’s meaning was very clear. Simply put, if you were seeking dragon veins, you went to the Tan family, because their eyes were the sharpest and most useful; if you were looking for a burial site with water or related to water, you went to the Liu family, because every generation of the Yujingzi had immeasurable skill with water.

Our Gan family had dealt with the land for generations. My grandfather spent his younger years crouched in the fields all day, so he was the most sensitive to anything above ground or below it. The Tian family had spent years studying the Yixue[[1]] and divination, and could determine direction with a few hand seals.

As for the “Road to the Nine Springs,” that referred to the family of Lu Ayao. Rumor had it that their business only opened at midnight, and that their ancestors could recognize underworld messengers and even talk business with the King of Hell. The stories about them were told as if they were something out of a myth.

I took all of that as one mythic story after another. After all, the era of the “Five Masters” had long since passed, and many things and techniques could no longer be verified. So when He Yu used that chant to pressure me now, it was obviously very unconvincing.

The convoy was resting at a service area on the Henan-Anhui border. After I went to the bathroom and came back, I saw the crew checking the vehicles. They were chatting while I leaned against the car eating biscuits, and soon I spotted Lao Gen getting out of another car.

Lao Gen called out, “Check everything carefully, fill up the tanks. We’re short on time, and not a single vehicle can afford to break down. Two people per car, split the day and night shifts and take turns driving.”

“Lao Gen, where are we stopping next time for rest?” The driver of our car walked over and handed him a cigarette.

Lao Gen said, “Nandibian. We’ll resupply there. The first team has already found a guide and is preparing to head deeper in. We need to hurry too.”

I looked away, but my ears perked up as I listened. Tian Yuqing was definitely hiding a lot from me. I couldn’t trust him at all now.

I didn’t reach that conclusion just because of Lu Ayao’s one-sided account. Tian Yuqing’s whole state, and his behavior, had also shown serious problems. More than that, this team he brought was very strange too.

A team had to have someone in charge. Normally, if Tian Xiao wasn’t around, then Tian Yuqing should have been the one calling the shots.

But the reality was that Tian Xiao had almost no say in the entire team. I could tell he had already been completely sidelined. He didn’t even seem as effective as Lao Gen standing in front of me, which created a very odd atmosphere, and that was one of the things I couldn’t figure out.

Never mind what He Yu had casually revealed to me in conversation about the Tian brothers fighting over the family inheritance. In a normal family structure, even if the old patriarch’s authority was completely taken over by the younger generation, his status wouldn’t usually drop too much. Age alone still commanded some basic respect from the crew.

But in this team, I didn’t see any of that respect.

Other than helping Tian Xiao out of the car, the crew basically did nothing else for him. They were practically leaving him to fend for himself. That was nowhere near the attitude you’d have toward an “emperor emeritus,” and in a traditional family like the Tian family, it struck me as extremely strange.

The crew spoke in a way that deliberately or unintentionally kept me out of the loop. I listened for a little while, and then Lao Gen and the driver deliberately moved farther away from me. It wasn’t just this time. They’d had the same attitude during the previous two stops at service areas too.

I was getting impatient. I tossed the biscuit crumbs in my hand away, turned around, and yanked open the car door. The sudden move startled He Yu in the back seat.

“What are you doing!”

“I can’t take this anymore. I’m going to ask Tian Yuqing and get this straight.” I reached down beside his legs and pulled out the box holding the Nine-Ring Jade Casket.

Lu Ayao stretched and ignored me. Then he turned his head, leaned against the car window, and went back to sleep. I had even been thinking about whether I should call him to come with me, because I felt like having him there would be more intimidating, but the way he turned over made it obvious he was telling me, Don’t come looking for me. Don’t waste my sleep.

I wasn’t the type to keep offering a warm face to someone’s cold backside. If he didn’t want to go, then fine. It’s not like I was desperate to bring him along anyway.

With that thought, I instantly felt a lot more confident. I carried the box and strode toward the first vehicle with great purpose, so much so that even though He Yu called after me several times, he still couldn’t stop me.

Before I even reached the car door, Lao Gen stopped me. “Young Master Gan, if you need anything, just come to me. The bosses are all resting. We’ve been on a long journey, and it wouldn’t be good to disturb them now.”

This old fox was slick. The last few times I’d wanted to see what the Tian family members were doing, he’d said the same thing. He was very good at using my personal standards to pressure me into obediently staying put. If it had been someone like slick Tan, he would have already kicked the car door open with one foot.

So this time, I didn’t pay Lao Gen any mind at all. I lifted my chin slightly and shouted straight into the car, “Tian Yuqing! Get out here and explain things to me clearly. If you don’t explain yourself and still try to drag me to Gansu, that’s kidnapping a college student. You know that’s illegal, right!”

Even Lao Gen couldn’t really take it after I shouted like that.

It was late morning, and the traffic flowing into the service area was picking up. As soon as they heard me say something especially sharp, people started looking over toward our car one after another. That was exactly the effect I wanted. Since I couldn’t get on the car, I’d make Tian Yuqing come down himself.

Seeing that there was still no movement in the car, I decided to add fuel to the fire and draw out the words, “Are you coming out or not? If you still don’t come out and explain, I’m calling the police!”

As soon as Lao Gen saw me reaching for my phone, his expression became a little panicked too. “Oh my, young boss, young boss, why make this so difficult for everyone?”

“Lao Gen,” the car door opened automatically, and Tian Yuqing got out while wrapping his coat tighter around himself. He gestured to Lao Gen. “I’ll handle this here. Go do your work.”

Lao Gen left at once.

Tian Yuqing saw me carrying the wooden box, and before I could even speak, he smiled and patted my shoulder, signaling for me to go to the last two cars. “I know what you want to ask. There are too many people here, and ears are everywhere. Let’s find somewhere a little quieter and talk.”

Tian Yuqing was very skilled. Even while speaking, he carried an elegant but unquestionable air. The little bit of confidence I had just managed to build up immediately vanished, and for a moment I even felt a little afraid to go alone with him back to the car. In other words, I was afraid he’d kill me.

Still carrying the wooden box, I got into the last vehicle with him. The driver got out to give Tian Yuqing his seat, and I circled around to the passenger side. The moment I sat down, Tian Yuqing started the car and slowly drove away from the convoy toward the nearby gas station.

“The things that should be said and the things that shouldn’t, Lu Ayao should’ve already told you. You can trust him. Your Gan family has shown him kindness, and he’d never hurt you,” Tian Yuqing said.

“Fill it up.” Tian Yuqing got out and said to the gas station attendant.

I watched him pay and fill the tank before he got back in. He picked a relatively secluded spot and parked the car there.

I couldn’t help bringing up some of the questions I’d been guessing at. “Is my Fourth Brother not in Gansu? You’re not there to support my Fourth Brother either, so what exactly is going on? And what’s the first team?”

Tian Yuqing lit a cigarette and took a drag. “I know you have a lot of questions. I’ve been keeping in contact with your Fourth Brother all along. He’s fine, so you can rest easy. But explaining this matter is a bit complicated.”

He paused, took another drag, and thought for a moment before saying, “Since we’re already here, it really is necessary to explain this to you clearly. But I have one condition. You’ve seen it yourself, we’ve come all this way with all this equipment and have had a smooth trip. You should understand that this matter involves a lot of people. If you want to know everything, then you have to be fully involved in it. Until this is over, I won’t allow you to make a scene like you just did again.”