Zhang Hua paused here and said, "Let me have a smoke!"

While Zhang Hua was lighting his cigarette, I recalled what he had said. There were basically no loopholes, especially the part about opening the coffin, which was no different from the legend in the art world that "there is a spirit in the coffin."

Those in the art world who wanted to touch such a coffin either had to invite the spirit or destroy it. If they couldn't do either and forcibly opened the coffin, there was only one way to die.

Zhang Hua waited for me to nod before picking up his cigarette and continuing, "The more others tried to dissuade Yi Zhenfeng, the less he listened. He took out four peach wood wedges from his pocket and inserted them into the four corners of the coffin lid."

Strangely enough, after the four wedges were driven in, it was less difficult to pry open the coffin.

"As soon as the coffin lid was opened, Yi Zhenfeng was the first to lean over and look. He was so frightened that he sat down on the ground and shouted desperately, 'No one is allowed to look... No one is allowed to look into the coffin! Everyone, kneel down and kowtow!'"

The bandits who went to dig up the grave with Yi Zhenfeng didn't know what he had seen and didn't react for a moment. As a result, Yi Zhenfeng pulled out his gun and shot two of them dead.

This time, the bandits were really scared. If Yi Zhenfeng hadn't seen something extraordinary, would he have been so frightened as to kill people?

All the bandits knelt on the mountain. Yi Zhenfeng himself hugged the coffin lid, put it back on the coffin, ordered people to bury the coffin quickly, and then led the team back to the gang.

After Yi Zhenfeng returned, he fell seriously ill and kept shouting that there were ghosts in the house. Sometimes, he would wake up in the middle of the night, pull out his gun, and shoot wildly around the room. He even shot and killed several sentries.

In just a few days, the burly Yi Zhenfeng became pale, his eyes were dark, and he looked like an opium addict from a distance.

If it hadn't been for the second-in-command of his gang guarding him, the bandits in the gang would have chopped off his head and replaced him as the leader without anyone else having to attack.

The second-in-command felt that Yi Zhenfeng was really not right, so he came forward and found Yi Zhenfeng's uncle.

Yi Zhenfeng's uncle was an old Daoist. No one knew his real name. He said he was a wild Daoist, so everyone called him that.

After the wild Daoist arrived, he took one look at Yi Zhenfeng and took him to Maozi Mountain. When he got to the mountain, he started stomping his feet and cursing loudly on the mountain for a long time.

No one knew who the old Daoist was cursing!

After he had cursed enough, he had someone cut down a tree and whittle the branches into nine forks. Then, he pushed the tree down the mountain.

Before the wild Daoist pushed the tree down the mountain, there was an open space at the bottom of the mountain. After the tree fell, nine graves appeared in the open space overnight.

At that time, some people said that the location of the nine graves was perfect, as if they were growing on the nine tree forks.

Hearing this, my eyes narrowed involuntarily: Nine Jade Leaves!

If what Zhang Hua said was true, then wouldn't this incident coincide with the Nine Jade Leaves on Jie Yueling's body?

The key for Jie Yueling to return to the mystic realm was the Nine Jade Leaves?

The way for others to enter the mystic realm was through nine graves?

Zhang Hua continued, "After the wild Daoist saw the nine graves, he told the bandits to surround the area within ten miles and not allow anyone to enter. Anyone who approached, whether soldier or bandit, would be killed."

"The wild Daoist asked Yi Zhenfeng for a sum of money and left. When he returned, he brought back nine black oxen."

"Every day, the wild Daoist would lead a black ox into the Nine Graves Gully, enter during the day, and drive the ox cart out at night."

"Every time he came out, the ox cart would be carrying a coffin covered with red cloth. The ox cart was already slow, and it was even slower when carrying a coffin. Sometimes, it couldn't even leave the Nine Graves Gully for half the night."

"The wild Daoist would sit motionless on the ox cart. No matter how slow the ox cart was, he wouldn't urge it on. He would wait until the ox cart was out of the Nine Graves Gully before he started whipping the ox."

"Strangely enough, as soon as the ox cart left the Nine Graves Gully, it would run very fast and disappear in a short while."

"In this way, the wild Daoist pulled coffins in the Nine Graves Gully for nine consecutive days."

"On the ninth day, the ox cart moved the slowest. When the cart reached the mouth of the gully, it was almost dawn. At that time, the wild Daoist was really anxious and whipped the ox to death."

"The black ox was whipped mercilessly by him but couldn't move its feet. When there were only twenty or thirty meters left, the man was already standing on the cart, and the whip in his hand was whistling. The black ox's eyes were red from being beaten."

"I don't know if the ox was driven mad or what, but it actually broke its leg alive on the ground when it was only a few steps away from leaving the mouth of the gully."

"The wild Daoist jumped off the cart and pushed the coffin out himself. When he finally managed to push the coffin to the edge of the gully, he spat a mouthful of blood on the coffin and shouted, 'It's over! Just a little bit more!' He also collapsed on the coffin and died."

"The bandits who saw the wild Daoist die were all frightened and ran away desperately. No one bothered to collect the wild Daoist's body. When they returned to the gang, Yi Zhenfeng was already dead. His body was hung upside down on the door, and he was bled like a pig."

"That was also when the Nine Graves Gully had its first major haunting!"