Chapter 60: Chapter 60: One Mountain Cannot Contain Two Tigers
It didn’t take much effort for the two to find Ms. Chun’s grave—a grave in name only, it was really just a modest mound of earth with a plank of dark wood stuck in front of it.
The inscription on the wooden board was already blurred and indistinct, but one could vaguely make out the character "Chun." Yang Xiao threw the few tools he had conveniently brought from the coffin shop onto the ground, "No mistake about it—this is the place!"
Handing the ax to Su Tingting, Yang Xiao instructed, "You go and split that wooden tablet."
Staring at the mottled black wooden sign, Su Tingting felt panic stricken, "Me?"
"Who else, do you want me to take the lead?" Yang Xiao didn’t give Su Tingting the chance to refuse, "If you act, and even if you’re possessed, I can still think of a way to save you. But if I get possessed, just think about it, we’ll be completely wiped out."
Yang Xiao had already thought it through; if Su Tingting encountered any trouble opening the coffin, he would run back to the coffin shop at top speed to ask Manager Liu for help.
Yang Xiao’s reasoning left Su Tingting with no rebuttal. Reluctantly she took the ax, made a few gestures in the air, but felt increasingly apprehensive. After all, breaking someone’s grave marker, which was essentially Ms. Chun’s tombstone, seemed somewhat disrespectful, "I... What posture should I use? Maybe, maybe I should kneel to show some respect?"
"No, the faster and more violent your moves, the better. This wooden tablet is like the facade of the grave. What you need to do is make it quick and decisively bust its malevolent aura," Yang Xiao guided from the side, "Hold the ax with both hands, and strike it hard. You need to be imposing!"
"Okay, alright." Su Tingting had no choice but to apologize silently to herself several times, as she too wanted to survive.
Just as Su Tingting mentally prepared herself, gathered her courage, and was about to take action, she was suddenly stopped by Yang Xiao, "Wait!"
With her momentum deflated, Su Tingting’s hands trembled as she turned around with a crestfallen face, "What... what now?"
Yang Xiao jogged a few steps to increase the distance between himself, the grave, and Su Tingting. It still didn’t seem safe to him, so he finally hid behind a tree, only sticking his head out as he stretched his neck and shouted, "Nothing’s wrong, it’s very safe, keep going."
Su Tingting took a deep breath, summoned all her strength, and swung the ax down. Accompanied by a loud crack, the wooden sign shattered into several pieces.
Seeing no issues, Yang Xiao ran out from behind the tree. By now, Su Tingting was standing there, holding the ax, looking stunned.
"Are you okay?" Yang Xiao sensed something was amiss.
"Just now... I thought I saw a figure standing behind the wooden sign, but... but as soon as the sign was split, the figure just vanished," Su Tingting stuttered out.
Yang Xiao snatched the ax back, "It’s good that it vanished, that means there’s no problem. This must be what Manager Liu described as malevolent energy from inside the coffin. Since it’s broken, opening the coffin should be safe."
Yang Xiao didn’t let Su Tingting participate in what came next. He picked a suitable tool and started digging the grave.
Wang Laizi really didn’t put much effort into it—the coffin was buried very shallowly, but this was to Yang Xiao’s advantage. In just a short while, he had cleared enough to reveal a flimsy coffin before their eyes.
The coachman squatted down, took a deep breath, and Yang Xiao swung the axe with all his might, splitting the coffin lid with a single blow. He hadn’t expected the coffin to be of such poor quality, and he nearly fell headfirst into it as he lost control of his body and lurched forward.
Just as expected, there was no corpse inside the coffin, neither adult nor child, only some rotten clothes that were so decayed their color could not be discerned.
They picked out the clothes one by one, spread them on the ground, and examined them carefully. In the end, it was Su Tingting with her sharp eyes who found some red characters under the collar of one of the clothes. The characters, written in a disjointed and drunken scrawl, formed together to reveal the birthdate characters.
Having obtained Ms. Chun’s birthdate characters, Yang Xiao and Su Tingting dealt with the grave quickly and immediately left. The sky was getting dark, and they had to make it back to the Feng Family Mansion before nightfall.
When they met the anxious coachman near the village entrance, he was almost in tears, going from house to house, inquiring if anyone had seen two strangers.
After getting on the carriage, the group hurried back without stopping. Fortunately, they encountered no mishaps on the way and managed to make it back to the Feng Family just as it was getting dark.
Carrying a lantern and heading straight for the back courtyard, it was only after they pushed the door open and saw Kuang Hongyi that Yang Xiao and Su Tingting’s hearts finally settled.
"Oh my, Chu, you... you had me worried sick!" As soon as Kuang Hongyi saw Yang Xiao, he greeted him with a fuss like a long-lost relative.
Yang Xiao knew exactly what was going on, Kuang Hongyi didn’t miss him; he was concerned about the information in his hands. If he and Su Tingting died out there, Kuang Hongyi would also be in a tight spot, not to mention the presence of an enigmatic Shi Dali.
Yang Xiao took the hot tea handed by Kuang Hongyi and gulped it down. The journey had been quite a strain on him. "Kuang, you got back early. Tell me, do you have any new updates?"
Knowing that he and Yang Xiao were in the same boat, Kuang Hongyi didn’t hide anything. While gesturing for them to sit, he said, "There are indeed a lot of updates. The Feng Family has new arrangements for tonight, but let’s talk about that later. First, let me tell you about the new leads we found; you’ll never guess!"
"Not long after you left, I don’t know what Shi Dali said to Master Feng, but he actually agreed to let us also leave the mansion to seek clues."
"This Shi Dali is no simple character. He took me to a small alley in the south of the city and found an old storyteller who was blind."
"This storyteller used to perform at the Yingke Building a long time ago. According to him, the Bai Family Stage once had two main pillars. Besides Xi Yao, there was also... also a Ms. Chun, though she suddenly left many years ago."
Yang Xiao nodded and continued, "That’s right, we also found out about this Ms. Chun. It seems she was Master Bai’s eldest daughter. But because she eloped with someone, she became useless to Master Bai, so he used her life to save his younger daughter, Xi Yao. The first of those three lines, ’the eldest daughter must not marry out,’ refers exactly to this incident."
However, as soon as Yang Xiao finished speaking, Kuang Hongyi shook his head violently, "No, no, that’s not right! Ms. Chun is not Master Bai’s daughter; they have no blood relation. And, we later found out something else; Ms. Chun didn’t elope with someone. She... she was sold by Master Bai!"
"What?" Su Tingting’s eyes widened in shock.
"Yes, she was sold. My goodness, Master Bai truly is inhuman. A troupe cannot have two tigers, and to pave the way for Xi Yao, his daughter with an inferior singing voice, he sold Ms. Chun. Worried about ruining his own reputation, he also spread the rumor that Ms. Chun was promiscuous and broke the troupe’s rules first. Can you believe a human could do such a thing?"
Kuang Hongyi’s face showed indignation, and then, as if he suddenly remembered something, he said, "Oh, and about the origin of the phrase ’the eldest daughter must not marry out,’ we found that too!"
