"Good heavens, this is the first I've heard of tomb raiding having factions."
"Is that name really that long? 'Nine Gates Construction Resource Protection Exorcism Group' – does anyone actually pick such a ridiculously stupid name?"
"Ahead, haven't you heard of the saying, 'an inch long, an inch strong'?"
"Holy cow, I just checked online, and this group actually exists! It's in Longteng Mountain!"
"What the heck is Longteng Mountain?"
"Longteng Mountain seems to be the former Qingming Mountain, just renamed."
The interrogation room was incredibly noisy.
Especially Zhang Tian's group's name, which attracted the attention of countless people.
On the internet, it directly sparked a frenzy.
"Good heavens, what's the relationship between 'Nine Gates' and 'Construction'?"
"Ahead, you can understand it as: Construction = funds for donating cultural relics, Resources = donated cultural relics, Protection = protection of cultural relics, Exorcism = eradicating demons."
"Good heavens, it's a full-service operation."
"Damn, now that you put it that way, no wonder the Nine Gates have been around for so long, from the last century to this one. It turns out there's a reason for their existence."
"Ahead, the internet, people want to see what they want to see. We were all brainwashed by public opinion before, thinking the Nine Gates were just tomb robbers, but we never considered why they've existed for so long."
"I heard there are Nine Gates groups abroad too."
"Hahaha, they're in every country. There are no more burial mounds abroad."
The internet was in an uproar, and with someone investigating, the entire group was exposed.
Chen Xi quickly took out her phone and started searching for this Nine Gates Group.
As soon as she opened her browser, it was already on the hot search.
"'Nine Gates Construction Resource Protection Exorcism Group' has always cooperated with official bodies, silently donating cultural relics, and engaging in folk activities such as Taoism and exorcism."
"Famous deeds include entering the Jiuzhou Dragon Mausoleum and donating over a thousand cultural relics, entering the Jingjue Ancient City to search for Princess Loulan..."
Deed after deed appeared before Chen Xi.
She was dumbfounded.
A moment ago, wasn't the Nine Gates a gang of tomb robbers? How did they get their group whitewashed in the blink of an eye?
If Old Dog Wu saw this, he would definitely exclaim, "An expert!"
Chen Xi looked at Zhang Tian again. At this moment, in her eyes, Zhang Tian inexplicably radiated a light like the goddess Athena.
Chen Xi rubbed her eyes, feeling strange that she was hallucinating.
The scene continued.
Zhang Tian led Fatty and Hu Bayi towards the courtyard house.
"How's your cultivation coming along?"
Zhang Tian asked.
"Boss, that Ban Shan Daoist's tomb-finding techniques are truly superb. If I cultivate for a few more days, my understanding of tombs might improve further," Hu Bayi said softly, his hoarse voice reaching Zhang Tian's ears.
Zhang Tian looked at Fatty.
"Boss, Fatty cultivates every day. You can ask Feifei if you don't believe me! I'm exhausted every night."
Fatty had a look of pain on his face.
Zhang Tian: "???"
Cultivating at night too? Could it be...
Instantly, Zhang Tian made a knowing expression and didn't ask Fatty anymore.
Soon, they returned to the courtyard house.
During their walk, people on the street would say hello.
Quite a few people recognized Zhang Tian.
Opening the door, he saw two people sitting under a willow tree.
Zhang Qilin was sitting under the willow tree, drinking a can of beer.
Tuan Tuan, on the other hand, sat beside him looking wronged.
It looked as if they had argued.
"Boss, Second Brother seems to be sulking."
"It must be that fox's doing. Fatty will go scold her in a bit."
Fatty grumbled indignantly, speaking up for Zhang Qilin.
Zhang Tian didn't say much and walked over directly.
"What's going on?"
Zhang Tian asked.
"Nothing," Zhang Qilin replied with two words, his expression still normal, but he finished his beer in one gulp.
Then he slowly stood up.
"I'm going to try alchemy."
With that, he slowly walked into his room. Zhang Tian and Fatty squinted at the little fox sitting under the willow tree, blinking her eyes, looking dejected.
"What's going on?"
Zhang Tian asked.
"Wuwu, Daddy, did Tuan Tuan do something wrong? To make Grandpa happy, Tuan Tuan deliberately lost to Grandpa for a whole night, about ninety games of chess!"
Tuan Tuan said, and Zhang Tian's face turned green.
Good heavens, losing one game wasn't enough, you lost ninety games? That would surely infuriate Zhang Qilin.
Teaching for an entire night and losing for an entire night, such a genius disciple was truly rare.
Anyone would be upset in this situation.
"As expected of you."
Zhang Tian gave him a thumbs-up.
At this moment, he could already imagine his father being so excited he couldn't sleep.
At this time, in the Zhang family's antique shop.
"Ancestor, do you know? Your descendant, I, won ninety games of chess against Qilin."
"This is so satisfying. Next time, I'll bring him here to play chess, with you all as witnesses, how about that?"
Zhang Yufei looked at the three or four plaques, his face full of excitement.
Thinking about beating Zhang Qilin for an entire night made Zhang Yufei so happy he couldn't sleep.
He ran to report to his ancestors first thing in the morning.
The next moment, the other three plaques that hadn't shattered yet shattered in response to Zhang Yufei's words.
At the same time, the incense burner on the table even cracked.
Ashes filled the air, covering Zhang Yufei in dust.
Zhang Yufei was stunned.
"Mm, I know, you are all very happy, so happy you've shattered."
"We can actually be a bit more low-key."
Zhang Yufei said, and the plaques immediately all fell onto the table.
As if in silent protest, Zhang Yufei was bewildered. Were the ancestors this happy?
In the courtyard house, Zhang Tian called out the Daoist Master Yi Mei.
He also asked for his alchemy furnace.
Previously, Daoist Master Yi Mei had given Zhang Qilin an alchemy furnace, but Zhang Qilin hadn't accepted it. However, now that Zhang Qilin wanted to practice alchemy, how could he do without a furnace?
Then, Zhang Tian, carrying the furnace, knocked on Zhang Qilin's door.
"Here, you can't practice alchemy without a furnace."
Zhang Tian said, and the next moment he was stunned.
He saw Zhang Qilin had procured a pot and was throwing medicinal herbs into it.
"Hmm? Can't I use a pot?"
His voice came, still as usual.
But it somehow sounded a bit dazed.
Zhang Tian...
Good heavens, who did he learn this from?
Instead of learning good things, he learned bad ones.
"Uh, I don't know if firewood will work, but you can use this for now."
Zhang Tian said, handing over the alchemy furnace.
This was an ancient bronze alchemy furnace, with some ash on it. Zhang Tian had a feeling it was just a randomly found ashes-covered cauldron from a Taoist temple.
Zhang Qilin nodded and gently took it.
"Okay, you try making it, I won't disturb you."
With that, Zhang Tian walked out.
In this era, there were no gas stoves, so even using a pressure cooker for alchemy was probably not feasible.
Outside, Fatty was arguing with the little fox.
Fatty was clearly losing to the little fox and was at a disadvantage.
"Uh, next time, when you play chess with my dad, remember not to let him win. Play to your actual skill level."
Zhang Tian said helplessly.
The little fox lowered her head and could only nod.
"Tuan Tuan just wanted Grandpa to be happy."
She mumbled.
Zhang Tian's face was full of dark lines; his family status was about to decline again.
"Just do your best, don't try to cater to anyone specifically," Zhang Tian said again.
"Okay, tonight, I'll play chess with Grandpa and win all night."
Tuan Tuan clenched her little fists, and Zhang Tian broke out in a cold sweat.
His father was in for some trouble...