Ita Era

Chapter 173 Where did the Divine Tree go?
After lunch, the two took their tools and provisions and went out. They immediately squatted down because a monk and a Taoist nun were talking to Feng Qiniang on the other side of the stream. Ten minutes later, the three left. The two dared not take the main road again, instead taking a narrow path along the field ridges, passing through a grove of trees, and finally sliding onto the road.

Walking along the road, Ding Shi asked, "Guess what the monk, nun, and Feng Qiniang were talking about?"

As he walked, Sha Bi said, "Although I don't know what we're going to talk about, I think they have information that you don't know."

Ding Shi said, "I know you're weak, you should go out and run around more."

Foolish Bike said impatiently, "What's it to you, old hag? Mind your own business?"

Ding Shi said, "If you do the legwork, I can reap the benefits without lifting a finger."

"Damn it!" If I could beat you, I'd beat you to death. No, if I could beat you, I'd make you want to kill me. Huh? My request was actually about his current situation. Damn it.

The sound of a horn blared.

The two men moved aside, and the truck drove past them.

As they walked and talked, they soon saw the public restroom, the public restroom in Sanlifen.

Ding led the way, traversing and climbing through the cemetery. Soon they arrived at a large tomb in the middle of the front of the Sanli Tomb. This large tomb was the burial place of the warlord's concubine.

Ding Shi's theory is simple and straightforward: the Death Tree is also a divine tree, and the main quest does not specify that it must be a living divine tree.

That's right, Ding Shi had his eye on the concubine's coffin.

However, there were two pieces of bad news. First, the concubine's grave faced the road, where vehicles and villagers occasionally passed by. This was the reason why Ding Shi had to bring someone with him.

Solution: Ding Shi will act as lookout, while Sha Bi digs the grave. Upon seeing the car and people, Ding Shi will immediately tell Sha Bi to crawl down and use the weeds for cover. Sha Bi opposes this plan, but since he has already made the promise, going back on his word now would likely lead Ding Shi to kill him to silence him for violating the agreement.

The second piece of bad news is that this is a tomb, with a narrow entrance but a hidden space inside. Ordinary people's coffins are buried in the ground, but the coffins of the powerful and wealthy are placed in a space—this is a tomb.

The good news is that the burial was rushed, the tomb is not large, and there was no elaborate decoration.

They dug and dug, during which Sha Bi repeatedly asked to change positions, but Ding Shi refused each time, saying there were no positions available. They dug from 2 PM to 6 PM, and finally dug out a large hole.

Silly Bike was forced to crawl inside for a quick look, then turned back and said, "I can't see anything." Meaning, if you have a flashlight, you should crawl in.

Ding Shi didn't fall for it: "I have matches."

So the two of them found a bundle of dry branches in the dark, and mixed some of them with a few dry pine branches to use as torches.

After lighting the torch, Sha Bi crawled inside first, saying, "You'd better come in and see for yourself."

Seeing that the fire inside was still burning, Ding Shi crawled through the two-meter-thick hole and entered the tomb. The tomb was two meters high, three meters wide, and five meters deep, with walls supported by wood and planks. Overall, it did indeed look like a simple tomb.

The biggest problem is that there was no coffin in the tomb; it was empty except for a pile of bones.

Ding Shi was shocked, confused, and furious: Where is the sacred tree? Where is my enormous sacred tree?
Before Ding Shi could even panic, Sha Bi said, "Ding Shi, there are evil spirits here."

Silly Bite added: "The female ghost is wearing a cheongsam."

Ding Shi asked, "Can you see it?"

Foolish Bone said, "My brother told me." His brother was Ghost Shadow.

Ding Shi and Sha Bi couldn't see the female ghost because they hadn't triggered the killing rule yet. Once the killing rule was triggered, the female ghost would quickly appear and kill them.

Ding Shi said, "Didn't you say you were going to catch ghosts?"

Silly Bike said, "We can't catch her now. You're smart enough to guess what the female ghost's rules for killing people are." He squatted down, put the torch on the ground, placed the branches he had brought in aside, and started a small fire.

Sha Bi made Ding Shi guess, of course, hoping that Ding Shi would risk his life to test the rules.

As Ding Shi pondered, he said, "It's not firelight, not sound, not the ground, it's bones? No, otherwise the coffin would still be here." What angered him even more now was that someone had struck first and stolen the coffin. Without the coffin, Ding Shi truly had no idea where to find the divine tree; he was completely clueless.

Ding Shi asked, "Can't your brother eat her?"

Foolish Dagger said, "The other side has the advantage of timing, location, and ghosts. Even when the evil ghost is at its weakest, the ghost shadow can only barely gain a slight advantage." After all, the ghost shadow is no match for the evil ghost.

Ding Shi said, "Let's retreat first."

Silly Dagger: "Please."

Ding Shi: "You go first."

Foolish Dagger: "I didn't agree."

Ding Shi stopped arguing and observed the unremarkable tomb. With a thought, he shone his flashlight at the farthest point and swept it across. A buzzing sound came from the southwest corner, indicating that the ethereal body of the evil spirit was located there.

Ding Shi immediately turned and left, diving into the cave without a word. Sha Bi panicked and grabbed Ding Shi's leg, who was still outside: "What do you mean? What did you find?"

Ding Shiyuan kicked Sha Bi away with his leg and crawled out without hesitation. Sha Bi hurriedly crawled into the hole as well: "Say something!"

Ding Shi said, "The rules of killing are dark."

Thinking of the few branches and firewood available, Sha Bi cried out, "Climb quickly, quickly!" He didn't care about anything else and used all his strength to push Ding Shi outwards.

"Got it." The opening wasn't big, but thankfully it was only two meters long; you could easily twist your way out.

Ding Shi's hands came out first, then his head. He should have come out with his body next, but unexpectedly, a cold, menacing woodcutter's knife was held against his neck: "Don't move."

"Dongcheng?" Ding Shi never expected that the Confucian woman Dongcheng would be the one to pounce on him. He asked, "What do you want?"

"I wasn't looking for you, sorry." Dongcheng turned the wood-chopping knife to the back and smashed it on Ding Shi's head. Ding Shi was stunned for a moment, and then passed out.

Dongcheng pulled Dingshi out and put him aside.

A wood-chopping knife was held to the neck of the idiot who had crawled out. The idiot knew something was wrong outside, but he had no choice but to come out. Seeing that it was Dongcheng, the idiot asked suspiciously, "Why are you following us?" With his and Dingshi's skills, it was impossible that they hadn't noticed their followers.

Dongcheng said, "The flavor is the key." She was a ghost cultivator like Shabi, but her ghost was a functional ghost, not a fighting ghost. Her ghost had been upgraded, granting Dongcheng the functions of a dog's nose and clairvoyance.

Dongcheng spotted Shabi and Dingshi in the grove of trees in Tianmen Village. She didn't believe they actually shared that interest, so she followed their scent all the way to Sanlifen.

The fool asked, "What do you want?"

Dongcheng said, "Ghost Control Technique." Unlike the four-vertical-five-horizontal playing card skill that Dingshi obtained, Shabi received a book of Ghost Control Technique. Shabi must ensure that he carries the Ghost Control Technique with him when he boards the bus on the eighth day, and he can only master the Ghost Control Technique skill after leaving the instance.

When Ding Shi asked Sha Bi about the art of controlling ghosts and even asked Sha Bi to use it to capture female ghosts, Sha Bi didn't tell the truth; he hadn't mastered the art of controlling ghosts.

Sha Bi said, "I've already learned it."

Dongcheng said, "Give me the book."

Sha Bi said, "It's already burned." Dong Cheng said, "I don't believe you. Don't try to fool me. Although I didn't get the Ghost Control Technique, I know it's a secret passed down only by the Huang family. If it's useless after learning it once, you would have returned the book to Tie Zhu."

Foolish Bone regretted that he shouldn't have said it was burned, but rather that the book disappeared after he learned it.

Dongcheng said, "My patience is limited."

Silly Bike said helplessly, "I put it inside."

Dongcheng asked, "Why put it inside?"

"You should ask us why we came here," said Sha Bi.

Dongcheng said, "That's right, why are you digging up graves?"

Sha Bi said, "This is the tomb of Tie Zhu's master."

Dongcheng didn't believe it. Holding the knife in his right hand, he took two steps to the left to look at the tombstone. Even a stone tombstone, after so many years of wind and rain, was already blurred and unclear, let alone at night.

When Dongcheng returned, he looked at Shabi for a while, then swiftly struck Shabi unconscious with his knife and dragged him out. He searched Shabi and Dingshi, but found nothing except for dry food, matches, and other miscellaneous items.

Dongcheng returned to the tombstone and reached out to touch the inscription: "Tomb of Wang Dan's wife, Qian, in the year XX of the Republic of China."

Damn it, didn't you say you wouldn't lie to other ghost cultivators?
Just as Dongcheng was about to settle scores with Sha Bi, a hand gripped the back of her neck with great force, and she dared not move. As a profession specializing in ghost power, one is just an ordinary person without releasing ghosts, but becomes powerful when releasing them, capable of all sorts of tricks.

Ding Shi's voice came from behind: "Since you used the back of your blade, give me 500 V, and we'll call it even." Ding Shi, possessing the equivalent of high-altitude force, also possessed high defensive capabilities. When the blade fell, his Force concentrated on his head. Why not his neck? Because it couldn't be blocked there.

Force enhancement can effectively resist blunt force injuries, but it is basically unable to resist sharp weapon damage.

At that time, Dongcheng only had two options: beheading or knocking him unconscious. Considering that Dongcheng's target was Shabi, beheading himself would result in blood splattering everywhere, and he would have to endure the disgusting sight of himself while dragging his corpse. Therefore, knocking him unconscious or knocking him unconscious before killing him was a very likely option.

Because Dongcheng had held back, the blunt weapon didn't cause Ding Shi much damage, but it was still an injury. Since they weren't mortal enemies, there was nothing that Ita's not capable of handling. Even with a sworn enemy like Sha Bi, Ding Shi could accept money and temporarily forgive him.

Dongcheng dared not move: "Brother, I'll only give you three hundred." Force leaked from his fingertips, ruffling the hairs on his neck. Dongcheng was certain that if Ding Shi pinched him, his cervical spine would be ruined.

"Why is it that all you ghost cultivators have a score of 300?" Ding Shi: "300 it is."

Dongcheng, while handling the accounts, asked, "What do you mean by 'ghost cultivators'?"

Ding Shi glanced at the silly dagger beside him: "300 slashes, turning enemies into friends in this instance."

After saying that, Ding Shi picked up the silly dagger and said, "Let's go."

Dongcheng asked in confusion, "You guys... Look at the hole that's been dug out, what does that mean?"
Ding Shi said, "If you give me another 200 Vs, I'll tell you."

Dongcheng: "No."

Ding Shi picked up the shovel and smiled, "Let's go." He channeled his inner energy into his feet and slid down the slope, exuding coolness.

Dongcheng hesitated. She began to think. She searched their bodies but found nothing of value. Then what was their purpose in digging this hole? If not to take anything, then it must be to store something. But why didn't Ding Shi stop her?
I understand now. Ding Shi extorted money from Sha Bi. They're not on the same side, and Ding Shi has no intention of keeping Sha Bi's secret.

What if it's a trap? They don't know they're being followed, and they're setting a trap for themselves because they lack the necessary conditions.

Is it dangerous inside? Probably not, because these two people crawled out from inside.

Thinking of this, Dongcheng lit a tinderbox and crawled into the cave. She touched this and looked around, just as she was about to use the tinderbox to light some dry branches left by Shabi, a gust of cold wind blew in and extinguished the tinderbox, plunging Dongcheng into darkness.

……

Outside a public restroom.

After Ding Shi flexed his fingers, he slapped Sha Bi ten times, ignoring Sha Bi's open eyes.

It wasn't until Sha Bi grabbed Ding Shi's hand and said in a coughing voice, "Brother Ding, I'm awake."

Ding Shi: "You're welcome." He went to the restroom.

A little while later, Sha Bi also came in to use the toilet. After relieving himself, he washed his hands, dried them, and then they walked home together.

Ding Shi asked, "Who do you think stole the sacred wooden coffin?"

Sha Bi said, "Almost every household has a coffin, but the outer coffin and the inner coffin are easy to distinguish." The difference lies in their quality; an outer coffin consists of a body and a lid, while an inner coffin is made of planks pieced together. Their appearances are easily differentiated.

Ding Shi asked, "A funeral parlor?" It was said that to handle the daily arrival of the soldiers' remains from the front lines, the funeral parlor's backyard regularly held at least ten coffins. Ding Shi didn't want to cause trouble at the funeral parlor unless absolutely necessary.

Sha Bi said, "No, there are many people at the funeral parlor. If such a high-class coffin suddenly appears, it will definitely attract attention. Moreover, this coffin was made in Tianmen Village, and many people recognize it."

Ding Shi found it quite interesting: "That warlord killed people and cut down auspicious trees for his concubine, but he never expected that because the coffin was valuable, his favorite concubine would have nowhere to go."

Silly Bone: "Don't get off topic. The most suspicious person right now is Liu Niang. Could he be at Liu Niang's house?"

Ding Shi said, "There's an ordinary coffin at the back door of the main house." At this point, Ding Shi's eyes lit up. He remembered Feng Qiniang and the Yin Gathering Array. Could the divine wood coffin be the magic weapon needed for the Yin Gathering Array?
Ding changed the subject to avoid Sibi thinking too much, asking, "Do you think Dongcheng will go inside to take a look?"

Sha Bi said, "It's alright to go in, right? You know how to start a fire, right? I left a lot of dry branches inside."

Ding Shi said, "I bet a hundred, I don't think Dongcheng will ever come back."

Sha Bi looked at Ding Shi and said, "Oh? Aren't you going to remind her?"

Ding Shi said, "She hit me on the head, and I'm supposed to warn her? Am I out of my mind?"

Assuming Dongcheng cannot return, Yuanyue and her husband die, and Dongcheng Xijiu also dies, then only 8 of the 12 players will remain.

Ding Shi was too optimistic. As soon as he returned to the village, he found that the village chief had arranged for people to carry two coffins to Feng Qiniang's house. When he followed the helpers to Feng Qiniang's house, he saw that Ji Yue and Ji Shan's bodies were lying outside the courtyard, with Feng Qiniang standing there with a numb expression.

The way these two people died was extremely gruesome, perfectly matching the characteristics of a demon killing someone.

Ding Shi approached Granny Liu and asked, "Granny, what's going on?"

Granny Liu shared some of the dried pumpkin seeds she had with Ding Shi and told him what she knew. In short, Feng Qiniang returned from another village and found two corpses when she got home. She asked someone to notify the village chief and then dragged the bodies outside the yard herself.

Granny Liu clicked her tongue and said, "These two are really courting death. They know that Seventh Sister's family is the most dangerous, yet they still dare to climb over the wall and steal when Seventh Sister is not around. They are simply asking for death."

Ding Shi asked, "How fierce is Seventh Sister's family?"

Granny Liu said, "They're incredibly fierce. Once, Seventh Sister forgot to close the courtyard gate, and a passerby saw the old couple sunbathing. Can you imagine how fierce they are?"

Ding Shi asked, "How come Seventh Sister is completely unharmed?"

Granny Liu said, "Seventh Sister's father was a famous feng shui master in the surrounding villages, so she must have some kind of magic treasure to ward off evil. Alas, Seventh Sister is a woman with a tragic fate. Her husband died shortly after she married into the family. When she was young, people would often knock on her door in the middle of the night. The women in the village were so confused; if their own husbands knocked on Seventh Sister's door in the middle of the night, they would say that Seventh Sister was seducing their husbands. Once, Seventh Sister went out and was beaten terribly by that man's wife. If the village chief hadn't rushed over, Seventh Sister would have lost her life."

(End of this chapter)