The autumn evening wind carried a bone-chilling cold.
Two figures met in the dense mountain forest, one of them being the superstitious feng shui practitioner Wang Li. Having fled from Phoenix County, he had been swindling villagers along the way with his feng shui theories—though in his own words, he was providing spiritual solace to troubled women. While there were larger groups of refugees on the road, most were ordinary people who would only slow him down, so he maintained contact with just three or five companions.
"Did you gather the information?" Wang Li asked.
"Brother, when have I ever let you down?" replied the man known as "Master Inquisitive."
Master Inquisitive, real name Zhao Suan, had a pointy face and scrawny build that made him look like a child next to Wang Li's bear-like frame.
Zhao chuckled, "The Peach Blossom Village shares the same ancestral lineage. I've located the Li family gravesite." His investigation went beyond that—he had also identified the village's wealthy households for a planned nighttime robbery. After all, how else would they eat on the road? The previous attack on Peach Leaf Village had been his crew's doing. What was terrifying the first time now only stirred greed at the thought of riches.
Though Wang Li seemed eccentric with his mystical beliefs, he had real skills. Helping him was just a side task—among traveling companions, mutual aid was expected.
Zhao's eyes gleamed with avarice. "I'll help you dig the grave if you assist me with a bigger score."
"Deal!" Wang Li agreed immediately.
In the dead of night.
The urgent messages from Hundred Legs jolted Li Pingcan awake. To absorb yin energy, Hundred Legs and the Seven-Leaf Paris herb were buried deep in the ancestral graves at night, surrounded by countless mushrooms. Through the mushrooms' perspective, shadowy figures were skulking around the graves.
Tomb raiders weren't unusual, but the Li family ancestral graves held no particular treasures. "Whatever their purpose, they mustn't discover our precious plants." Li Pingcan immediately roused his family.
"Father! Emergency! Someone's digging up our ancestral graves!"
The Li household burst into activity as lamps were lit. After hearing the report, Li Rongzhou's expression turned grave. With malicious individuals about and the situation unclear, he too began mobilizing people. "Thieves daring to target our ancestors' resting place? I'll alert the village chief immediately."
Li Pingfu declared, "I'll gather our martial brothers." As the steady and reliable one with exceptional martial talent, he had naturally become the leader of their group. Having grown up together, their bonds ran deep—a single rallying cry would bring many martial brothers running. More people meant greater strength and courage.
The Li family coordinated their story and sprang into action.
"Brothers! My father just saw suspicious figures heading toward the ancestral mountain during his night fishing!"
"Village Chief! Disaster! Our ancestral graves are being disturbed!"
The ancestral lineage concerned every Peach Blossom villager. The old chief flew into a rage upon hearing, throwing aside his cane and moving with surprising agility as he summoned the village's young men and martial artists. "To the mountain with me!"
"Dear, lock the doors and wait for our return."
Lady Qin nodded. Having weathered many crises, she held Xie Yuan's hand and said with forced calm, "Be careful. Don't take unnecessary risks—safety first."
"Brother Can, please come back safely," Xie Yuan pleaded worriedly.
Li Pingcan patted Xie Yuan's head before joining the stream of villagers following his father and eldest brother.
A few lanterns flickered in the darkness.
"Where are the treasures? Wang Li, were you mistaken?" The speaker's voice dripped with resentment as he gazed greedily at Peach Blossom Village, eager to raid it and flee far away rather than dig up graves.
"Just keep digging..." Wang Li snapped, though doubt gnawed at him too. Had they targeted the wrong grave? Was there really no destiny-enhancing treasure here? According to the "Mystical Records of Blessed Lands," ancestral graves of the gifted produced a strand of "blue smoke" that could boost fortune and prolong life.
"One more shovel—maybe the hole isn't deep enough."
As he raised his shovel, a sharp whistle cut through the wind. A stone grazed his cheek, drawing blood. The wound burned with what felt like poison!
"Damn it! We're spotted!"
Moreover, the precision of that stone throw in pitch darkness indicated a village expert. Without warning his companions, Wang Li immediately turned and fled, leaving Zhao and the others stunned.
"Thieves! Catch them!"
"Grave-robbing bastards!"
The hills echoed with shouts that sent the group into panic. Only then did Zhao understand Wang Li's escape—better others die than oneself! Cursing inwardly, he scrambled away as the others fled wildly. Their shared thought: survival meant outrunning the others.
But how could these thieves match the Peach Blossom villagers' familiarity with their own mountain?
"Behave if you know what's good for you!"
Soon several young men cornered and captured two robbers, while the teenage martial artists swiftly overtook Zhao Suan, kicking him to the ground and beating him black and blue.
"Daring to dig up our Li family graves! You've got a death wish!"
The old chief angrily rapped the thieves' heads with his cane. Grave robbery was the ultimate offense—a feud to the death!
"Father, their leader's poisoned. He won't get far," Li Pingcan whispered in the darkness. Fortunately, his [Enchanted Stone] spell had activated its "toxin" effect—a fast-acting paralytic agent. These intruders' strange motives needed investigation, or no one would sleep peacefully.
Li Rongzhou nodded. "His movements are impaired, like he has old injuries. Pingfu and I can handle this." Without further discussion, father and son gave chase into the woods.
Li Rongzhou moved with swallow-like grace, his shadow haunting Wang Li's every step no matter how fast the latter ran. Wang Li's pace slowed despite taking antidotes. When he tried changing direction, Li Pingfu blocked his path, watching like a tiger eyeing prey.
One quick step, and Wang Li was cornered. "Brother, spare me! I'll give you a hundred taels!" Knowing grave robbery meant mortal enmity and fearing capture worse than death, he offered huge bribes.
As Li Rongzhou agreed, Wang Li eagerly produced silver notes—only for Li Rongzhou to suddenly step forward and kick him square in the chest!
"You treacherous old fox!" Even expecting deceit, the poisoned Wang Li couldn't react in time.
Back downhill, interrogations revealed the robbers' true plan: grave robbing was secondary—they intended to drug several households and loot them! The Peach Blossom villagers broke into cold sweats upon realizing how close they'd come to sharing Peach Leaf Village's fate.
"All thanks to Brother Rongzhou's sharp eyes spotting these thieves, or we'd have been doomed."