Chapter 25

Jiang Ling and Song Guanshu circled around before finally finding the battleground near the graveyard.

At that moment, a question arose in her mind: the graveyard was so large, so why was everyone so tightly gathered in just one spot to dig for treasure?

It didn’t make sense.

At the center of the battleground stood Li Jun and the Miao Family’s Eldest daughter-in-law. Their previous fight hadn’t come to a conclusion, and there had yet to be a winner.

Both of them were still holding in a bellyful of fire. Li Jun resented the Miao Family’s Eldest daughter-in-law for exposing her affair with the Miao Family’s Eldest son, which had caused her to lose face in front of everyone, especially since it had reached the ears of her ex-husband, Liu Jianshe.

The Miao Family’s Eldest daughter-in-law, on the other hand, was only angry that the slap she gave last time hadn’t been hard enough, allowing Li Jun to continue seducing married men wherever she went.

Neither of Section Chief Liu’s wives, past or present, was to her liking. But when compared to Li Jun, she still thought Han Ruixue was a decent person. No matter how others around them called her a vixen, at least Han Ruixue never seduced married men.

Li Jun, on the other hand, was often pitied and praised for her good character. But what did that matter? Let her live as their neighbor for just a couple of days, and she would understand what it meant to suffer in silence.

When they went up the mountain, Liu Lei and Liu Tong—Li Jun’s son and daughter—followed along. The two kids didn’t have many playmates in the family compound, and as soon as they heard that their mother was going treasure hunting on the mountain, they clamored to go too.

Li Jun and Granny Liu didn’t want to let the children go to the grave mounds. After all, the area was filled with heavy yin energy. But no matter how they tried to dissuade Liu Lei, he wouldn’t listen. He threw himself on the ground and rolled around, insisting he had to go.

First, the grandmother and daughter-in-law doted on the grandson too much. Second, the Miao family was just about to depart and couldn’t afford to delay. So, Li Jun handed the siblings two small bags and gave Liu Tong a little iron shovel to carry. And just like that, they set off.

Their faces were smeared with dirt, making them unrecognizable.

But just judging from its mysterious appearance, it looked like something valuable.

Li Jun discreetly glanced around at the people nearby, then whispered to her son, “Hide it quickly, don’t let anyone see. This thing’s worth money.”

They weren’t far from the others, and Li Jun was especially close to the Miao Family’s Eldest daughter-in-law. The Miao family was known to be honest and upright, so logically, even if they overheard something like that, they wouldn’t go spreading it around.

But the Miao Family’s Eldest daughter-in-law bore an old grudge against Li Jun. She had been digging for ages without finding anything but dirt. Now, seeing her archrival strike something first, she felt deeply unbalanced.

Unable to hold back, the Miao Family’s Eldest daughter-in-law sneered, “Since when has your family ever seen anything valuable? Everything good belongs to others. No wonder you’re always trying to take advantage of people. Other people’s things, other people’s money, other people’s men—you’re always the most eager for them.”

Humiliated in public, Li Jun still tried to play the pity card. “Sister, maybe there’s some misunderstanding. There’s really nothing going on between me and Brother Miao. It’s fine if you misunderstand me, but if it causes trouble between you and him, that wouldn’t be good.”

Li Jun was very skilled at maintaining her image as a pitiful woman. Although she always lost when dealing with the young couple Song Guanshu and Jiang Ling, the other neighbors in the family compound generally saw her as pitiable. Because of that, she enjoyed many tangible benefits.

Everyone else was fervently digging into the ground, but when they heard the sounds of an argument, they all instinctively looked up.

When they saw who was involved in the dispute, they realized it was two people they were all quite familiar with.

The steel factory had a large workforce. If someone didn’t work in the same workshop or Section and wasn’t a neighbor, there was a good chance they wouldn’t know each other.

But Section Chief Liu was a well-known figure. As a factory leader, he was already prominent, and his involvement in romantic scandals and a complicated love life had made him even more widely known among the other workers.

Even before his divorce, Section Chief Liu had already made a name for himself in the factory.

Back then, Li Jun didn’t have the good reputation she had now. She was constantly suspicious and paranoid, accusing Section Chief Liu of having an affair. She often caused scenes at the factory, and during that time, the entire factory was entertained by the drama coming out of the Liu household.

Even the factory leadership had spoken with Section Chief Liu, warning him that having family members constantly causing scenes at the workplace reflected terribly on him.

When word spread among the steel factory’s employee families that Li Jun had gotten into a fight with the Miao Family’s Eldest daughter-in-law recently, many had only heard about it and hadn’t witnessed it themselves.

Now, seeing the two of them going at it again, they all put down their shovels, thinking this might finally make up for the regret of missing last month’s spectacle.

Juxiang’s husband, Third Brother Miao, realized something was wrong and quickly rushed down the mountain to find someone. As for who he went to get—of course, it was Section Chief Liu.

Chen Mazi, the fugitive, was lurking within the crowd. He had thought that once he buried the gun on the mountain, he could rest easy, especially since there had once been rumors of hauntings at that very gravesite.

Who could have predicted that strange incidents among the steel factory families would happen one after another without pause?

Since he had buried the gun in the graveyard behind the steel factory, he naturally paid close attention to any news related to that area.

Then he heard that there was supposed to be treasure buried on the mountain. A lot of people had rushed over upon hearing the news to dig for it.

He had just buried the gun, and already people were digging for treasure.

Whether or not they could actually find treasure, he didn’t know—but the chance of them digging up the gun was definitely higher than the chance of finding gold or silver.

That pistol had been hard-won. If he lost it, he’d have to steal another one.

That would be a real hassle. But Chen Mazi wasn’t the type to sit around and wait for doom. So he went to the market, bought a new shovel, and blended into the crowd of treasure hunters.

He could mislead those who were there with the intention of finding treasure, steering them away from the grave of the Yu family girl.

And he could seize the chance, under the cover of night, to dig the gun back out.

Once he set his mind to something, Chen Mazi acted immediately. He had a smooth tongue and began spinning a story from a feng shui perspective, claiming he had once heard an old man talk about a tale involving a landlord surnamed Wang.

Layer by layer, he laid out his reasoning, ultimately concluding that this patch of hillside—farther away from the grave mounds—was more likely to be where the bones of that Wang landlord were buried.

If the Wang landlord was buried here, it meant there was a chance his grave held gold, silver, and other burial treasures.

With his persuasive talk, many of the people who had already dug halfway through other spots changed locations and started digging in the area he pointed out.

Watching the surrounding townsfolk follow his words, Chen Mazi found himself taking on the role of a small leader among the treasure hunters, and he felt quite a sense of accomplishment.

Everywhere he looked, people were taking orders from him.

Then, suddenly, a commotion broke out in the crowd. Chen Mazi had just stood up, intending to stop the two women’s behavior, when the pair actually started fighting.

Chen Mazi was stunned. Were all the women in Beicheng this fierce? If they could throw hands, they definitely wouldn’t waste time arguing.

Thinking of himself as the group’s little leader, Chen Mazi stepped up and said, “What’s going on here? Why are you two fighting out of nowhere? Someone stop them, don’t let them keep going.”

The last time Li Jun got into a fight, her two children, Liu Tong and Liu Lei, had both rushed forward, eager to protect their mother.

After that incident, Granny Liu had quietly warned her two grandchildren, “If your mother gets into another fight, you two mustn’t rush in. She’s a grown-up and can protect herself. You two are still little—if you get hurt, it won’t be worth it.”

The children were at an age when their sense of right and wrong was still forming, so whatever the adults said became their truth.

Liu Tong and Liu Lei both agreed that what their grandmother said made sense. Last time, they had just been shoved once and their bottoms had ached for days.

So this time, when Li Jun got into another fight, the two children only stood nearby and watched. They didn’t try to help like they had before.

Chen Mazi was short and stocky, standing at less than 1.7 meters tall, but because he came from a poor background, he was extremely sturdy. As a child, he often fought and bullied others, which made him particularly skilled at hand-to-hand combat.

He wasn’t afraid of fighting—on the contrary, he was good at it.

Li Jun and the Miao Family’s Eldest daughter-in-law were brawling fiercely, and the people around them were all honest and law-abiding folks who didn’t dare step in.

Only Chen Mazi stepped forward to separate them. He lifted them like they were baby chicks, one in each hand, and threw them onto the ground.

He barked sharply, “Enough! Get back to work!”

By the time Jiang Ling and Song Guanshu arrived after circling around, the fight had already ended. Everyone had gone back to digging.

To be honest, everyone was intimidated by the fierce aura Chen Mazi exuded. They were afraid of getting beaten up themselves, so no one dared to cause more trouble.

Jiang Ling said to the people around her, “Did we get here too late?”

Everyone kept their heads down, silently digging away. Only one middle-aged man wasn’t digging—he stood with a shovel slung over his shoulder, his eyes scanning the crowd of treasure hunters.

He didn’t look like someone there to dig for treasure. He looked more like a foreman overseeing a work crew.

Jiang Ling tugged on Song Guanshu’s sleeve. “Don’t you think something feels off?”

Song Guanshu said softly, “We rushed up here and forgot to bring a shovel. Let’s head back.”

Jiang Ling had no objections to his suggestion.

So they turned to go down the mountain. Just then, Chen Mazi happened to lift his head and saw the two of them heading downhill together.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at their departing backs.

Everyone had been thoroughly frightened by Chen Mazi. No one dared to go down the mountain at noon; it wasn’t until the afternoon that they each found their own excuses to go home.

From that day on, no one dared to return to the mountain to dig for treasure. No one cared about so-called sudden wealth anymore. After all, rumors couldn’t be trusted, and staying alive was more important.