The young man received the cigarettes, which would make things easier for us.

He gave it some thought, then pointed at the Northeast. “I’m just a rough guy. I don’t know what is beautiful to you, but the woods over there look nice.”

I seized the opportunity to probe. “Brother, it’s relatively late now. Why would you work in the field at this time?”

The young man was instinctively annoyed when he heard my question. “It’s because of Old Wu’s family. His daughter went missing. We mobilized people in the entire village to search for her.”

I pretended to look startled. “Did you find her? Is she okay?”

“Yeah, we did.”

The young man began to tell us the story, “I can’t live in this village anymore. I’m thinking about moving out. Tell me, why the hell would a teenage girl try to dig a tomb at midnight? Luckily she’s young, so she didn’t have that much strength and blacked out while she was digging. Otherwise, something much more horrible would have happened.”

When he came to this part, he suddenly remembered something and checked around for eavesdroppers. After confirming that there was no one else, he carefully advised me, “Don’t tell anything to the others. This is our village’s secret.”

Then, he picked up his hoe and left abruptly.

After the young man had left, Zhao Wuyang said, “A tomb? Could it be that abandoned tomb?”

“It’s not an abandoned tomb. Didn’t you listen to the driver? That’s the Queen of the State of Qi’s final resting place. She was well known as the ugliest woman in history: Zhong Wuyan.”

I made up my mind. I had to find a chance to see this legendary ugly Queen.

When Zhao Wuyang and I returned to the old fellow’s house, Li Mazi was talking to the madwoman.

I felt I was right about Li Mazi… This fella was a potential nutcase deep down. He was chatting and laughing with the madwoman as if they were long-lost friends.

The madwoman looked anxious when she noticed our arrival. She hugged herself and hid in the corner. She didn’t want to come out to see us.

Li Mazi said with a despicable smile, “How ugly can the two of you be? You’ve scared the mad girl. Look at me here, I’m so handsome and youthful…” While talking, it looked as if he wanted to take out the pocket mirror to check his face again.

I quickly stopped his hand. “Do you think you’re Daniel Wu? The mirror would vomit at the prospect of reflecting your image!”

Actually, I was afraid that the mirror would stimulate the madwoman again. We would definitely be ousted from their house if her parents saw that.

Once we were back in the room, Li Mazi lowered his voice and asked me, “Did you find any clues?”

I nodded as I looked at Zhao Wuyang. “Can you still find your way around in that forbidden area?”

Zhao Wuyang shook his head. “I can’t. I was flustered back then, and Zhang Qinghai had the map, not me. He led us through the forest, and I don’t remember the route…”

Things would be difficult then.

Li Mazi said, “Why don’t I pretend to be sick? That way we could ask Old Wang to draw you another map.”

I dismissed his idea immediately. “They’re not fools. You can only use this trick once. They might get suspicious if it’s done a second time.”

Li Mazi offered another idea. “What about bribing someone to take us there?”

“That’s even more unlikely to work. Didn’t you see? The people in this village are strangely united. Perhaps they even swore some kind of oath. That’s why the young man we spoke with was afraid of being seen. My guess is that there’s a severe punishment for those who disclose the secret!” I sighed with reluctance and continued, “Although there aren’t many people living in this village, they always support each other if a family needs help. All of it seems a bit strange to me...”

Zhao Wuyang tensed up. “What should we do now?”

I comforted him, then turned to Li Mazi. “Stay with him in the room. I’m going out for a walk around the village.”

Li Mazi saw me out with a bit of worry. “Be careful. Remember to call me if you decide to take action.”

I felt somewhat touched after noticing that he did have some sense of obligation.

Li Mazi then added, “That way, there would be someone to pick up your body if something happens to you.” 

You bastard!

I got up and kicked him. Li Mazi scurried away to hide in the room.

I left the courtyard alone and wandered around the small village for a while. After some time, I heard people crying and screaming in a house close to the entrance of the village.

Something happened here?

I followed the noise and picked up the pace. The house of this family didn’t have a high fence, so I could crane my neck and peek over to see what was happening.

I saw an old woman sitting in the yard, hugging a little girl around twelve or thirteen years of age. The girl had disheveled hair, with eyes rolled to the back of her head. She was struggling as if she were possessed, trying to crawl away.

“My girl, are you 

all right

? How could I continue living if something bad happens to you?!” the old woman cried loudly, with tears and nasal fluid rolling down her face.

“Shsss!”’ The little girl in her arms suddenly made a silencing gesture. “She’s calling me! I have to go to her! She’s calling me.”

The old woman was so scared she forgot to cry. “Who’s calling you?”

“The person in the tomb.” The little girl smiled oddly. “She told me that I’ve grown up and become beautiful. She wants my face.”

The old woman wept louder. “Husband! Husband! Hurry, come check our daughter! She’s bewitched!”

An old but strong man holding a rake ran to them as he heard the woman calling. He had a long pipe tucked in his belt. “What’s going on?”

The old woman pointed at the girl in her arms. “Our daughter began to rant nonsense.”

The girl lifted her head and gazed at the old man. “It’s true. The person in the tomb is calling me. Listen, she’s talking right now.”

The old man was scared by this and turned pale. “She was all right yesterday. What happened?”

“I’m sure she’s under a spell. Otherwise, why would she run off to dig out the tomb all of a sudden?” The old woman cried her heart out.

The old man sighed. “No, she’s not. Let’s go see the Village Elder.”

Then, he tried his best to scoop the girl up and headed out with his wife in tow.

It seemed that the girl was the formerly missing daughter from Old Wu’s family. She had been enchanted by Zhong Wuyan’s resentful energy; that was why she had tried to dig out the tomb.

I hurried to catch up with them.

The only advantage the Village Elder had over the others was that he had a house with a bigger courtyard. There was a barn inside the courtyard, where two old donkeys were kept.

After hearing Old Wu and his wife crying, a white-bearded old man walked out of the house. He looked at the girl in Old Wu’s arms, then frowned and asked, “What happened?”

“Our daughter was all right before. Then, she went missing last night, and she’s been babbling nonsense ever since we found her! Sir, please save my daughter. We had her in old age, and she’s our only daughter.” Old Wu’s voice shivered in fear.

The little girl was giggling as she looked at the Village Elder. Her state was exactly the same as the madwoman’s.

The Village Elder kept silent for a long time. Then, he waved his hand and said with a serious tone, “Take her to the mountain!”