Chapter Twelve: The Evil Fish

Page 1/3

The moment I dropped the stick and hurriedly retreated, everyone was shocked to see those colorful strange fish frantically biting and snapping the stick until it was reduced to fragments in an instant.

What kind of bizarre fish are these?!

I turned to Wu Ping and said, “Repellent medicine!”

Wu Ping scattered a packet of repellent medicine into the water.

It had no effect whatsoever.

Where the medicine touched the water, the fish swam rapidly, devouring it, causing splashes everywhere.

This repellent was personally concocted by Xu Qingguo before entering the tomb; it was supposed to repel fierce beasts and even poison fish, yet it had no effect on these creatures!

Xu Qingguo’s delicate face showed surprise.

“Meng Xun, these fish are strangely uncanny. Could they be some sort of anti-theft barrier?”

Fatty Dong’s plump face twitched as he chimed in.

“Isn’t it obvious? To enter the ancient house, one must wade through the water, but once you’re in, you’re fish food!”

“The foreigner made such a beautiful tomb, only letting people look but not touch. It’s like a woman who keeps flirting with me but won’t let me play—so unfair! But Daoist here doesn’t believe in superstition!”

He turned to leave.

I asked, “Where are you going?”

Dong Fatty replied, “I’ll chop some logs and make a ladder to cross over.”

I had to admit, Dong Fatty was incredibly efficient.

I asked back, “Are you sure those fish won’t leap out and drag you under when you cross the tree bridge?”

Dong Fatty’s eyes widened. “They can’t, right?!”

After saying this, he took a sausage and lobbed it in an arc above the pool.

Instantly!

Several fish leapt from the water like carp jumping over the dragon gate, snapping at the sausage as if it had entered a meat grinder; the packaging was shredded into countless fragments.

“Damn!” Dong Fatty swallowed hard, dumbfounded, scratching his head. “Miss Xu, how about we go down the mountain and get a water pump?”

Xu Qingguo shook her head in refusal.

“This isn’t stagnant water like in a dead tomb. There’s a continuous source from the heavenly pond above, and judging by the activity on the surface, there’s probably a spring at the bottom. That’s not realistic.”

I shone my flashlight across the water.

As the light shifted, numerous strange fish surged from the small channels around the pool, all seemingly chasing the light back into the pool.

Dong Fatty scratched his head in frustration.

“Hey, stop fooling around and come up with a plan! Daoist here is about to blow his top!”

I looked up at the moonlight filtering through the cracked dome ceiling.

“I know you’re anxious, but don’t rush!”

“So what now?”

“Rest.”

I leaned back against a stone, using my hand as a pillow and closed my eyes to gather my thoughts.

Page 2/3

Time passed by slowly.

Xu Qingguo and Wu Ping were patient, understanding I might be thinking of a solution, quietly waiting nearby.

Dong Fatty, however, was like an ant on a hot pan—smoking, urinating, throwing stones to hit the fish...

Eventually, the guy sat down and started playing that battered erhu.

The sound was unbearable, a wretched braying like a donkey in labor.

Wu Ping couldn’t stand it and told him to stop.

Dong Fatty snorted coldly.

“You think I’m crazy? This is the ‘Holy Donkey Head Exorcism Tune.’ Daoist is seeing if it can scare off these evil fish!”

The black donkey has a traditional association with exorcism.

In the old days, when farmers faced drought and crop failure, they believed a drought demon was at work. They built temples to the Black Donkey Saint General, praying for the donkey-headed warrior to drive away evil.

Many grave robbers carried black donkey hooves as talismans for this reason.

Whether it was Dong Fatty’s tune or not, just then, dark clouds seemed to gather, obscuring the moonlight streaming through the dome crack, plunging the surroundings into total darkness.

They wanted to turn on their flashlights.

I immediately stopped them.

“Don’t turn on the lights!”

What unfolded next stunned everyone.

In the pitch dark, the evil fish in the pool frantically retreated, surging back into the small drainage channels around the pool.

I quickly turned on the flashlight, and as soon as the light appeared, many fish swam back from the channels into the pool, drawn to the brightness.

Xu Qingguo asked anxiously, “What’s going on?!”

I was excited, turning off the flashlight immediately.

“The fish are attracted to the light! Fatty, chop those trees and build the ladder!”

Earlier, when I waved the flashlight, I noticed the fish would follow the light, which seemed very strange.

After carefully observing the moonlight filtering through the dome crack several times, I found that the fish gathered massively wherever the moonlight shone, while in the shadows, not a single fish appeared. Now that the moon was obscured by clouds, the fish withdrew en masse.

This could only mean they gathered around light, and dispersed in darkness.

Anyone entering the foreigner’s tomb would have light streaming through the dome during the day or moonlight at night, and the fish would gather to block them.

On cloudy or rainy days without any light filtering through, the surroundings would be pitch black. Grave robbers would inevitably turn on their flashlights, instantly attracting the fish back.

This was a comprehensive anti-theft fish net combining zoology, optics, and behavioral science—an all-encompassing trap with no blind spots.

Without understanding this mechanism, no matter if you build a bridge, use medicine, or pump water, you cannot pass the fish array unless you can leap across the twenty-plus meter-wide pool.

While chopping trees, I explained this to them.

They were all dumbfounded.

Xu Qingguo’s expression was full of admiration, her eyes gleaming with appreciation as she turned to me.

“A design worthy of a genius... Meng Xun, I sincerely apologize for judging you by your appearance before!”

They quickly built a ladder.

To our surprise, rain began to fall through the dome, making it unlikely the moonlight would reappear anytime soon.

Dong Fatty was ecstatic.

“The ancients were right—those who follow the Dao have many helpers, those who don’t have few.”

“Look, even Heaven is raining to help us!”

I was speechless.

“You’re robbing graves and still talking about the Dao?”

Dong Fatty set the ladder in place and clapped his hands.

“Damn! The thief is a thief!”

He was the first to climb the ladder in the dark.

The three of us also crossed without incident.

The ancient foreign-style house, rustic, elegant, and beautiful, stood before us.

Dong Fatty asked, “Anyone inside? Ah! Nobody! Then Daoist won’t hold back!”

He rolled up his sleeves, his fat face smug.

“Xiao Meng, Daoist did some homework! The ancient house’s doors and windows are sealed completely with bluestone, similar to a noble’s tomb with diamond walls. The mortar between the bluestone bricks is a secret formula using sticky rice paste, boy’s urine, and other bizarre ingredients. It’s not only airtight and oxidation-resistant but even stronger than concrete.”

“To smash open the bluestone doors or windows, you have to pour vinegar to soften the mortar first, then chip it away before breaking the bricks. It’s a huge effort! So Daoist decided to go the opposite way—enter from the roof. Even if the tiles cover slabs instead of wood, smashing the roof is way easier than breaking the doors or windows. Makes sense?”

I replied, “It makes sense.”

Dong Fatty spat into his palm, rubbed it, wiggled his big behind, ready to climb onto the roof. But then he hesitated and asked, “Wait... don’t you want to critique my plan?”

I had to be honest.

“Only a fool would think like that.”

Dong Fatty was speechless.

I pointed at the tile roof.

“This is a fire dragon glazed tile roof. If you break the tiles, you’ll instantly become roast pork!”

The fire dragon glazed tile technique originated in the Northern Song Dynasty. Thin glazed tiles were laid, then small bags filled with “fire dragon oil” were placed on top, covered with another layer of glazed tiles, then sealed with earth.

If external force breaks through the earth and tiles, the sealed fire dragon oil meets the air, and the friction of broken tiles ignites a fierce blaze, incinerating both the tomb and the intruder.

This was a do-or-die anti-theft measure.

The ancient house’s roof was not sealed with earth, but cleverly disguised with ordinary blue tiles.

In fact, judging by the roof’s thickness and the sealing materials at the eaves, the fire dragon glazed tile technique was definitely used.

The foreigners exploited the psychology of grave robbers who seek the easiest way in, deliberately luring them to break in through the roof, sacrificing themselves but preserving the tomb’s remains intact.

So ruthless!

Dong Fatty was disheartened.

“So you’re saying we can only break through the walls?”

I shook my head.

“Breaking through the walls is a trap too.”