Zhou Li's car was parked outside the villa. Mr. Jiang was driving, and Zhou Li was in the passenger seat. Three demons sat in the back seat, which was quite spacious.

He had planned to put on his headphones and listen to music for the journey, but noticing Mr. Jiang seemed a bit nervous, he decided, in the spirit of good customer service, to put his headphones back in his pocket and start a conversation with him.

"Actually, I've met another family like yours before," Zhou Li said. "That family has the surname Yin, and they're in the Northeast. I guess many, many years ago, your families were acquainted."

"Are they... doing alright?"

"Not really," Zhou Li shook his head. "The Yin Family isn't as populous and flourishing as your Jiang Family. They're down to just one person now. The one I know is a very powerful Heavenly Master."

"My family doesn't seem to have anyone like that..."

"If your child had been born a bit earlier, she might have already shown her talent by now."

"I see."

Zhou Li didn't mention that the Yin Family had been reduced to a single descendant due to a demon's revenge. Nor did he mention what Yin Le had later told him: when the demon killed Yin Le's parents, it had spotted him hiding but didn't drag him out. Instead, with a jeer, it devoured his parents bit by bit right before his eyes, then grinned at him and swaggered off. Mr. Jiang, it seemed, hadn't thought of this possibility yet either.

That was probably for the best. If he'd heard that story, there's no telling how nervous he might become, and it's better for the driver to remain calm.

Then Mr. Jiang began to talk about their family.

In Zhou Li's memory, Yi Province rarely had families with long-standing heritages; such families were possibly more common in coastal areas or the Capital. This scarcity might be due to the ferocious defense the people of Yi Province mounted against foreign invaders. For instance, after the Mongolian invasion, Yi Province's population plummeted from 16,000,000 to 900,000. At the time, Yi Province was renowned as one of the nation's two major economic centers, but it swiftly declined—the phrase 'nine out of ten homes empty' was insufficient to describe its misery. After several centuries of recuperation, the population recovered to 6,000,000. Then, when the Qing Army invaded, war and slaughter reduced the population to a mere 600,000. The war before the founding of the nation finally prevented enemies from setting foot in Yi Province, yet more than three million people from Yi Province chose to venture out, achieving glorious victories with their worn-out guns and straw sandals.

Zhou Li's grandfather mentioned that their family had moved from Jingzhou and were not originally from Yi Province.

In such a harsh environment, it was rare for a family to ensure its continuation. Moreover, that was during the 'Sleeping Era,' a time when those with Heavenly Master blood, like the Jiangs, were indistinguishable from ordinary people. To have endured until now was truly no small feat.

The village where the Jiang Family lived had an easy-to-remember name: Jiang Family Village. Names were often chosen so straightforwardly back then. It was about an hour's drive from Heroes Province.

Their Jiang Family had been passed down for over a thousand years, though Mr. Jiang himself was unclear about the exact duration. The family was large; those from Jiang Family Village with the surname Jiang were mostly recorded in the family register. The majority were farmers, all related or acquainted within the village. There were successful members too. He'd heard that many years ago, some had ventured into business, becoming tycoons during that frenetic era. Others had gone abroad, and some had established middle-class families. However, these were all distant relations by now, connections that could hardly be considered close.

About a decade ago, some of these successful businessmen returned to visit their ancestral home. They proposed holding an ancestral hall gathering every Qingming Festival, funded by themselves, which would include a large community banquet. Mr. Jiang also contributed. These gatherings lasted for two or three years and were quite lively, drawing thousands of attendees each time. The businessmen would also hire song and dance troupes to perform, after which the large crowd would proceed to the ancestral tombs to pay their respects. But it was discontinued after that. Mr. Jiang's exact words were that it eventually felt pointless. They had initially hoped to strengthen family ties, but later found this goal unachievable, although the gatherings did allow the businessmen to share some resources amongst themselves.

This type of family felt like a different concept from those Zhou Li usually saw in TV dramas.

"These days, many people have children elsewhere and no longer come back to record them in the family register," Mr. Jiang said, somewhat melancholically. "In our village, there's still an elementary school called Jiang Family Elementary School, which we pooled our money to build."

"Is that so..."

They arrived at Jiang Family Village around seven o'clock.

At seven in the evening this season, it was already dark. The village only had a few streetlights on the main street, installed by Mr. Jiang a few years prior. The faint, rhythmic sounds of plaza dancing could be heard. A bright, nearly full moon hung in the sky.

The ancestral tomb was on a small, rounded hill. Plots of land had been marked out on its slopes, where winter vegetables were growing.

Mr. Jiang parked the car by the roadside and walked over with Zhou Li. Guided by the moonlight, the one-meter-wide cement path gleamed a jade white. "I heard from relatives in the village that a general was buried here. Later, I heard it was a Chief of Staff. Only now do I understand…"

"Have there been tomb robbers here before?"

"Yes, many. Some were even caught."

"I see."

"Will it have any effect?"

"Probably not."

Just as they reached the foot of the hill, an insect suddenly jumped out from the side of the road and landed in front of Zhou Li. Zhou Li instinctively stopped.

It was a Zao Ma.

The Zao Ma's voice sounded: "You have arrived."

Zhou Li bent slightly. "Good evening, Lord Xing Hui."

"Come with me."

"Okay!"

Zhou Li turned on his phone's flashlight.

The Zao Ma hopped along, leading them off the cement path and onto a narrow dirt track. The Spring Festival had just passed. Villagers had evidently come to pay their respects, as remnants of burnt incense and paper ash lined the path. This created an eerie atmosphere, making Mr. Jiang feel, even now, as if he were in a dream.

During the Qingming Festival, they honored the ancestral tomb halfway up the hill, but Xing Hui led them to the foot of the hill, stopping beside a plot of land.

"Dig. Dig until you reach the rock wall."

"Lord Xiao Yuan, if you please."

"Sure."

Mr. Jiang listened to him converse with the air, remaining silent, recalling stories he had once heard. Suddenly, there was a muffled THUD, and under the moonlight, a terrifying, enormous creature appeared.

Mr. Jiang's eyes widened.

The creature was fluffy and rotund, three to four meters tall, with wide paws ending in sharp claws. It immediately began to dig at the earth.

Soil was swiftly flung aside!

A demon excavator...

In just a few minutes, a large pit, about two meters in diameter, had formed in the ground. The creature had burrowed completely inside, which meant the hole was already three to four meters deep, and soil continued to be flung out.

Mr. Jiang stared in disbelief. His hands trembled as he fumbled for his cigarettes and lit one.

More than ten minutes later.

Xiao Yuan re-emerged. His tone was still docile but had become much gruffer, making him sound simple and honest. "Hit a wall."

"Okay, thank you."

"You're welcome."

Xiao Yuan's form quickly shrank, returning to his original size. To Mr. Jiang, it was as if Xiao Yuan had simply vanished.

"From this point on, you two cannot enter," Zhou Li bowed and said. "The mechanism might detect a demon, which could be detrimental to Lord Xing Hui. You can wait here or return to the car. I left the windows open."

"Okay."

"You can't go in either, can you?" Zhou Li looked at Huai Xu.

"Will you be scared all alone?" Huai Xu winked at him.

"..."

"Haha, you underestimate this Great Devil King!" Huai Xu declared proudly. "Even Great Demons can't see through my human disguise. Besides, I naturally carry a trace of human aura. It would be a miracle if this rubbish trap could detect me! Perhaps an Emperor's tomb might, but not this!"

"Do you think this Great Devil King title of mine is just for show?" the old monster started boasting again.

"..."

It's not that it's just for show, it's that you gave yourself the title.

Huai Xu, beside him, was still grumbling about how Zhou Li hadn't been taking him, the Great Devil King, seriously lately. Zhou Li listened in silence as he stepped into the pit, carefully making his way down the sloping passage. The soil underfoot quickly grew damp. Mr. Jiang followed closely behind him.

The passage descended for a good ten meters or so. At the bottom, there was indeed a stone wall, coated with wet mud. The air had become very murky. More precisely, it was a stone door. This was the only passage into the ancient tomb's secret chamber.

Zhou Li used his phone's flashlight to illuminate the way, clearing away some of the mud. Seeing this, Mr. Jiang also hurriedly took out his phone to help light the area.

The material of the stone door was quite unusual; at least, Zhou Li had never seen anything like it. It was adorned with strange patterns that remained uncorroded by time. To Mr. Jiang, however, it looked like ordinary stone, as if they had simply dug down to a layer of bedrock.

Just as Zhou Li touched it, the patterns suddenly lit up.

At the same time, a voice resounded in his mind—

'The Heavenly Masters of the Six Imperial Families, who follow the Emperor's command and bear grave responsibilities—none but a Heavenly Master of the Jiang Family may intrude!'

The voice was ancient and powerful.

Zhou Li was taken aback; this was all rather mysterious.

He pushed hard, but it didn't budge. He tried infusing a bit of Spiritual Power, but there was still no response.

He thought for a moment. Instead of trying to blast it open, he stepped back and said to Mr. Jiang, "Try touching it with your hand."

"Oh." Mr. Jiang raised his hand and took a step forward. Before he could even touch the door, a loud RUMBLE echoed.

The earthen passage trembled. The stone door began to glow, its intricate patterns shining brightly. As this happened, the door gradually opened, retracting downwards into the ground. It even hitched for a moment, likely due to long years of disrepair.

Inside was a passage.

Zhou Li vaguely recalled seeing on TV that one shouldn't recklessly enter ancient tombs due to concerns about oxygen supply, airborne toxins, and the like. However, seeing the old monster's silhouette appear in the opening, followed by the Zao Ma hopping in, he too stepped inside. He was fine; in fact, breathing felt even easier than it had in the passage outside.

The passageway inside was about twenty meters long. This hinted at the vastness of the structure buried below and attested to the former glory of this seemingly rustic family. At the end of the passage was another stone door.

By then, the space had opened up considerably. This second stone door was far more imposing, adorned with bas-reliefs of roaring monster heads. Two huge stone lions even flanked the entrance, and ancient script was carved beside the door.

"These lions aren't bad," Huai Xu's voice remarked. "Too bad your place is so small; otherwise, you could take them back to guard your door."

"..."

Zhou Li silently glanced toward the door. These two stone lions were slightly larger than average. An ordinary apartment building's stairwell probably couldn't accommodate even one. Moreover, their sculptural style was much fiercer than that of common stone lions, likely to frighten people.

As the two humans and one demon approached, the stone lions suddenly stirred. Bits of their stone surface flaked off, as if they were coming to life.

HISS! Mr. Jiang sucked in a sharp breath, startled.

The stone lions had indeed come to life. They began to step down from their stone pedestals, their movements surprisingly fluid and natural, not at all stiff.

"Don't worry," Zhou Li told Mr. Jiang. "All the traps and mechanisms here were set by your ancestors. They are designed to target demons, so descendants like you should be the beneficiaries."

"Right, right…" Mr. Jiang remained rooted to the spot, stiff and motionless, as he watched the two stone lions walk directly towards them.

One lion sniffed at Zhou Li, baring its teeth in a fearsome display, but it didn't attack. The other approached Mr. Jiang and sniffed him. After a moment, it turned its head to look at its companion. Then, as if by accord, both lions turned, leaped back, and resettled onto their pedestals.

BOOM! The stone door opened again, this time parting to the sides.

Zhou Li watched in awe.

From nearby, Huai Xu's voice scoffed, "I could take on a hundred of those little trinkets. A couple of chops and they'd be scrap."

"Let's go," he simply said.

Beyond the stone door, the space opened up dramatically into a large chamber. However, there were no further traps, and it looked quite ordinary. It seemed to be a storage area, filled with various items packed in boxes made of unusual materials.

As Mr. Jiang entered, he couldn't resist reaching out to touch one of the stone lions.

There were no skeletons inside. It appeared to be purely a storage space.

Mr. Jiang didn't stand around gawking. Instead, he tentatively opened one of the boxes. Inside, he found a pile of old, thread-bound books. The material of these books was also very strange.

He opened several more boxes, revealing an assortment of bizarre instruments he couldn't identify. Some were made of metal, wood, or ceramic. Many more were stone carvings depicting birds, beasts, snakes, and insects, as well as some composite, chimerical creatures.

Mr. Jiang was utterly bewildered.

Meanwhile, following Xing Hui's guidance, Zhou Li located a sealed earthenware jar. Xing Hui was imprisoned within it.

It seemed the trope from Lin Chingying's horror movies, where female ghosts were sealed in jars, actually had some basis in reality.

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