I Am Your Natural Enemy

Wen Yan really wasn’t trying to fool Scholar Tu...

Because he honestly couldn’t remember what Little Mustache was actually called.

His impression of Little Mustache was limited to that outfit, and the little mustache under his chin. Even his face had become a blur.

When Little Mustache was torn apart and scattered through the ages due to anchor chaos, when his resets were used up, and when he was finally drowned by time, as years went by, he as a person would grow ever more indistinct.

Wen Yan tried hard to recall, and vaguely felt that maybe he had never known what the other guy’s real name was—only remembered the codename Little Mustache.

He searched through the Scorching Sun Department’s records, but really, he found nothing on this person.

Did anyone remember what his name was?

Even Wen Yan was starting to forget, the memory blurring, with only certain events remaining clear.

Wen Yan truly didn’t believe anyone else could remember either.

Just as well, this Evil Suppression Detention Center itself had its own peculiar effects. Wen Yan just set the ball rolling—the rest, let Scholar Tu figure out for himself.

Clearly, a guy like Scholar Tu, who had some skill and a lot of self-confidence, might not trust others—but he would trust himself.

Watching Scholar Tu’s changing expression, Wen Yan lit a cigarette for himself and tossed a pack over.

”Let’s talk. I’m really not interested in you.

I just want to know, how did you find that rift.

And what exactly came out of that rift.

Since you’re always hanging around the riverbanks, you should know, some ghostly things are real hard to deal with.

Don’t think that just because you didn’t mess with them, they’ll let you go.

That’s only what you think.

For you, the safest place is right here.”

Scholar Tu stayed silent, lit up a cigarette, took a deep drag, and said,

”Honestly, I don’t even know if what I remember is real.

That tomb where the rift is—people from the Scorching Sun Department have checked it out, right?

The murals are in Tang-style dress, but the civil official statues there wear classic Ming black gauze hats.

Plus, the stele’s records, the writing on those carved beams, don’t they all look kind of jumbled?”

”The Scorching Sun Department’s experts gave a preliminary conclusion—suspected layered tombs, but not confirmed for sure,” Wen Yan replied casually.

Scholar Tu looked up, grinned, and once he got onto this topic, his confidence returned.

”The experts at the Scorching Sun Department, pretty capable lot.

At first I thought it was layered tombs too—a tomb within a tomb.

A Tang tomb, a Ming grave, buried in the same pit—one above, one below, one outside, one inside.

But after I took a closer look, based on my years of experience and what I’ve learned,

it really is a case of layered tombs, but more than that—both are fake tombs.

It’s only been a day, so the Scorching Sun Department experts probably haven’t copped on yet, right?”

”That’s right, nothing about that in the records I’ve seen so far,” Wen Yan replied truthfully.

Hearing this, Scholar Tu raised an eyebrow. Clearly, this hit his sweet spot—this was the sort of thing he was most proud of.

After chatting for a few minutes, he didn’t seem to care anymore about what exactly had affected him, nor did he feel like leaving.

Wen Yan had a point—if his boss had never existed in the first place, then Scholar Tu was just someone who, from walking by the river all the time, finally got his shoes wet.

Staying in this detention center, really was the safest bet.

”The Qinling Mountains have always been one of the Divine Land’s Dragon Veins—now I see it’s the most crucial boundary.

Based on my guess, the tomb’s original feng shui setup had to be different from now.

The original tomb should have been early Tang style—the feng shui at the time would have made it an evil-suppressing tomb.

No tomb master inside—and that rift served as the replacement for the Tomb Master, being suppressed and sealed in.

So, in the side chamber next to the central room, there should have been a Tomb Guardian Beast.

Blocking the only passage from the Tomb Master’s chamber to the outside.

When I went down there, there were still a few bones left—the Tomb Guardian Beast probably died hundreds of years ago.”

Wen Yan listened quietly, thinking: this guy really does know a lot.

With his expertise—and as the first professional to go in—

Later professionals who went down saw a lot less, missed too much information, and couldn’t deduce certain things.

Within the Scorching Sun Department, real experts in this field, who also understand the Different Races, are incredibly rare.

”And after that?”

”I took another look at a lot of stuff in the second, Ming tomb, and checked the historical records.

My guess is: a few centuries ago, an earthquake hit Guanzhong County, changing the entire layout there.

The mountain itself got raised, and the spot where the rift was, sank down some.

Then someone noticed, and built a tomb within a tomb right there.

Still an evil-suppressing tomb, making that rift the new tomb master, locking it up inside.

In my opinion, that spot was originally in the dragon’s palm, tightly sealed and locked down.

But then things shifted, and it almost slipped free.

Luckily, that time, some genius managed to fake up a tomb on top, without disturbing the previous layout—basically made the cage bigger.

That way, the rift could still be gripped in the dragon’s claw, and kept contained.

But times have changed; the conditions back then don’t fit now.

The place can’t hold the rift anymore.

It’s not that I found it, but that it could now be found by someone.

If not me, someone else would have stumbled on it anyway—it was only a matter of time.