When I came out of the cave, Song Laosan was right next to me, and he also saw the tents outside.

When we were in the bushes across the way, we saw the front of the tent, but now we're seeing the back.

This wasn't a real tent, but a meat drying rack made of branches, filled with sticks haphazardly arranged inside, drying various kinds of meat.

What truly caught my eye was a stone pillar in the middle of the tent.

Old Song went over to examine it. Looking at the inscriptions and patterns on it, he said to me curiously, "Strange, this pillar is similar to the two we saw before, but the previous pillars were all in places suitable for burial. Could this also be an auspicious site?"

"Impossible. The rocks here are rough and ugly, with fierce and ominous shapes. Anyone who understands feng shui would not choose this place."

Looking at the pillars in front of me and the surrounding mountains, I pondered for a moment, then slapped my thigh: "I understand! The purpose of these pillars is not to locate auspicious sites, but to sever the dragon vein! This mountain is a coiled dragon, and the purpose of these pillars is not to point out the location of auspicious sites, but to sever the dragon vein of this mountain!"

Song Laosan was completely confused: "Could you explain it more clearly?"

"When I was researching Hu Shahu's information, I learned that after he murdered the emperor, he did not ascend the throne himself, but instead facilitated the succession of Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, Wanyan Xun! Although Wanyan Xun was wary of Hu Shahu, he also remembered his contributions. It just so happened that Hu Shahu's subordinate, Shuhu Gaoqi, killed him, so he took advantage of the situation to get rid of his biggest threat."

I paused for a moment: "At that time, Hu Shahu had murdered the emperor and rebelled, and his ambition to become emperor was already obvious. Wanyan Xun couldn't possibly be unaware of this. Out of consideration for their past relationship, he allowed Hu Shahu to have a grand funeral, but his suspicion of this man never diminished. Therefore, it is reasonable for him to send a feng shui master to break the feng shui of this place after Hu Shahu's death!"

Song Laosan was taken aback: "You mean, Hu Shahu's grave has been dug up?"

"If a dragon's form is accompanied by clouds and thunder, the person will be virtuous and live a long life. If a snake or tiger encounters a toad or a leopard, although it will have power and influence, it will easily decline!"

Looking at the stone pillars in front of me, my thoughts gradually became clearer: "Wanyan Xun did not go too far. He only severed the cloud and thunder dragon vein here. In other words, he erected a ring of stone pillars to surround Hu Shahu's tomb, like a clam holding a pearl, sealing off the fortune of this place! In terms of feng shui, once this method of severing the dragon vein is formed, the descendants of the tomb owner will have a tortuous fate, and their official careers will not be smooth. No matter how high an official they become, they will not have a good ending."

Old Song's face lit up with joy: "Since you can discern the feng shui of this place, can you deduce the location of the tomb through this formation?"

"Can!"

I estimated the distance between the three stone pillars and drew a pattern in the air with my hand: "These three stone pillars are arranged in a triangle, which should be the tip of a clam. Hu Shahu's tomb should be nearby. Judging from the location of the five auspicious burial sites, it should be in the southeast direction."

"Boom!"

Just as Song Laosan was about to praise me, he suddenly heard an explosion.

I was startled by the sudden gunshot: "What's going on? Is someone using explosives to blast through the mountain?"

"No, that's the sound of a grenade!"

Song Laosan paused, his ears perked up, and said, "The explosion was far away from us, and we didn't hear any gunshots. It must have been at least several kilometers away."

Sasha then started gesturing to us and saying something.

I grabbed Sasha's wrist and quickly ran back into the woods, pointing at him and asking Zhou Peng, "What is Sasha saying?"

Zhou Peng translated, "He said this is the territory of the savages. Someone must have encountered the savages. He doesn't know what the savages' habits are, but animals usually turn back to protect their cubs when their territory is invaded!"

By this time, I had guessed the approximate location of the savages, and immediately waved to everyone, saying, "Everyone, return the way you came, withdraw from the savages' territory, and head southeast."

...

With a specific direction to travel, our subsequent actions went much more smoothly.

The five auspicious burial sites on the mountain are located in fixed directions. Excluding the other two directions, our journey is reduced by two-thirds.

At 10:30 a.m., I used a knife to cut off the tree branch in front of me and emerged from a grove of trees.

Looking ahead, there was a large open space, overgrown with weeds, and vines hanging down from the trees like beaded curtains, blocking the view into the area, as if an invisible force was preventing outsiders from peeping in.

"This grove of trees seems a bit different from the ones we saw before."

Looking at the unusually lush forest, Song Laosan surveyed his surroundings with a hawk-like gaze: "This place gives me a strange feeling; it's kind of eerie."

"It has to be eerie, that's the destination we're looking for!"

I picked up where Song Laosan left off: "This place has an open terrain, is sheltered from the wind and gathers energy, and is located on the spine of a coiled dragon, which is meant to symbolize soaring to great heights."

"Damn it! After half a year of searching, we've finally found this godforsaken place!"

The monkey couldn't wait to say, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go in and see, and we'll know everything!"

"Don't mention the word 'ghost' in a place like this!"

Song Laosan scolded, then said to Zhou Peng, "Have Sasha check if there are any signs of wild animals here. The rest of you, set up camp, rest, eat something to replenish your strength, and prepare to enter the woods."

As soon as they finished speaking, everyone found a rock to use as a table, and began to check their weapons and eat.

Having learned from my initial experience entering the woods, I made sure to keep a few bullets in a place I could easily reach.

About half an hour later, Sasha returned to us, unscrewed the water bottle, took a couple of sips of water, and said while munching on bread, "I just checked outside the woods and there were no signs of wild animals. Strangely, the vegetation here is lush, but there are no signs of herbivores either. I've never seen anything like this in all my years of hunting."

"It's good that there are no wild animals; at least it reduces the danger for us."

Old Song didn't seem to care: "Little Duan, when do you think would be a good time for us to go in?"

I waited for Sasha to finish the bread in his hand, then stood up with my gun in hand: "Let's go in now. This is no man's land, so we don't have to worry about making a scene. Visibility will be better during the day, which will help us avoid danger."

Song Laosan followed beside me and began to chop at the vines in front of us with his knife: "I hope that God will bless us and that we can find Duan Jinyan successfully this time, so that all the twists and turns we have gone through along the way will not have been in vain."

The monkey grinned and said, "Even if we don't find Duan Jinyan, it would be good to get some treasures from the tomb. I hope we don't get beaten to it this time and only find an empty chest!"

"Bang!"

While the two were talking, I cut the vines in front of me, and a gust of cold wind immediately rushed towards me.