The gluttonous little boy is four and a half years old, and even the wealthy family kneels down and

Looking at the faintly glowing black stone, Xiao Jin felt a gentle, bittersweet feeling, as if something had gently bumped into her heart.

She pursed her lips and clenched her little fists, as if she had made a great decision: "Big Stone, shall I take you to find the General? So you can be reunited."

The black stone trembled violently, and tiny glimmers of light appeared on its surface, as if it were shaking.

He remained silent for a long time, his voice hoarse with disbelief: "You...what did you say?"

"I said I'd take you to the bottom of the lake to find the general," Xiao Jin repeated earnestly. "He's been alone down there for hundreds of years; he must be very lonely. If you're with him, he won't be lonely anymore."

"But that thief Mao Yun set up a seal, so we can't get into the tomb or out." Black Stone's voice trembled, revealing his helplessness.

"It's okay, Xiao Jin has a way." Xiao Jin patted her chest. "I can take you down."

Black Stone remained silent for a long time before finally speaking in a low, deep voice: "Little boy, if you can truly succeed, I, Li Gandang, will repay you by serving you like a cow or a horse in my next life."

"No need, no need." Xiao Jin waved her hand, her eyes crinkling. "The general is a good person, and you are a good person too. Good people should be together."

As she spoke, she took short steps to the black stone, stretched out her two chubby little arms, hugged the stone, and tried to lift it up.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Yun Ziqian had just helped the unconscious old village chief sit down on a nearby rock when he turned around and saw Xiao Jin trying to hug the large rock that was half a person's height. He was so frightened that his soul almost flew out of his body. He rushed over and grabbed her little arm, blurting out:

"Young lady, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to move the big rock," Xiao Jin said, tilting her head back with a matter-of-fact expression. "I'll take it to the general."

"No, no, absolutely not." Yun Ziqian was in a panic. "I'll arrange a car to come over."

Xiao Jin shook her head, "No need, Xiao Jin can carry it!"

Yun Ziqian's expression was extremely complicated. "I know you're strong, but you're just a four-year-old girl, carrying such a big rock down the mountain. If someone sees you, they'll be terrified!"

"You'll be on the front page tomorrow, and reporters will be swarming you. How are you going to get things done at the bottom of the lake then?"

Xiao Jin tilted her head, thinking it did seem a bit troublesome, and reluctantly let go: "Then what should we do?"

"I'll arrange for a crane and truck to come and transport the stone tablet and this rock down the mountain together, placing them in the resort's office building. They'll be safe and sound, and no one will be frightened." Yun Ziqian rubbed his temples. "Once they're there, you can study them however you like, okay?"

Xiao Jin counted on her fingers for a moment, then nodded: "Okay then."

She reached out and patted Black Stone, soothingly saying in a soft voice, "Big Stone, wait a moment, let's take the car down."

Black Stone gave a muffled reply and didn't say anything more.

Yun Ziqian immediately made a phone call to arrange manpower and equipment, and also had someone send the old village chief home first, instructing him not to talk about it to outsiders.

After more than two hours of work, the crane finally drove up the mountain, carefully secured the stone tablet and the black stone, and slowly lifted them down the mountain to the large conference room on the first floor of the resort's office building.

At the same time, experts from the Institute of Cultural Relics also arrived, bringing rubbing tools, and carefully studied the newly unearthed lower half of the stone tablet.

Before long, the experts had compiled the inscription.

The inscription clearly states:

The powerful minister who framed Yu Guangwen was named Mao Yun. After killing the general, he suffered nightmares every night. He then spent a lot of money to find a sorcerer to sink the general's body to the bottom of the lake and set up a four-gate evil-suppressing formation to use the earth's energy from the dragon's lair to suppress the wronged soul and prevent it from ever being reincarnated.

The deputy general who erected the monument was named Li Gandang, and he was the general's vanguard officer.

"So that's how it is." Yun Ziqian put down the rubbing paper and let out a long sigh of relief. "That's great. Now that we've figured out the origin of the seal and the key to the formation, we're much more confident in patching up the crack in the west."

He turned to look at Xiao Jin, only to find her staring intently at the black stone, her brows slightly furrowed, lost in thought.

"Xiao Jin?" Yun Ziqian called out to her, "How about we start repairing the stone door tonight? Do you think we need to prepare anything else? I'll have someone prepare it in advance."

Xiao Jin snapped out of her daze, blinked, and shook her head seriously: "Tonight won't work. The time is wrong; the yin energy is too strong and it might disturb the things down there."

"I still need to prepare incense, candles, and a eulogy; I can't start until tomorrow night."

Yun Ziqian had no suspicions, simply assuming it was due to the many rules of the Xuanmen sect, and immediately nodded:

"Okay, whatever you say. Just tell me what you need, and I'll have someone go and buy it tonight."

"No need, Xiao Jin can prepare it herself." Xiao Jin smiled, her little face showing no sign of anything amiss.

That night, the moon was high in the sky, and the resort was quiet; even the security guards had changed shifts.

The hotel room window was gently pushed open, and a small figure, holding a black rock about half a person's height, nimbly jumped down from the second floor, landing steadily on the grass without making a sound.

It was Xiao Jin.

She carried the black stone and ran all the way to the edge of Shenlong Lake.

The lake surface shimmered with dappled moonlight at night, and the wind made the waves sparkle. The faint light of the Five Elements Array on the shore appeared and disappeared, trapping the Yin energy in the heart of the lake.

She gently placed the black stone on the shore, squatted down, and kicked the cool lake water with her little feet: "Big stone, let me tell you something. I'll take you down there later to see what the general looks like now."

"If he still remembers that he is the General of the North and hasn't turned into something evil, I'll find a way to release him and clear his name." Xiao Jin patted her little belly and said carefully, "If he has already turned into an evil spirit and wants to harm people, then Xiao Jin will have no choice but to eat him."

"But you're different." She looked up at the black stone, her eyes clear and shining. "You're a good person. Once this is all over, I'll help you pass on to the afterlife and let you be reincarnated into a good family so you won't have to stay here on this stone, exposed to the wind and rain anymore."

Black Stone was silent for a moment, then his voice was calm yet resolute: "No need. I was born a man of the general, and I will die a man of the general."

"My life was saved by the general. If he can clear his name, I will go into reincarnation with him; if he becomes a demon, I will perish with him."

"We'll live and die together, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Oh dear, why are you so stubborn?" Xiao Jin pouted, a little unhappy, but didn't try to persuade her any further.

She took out a small, plastic-sealed paper figure from her small cloth bag and placed it flat on the ground. Then she sat cross-legged, made a hand seal, touched her brow with her fingertips, and softly chanted the Soul Splitting Incantation.

A faint golden light spilled from her fingertips and landed on the little paper figure.

The next second, the paper figure stood up unsteadily, its form becoming much more solid than before, and its eyes gleamed with the same clear light as Xiao Jin's.

She attached a wisp of her soul to the paper figure, which then absorbed her strength and went deep into the lake for her.

"Let's go."

The little paper doll spoke, and it had the same childish voice as Xiao Jin.

It took a few short, thin steps, walked to the black stone, stretched out its paper-thin arms, and easily lifted the half-person-high black stone.

Immediately, the paper figure, holding the black stone, leaped into the lake with a "plop" and slowly sank towards the depths of the lake.

On the shore, Xiao Jin sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, her long eyelashes drooping, her five senses exploring the deep lake bottom along with the paper figure.

The lake water was icy cold.

Holding the black stone, Xiao Jin walked step by step toward the cracked stone door.

The closer you get to the ancient tomb, the heavier the yin energy becomes.

The entire ancient tomb is square and lies at the deepest part of the lake. It is entirely built of blue stone blocks that are taller than a person. The cracks between the stones are filled with dark brown silt. Four stone gates stand in the east, south, west and north directions, which correspond to the four gates for suppressing evil spirits.

Each stone door is covered with twisted and coiled talismans for suppressing evil spirits. The patterns are filled with black energy, and the original vermilion color of the talismans has long been stained black and dull, like dried and congealed blood scabs.

The western door was the most severely cracked, with a two-finger-wide gap running diagonally from the top to the bottom. Thick, impenetrable black energy was continuously pouring out of the gap, coiling around the door like a water snake.

"This is it."

Xiao Jin gently placed the black stone on the flat ground next to the stone gate, her childish voice muffled in the water.

She tiptoed, placing her small palms on the cold stone door, her fingertips gleaming with a faint golden light as she slowly traced the mottled runes on the door.

The west side of the Four Gates Suppressing Evil Formation is the Death Gate, which is the most tightly locked in the soul and is also the most insidious.

To lure the soul out, you must first unlock the soul-locking seal on the Death Gate.

The golden light from the little paper doll's fingertips seeped into the runes, causing the dark, lifeless runes to sizzle and emit black smoke as if being burned, slowly fading from pure black to dark red, and then gradually turning into light gray. As...

The runes failed, and the stone door began to tremble slightly, the gaps widening, and the entire ancient tomb emitted a muffled hum, like a giant beast that had been sleeping for hundreds of years slowly waking up.

The silt at the bottom of the lake suddenly surged up!

The murky water, swirling with black mist, formed a huge whirlpool that spun rapidly above the ancient tomb. The water tore at everything around it, even swirling around bowl-sized pebbles.

Xiao Jin, who was sitting cross-legged on the shore, frowned slightly.

She could clearly feel that the entire lake surface was undulating, and the red light of the Five Elements Suppressing Ring on the shore was flashing more and more rapidly, almost unable to suppress the surging evil energy.

"boom--"

A deep, muffled roar came from underwater, causing waves to surge on the surface.

The stone gate on the west side was completely forced open by the black energy, and it crashed to one side, sending up a cloud of mud and sand.

Thick, ink-like black mist surged wildly from the tomb entrance, gathering, swirling, and compressing in the center of the vortex. The black mist tightened and gradually outlined a tall human figure, three or four meters high, standing upright in front of the ancient tomb.

The silt gradually settled, and the black mist became increasingly solid.

The person had long, black hair that was loose and flowing freely in the water, the strands of hair mixed with black mist.

He wore a tattered black armor, the plates of which were covered with knife marks and arrow holes. A dark brown bloodstain was congealed on his chest, still glaringly visible even after being soaked in the cold water for thousands of years.

His face had deep features and a high nose bridge, which should have given him the appearance of a dignified and handsome general. However, at this moment, his skin was as pale as paper, his lips were dark purple, and his eyes were completely black with no whites.

It seemed to contain an unyielding resentment and malevolent energy.

He lowered his head slightly, and the black aura around him surged like tangible black flames. Although he was submerged in the cold lake water, even the surrounding water dared not come within three feet of him.

"General!"

Suddenly, Black Stone beside him burst into a shout, his voice trembling with a thousand years of anticipation, "General! It's me! I am Li Gandang! Look at me!"

But the tall figure didn't react at all.

He slowly raised his head, his dark eyes "looking" at Xiao Jin, who was attached to the paper figure, and let out a low growl, like muffled thunder.

Immediately afterwards, the black mist surged along the water flow and slammed fiercely towards Xiao Jin!