Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

The next day, before dawn, Xia Yu and her two companions went to the foot of the mountain behind the house and practiced their kung fu for an hour. Then they went to Liu's courtyard to have breakfast with her mother and aunt. They had white rice porridge, steamed buns, and dumplings. There were also two dishes of pickled vegetables made by Zhou Sao; their refreshing colors, red and green, looked very appetizing. Although the meal was simple, Xia Yu enjoyed it very much.

After the meal, Madam Liu arranged the work at home and in the workshop with Aunt Ma, while Aunt Liu returned to her courtyard to continue embroidering her dowry. Xia Yu was still thinking about the large pit that hadn't been sealed off yesterday, and felt uneasy about it. She thought it would be best to go up the mountain as soon as possible to seal it off.

Instead of using the back gate, the group of women carrying shovels went around to a secluded spot, leaped out, and knowing the gatekeeper would surely question them if he saw them with shovels.

They quickly arrived at the pit where the body had been dumped the day before. Just one glance at the scene inside made Xia Yu nearly vomit her breakfast. Nineteen, quick as a flash, pulled Xia Yu back rapidly, stopping only after they had retreated about seven or eight zhang (approximately 33-40 meters).

"Miss, you and Sister Danu wait here, I'll go seal the pit."

"Nineteen, I'm going. You...you wait here." The big girl who followed behind said, suppressing her nausea.

Seeing that her dark red face had turned pale, Nineteen knew that she, like her mistress, had never seen anything like this before and couldn't bear it.

"Sister Da Niu, don't be stubborn. Stay here and take care of the young lady. I'll go over there."

After saying that, he picked up the shovel in his hand and went over.

Although the scene in the pit was gruesome, Nineteen suppressed her nausea and carefully examined the area. She was startled by what she saw; the number of corpses inside was incorrect. Although they were all broken, the shredded cloth was only gray; there were no black pieces.

She lowered her head and thought for a while, somewhat puzzled. Yesterday, she clearly saw the gray-clad man's sword pierce the black-clad masked man's heart. At that depth, the black-clad man would have no chance of survival. Why was the body gone now? Could it be that his accomplices came and took his body back?

"Nineteen, what are you looking at? Why aren't you burying it yet?" Xia Yu, who was behind her, couldn't help but ask when she saw Nineteen looking down at something.

“Miss, there’s only the gray-clad man’s corpse inside, not the black-faced, masked one,” Nineteen said truthfully.

Upon hearing what Nineteen said, Xia Yu couldn't help but walk in that direction, wanting to see for herself.

“Miss, you’d better not come any closer. The corpses inside have been torn to pieces by wild beasts, but I haven’t found any pieces of black clothing here.” Nineteen’s words successfully stopped Xia Yu in her tracks. Having been together for several years, she believed Nineteen’s words.

"Could it be that he didn't die, and he crawled out on his own after we left?" Xia Yu suggested.

"No, I saw it clearly yesterday. The sword pierced his left chest. At that depth, he had no chance of survival," Nineteen said with absolute certainty.

"..." Xia Yu thought in silence for a while, but still couldn't figure out the key point.

"Forget it, we didn't hurt him at all yesterday. Whether he lives or dies is none of our business," Xia Yu said to Nineteen.

Suddenly, Nineteen leaned close to her and whispered in her ear.

“Miss, we didn’t hurt him, but we still have that letter he had on him! I’m worried that the letter might cause us trouble.”

If it weren't for Nineteen mentioning it, Xia Yu would have completely forgotten about the letter from yesterday. Only now did she remember that the gray-clad man's attempt to kill the black-clad man yesterday was also apparently related to that letter.

After thinking for a while, Xia Yu turned to Da Niu and called out.

"Hey girl, come here quickly, let's seal the pit."

The group worked together to quickly gather soil from the surrounding area and bury the dismembered body parts in the pit. After making sure they hadn't left anything behind, they grabbed their pickaxes and quickly left the area.

Fifteen minutes later, several people dressed in tight-fitting clothes walked along, looking down as they went. Soon, they arrived at the pit that Xia Yu had just sealed off.

"Boss, there are footprints here." One of them found a footprint covered in dirt on a tree trunk.

Hearing the shouts from below, the man went over and looked at the small footprint covered in mud on the tree trunk.

"Boss, it looks like a child's footprint. It's not even as big as my palm," said the subordinate who found the footprint.

"Hmm, that makes a lot of sense. Now, guess how old this child is?"

Hearing the leader's praise, the man seemed encouraged. He continued...

"I think he's at most eight or nine years old."

The man who was called "boss" didn't say whether what he said was right or wrong, but simply patted him on the shoulder and said...

"Good idea. Go look for any other children's footprints."

"Yes, boss, don't worry. I'm not only smart, but I also have sharp eyes. I guarantee I'll find them all for you." With that, he excitedly went off to look for the footprints.

The remaining few, though worried about their brother, shook their heads helplessly when they saw that he still couldn't understand what they were saying.

The leader ignored the man and, pointing at the obviously problematic pit, gave orders to the others.

"Dig it open."

Upon hearing their leader's instructions, the men each searched their bags for suitable tools.

Soon, each of them had a small shovel in their hands. If Xia Yu were here, she would definitely notice that the shovels they were holding were exactly the same as the military shovels sold on Taobao, except that their shovels were made of iron, and it was clear that they were quite old.

The group quickly dug the pit, and soon the dismembered remains at the bottom came into view. Ignoring the foul smell, they quickly cleaned the dirt off the remains.

After a while, the man who had dug the pit said to the leader standing above.

"Boss, Xiao Wu isn't here. These corpses all belong to the enemy."

Hearing him say that, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief.

The brother who was looking for footprints also felt heavy-hearted after seeing the fragments at the bottom of the pit. But when he heard that it wasn't his fifth brother's, he perked up again.

"Boss, I knew Fifth Brother wouldn't die so easily, so don't worry. Did Fifth Brother kill all these people?"

"It wasn't a pentakill," the person at the bottom of the pit said with certainty.

"What?"

The man at the bottom of the pit ignored him and instead looked at their leader.

“I just looked at them. Although a lot of their heads had been eaten away, there were many fine needles in the muscles of their faces. Xiao Wu doesn’t have a weapon like that. These people must have encountered another group of people and were killed. I just haven’t figured out who would kill them and then come back to bury the bodies.”