Tomb Raiding: My Family's Last Clan Chief is Little Brother

Chapter 386 Going to Nepal
This incident terrified everyone, and the commotion attracted the attention of various forces.

Ma Pingchuan had no choice but to give up. He moved all the ancestral coffins he could find to a new location and then used the excuse of a "dragon turning over" to block all news.

Years later, Ma Pingchuan suddenly remembered the letter one day and sent someone to deliver it to the address the child had given him, only to find that the Zhang family's huge mansion was already deserted.

According to locals, the Zhang family was once a prominent and low-profile family in the area, but for some unknown reason, they suddenly fell into decline and disappeared from public view.

After that incident, the Ma family, perhaps due to some disturbance at their ancestral graves, gradually declined.

After Ma Pingchuan's death, the Ma family descendants who inherited the family business moved to Nepal.

When Jin Wantang encountered descendants of the Ma family appraising ancient books, the Ma family had already completely declined and disappeared.

After telling the story, Jin Wantang poured himself a cup of tea to moisten his throat. "That's roughly how things went. If you want to investigate further, I don't think it's really necessary."

Zhang Wuxun tapped his knee lightly with his fingers. "You mean to say that the place called Ma'an from back then still exists?"

“Yes, yes, but I estimate that even if you go there, you won’t find any useful clues,” Jin Wantang said. “The subsequent content in that memoir was not actually written by Ma Pingchuan himself, but by Ma’s youngest son who later inherited the family business.”

“Ma Pingchuan himself did not die of old age. His death was very strange, which is why the Ma family moved away. If they hadn’t moved, the whole family would have died.”

Zhang Wuxun raised an eyebrow slightly. "What's so strange about it?"

"Eh~ If you want to know how strange it is, well, it's really creepy." Jin Wantang's expression changed. He looked outside and saw that there were no guests lingering at the door, so he went over and closed the door.

"If I say something, please don't laugh at me for being a coward, Third Master," Jin Wantang said, deliberately lowering his voice.

"That Ma Pingchuan died in the same way as those people back then, exactly the same way."

"In the end, he dug a hole and buried himself in it!"

Zhang Wuxun's fingers paused, and he asked in surprise, "You mean that Ma Pingchuan, like those soldiers who turned into bones back then, died on that desolate cemetery, and that he dug his own grave and buried himself in it?"

“Exactly!” Jin Wantang clapped his hands. “Tell me, isn’t this creepy?”

Zhang Wuxun frowned slightly and asked, "How did his family find him? When Ma Pingchuan was found, was he also just a skeleton?"

"Hey, you were right!" Jin Wantang muttered under his breath, "If you ask me, when the Ma family was dealing with that matter back then, they were already being watched by those underground guys."

Seeing Zhang Wuxun's puzzled expression, Jin Wantang said, "These are all my own deductions. Let me put it this way."

"The back of that book actually records that Ma Pingchuan kept several large dogs, one in each yard. Ever since the Scorpion Tomb incident, Ma Pingchuan has kept several wolfhounds, supposedly to guard the house, but actually to prevent strange things from happening."

"Everything was peaceful until one winter nineteen years later, when Ma Pingchuan was dying of tuberculosis."

"One night, it snowed heavily, which is a once-in-a-century event in the Jianghuai region. The temperature dropped sharply, and the lake water froze."

"When Ma Pingchuan's sons went to see him in the morning, they found that their sickly father, who should have been lying in bed with no cure, had suddenly disappeared, and the bedroom door was wide open."

At first, the Ma family thought that their father had suddenly become lucid before death and wanted to go out for a stroll, to see the family business he had accumulated over the years, and to put an end to his last wish.

Then, the observant second daughter-in-law noticed that her father-in-law's shoes, which were placed by the bed, were still there, without any signs of being touched. If he really wanted to go out for a walk, he would have to put on his shoes. When she touched the quilt, it was completely cold, which meant that the old man had been gone for a long time.

The family was now in a panic, thinking that some enemy had kidnapped their father in the middle of the night. This was no small matter.
The three sons hurriedly tried to chase after them, but just then a servant came to report that the dogs tied up in the yard were not eating their food or bones, and were just barking in one direction.

Upon hearing this, the two older sons of the Ma family looked at each other and immediately had a bad feeling.

Actually, when the incident happened at the ancestral graves, although they were young, they still knew some of the general situation. Only their youngest son was not yet born at that time and knew nothing about those things. The others at home were also ordered to keep quiet by Ma Pingchuan.

The two older sons of the Ma family were worried. When they went out to look in the direction the dog was barking, they felt a chill in their hearts. Sure enough, there was a problem with that cemetery from before. Their father was probably in grave danger this time.

After a brief discussion, the group decided they still had to go and check on him; they couldn't just leave their father to die in the dead of winter.

Just in case, they left Ma Pingchuan's youngest son behind, and then took the man and the dog up the mountain.

Just as the Zhang family child had described, that place was barren, littered with corpses. The bones of many stray cats, dogs, and livestock that had died of disease were piled up haphazardly in the pit. Children who were too poor to raise or who had died young were also thrown into the sinkhole that had collapsed years ago.

Over the past two decades, that place has been completely reduced to a mass grave.

As soon as the Ma family's wolfhounds arrived at that spot, they would take off and rush into the pit, barking as they went. The sound coming from their throats was completely different; it didn't sound like dogs barking at all, but more like the low growl of some strange wild beast.

The dogs went completely mad, struggling desperately, their necks were even broken by the iron chains, but they didn't budge, and even tried to pounce on the servants who were holding the chains.

The Ma family had no choice but to order the dogs to be unchained. The dogs immediately rushed into the center of the pit and began frantically digging at the soil.

Although it's in the south, the soil still freezes in winter, especially after it rained. This low-lying area has accumulated a lot of rainwater, which causes the surface to freeze, trapping everything inside the pit.

In addition, a heavy snow fell last night, and the ice layer in that funnel-shaped pit is now completely covered by snow.

The dogs' paws were worn raw, and they hadn't dug much open. Exhausted, they collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth.

The Ma family knew there was something strange about the spot the dog had dug, so they sent their servants down to drag the dog away. Then, armed with shovels and picks, they used a combination of knocking and smashing to finally clear out a large chunk of snow and the remains from the center of the funnel-shaped pit.

However, to their utter surprise, what was exposed beneath the ice was none other than Ma Pingchuan!
More precisely, it was Ma Pingchuan's corpse, and his face, frozen solid in the ice, wrinkled and pressed tightly against the ice surface.

The Ma family was terrified. How could a perfectly healthy person end up under the ice?
Moreover, some observant people noticed that Ma Pingchuan's body was initially face down, but when they smashed the ice, the vibration caused by the impact revealed that some water beneath the ice was not completely frozen. Ma Pingchuan's body then flipped over and floated naked in the water, without any clothes on.

The Ma family broke through the ice and pulled Ma Pingchuan's body out, only to find that it was just a human skin—yes, human skin wrapped around a skeleton.

Like the soldiers who disappeared back then, Ma Pingchuan also turned into bones.

The Ma family dared not publicize the matter. In a hurry, they took Ma Pingchuan's remains back. They did not dare to bury them directly, so they simply set a fire and burned them to ashes. Afterward, they put the ashes in a box and buried them in the relocated ancestral grave.

They thought the matter would end there, but in the following days, one misfortune after another befell the Ma family. First, the eldest son, who had inherited the business, and his family of three—wife and child—disappeared overnight.

Most importantly, the dogs that were tied up in the yard have also disappeared.

They searched high and low but couldn't find the eldest son's family. The next morning, they discovered that the second son's family was also missing.

The youngest son was only a teenager at the time, and he was also the most clever of Ma Pingchuan's three sons. After thinking it over, he finally felt that the problem lay with the cemetery. However, he was also afraid that if he went there, he would not be able to come back either, and what would happen to the huge family business?

So he spent a lot of money to hire some of his experienced servants who were in dire need of money to go to the funnel pit.

Upon arrival, they found that the two sons of the Ma family and their family members were soaking in ice, their deaths exactly the same as Ma Pingchuan's, with several wolfhounds lying nearby as if they were being buried alive with him.

Everyone was terrified, believing that something must have gone wrong when the Ma family was disturbing the ancient tomb, and this was the retribution that had befallen them.

In the following days, fresh corpses appeared in the funnel pit every day, all of them servants who had been in contact with the place before.

Now, everyone panicked, and the remaining servants of the Ma family all fled for their lives within a few days.

The youngest son of the Ma family had no choice but to sell his family property at a low price and move to Nepal with his remaining sisters.

After Jin Wantang finished speaking, he barely dared to breathe, "Third Master, if you really want to investigate, there are plenty of channels available. Just don't be stubborn and get yourself involved."

Zhang Wuxun tapped the table lightly with his fingertips, pondered for a while, and said, "I think these subsequent events were more like something that was deliberately orchestrated."

"Huh?" Jin Wantang asked in confusion, "How did you know?"

"Isn't the intention obvious?" Zhang Wuxun curled the corner of his mouth. "The people behind this are pushing too hard. If it really is something under the cemetery causing trouble, then why didn't those people who were present at the time die in the funnel pit at the same time as the two sons of the Ma family?"

"Moreover, don't forget that the old people who participated in that incident with Ma Pingchuan back then didn't explain what they did after Ma Pingchuan died."

“From beginning to end, this whole thing is clearly an attempt to urge the Ma family to move away from that place as soon as possible. There must be someone behind this, deliberately using what happened back then to scare the Ma family so that they have no time to think about the suspicious points and have to move immediately.”

"The person behind the scenes must be related to the Ma family. Or we can speculate that Ma Pingchuan did not leave the Scorpion Tomb empty-handed as he claimed."

"There must be something strange about the person who took over the Ma family ancestral home at the end of the year."

Why did they take over a place that everyone else avoids? It must have been premeditated.

After listening to Zhang Wuxun's analysis, Jin Wantang stared blankly with his mouth agape for a long time before finally letting out a soft "Holy crap!"

"So all that was going on was just someone deliberately playing tricks to scare people!"

Zhang Wuxun nodded. "Have you inquired about the surname of the person who ultimately took over the Ma family mansion back then?"

Jin Wantang hissed, "This...this...I really haven't inquired about this. If you hadn't said all this today, I wouldn't have considered it as a human being at all. I thought it was some kind of ghost or spirit attack or revenge."

"Young Master, you've gone to so much trouble to come all this way, and I, Old Jin, haven't been able to help much at all..."

Zhang Wuxun sighed, "It's alright, I'll go to Nepal myself and find out where the descendants of the Ma family are now."

"Oh dear, when I first met him, he was living in the Jiangsu area. I don't know if he's still there, but I have an acquaintance there who can help you inquire." Jin Wantang said before making a phone call.

He returned shortly after and said, "I've already sent someone to inquire. Young Master, why don't you leave me your contact information? Whether you find out or not, I'll let you know, okay?"

"Okay, thank you very much, Mr. Jin."

Zhang Wuxun put away the Tibetan prayer beads, stood up, and placed the ivory thumb ring and a check on the table. "I've troubled you a lot today. I have other matters to attend to, so I won't stay any longer. Goodbye."

Jin Wantang cheerfully saw him off, "Take care, Third Master. Let me know next time you come, and I'll treat you to a meal."

Zhang Wuxun smiled and agreed, waved his hand, and went out the door to get a car and head straight to the airport.

Zhang Wuxun acted swiftly, arriving in Nepal before some people in the shadows could react.

Nepal's winters are very cold, with biting winds that seem to pierce your heart.

Located on the southern slopes of the central Himalayas, this area is characterized by its high altitude and is known as a "mountain kingdom".

The Ma family's house in Bhaktapur, Nepal, is easy to find, located near Durbar Square. It seems that after moving away from Ma'an, the Ma family managed to make a comeback for a while, relying on their remaining assets and the shrewdness of the person in charge.

Even in the cold winter, people sit and bask in the sun on the steps in front of the pagoda and temple. Vendors' stalls surround the temple, displaying various kinds of firewood and charcoal, as well as daily necessities, and items such as rubies, coral, and crystals.

Most of these vendors could speak a few short English phrases that were enough for basic communication. When they saw Zhang Wuxun, this unusual new face, and his expensive-looking clothes, they all enthusiastically came over to introduce their stalls.

Zhang Wuxun glanced around and spotted an antique stall tucked away in a corner of the temple steps. He walked over, looked at it, pointed to one of the older thangka paintings, and asked how much it cost.

The vendor sitting at the stall was completely wrapped in a large felt coat, his head buried in the thick, long fur collar. He looked like a skinny bear, all dusty and gray. While the other vendors were enthusiastically hawking their wares, he was huddled in a corner, dozing off.

Zhang Wuxun raised his voice and asked again.

The vendor slowly raised his head, glanced at him listlessly, and said lazily, "Two hundred rupees."

My eyes have been acting up these past couple of days. My left eye is inflamed and swollen, and my right eye is dry and sore. The doctor told me to reduce my screen time and I can't stay up late anymore. I'll be updating at 7 AM from now on.

Thank you to [不念] for the generous donation. Sending love and goodnight.

(Next, the fish will meet an acquaintance in Nepal. Guess who it will be?)

(End of this chapter)