I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

They all saw the same dawning realization in each other’s eyes.

Si Youqing stroked his beard, pondering. "Xie Yunliu... Xie Yunliu? For some reason, that name sounds familiar."

Zheng Xiu smiled. "The Playful Monk, Xie Luohe, Xie Yunliu... it seems the clues are all pointing to the same place."

Feng Bei nodded and said softly, "Yunliu Temple."

Si Youqing slapped his thigh. "So that’s it!"

Seeing the realization dawn on them, Yue Yan continued, "But what I just told you still isn’t the most interesting part."

Zheng Xiu’s gaze sharpened. "Spit it out. Stop playing games."

"The epitaph gives the dates of his life. Gongsun Mo was born in the thirteenth year of Tianxuan and died in the thirty-sixth year of Deyao."

Hearing this, Zheng Xiu’s expression shifted slightly as he did a quick mental calculation.

A moment later, Zheng Xiu said in surprise, "A figure from over two hundred years ago?"

Yue Yan replied, "If the epitaph is true, Gongsun Mo lived to be one hundred and fifty-six years old."

"What I’m about to say next is the strangest thing the two of us discovered in Yinping City." Yue Yan took a deep breath and, without any more suspense, said, "That coffin... it’s empty!"

The parlor fell suddenly silent.

All eyes focused on Yue Yan’s face.

Yue Yan touched her own smooth cheek, puzzled. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Zheng Xiu asked, "You actually opened the coffin?"

Yue Yan was exasperated. "So what if I did? Wasn’t it for the investigation?"

Feng Bei nodded. "So you opened it?"

Yue Yan flexed her fingers. A thread, as lithe as a snake, slithered down her arm, past her fingertips, and coiled around them a few times. "That wasn’t necessary. I probed inside the coffin with my ’line.’ I’m certain there was nothing but rotted clothing inside. No bones."

"That tomb was clearly a cenotaph."

In other words.

The coffin was empty?

No bones?

Where did the bones go?

Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t matter if the bones were gone.

But this just had to be Gongsun Mo’s cenotaph, from which a bizarre painting had mysteriously emerged.

At that moment, a cold draft blew in, making the candlelight flicker.

The connection between these events sent their minds reeling. Thinking of the terrifying implications, Dou Xie couldn’t help but shiver.

"Zheng... Marquis, what are you thinking?"

No one had responded to her story. After all her dramatic buildup, Yue Yan was feeling quite vexed at the lack of reaction. That was when she’d noticed Zheng Xiu still frowning in deep thought and decided to ask him directly.

"It’s just... something feels strange."

Zheng Xiu’s gaze swept over Feng Bei’s face.

What he found strange wasn’t why Gongsun Mo was buried with someone named "Xie Luohe."

Nor was it that Gongsun Mo’s tomb was a cenotaph.

What Zheng Xiu found strange was the year of Gongsun Mo’s death recorded on the epitaph: one hundred and twenty-one years ago.

At first glance, this number didn’t seem particularly special.

But a puzzle had long been entrenched in Zheng Xiu’s mind.

The "change" that occurred in Baili Village twenty-one years ago, and all the events it had caused.

Twenty-one years ago, Feng Nantian had undergone a strange "transformation" in Baili Village. If Zheng Xiu hadn’t interfered with that "past," Feng Bei, Feng Nantian, the Treasure King, and Wei Chen would have all died there.

And the date of Gongsun Mo’s death was exactly one hundred years before the Baili Village massacre.

Exactly one hundred years.

’Is it... a coincidence?’

Zheng Xiu constantly wore his [Intuition]; he wouldn’t ignore this strange "nudge." Rather than believe this "one hundred years" was a coincidence, Zheng Xiu preferred to believe that it concealed some kind of... connection that he couldn’t yet comprehend.

Setting aside his doubts for the moment, Zheng Xiu asked Si Youqing to help prepare a few swift horses.

Now that the clues pointed to Yunliu Temple, they couldn’t let the lead go cold, regardless of whether the painting was actually there or not.

They would split up to investigate, unraveling the mystery thread by thread. Zheng Xiu felt as though he was drawing ever closer to the truth of the "Cannibal Painting," but for now, it remained shrouded in fog.

Zheng Xiu grew more and more curious. Who exactly was this Gongsun Mo who had lived for over a century? Who was Xie Luohe, the person buried with him? Who was "Xie Yunliu," the one who erected their cenotaph? And where was the real Gongsun Mo buried? Finally, who was the "Playful Monk" they still hadn’t found?

The "Playful Monk" clue was one Zheng Xiu had extracted from a blind man from the Incompleteness Tower by drugging him. And judging by how the Incompleteness Tower had tried everything to obstruct him, the "Playful Monk" lead was highly credible.

After regrouping, the four of them didn’t linger and immediately set out again on the journey to Yunliu Temple.

Yunliu Temple was about one hundred and twenty li from Yizhong County.

Ignoring the road conditions, it would take at least two days to walk.

This time they had plenty of time, so after a brief discussion, the group decided to travel by carriage.

As Yue Yan put it: she’d had more than enough of being jolted around on horseback for the past ten-odd days.

Zheng Xiu figured she’d had a painful lesson beaten into her backside and was deeply sympathetic.

Since they were taking a carriage to Yunliu Temple, Zheng Xiu no longer had to act as Feng Bei’s driver. Naturally, he found an excuse, saying he needed to investigate other matters and would rendezvous with them when they got closer to the temple.

Feng Bei looked at him with pleading eyes, asking to come along, but Zheng Xiu gently turned her down.

"By the way, Nephew Zheng."

Just before he left, Si Youqing pulled Zheng Xiu aside.

"There’s something that’s been bothering me."

"Please, Uncle Qing, go ahead."

"I was wondering... could the person who stole the scroll you’re looking for from Gongsun Mo’s tomb be a professional tomb raider?"

"Hm? And?"

"You may not know this, Nephew Zheng. As the saying goes, there are the official channels, and then there are the back channels..."

Si Youqing began to explain slowly.

According to him, when it came to anything related to "thieves," one had to mention a certain loose-knit organization—the Gentlemen’s Alliance.

The name "Gentlemen’s Alliance" might sound respectable, but in reality, it was a gathering of those who practiced professions that couldn’t see the light of day.