Chapter 1 An Omen of Misfortune

The instant I saw that large face wearing a golden mask, I tensed up!

Because I couldn't tell if it was a rat or a monster, I instinctively waved my hands to hit it!

But the next second, the voice calling my name suddenly screamed, loudly saying, "Chen Rongsheng! Chen Rongsheng! Are you crazy? Why are you hitting people?!"

I couldn't help but be stunned, my body trembled, and I suddenly woke up!

It turned out that everything just now was a dream. There was no large face wearing a golden mask at all. I was lying on the bed, with Xiao Liang standing beside me.

Just now, my hands were grabbing and hitting wildly, and all of them landed on Xiao Liang.

Xiao Liang covered her arm, looking at me with a resentful expression, pouting her lips and saying:

"Chen Rongsheng, did you have a nightmare? You were flailing your arms and legs, acting like a lunatic!"

I quickly sat up from the bed and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I dreamed I was catching rats. Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

Xiao Liang rolled her eyes at me in annoyance and said, "Why don't I punch you a couple of times and see if it hurts? Really, you have no sense of moderation..."

Then she urged me, "The sun is already shining on your backside, hurry up and get up. Grandma has prepared breakfast for us, and the master's arranged car will be here soon."

I rubbed my eyes and asked, "What time is it?"

"It's almost nine o'clock! You can really sleep. Everyone else got up around seven o'clock, but you're like a dead pig, I can't even wake you up!" Xiao Liang said with a look of disgust.

I stretched and said, "You can't blame me for that. I was the most tired yesterday going down into the tomb. I was leading the way for you, catching rats, and retrieving the ancient Shu jade tablet… I deserve to rest a little longer."

Xiao Liang couldn't refute, so she helped me fold the quilt while shaking her head and saying, "Alright, alright, you're right, you're right. Go eat breakfast, it'll get cold soon."

I put on my shoes and went to the outer room, only to find that the Xiaoling Guards were gone. I didn't know if they had been picked up by Old Li or if they had another mission.

Grandma was busy in the kitchen, and Uncle Mei was standing alone in the courtyard, smoking a cigarette.

I sat at the dining table, ate an egg, and then a bowl of noodles.

I was too tired yesterday to feel hungry, but after waking up, I felt like I was starving, so hungry that my front was sticking to my back. Eating a bowl of noodles felt like nothing, so I went to the kitchen and asked Grandma for another bowl.

Xiao Liang watched me eating noodles and couldn't help but laugh and say, "Eat slower, I'm afraid you'll choke!"

I glanced at her and said speechlessly, "呸呸呸! (Pēi pēi pēi! - An expression used to ward off bad luck) Can you not say such unlucky things so early in the morning!"

Just as I was bickering with Xiao Liang, a burst of footsteps suddenly came from the courtyard. I put down my chopsticks and looked up, only to see Jiang Yongguang striding in.

He had already changed out of his wetsuit and into plain clothes. It seemed that Old Li had already come once and met with the Xiaoling Guards.

Jiang Yongguang entered the courtyard and first went to see the grandma of the house, took out a red envelope and handed it to her, saying with a smile, "Thank you for taking care of us."

The grandma hurriedly waved her thin hands, desperately refusing to accept it.

Jiang Yongguang stuffed the red envelope directly into the pocket of the grandma's upper garment, and then turned around and walked towards me.

"Little Chen, good morning, how was your rest last night? Did you sleep well?"

I quickly nodded and said, "I slept very well."

Jiang Yongguang didn't waste any words, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a thick kraft paper envelope as if by magic, and slammed it onto the dining table in front of me with a domineering air, making a "啪 (pā)" sound.

When I heard this sound, I knew that it was full of banknotes!

Sure enough, Jiang Yongguang said豪迈 (háomài - boldly): "This is the reward for you and Third Brother Mei. We talked about seven thousand before, but this trip has been hard on you, so I took the liberty of rounding it up for you. There's ten thousand here, you can count it."

Of course, I couldn't count the money in front of other people. That would be a clear sign that I didn't trust Jiang Yongguang's character.

I reached out and took the envelope, smiling and saying, "Thank you, Officer Jiang, it's been a pleasant transaction! With this money, I can go home and get married! We'll have to ask the Xiaoling Guards to come and support us then!"

Jiang Yongguang laughed and said, "Don't worry, if everyone promises to go, then they will definitely go!"

At this time, Uncle Mei happened to finish smoking and came in from outside. I quickly shook the kraft paper envelope in my hand and said to Uncle Mei:

"Uncle Mei, the reward is here! Officer Jiang gave us an extra three thousand, a total of ten thousand!"

To be honest, that was the first time in my life that I had held ten thousand yuan in cash. It was the first time I felt the weight of ten thousand yuan. It wasn't as heavy as I imagined, but it was quite a thick stack.

Uncle Mei usually made money by salvaging corpses from the river, so I guessed he hadn't seen ten thousand yuan in cash either. His mouth corners twitched upwards slightly after hearing this number. But he was much calmer than me. He coughed and controlled his expression, then said with a cold face:

"Hmph, that's what he should do! The ancient tomb was so dangerous, we almost lost our lives, and you saved their lives and retrieved the jade tablet for them. Isn't that worth ten thousand yuan?"

Jiang Yongguang quickly said with a smile:

"Yes, yes, yes! Third Brother is right! This is what I should do!"

Holding the money, I couldn't help but smile as I thought about how happy Little Mei would be when I gave her the money later.

I said to Uncle Mei:

"Uncle Mei, with this money, I can give Little Mei a grand wedding. I don't have any family, so should we hold the wedding in this town?"

When Uncle Mei heard this, he immediately beamed with joy and nodded:

"Then it's settled! There are a few decent hotels in town that specialize in hosting wedding banquets. I also know two acquaintances, and I'll have them help organize things then!"

Just as he was speaking, the sound of a car door opening and closing rang out at the entrance, and then Old Li's voice came from outside the courtyard:

"Da Yong, Xiao Liang, are Mei Laosan and his son-in-law up yet?"

"They're up, they're up!"

Xiao Liang shouted quickly,

"Master, have you come to pick us up?"

At this time, Old Li walked over and waved to us:

"If you're up, go back quickly, don't cause any more trouble for people. Let's go, let's go, everyone back to their own homes!"

We said goodbye to the grandma who took care of us, thanked her again and again, and then followed Old Li into the car and returned to Little Mei's home.

On the way back, I was thinking about how to allocate this ten thousand yuan.

Wedding banquets weren't too expensive at that time. Excluding alcohol, a banquet for eight people would cost about two hundred yuan. Including alcohol, wedding venue decoration, hiring a master of ceremonies, a car fleet, and other miscellaneous expenses, a wedding banquet in that small town could definitely be done for five thousand yuan.

The remaining money could be used to rent a wedding room in the nearby county town, and also buy a batch of brand-new furniture.

Before I could finish thinking about it, we arrived at Little Mei's house.

Old Li parked the car in front of the house, and Uncle Mei and I got out of the car one after the other.

I was just about to call out to Little Mei when Uncle Mei's expression suddenly changed, and he said in a trembling voice:

"Something's wrong! Why didn't his mom come out to greet us? That woman is the most impatient. We haven't been back for a night, and when she hears the sound of the car, she'll definitely come out to greet us!"

Hearing this, my heart skipped a beat. I felt that something was wrong and shouted loudly:

"Little Mei!"

"Aunt Mei!"

While shouting, I staggered towards the courtyard. As soon as I ran into the courtyard, I suddenly saw that the door of the north room was open, and a strong smell of blood was wafting out from inside!

As soon as I smelled this smell, I felt my eyes go dark!

I knew something must have happened!