"Let me think!"

I pondered for a moment before saying, "Qiao Gongliang is a storyteller. He knows how to draw people into his stories and has already designed the ending, working backward to create the plot. So..."

I said in a low voice, "So, we can't follow any of the clues he gives us."

"The Cursed Chat Group is also part of the story he wrote."

"If I followed normal thinking, I would realize the clue in the painting is false, bypass Du Fei, and investigate the chat group. If that happened, I would fall into his second trap."

"Qiao Gongliang has shown us two paths, but both are dead ends. No matter which way we go, we'll be playing by his rules. Even if we're extremely careful, we'll still fall into his trap. Therefore, we can't take either of these paths."

I was silent for a moment before saying, "Let's go back to Liangjie Tang and find Lao Liu."

When I returned to Liangjie Tang, Lao Liu was in the middle of making tea as if nothing had happened.

I sat down across from Lao Liu, picked up a teacup, and drank three cups in a row before saying, "Next time, make tea in a tea mug. This little thing isn't enough to quench my thirst."

Lao Liu pointed in astonishment at the large white porcelain tea mug next to me that could hold half a liter of water. "Yours is over there. This tea is for Ye Yang and Teacher Xia."

"Why didn't you say so sooner!" I picked up the tea mug and gulped it down. The water temperature was just right.

I put down the tea mug and said, "I have a question for you. Did that warlord back then have a habit of collecting treasures? Or did he ever engage in grave robbing?"

Lao Liu said doubtfully, "No warlord in troubled times doesn't love money. Digging up graves to raise military funds has long been commonplace for them. What does master mean?"

I said, "I'm wondering why Qiao Gongliang came to the Northeast."

"Sorcerers aren't wandering heroes; they don't roam aimlessly. Qiao Gongliang must have a purpose for coming to the Northeast."

"Storytellers in the past didn't have high status. Those who set up stalls to tell stories were even lower. Would a warlord's concubine go to a street stall to listen to stories? Could she have been a stepping stone for Qiao Gongliang to enter the warlord's mansion?"

"If so, it means Qiao Gongliang used that woman as a stepping stone to get into the warlord's mansion."

"I want to know, what exactly is in the warlord's mansion that could attract Qiao Gongliang?"

Lao Liu waved his fan and said, "The warlord did have a habit of collecting wealth. He also dug up many tombs back then. If he didn't have soldiers and guns under his command and a strong destiny, he might have been haunted to death by vengeful spirits long ago."

"Among the things he acquired, the biggest secret is the Yellow Springs Archives... but Qiao Gongliang certainly wasn't after the Yellow Springs Archives. Back then, when he arrived at the warlord's mansion, no one had come to cause trouble yet."

I said in a low voice, "Think carefully."

Lao Liu recalled for a long time, "I remember now. The warlord did open an ancient tomb, but he put the things he took out back without taking them away."

"Because of this incident, the warlord lost a platoon of soldiers and a staff officer. It was because the warlord's original staff officer was gone that I entered the warlord's mansion. It was probably in my second year in the warlord's mansion that Qiao Gongliang came."

Lao Liu said, "When I first entered the warlord's mansion, I didn't know about this. Later, people slowly mentioned to me that the warlord had raided the coiled dragon tomb on the mountaintop."

"It is said that there used to be a coiled dragon tomb in the Moon Ridge area. It's not that the tomb contained a coiled dragon, but that a coiled dragon tree grew on the tomb. The tree, like a dragon protecting its cub, wrapped the entire tomb, and the trunk pressing on the tomb had some resemblance to a dragon's head, which is why the locals called it the coiled dragon tomb."

Qiulong mu (coiled dragon wood) does not refer to a specific type of tree, but any tree that looks like a dragon can be called qiu long mu. The biggest characteristic of qiu long mu is that it is easier to become a spirit or monster than other wood, or it already has a certain spirituality to grow into a dragon shape.

Whether qiu long mu pressing on a tomb is good or bad feng shui has no fixed answer. Some say it is the dragon energy protecting the tomb, while others say the wood drained the tomb's spiritual energy to become a dragon.

As for who is right and who is wrong, there is no conclusion in the art of divination because the probability of dragon-shaped wood appearing is too small.

Lao Liu continued, "No one knows who built that tomb or how long it has been buried. No one knows who is buried in the tomb, but it is rumored that the tomb contains incredible treasures."

"After the warlord learned about this, he set his sights on the coiled dragon tomb. He specially sent a company to find the coiled dragon tomb. It can be considered that hard work pays off! He finally found the location of the coiled dragon tomb."

"He immediately sent a staff officer and several gentlemen to the mountain to dig up the coiled dragon tomb. It is said that as soon as the tomb was opened, one of the gentlemen was frightened and refused to let anyone touch the coffin."

"Later, the staff officer explained the stakes to him, and he finally nodded in agreement. However, he also said that how the things in the tomb were taken out had to be done according to his instructions."

"It seems that it was at noon on the second day that they officially opened the coiled dragon tomb and unearthed the coffin inside."