Tomb-robbing techniques

Mr. Zhou was obviously having a private conversation with Mr. Zhou Jing. Neither Mr. Li nor I felt comfortable standing too close, so we even moved outside the shop to avoid suspicion.

By this time, it was already past ten in the morning, and the antique street was gradually becoming lively. However, after Mr. Zhou finished his conversation and left, Mr. Li seemed a bit absent-minded. He was shaking slightly, indicating he was emotionally stirred. He was so preoccupied that he didn't even notice Mr. Zhou Jing's rooster pecking lightly at his leg.

Seeing him like this, I didn't feel right pressing him for details about his conversation with Mr. Zhou, especially since I had a feeling Mr. Li wouldn't give me any answers even if I asked.

So, Mr. Li and I waited silently at the flower shop's entrance for almost an hour. Finally, Mr. Zhou Jing came out carrying a small package. The poor kid's eyes were swollen from crying, his face dirty and pitiful.

Seeing him like that, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the child. After all, his condition was directly related to me. I reached out and patted his head, saying, "Don't be sad. Don't worry, Mr. Zhou did this for me. I won't mistreat you in the future..."

Before I could finish my sentence, Zhou Jing slapped my hand away with a look of disgust.

I gave a wry smile. After all, I was already in my twenties and didn't want to argue with a child. I just touched my nose and followed behind.

At this point, Mr. Li finally snapped out of it. He glanced at Zhou Jing, sighed softly, then took the kid's hand and led me to a taxi. We went to a restaurant, and after eating, Mr. Li told me not to go home and instead took me and Zhou Jing to his house.

Mr. Li usually lived alone, never having married. My dad used to sigh lightly whenever this topic came up. I knew Mr. Li must have had his own story, but I never asked. After all, it was his privacy.

When we arrived at Mr. Li's house, he asked Zhou Jing to watch TV in the living room and took me straight to his study.

To be honest, Mr. Li had never been as serious as he was now. He sat quietly behind his desk, deep in thought for a long time before finally speaking, his voice even slightly hoarse, "Xiaotian, you're a smart kid. I know you must have guessed that your dad and I have kept many things from you. Your mind must be full of questions now, right?"

I hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"Unfortunately, there are some things I really can't tell you. It's for your own good. Until your abilities reach a certain level, telling you these things... will only bring you misfortune!"

Mr. Li gritted his teeth and continued, "The only thing I can tell you now is that your family is not as simple as you think. Your great-grandfather, your grandfather, and even your dad... everyone in your family is not just a mere antique dealer!"

I nodded calmly. If someone had told me this before yesterday, I wouldn't have believed it. I might have even hit the person who told me. But after what happened last night and today, I had already started to doubt everything in my life. Even those closest to me felt strangely distant, as if... life had played a huge joke on me, and my environment might be a false calm, and what I saw might not be the truth.

After saying this, Mr. Li fell silent again for a long time before grabbing his hair in pain, "To be honest, I don't know if the choice I made for you is right or wrong. After all, this is something your father has always avoided letting you get involved in."

For some reason, my mind was clearer than ever at this moment, even calm. I thought for a moment and directly asked, "Is it about 'Tian'?"

Mr. Li nodded, "If you listen to Mr. Zhou and go to them, I would be directly going against the life your father arranged for you."

"My life is my own!"

I emphasized, "Mr. Li, I also want to hear the truth from you. If I go with them, will I survive?"

"They exist to deal with these weird things. If you go to them, they may not be able to accurately solve your problems!"

Mr. Li hesitated for a moment, then said, "But let me tell you frankly, those people are not good to work with. Once you get involved with them, it's basically sinking into a quagmire, and it's hard to get out. As the saying goes, 'The pot can't leave the well and the general is hard to survive before the battle'. Those people deal with dirty things all day long, and it's dangerous. They basically live with their heads in their pants, and with your weak fortune, you're like a live target in their eyes. If anything bad happens, you'll be the first. Working with them, your life will probably be rough. That's why I didn't want you to have anything to do with them. It's like pushing you into a fire pit!"

"But if I go to them, I probably won't die for now, right? Although Mr. Zhou said I can turn bad luck into good, I believe in myself more. I have to do something!"

I was a bit excited, damn it, those who hadn't experienced the fear brought by those things would never know what it felt like when Death smiled at you. Climbing on your back in the middle of the night, a dead ghost wearing a shroud, and you're not afraid?

So at this moment, hearing Mr. Li say that those people exist specifically to deal with such things, I already had an idea in my mind, "Let's go find them. If I find them, I still have a way out. If I don't, I don't even know how many days I can live. As for the future... let's talk about it later!"

Mr. Li glanced at me and finally sighed softly, "Fine, since this is your decision, I won't say anything more. I'll book tickets now. Tonight, I'll take you and Zhou Jing away from here. We'll go to Jiangxi to find the person recommended by Mr. Zhou and ask him to check your condition."

"Thank you, Mr. Li."

I let out a deep breath, stood up, and honestly, I didn't know whether my choice was right or wrong, or what those people were capable of. But seeing how Mr. Li avoided them, I figured they weren't good people. Maybe if I got involved with them, my life wouldn't be easy, but at least they were human, which was better than those dirty things!

"Wait a minute!"

Mr. Li stopped me and hesitated for a moment before saying, "I have something for you."

After speaking, Mr. Li didn't wait for me and directly started searching behind the bookshelf. In a moment, he took out a blue-covered book and handed it to me, "Take some time to read it."

I took the book with some confusion. I realized it was quite old, probably from the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the paper was made from "Caihou Paper" which had been discontinued for a long time. On top of it were four characters written in traditional script — The Secret Techniques of Faqiu.

If I hadn't been born into my family and had some understanding of ancient characters, I might not have recognized the characters in this book. Just holding it, I basically confirmed one thing — this book had probably been passed down from the Eastern Han Dynasty to now. Its preservation in such good condition was nothing short of a miracle, and this book alone was worth a lot of money!!

Although I had some guesses in my heart, I still looked up and asked Mr. Li, "What is this?"

"Your ancestor, the military officer Faqiu, wrote this book. It records all his experiences and methods of dealing with strange phenomena."

Mr. Li sighed, "Some of them are even methods to deal with those dirty things. After all, they deal with money from dead people, so they inevitably encounter some strange things. Over time, they developed their own methods for dealing with those things! Originally, your father left this book with me because he didn't want you to touch these things. But now that you're in this situation and have decided to go to Jiangxi to find those people, I'm giving it to you. Read it more, maybe it will come in handy in the future!"

I nodded, then left Mr. Li's study. What I didn't know was that the series of decisions I had just made had directly changed my fate...