Tang Zhen closed his eyes. His heart turned cold as he knew that it would be hard to escape this disaster this time.
Suddenly, Ironfoot let out a wild roar as if bitten by something. The sound of his footsteps pounded as he ran out of the cave. In a moment, the wild roar disappeared.
Tang Zhen opened his eyes and saw a flash. A black thing darted in like lightning. A pair of bright green eyes were looking at Tang Zhen. There was still blood on its mouth. It was the corpse mastiff.
It turned out that the corpse mastiff had saved his life.
Tang Zhen gratefully patted the head of the corpse mastiff. Just then, Yan Laohan's anxious voice came from the cave entrance, "Tang Zhen, come out quickly. Your wife is about to give birth."
Tang Zhen was startled. With an exclamation of "Ouch," he quickly climbed out of the cave and rushed to the neighbor's house with Yan Laohan. Just as they reached the door, a loud cry of a baby came from inside the house. Neighbor Sister A Si walked out of the house with a smile and said to Yan Laohan, "Congratulations. A boy is born."
Yan Laohan said with a smile, "Thanks to your good fortune."
Tang Zhen was overjoyed. He quickly walked into the inner room and saw Yan Yin's face as pale as paper, holding a baby tightly in her arms.
The baby was already wrapped in swaddling clothes, with eyes closed tightly and a small face flushed red from crying.
It turned out that Yan Yin was frightened and the baby in her womb came into the world ahead of time.
Tang Zhen walked up and hugged Yan Yin tightly. Tears couldn't stop flowing down.
Yan Laohan also had a hint of redness in his eyes.
Suddenly, a loud shout came from afar, "Tang Laosi, Tang Laosi, everyone has come to see you. Where are you? Come out quickly." The voice was very loud.
Tang Zhen was overjoyed and said, "This time it's my sworn brothers who have come." Looking back at Sister A Si, he said, "Please take care of Yan Yin. I'll be right back." Then he turned and walked outside with Yan Laohan.
In the distance, four horses came galloping one after another. Four people were sitting on the horses. The leader was about forty years old, thin and dark, with an ordinary appearance except for a pair of extremely bright black eyes. The second person was of medium height with a face like loess and his hands tucked in his sleeves. The third person was slightly taller with drooping eyebrows and a bitter expression on his face. The fourth person was short and stocky with thick eyebrows and big eyes and two short whiskers under his nose constantly twitching.
When the short man saw Tang Zhen, he let out a cheer and jumped off the horse. He hugged Tang Zhen and said, "Damn it, Fourth Brother. We all miss you so much."
The other three people were smiling and also jumped off their horses.
Tang Zhen's eyes were slightly red and he said, "Big Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, Fifth Brother. I miss you all too."
Tang Zhen introduced Yan Laohan to them one by one. The thin and dark man with sharp eyes was Big Brother Tang Zhen. The one with his hands in his sleeves was Second Brother Yan Tieshan. The one with drooping eyebrows and a bitter expression was Third Brother Cui Zheng. The short and chubby one was Fifth Brother Wang Baitong.
Yan Laohan didn't know that these five people were known as the Five Righteous Men of Southern Sichuan. But locally, they were called the Five Rats of Southern Sichuan. These five people made a living by tomb raiding all year round. The eldest, Feng Tang, was nicknamed "Ghost Eyes." He was good at tomb divination, finding dragon veins and locating tombs. He was always accurate in finding graves. The second brother, Yan Tieshan, had a pair of hands that were even better than the cyclone shovel specially used for tomb raiding. He was given the nickname Yan Tieshou. The third brother, Cui Zheng, grew up in Miao territory since childhood and had mastered the art of witchcraft. He was good at controlling ghosts and spirits. Those who offended him often died mysteriously. He was nicknamed "Death Summoning Talisman." The fifth brother, Wang Baitong, had natural superhuman strength and was called Shorty Wang. Tang Zhen was ranked fourth. Because he had read a lot and had rich experience in the Jianghu, he was nicknamed "Scholar."
The four people saluted one by one. Yan Laohan cupped his fists and said, "This mountain village is simple. There is nothing to entertain you all. Please forgive us."
Feng Tang said with a smile, "Old man, you are being too polite."
Tang Zhen said with a smile, "Three brothers, I have good news for you. I am not talented but I have added a nephew for you all."
Shorty Wang punched Tang Zhen on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Awesome. After not seeing you for a year, you even have a son."
Tang Zhen said with a smile, "I am ashamed. Brothers, next door is my father-in-law's house. Let's go there and talk. Your sister-in-law is not feeling well. We can pay our respects to you all another day."
The few people walked to the next door hand in hand. Yan Laohan quickly fetched water and served tea while preparing food and wine.
In a short while, a table of food was ready. It was nothing but some wild rabbit meat and air-dried vegetables and other rural specialties. Yan Laohan said, "Excuse me," and went to the next door to take care of Yan Yin. Here, the Five Righteous Men of Southern Sichuan were left chatting while eating.
Tang Zhen said, "Brothers, haven't we seen each other for a year? Have you found a big tomb?"
Feng Tang said, "Don't mention it. It's a long story. After you left, we were thinking about where to find a big tomb. If we can raid it once and get a rich harvest, we can divide it among us and then retire. The second brother heard that the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing. Empress Dowager Cixi and the current emperor Guangxu fled westward in disguise out of Deshengmen. Beijing was in chaos. The few of us discussed and thought that this might be a good opportunity to make a fortune.
So, we packed our bags and came. But before we reached Beijing, we encountered a group of foreigners. Those foreigners shot as soon as they saw us. The foreign guns of those foreigners are really powerful. Seeing that the situation was bad, we quickly ran away. We hid in a small mountain village. Half a month ago, the fifth brother went to the city to scout. Coincidentally, he saw that beacon smoke. This is what is called a coincidence. When he came back and told us, we all thought that the beacon smoke must have been set by you. Maybe you are in trouble here. So we came immediately. These horses were still stolen from a small town on the roadside. Originally, we would have arrived long ago with our speed, but on the way, we encountered several hill moving Taoists who guarded the road and wouldn't let us pass. We had a fight with them and that's why we were delayed."
Tang Zhen said, "Those hill moving Taoists are very likely the disciples and grandchildren of the old master of the hill moving sect. They are looking for me."
Feng Tang frowned and said, "What's going on?"
Tang Zhen said, "It's a long story." Then he told them one by one about how he was ordered by his master to go undercover under the old master of the hill moving sect, how he was discovered by Luo Yuhu, the fifth disciple of the old master of the hill moving sect, how he escaped from the hill moving sect, how he came to this small mountain village, and how he and Yan Laohan dug a water cellar and found the terror tower.
Feng Tang said, "What's the matter with that terror tower?" The other three people also listened attentively.
Tang Zhen told them about the terror tower one by one.
Shorty Wang stood up abruptly and said, "Big Brother, there must be a big tomb in this terror tower. What are we waiting for? Let's go. Let's dig it up now." He got up and walked out.
Tang Zhen reached out and stopped Shorty Wang and said, "Fifth Brother, what's the hurry? It will be in time to dig tomorrow. This terror tower won't run away on its own legs."
Shorty Wang seemed to be very afraid of this big brother. He sat down but was not reconciled in his heart. He muttered, "Why not? Maybe it will run away."
Feng Tang ignored him and said, "After we have had enough food and wine today, let's rest early. Tomorrow we'll see what mysteries are hidden inside this terror tower."