Chapter 62

The lackey was taken aback, never expecting that the master of the two bandit chiefs, a person akin to a living immortal, would ask him a question. After thinking for a long time, he finally said, "The pits are mostly pitch black, as if they were scorched by fire. But there's no smell of smoke at all. Oh, and there's one more thing. The outer walls of each large pit are different. Some are very smooth, like fired pottery. Others are quite rough, with bumps and holes."

"Burned, but no smell of smoke. The outer walls of the large pits are like fired pottery..." Gui BuGui repeated the lackey’s words, then looked at him and said, "Don't go spreading what you've seen around, and don't go back to that place again. Tell those talkative hunters not to go there either. Say that the place is haunted, and the large pits on the ground are caused by evil spirits."

After the lackey disappeared, Gui BuGui turned to Gui Lai and said, "This little guy, you should give him something as a reward. No matter what, just make sure he doesn't go around spreading rumors."

"Rest assured, Master, the scouts are the most discreet. Otherwise, I wouldn't let him go around alone," Gui Lai nodded in agreement, then immediately asked his master, "What are those large pits he saw? Were they really made by that young Wu? What could he be doing, creating so many large pits for no reason?"

This series of questions made Gui BuGui's expression turn unnatural. After a hum, he said to his great-grandson disciple, "If you really care about me, spend three to five hundred years creating a hundred or so large pits. Then I'll be content. Don't think I'm underestimating you. You don't even need to make a hundred; just create one or two identical large pits, and I'll consider my teaching not in vain."

Gui Lai laughed awkwardly, still not knowing what was going on, so he didn't dare to respond to Gui BuGui. He could only laugh dryly. However, Gui BuGui also felt he had gone too far, after all, the Gui brothers were his blood. After a pause, the old man said, "That's a technique he figured out on his own. I didn't expect this little guy to really be able to summon lightning and fire. I hope he can control it once he summons it..."

For a while after that, Gui BuGui acted as if nothing had happened. The old man continued to teach the Gui brothers techniques and methods every day, but these two great-grandson disciples had rather average talent. For slightly more advanced techniques and methods, Gui BuGui had to break them down and explain them repeatedly. Only then could the brothers勉强 understand about seventy to eighty percent. Although both had gained a thousand years of life, Gui BuGui now began to doubt whether a thousand years would be enough for his two disciples...

One day, while Gui BuGui was chatting idly with his two disciples, the conversation suddenly turned to their former bandit chief, the leader of the band.

Gui Lai said first, "Our former chief was surnamed Zhao and named Lin. Once, when he was drunk, he said he was a direct descendant of the king of the State of Zhao. But he said such drunken words too often. Another time, when he was drunk, he said that the crown prince of the State of Yan, Dan, was his sworn brother. Originally, the assassination of Qin was supposed to be him, but Chief Zhao went to the Xiongnu to drink with the chieftain, and Prince Dan couldn't find him, so he sent Jing Ke on the one-way trip. Such talk was said so often that no one took it seriously."

Gui BuGui also smiled, saying, "Your Chief Zhao was an interesting person. Let's talk about him. You said before that he saw you two using techniques to perform and then took you to this mountain. Since Zhao recognized the value, he must have been knowledgeable in this field."

"He really wasn't," Gui Qu said with a smile, addressing his master, "Our Chief Zhao knew nothing about techniques. After bringing us to the mountain, he kept asking us about technical terms and methods to break certain formations. But he was out of his mind. At that time, we were just two thirteen or fourteen-year-old kids. Even if we knew a little about basic techniques, we couldn't possibly know how to break formations like the Heaven-Deceiving Formation. After seeing that we really didn't know, he finally gave up..."

When Gui Qu started speaking, Gui BuGui still had a smile on his face. But when he heard the words "Heaven-Deceiving Formation," his expression froze. After Gui Qu finished, Gui BuGui's expression eased a bit. He looked at the Gui brothers and said, "What technical terms did Chief Zhao ask you about? Tell me, and I'll help you understand."

After a long time, the Gui brothers finally remembered. Gui Qu said first, "Now it's nothing much, just things like the forty-eight nails of Guan Ao, what the first three nails and the exit nail are, and what the three calls of morning and evening are." He then smiled at Gui BuGui, saying, "Now that we are under your tutelage, we have learned a lot. Otherwise, we still wouldn't know what these things are."

Gui Qu had intended to flatter Gui BuGui, but he ended up hitting the wrong spot. The old man's face darkened, and he said, "Do you think you know now? When you were young, it was understandable that you didn't know about the Heaven-Deceiving Formation and those nails. But now, with these things right in front of you, can't you see what Chief Zhao was trying to do?"

Gui Lai was the first to react. He looked at his master, recited a few terms, and said, "The Heaven-Deceiving Formation is an illusionary formation, often used to conceal the feng shui of tombs from the early Zhou period. The forty-eight nails of Guan Ao, the first three nails, and the exit nail were created by early practitioners to deter tomb robbers. I get it! Chief Zhao wanted to rob a tomb."

Gui BuGui rolled his eyes at Gui Lai, saying, "Such an obvious thing, and you had to think about it for so long?" After saying this, the old man's eyes narrowed. After a pause, he added, "A bandit chief turned tomb robber, but he didn't even manage to rob a tomb before he died. I wonder who had such good luck to escape even after death."

Just as he finished speaking and was about to leave, he heard Gui Qu suddenly say, "I think I know whose tomb Chief Zhao wanted to dig. He wanted to dig the tomb of Yan Ai Hou." By the time Gui Qu said this, Gui BuGui was already at the entrance of the inner cave. But when he heard "Yan Ai Hou," he turned around sharply, staring at Gui Qu and said, "Who? Say it again, Yan what Hou?"

Gui Qu was startled by Gui BuGui's reaction. After a moment, he said, "Yan Ai Hou, I think that's the name. He was a king of Yan who died shortly after ascending the throne. I heard that a few years ago, the Qin army dug up the tombs of the Yan kings, but only one was missing: Yan Ai Hou..."

Mentioning Yan Ai Hou, Gui BuGui's demeanor changed immediately. He stared at Gui Qu and said, "How do you know that Zhao wanted to dig Yan Ai Hou's tomb? It's impossible for anyone to know where Yan Ai Hou's tomb is. How could a small bandit chief know?"

Gui Qu calmed himself and said, "It was something Chief Zhao said when he was drunk. He said he knew a great secret of Yan and that Yan Ai Hou, a good king, didn't want to be a king and had to do something else..."

Gui BuGui didn't understand and frowned, asking, "Had to do something else? Be more specific."

Gui Qu laughed awkwardly and said, "That day, Chief Zhao drank too much. When he got to this part, he went to vomit. Later, when he sobered up, I asked him again, but he denied ever saying such things and insisted that I had misunderstood him, and that I shouldn't spread it around."

"Don't spread it around..." Gui BuGui repeated Gui Qu's words, then a glint appeared in his eyes. He said to the Gui brothers, "Where does your Chief Zhao usually wander? Or does he go to a specific place from time to time?"