Once again, Fifth Aunty performed the ritual where the Lin Family was stationed. As the ashes fell to the floor, they formed a strange pattern. Subsequently, she pinched and analyzed it. After a while, she smiled and spoke to Lin Wan, “I found them. With a wooden pillow on a dagger-ax, the iron prisoner is roaming around. Thousands of miles to the north, with the Bone of Death around the body.”

“Where are Li Mu and the girls now?” Lin Wan asked excitedly.

“The wooden pillow on a dagger-ax refers to the railway! ‘The iron prisoner is roaming around’ means ‘an iron vehicle travels long distances’. They must have been on a train! ‘Thousands of miles to the north’ means ‘they are running up north’! ‘The Bone of Death around the body’ means ‘there is a Corpse of Death with the girls’. This line sounds weird and I’m not sure what exactly it means.”

The three of them understood what it meant though Fifth Aunty did not. However, nobody explained to her because it was a secret that only a few knew about. Besides, it was not meant to be told, not even to their own family members.

“Why did Li Mu run up north?” Mrs. Hong asked puzzledly.

“Clamor in the East, attack in the West!” Lin Wan angrily said, “Everyone reckons that he had run down south. Yet, he purposely chose the opposite direction and ran up north so that he could leave the country via the northern border.”

Fifth Aunty gathered all the ashes on the floor and kept them in an embroidered bag. Then, she said, “We shall set off to find them. With its guidance, they won’t get to run away from us anymore!”

After that, a few of them left to make the preparation. After Fifth Aunty left, He Xiaoyu asked Mrs. Hong, “Mrs. Hong, Fifth Aunty’s divinatory symbol is incredible. She had even found out the Bone of Death in Li Mu’s body. Can other people get to know that as well?”

“Don’t worry. Both of you are in the same condition and have not fully fused with the Bone of Death. After a month, when your body fully integrates with the Bone of Death, it would be impossible for them to find out.”

“What about the Cheng Family? Can they find out about it?”

“If they can find the suitable medium, then of course they can find it out, too. However, is there any bone left? We have destroyed the vital parts of the Corpse of Death. So they can never find out its location anymore.”

So, that was the case. He Xiaoyu nodded silently.

…

In the Shen village, Third Grandaunt looked at her daughter pitifully and comforted her in a soft voice, “My dear, why are you not eating and drinking? Though I have helped you capture more blessings, you have to take care of yourself. Otherwise, you will use up all of them. Listen to me and stop torturing yourself.”

Shen Xingyue cried, “Mother, I beg you to help me. I can’t live without him. Do you want to see me living in agony?”

Third Grandaunt said helplessly, “It’s not that I don’t want to help you, but they’re your sister’s parents. We should let the deceased rest in peace after they passed away. I can’t disturb them without any special reasons.”

“What do you mean when you said there are no special reasons? Mother, let me tell you the truth. My sisters have committed a serious crime. They have killed twelve persons and the police are looking for them. If the police find them before us, they will probably be killed.”

“Ah!” Third Grandaunt was dumbfounded, “Yueni, are you serious about it?”

The Senior Village Chief said at their side, “Girl, stop threatening us. Was it really that serious?”

“Sigh!” Shen Xingyue stomped her feet anxiously, “When have I threatened you all before? You’ve never listened to me when I asked you all to listen to the news and read the newspapers. Not even a television can be found in the village and everyone is ignorant of many things. Go and ask around in the city. Everyone out there has been discussing this strange case.”

“Did that really happen?” The Senior Village Chief asked shockingly.

“Second Brother, it’s true. I went with Yueni to the city. This incident was widely known there. Many people felt it was strange but it looked normal to me. It was just about using some magics to destroy evidence.” Fifth Aunty explained at her side.

“It could be done by any cultivators. How could they accuse us of doing it?” The Senior Village Chief was unconvinced.

“Second Uncle, the surveillance camera has taken their photos and they’re the only suspects. The police are secretly looking for them and will kill them once they catch them. Can’t you sense how serious this matter is?”

Looking at each other helplessly, the elders had realized how critical the matter was, finally.

“Yueni, don’t panic. Give us some time to discuss it.” Third Grandaunt comforted her.

Then, she spoke to the Senior Village Chief, “Second Brother, do you think we should open the coffin?”

The Senior Village Chief nodded and groaned, “No matter how much we don’t want to disturb the deceased, we have to do it for the sake of their daughters. I think they will agree with it. Let’s do it then. Open the coffin immediately!”

All the members became busy instantly. It was not easy to dig their clansmen’s graves. The worship ceremony was an indispensable step that they must do.

As everyone was busy doing their respective tasks, the Senior Village Chief found Third Grandaunt. Then, he whispered to her, “Third Sister, the girls are innocent and pure. Why would they kill people after they went out from here? Besides, they had killed so many of them. I believe something fishy is going on in this matter.”

Third Grandaunt sighed and said puzzledly, “To be honest, I don’t get it too. It doesn’t seem to be something they will do. But they had done it anyway. I find it weird. Very weird!”

The Senior Village Chief nodded his head and said, “It isn’t something they will do. I guess we have to find them as soon as possible so that we can know the truth once we get them!”

As they were softly talking to each other, the graves of Shen Zixing’s parents were opened. They first opened the coffin of the father of the family. Everyone exclaimed as they saw the coffin open!

“It’s an empty coffin!”

“How can it be!”

The elders went to look at it immediately and found that nothing was there and indeed it was an empty coffin.

“Open the other coffin too!” Third Grandaunt ordered.

Some of the young men opened the other coffin at once. The crowd exclaimed again because it was an empty one too.

“Step back, everyone!” Fourth Grandfather ordered.

The villagers stepped back immediately. Then, a few elders were at the graves investigating carefully. And their faces went darkened gradually.

“Somebody has stolen the corpse!” Ninth Grandfather said with much certainty.

The rest nodded. And it seemed like the matter had become very complicated. Why did the person want to steal the corpse? What was his purpose? And was it related to the two sisters?

“Mother!” Shen Xingyue said.

“Don’t worry, Yueni. I have found a solution!”

Third Grandaunt gave instructions at once. “You guys put on a fire and burn the coffin!”

At once, the villagers brought some woods and put them on fire on an empty spot. Then, they put the coffins to burn in the fire.

The coffin was the dwelling place of a deceased. It was where they slept forever. After a coffin was buried under the ground for a long time, it had become closely connected with the deceased one, as if it was part of their belonging.

Cultivators used the method of burning coffins to find the bones of the dead, which was the same as using hair and nails to search for their family members.

Third Grandaunt performed the magic herself. And the ashes pointed to the big grave.

Everyone felt uneasy, suddenly. The elders looked at each other instantly. The Senior Village Chief gritted his teeth and ordered fiercely, “Dig the grave and open the coffin!”

A few strong men went forward and dug the grave. Subsequently, they opened the red coffin.

“We found them!” One of them shouted.

Subsequently, more people shouted, “Why are there two corpses only? Shouldn’t there be three?”

Fourth Grandfather pushed aside the crowd and went nearer to check on it. Then, he cried loudly, “Third Sister, Eldest Brother’s corpse is gone!”

The Patriarch’s corpse had gone missing!

The crowd was infuriated instantly. Some men beat their chests, some yelled, and some gritted their teeth. Meanwhile, the elders cried aloud. Third Grandaunt fainted and fell down.

Shen Xingyue screamed in fright as Yang Zihe picked up his wife at once. Then, he pressed her philtrum and massaged her meridian points. After a while, Third Grandaunt regained her consciousness and cried bitterly on her Elder Brother’s coffin.

The Senior Village Chief clenched his fists and bitterly said, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. As a member of the Shen Family, I’ll take this revenge for sure!”

Third Grandaunt was so sad that she could not perform magic anymore. Consequently, Fifth Aunty replaced her to do it. Everyone was devastated as they saw the ashes falling to the ground without giving them any sign.

In the ancestral hall of the Shen village, all the authoritative figures in the Shen Family had gathered here. And everyone’s attention was on the elders.

Surprisingly, none of them said anything but turned their focus to Shen Xingyue.

The Senior Village Chief smoked a few cigarettes and asked her, “Yueni, what should we do next?”

“Second Uncle, it was a little fishy here. They had dug the graves of Zixing’s parents. But I couldn’t figure out how they found out those were their graves?”

“You mean someone from our clan had leaked the secret?”

“It was impossible that the girls told someone else about it. Apart from this reason, I can’t think of any other reasons. However, our family is very united. The possibility of them leaking the secret for money is little. Do you think it could be...”

The elders nodded. And the Senior Village Chief ordered the rest of them, “Go back and inform your family. Those who are not cultivators cannot leave the village for now. It’s to prevent them from being controlled by the Magic of Controlling Mind!”

Everyone in the ancestral echoed his view after that.

Shen Xingyue continued, “Second Uncle, we have to find them as soon as possible. I can be sure that somebody is also looking for them. Digging their parents’ graves was the proof of that. Besides, they’re probably the one who had stolen First Uncle’s bones too.”

“Alright, let’s look for the girls and catch the robbers later!” The Senior Village Chief said with much hatred, “I’ll for sure kill them to take this revenge!”

“We need to find one more person!” Shen Xingyue said coldly.

“Who is the person?” The Senior Village Chief asked.

“He Xiaoyu, my fiance’s girlfriend. She knew about the details of the sisters and had been looking for them. I think she must have known something.”

“Alright. Let’s do according to what Yueni said!”

…

At last, Mrs. Cheng and the rest had arrived at Xilin City. Ever since they came back from the burial site, the Cheng Family had been very angry with the robbers and scolding them as shameless, disgusted, and heartless.

As the saying went, robbers had their code of honor. Some could understand it as the robbers had their own reasons to rob. Another interpretation was that it meant the robbers should also respect industry ethics. As they took away things from the grave, usually, they would not take everything away from the coffin.

However, this bunch of robbers was so disdainful that they had even stolen the rib bones. All the bones left turned into wastes and were no longer worthy of use.