My Partner Always Wants to Dig My Grave - Chapter 18.1

The archaeologists stood on the flattened patch of cornfield, holding instruments as they surveyed the area. Their expressions grew increasingly excited, and one of them turned to Guan Yue beside them.

“Professor Guan, this is definitely the spot. The soil composition changes beneath this area, it’s highly likely that the ancient tomb we’re searching for is right here.”

Hearing this, Guan Yue’s furrowed brow, tense from anxiously awaiting the results, relaxed slightly. She adjusted the straw hat shielding her from the sun and smiled with relief.

“When Si Wan and the others messaged me last night, I was skeptical. Who would have thought that while they were out for a meal, they’d stumble upon the actual location of the tomb?”

As she spoke, Guan Yue caught sight of a slender, distinct figure approaching from the corner of her eye. After exchanging a few words and gestures with her colleagues, she waved and walked toward Si Wan.

“I heard you fainted. How are you feeling now?”

At Guan Yue’s question, fragments of the dream Si Wan had during her unconscious state flashed through her mind, a figure whose face remained frustratingly obscured. Most unsettlingly, Sheng Zhen had not appeared in that dream. Who, then, was the person she had dreamed of?

The thoughts brought a faint throbbing pain to her head. Si Wan’s brows furrowed slightly, though she showed no outward signs of distress. The sharp discomfort faded as quickly as it had come.

Collecting herself, Si Wan calmly replied, “I’m much better now.”

Though the sun had only just risen, the oppressive heat was already overwhelming, the scorching air enough to make one’s head spin.

Guan Yue studied Si Wan’s expression for a moment longer, sensing something amiss. After a brief internal debate, she finally realized what was different as she fanned herself with a small handheld fan, seeking relief from the sweltering heat.

Just as Si Wan was about to step toward the cornfield, Guan Yue’s intense gaze became impossible to ignore. With a resigned sigh, Si Wan asked, “What is it now?”

Guan Yue continued fanning herself, though the breeze provided little relief from the stifling heat. She scrutinized Si Wan from head to toe, her expression shifting from suspicion to disappointment as she sighed and remarked, “Why aren’t you giving off that cold air anymore?”

Si Wan fell silent for a long moment, her gaze involuntarily drifting to the space beside her, as if someone ought to have been standing there. For years, she had caught herself doing this, despite Guan Yue being the only person relatively close to her. It felt as though, from the earliest moments she could remember, she had been waiting for someone.

Though she didn’t believe in ghosts or deities, and Sheng Zhen’s appearance had been nothing more than an anomaly to her, she also rejected the notion of fate. Whenever a hazy, fog-shrouded figure surfaced in her memories, she dismissed it as a trick of her mind, a fragment of scrambled recollection.

Yet now, that persistently vague figure in her memories began to merge with the image of someone clad in vibrant red. The realization left her momentarily dazed and disoriented.

She thought of Sheng Zhen, but that presence was no longer by her side. A hollow feeling settled in her chest, not painful, but undeniably strange.

Si Wan forcibly ignored the strange feeling in her heart and cast an indifferent glance at Guan Yue, who was staring at her with keen interest as if studying something, then spoke without mercy.

“I’m human.”

Although Guan Yue had previously suspected that Si Wan was possessed by a ghost, she herself wasn’t afraid of such things. For her, novelty outweighed fear, and besides, ghosts were natural cooling devices in the summer. Now that it was gone, she actually missed that unknown ghost a little.

Si Wan paid no further attention to Guan Yue’s slightly disappointed expression and took the notebook with the recorded data, lowering her gaze slightly to examine what was written inside.

Guan Yue chuckled beside her, then spoke with a hint of teasing.

“Why do you look like you just lost your significant other?”

Hearing Guan Yue’s joke, Si Wan’s hand paused abruptly. She shot her a sidelong glance and replied coldly and seriously.

“I don’t have a significant other.”

Listening to her earnest tone, Guan Yue secretly laughed to herself and waved her hand dismissively.

“Alright, alright. It’s just that you’ve been looking so down today.”

At Guan Yue’s words, Si Wan froze for a moment.

Even she hadn’t realized that Sheng Zhen’s departure could already affect her mood.

Taking advantage of Si Wan’s daze, Guan Yue snatched the notebook from her hands and waved a hand in front of her face.

“What’s with the spacing out again? This isn’t like you. Tell me the truth, did you secretly get into a relationship and then get dumped?”

In response to Guan Yue’s absurd and bold speculation, Si Wan still denied it coldly.

“No.”

Guan Yue then dropped her teasing expression and returned to a serious demeanor. Gazing at the people working in the cornfield, she asked Si Wan, “How did you know the tomb entrance was here?”

Si Wan thought for a moment before giving a half-truthful answer.

“Last night, when we came here, someone fell and flattened this patch of corn. That’s when I noticed something off about the soil here.”

Guan Yue didn’t doubt Si Wan’s words and smiled.

“You’re quite lucky.”

Song Yan walked over, nodded politely to Guan Yue, and then said to Si Wan, “Professor Si, based on the current situation, it seems that a landslide occurred many years ago, burying the tomb deeper underground. That’s why the villagers here never noticed anything unusual and cultivated the land above it.”

Every ancient tomb has existed for hundreds or even thousands of years. Over time, its geographical location has long since changed from its original state.

“Can we confirm the tomb’s entrance?” Si Wan asked.

Their main task now was to locate the entrance and investigate the interior to determine if there were any signs of tomb raiding.

Song Yan sighed and shook her head.

“Not for now.”

Guan Yue furrowed her brow at this, expressing concern.

“That makes things difficult. We’ll need to arrange for these crops to be cleared, and we still don’t know how large this tomb is.”

If the tomb belonged to someone of high status and rank, its scale would not be small, it would likely be even larger. As for its exact size, they could only make a preliminary judgment based on historical records.

Si Wan narrowed her eyes, scanning her surroundings before her gaze inexplicably settled on a particular spot, where she stared intently for a long while.

Just as Guan Yue was about to ask Si Wan what she planned to do, she noticed the other woman zoning out again. As Guan Yue raised her hand to wave it in front of Si Wan’s face, a clamor of voices suddenly erupted from the distance.

Then, they saw a dense crowd surging across the fields, armed with various farming tools, some even carrying kitchen knives, all charging toward them with aggressive intent.

Before Guan Yue could even open her mouth to ask, a torrent of curses rained down on them. A sturdy man at the forefront pointed at them and snarled viciously, “It’s you lot! Not only did you steal the foundation I hired people to dig, but now you’re trying to take over my land too.”

Si Wan looked at them, her expression showing no trace of fear or any intention to back down. She spoke earnestly, “It might not just be yours.”

Her unexpectedly straightforward reply made Guan Yue break into a cold sweat for her. Before Guan Yue could explain, she was interrupted again.

Among the crowd were onlookers who had initially been there just for the spectacle, as the matter hadn’t involved them directly. They had been mere bystanders, but in just a moment, Si Wan’s words had dragged them into the fray, turning them from spectators into the ones being scrutinized.

Their eyes widened in fury, and they shouted angrily, “We had no idea you educated folks were in the business of stealing others’ land. If we’d known, we would’ve beaten you to death long ago!”

Hearing their threatening, insult-laden words, the archaeologists, who had never experienced anything like this, turned pale with fear. Seeing the gleaming knives and farming tools in the villagers’ hands, they trembled uncontrollably, terrified that the mob might actually use those tools to kill them right there.

Listening to their jeers, Si Wan’s brow furrowed even more tightly. Her gaze swept over them coolly, yet an inexplicably sharp aura sent chills down their spines.

Under her piercing stare, the crowd’s clamor quieted for a moment. But then, someone shouted, “What’s there to be afraid of?! They’re just a bunch of book-smart weaklings who can’t even lift a finger! With so many of us, they won’t stand a chance!”

Emboldened by this remark, their aggressive energy surged once more, completely ignoring Guan Yue’s frantic attempts to explain.

“Fellow villagers, please calm down! Let me say a few words. We’ve discovered an ancient tomb complex here, and because we need to excavate it, we have no choice but to requisition the village’s land. For this, we will report to the authorities-”

Before Guan Yue could finish her sentence, someone from the crowd raised a hoe and swung it down at her. Before she could react, a firm hand grabbed her and pulled her back with undeniable force, narrowly avoiding the dirt-caked hoe.

Staring at the hoe now embedded in the ground, Guan Yue’s heart raced with fear. She patted her chest in relief and muttered under her breath, “Thank goodness, thank goodness. I almost ended up dying far from home.”

Seeing that Guan Yue still had the presence of mind to joke, Si Wan couldn’t help but glance at her before pulling her aside and saying, “Be careful. Let me handle this.”