My Partner Always Wants to Dig My Grave - Chapter 43

A series of unexpected events made Si Wan realize that tonight was destined to be sleepless.

By the time Si Wan brought people to the excavation site of the ancient tomb, the area was already crowded. Under the pale moonlight, the smell of charcoal from the bonfire mingled with a nauseating stench of blood.

The villagers, who had ignored all warnings, not only troubled the police but also increased the workload of the archaeologists.

Guan Yue, who had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, was already in a foul mood. Now, as she watched the crowd gathered around the tomb with makeshift bonfires, looking eerily like some cult ritual in the dark, her irritation grew.

She glanced over, kicked the blood-stained soil on the ground with disdain, and frowned as she spoke sharply.

“What are they doing? What are they splashing? Why does it smell so foul?”

Liu Yaoyao, who had followed them, answered Guan Yue’s question in a hushed voice.

“Black dog blood.”

Hearing this, Guan Yue’s drowsiness vanished instantly. She scowled deeply, crossed her arms, and shot a contemptuous glare at the frenzied people splashing the blood, sneering.

“Did they learn this from some ghost movie? Even if there were ghosts, they wouldn’t be able to see them.”

As she spoke, Guan Yue glanced at Si Wan, as if remembering something, and lowered her voice to ask her.

“That, um… is the tomb’s owner okay?”

Si Wan withdrew her gaze from the crowd and replied calmly.

“She’s fine.”

As soon as Si Wan finished speaking, Sheng Zhen’s hand naturally slipped into hers again. The effortless intimacy had made Si Wan forget to pull away.

“It’s probably that so-called ‘semi-immortal’ who told them to do this. Even though he’s likely still in custody, rumors of hauntings started spreading not long ago, and it eventually turned into the idea that the ghost came from the tomb.”

Guan Yue nodded thoughtfully, casting a meaningful glance at Si Wan as she murmured.

“That’s certainly true.”

Si Wan frowned slightly, lost in thought, and asked.

“When did the rumors start?”

Liu Yaoyao hadn’t paid much attention to this question, but when Si Wan asked, she thought back and hesitantly replied.

“I think it was the day after you left my house, Professor Si. Suddenly, the village was buzzing with the rumors…”

At this point, Liu Yaoyao seemed to recall something and added.

“Every time I came from the village to this area, I ran into that fraud performing exorcism rituals at different households. I vaguely overheard him discussing matters related to the tomb.”

Hearing Liu Yaoyao’s words, Si Wan was certain: Ma Banxian was deliberately misleading the villagers, making them believe the rumors so that Sheng Zhen, by her side, would lose control and be driven away from her.

Song Yan frowned and asked.

“Professor, what should we do now?”

With so many people, even if they were arrested for causing a disturbance, they wouldn’t learn their lesson, instead, they’d only grow more reckless.

After a moment of contemplation, Si Wan calmed down and looked at them indifferently, speaking coldly.

“So, they’re splashing blood? Let them. As long as they don’t sneak into the tomb, it’s fine.”

Sheng Zhen hovered beside Si Wan, arms crossed, her expression detached as she watched the villagers’ bizarre behavior. She remarked.

“What happens above ground is none of my concern. I only make decisions about what happens inside the tomb.”

Her voice turned icy and menacing by the end, as a cold wind swept through, extinguishing the floating embers in the air.

Si Wan, standing nearby, caught the underlying meaning in Sheng Zhen’s words. She glanced at Sheng Zhen with surprise, then her eyes turned cold as she spoke in a low, stern voice to Nian Nian, who had just approached without having spoken yet.

“Someone went down.”

Nian Nian paused upon seeing Si Wan’s severe expression, then frowned and asked in confusion, “Professor Si, who went down where?”

Si Wan pressed her lips into a thin line, her gaze fixed on the only entrance to the tomb, and replied coldly, “Into the tomb.”

Hearing this, the others showed astonishment on their faces. Song Yan hesitated before saying, “That can’t be. Are they really that bold?”

Nian Nian, however, grew serious upon hearing this and said, “It’s not impossible. After all, it’s still the middle of the night, and they deliberately caused a commotion here. We don’t have that many people with us.”

In short, it was possible they hadn’t noticed.

Nian Nian looked at Si Wan and asked, “But how are you so sure, Professor Si?”

Si Wan couldn’t explain that she had a female ghost by her side. At this moment, Guan Yue noticed Si Wan’s dilemma and stepped forward, pushing Nian Nian and urging, “Don’t worry about that. Si Wan has her own ways of knowing. If you don’t get those people to leave soon, we can’t guarantee whether the person who went down into the tomb without permission is alive or dead.”

Nian Nian’s expression shifted slightly. “You’re going down at this late hour?”

“The tomb is dark anyway, day or night. Ah, don’t worry about it.” Guan Yue replied.

Nian Nian thought for a long moment before saying, “But I must ensure your safety.”

Si Wan turned to Song Yan and said, “Hurry and prepare the equipment. We don’t need too many people; just the few of us will be enough.”

Song Yan acknowledged and went with Liu Yao Yao to gather the supplies.

However, Sheng Zhen was not pleased with Si Wan’s decision. “Si Wan, is a greedy person worth saving?”

Si Wan lowered her gaze, her emotions unreadable. “Nan An, to be honest, I have no intention of saving anyone. I just don’t want your belongings to be recklessly damaged by others.”

Si Wan was no saint. Saving people wasn’t her responsibility, and it went without saying that the person who went down was after Sheng Zhen’s burial goods.

As archaeologists, they despised such people the most.

Hearing Si Wan’s response, Sheng Zhen seemed somewhat satisfied, though her eyes remained cold and her expression haughty. “This consort can help you, but you must promise to go to a place with me after we come out, regardless of whether it still exists after a thousand years.”

“What place?” Si Wan asked.

No matter what place it was, after a thousand years, even if it still existed in the world, it would have changed to some extent.

But since these words came from Sheng Zhen, Si Wan couldn’t help but feel a stir in her heart.

Since Sheng Zhen had come into her life, she had appeared as a ghost with no desires or attachments, her only lingering thought being that general.

Thus, the place Sheng Zhen mentioned was likely connected to that general.

At this thought, Si Wan clenched her hand slightly. The pain in her palm momentarily overshadowed the dull ache in her heart. When she looked at Sheng Zhen again, the turmoil in her eyes held emotions even she couldn’t decipher.

Si Wan knew she could refuse Sheng Zhen, but if she did, they might never find the person once they entered the tomb.

“A temple. There is something I hid there.”

What could possibly drive a princess who lacked nothing to hide something?

Si Wan looked at her and finally managed a faint smile, saying,
“Alright.”

As her words fell, a thick scent of blood assaulted the air, and a figure rushed toward her, only for her to sidestep and evade it.

“Why dodge? I just thought you were acting strange and wanted to help ward off any evil spirits.”

Si Wan’s icy gaze followed the figure to the bloodstains on the ground. She raised a hand to restrain the furious Sheng Zhen, her voice calm but clear enough for those approaching to hear.

“I know you’ve all listened to that so-called ‘half-immortal’ and are using these methods to drive out evil spirits. But without even a glimpse of a ghost, you’ve decided that one has emerged from the tomb. Gathering here to light fires recklessly constitutes arson, and splashing blood everywhere violates the law by endangering public safety. Such actions can land you in prison.”

The villagers listened to Si Wan’s lengthy explanation. Though they didn’t understand most of it, they grasped the last sentence clearly. Those still holding blood hesitated, exchanging uneasy glances.

“We saw it, right beside you!” someone shouted angrily, pointing at Si Wan.

Si Wan’s expression remained unchanged. For some reason, the person pointing at her felt a pang of guilt, and their aggressive demeanor faltered.

“I hope you trust in science. But since you insist there’s a ghost beside me, point out exactly where it is. Otherwise, I’ll charge you with deliberate slander.”

Most of them had only heard rumors, mostly from the mouth of Ma the “Half-Immortal.” Not a single one of them had actually seen a ghost.

They began to hesitate, but one person stubbornly continued pointing at Si Wan.

“Isn’t it right…”

Before the person could finish speaking, they suddenly felt something sticky splatter across their face and cried out in shock,
“What are you doing?!”

The one who had smeared blood on their face wore a terrified expression, but their voice was eerily sinister.
“Weren’t you looking for me?”

Witnessing this bizarre behavior, the others nearby immediately scattered, screaming in fear and throwing the remaining blood at him.

“He’s possessed by a ghost!”

The man couldn’t control himself and could only watch helplessly as he was drenched in blood. The overwhelming metallic smell pushed him to the brink of collapse.

Out of the corner of her eye, Si Wan glanced at Sheng Zhen beside her. Sheng Zhen smiled back as if nothing that had just happened had anything to do with her.

Noticing the commotion, Guan Yue, worried that Si Wan might be at a disadvantage, quickly pulled Nian Nian back. She glared at the villagers, then glanced at the unconscious man lying on the ground, drenched in blood. Gripping Nian Nian’s hand tighter, she spoke indignantly,

“We don’t care if you splash blood on each other, but what you’re doing is interfering with our work, obstructing state affairs.”

“Nonsense!”

They stepped over the person lying on the ground, and one of them retorted defiantly,
“We’re just trying to help ward off evil spirits. How is that wrong?”

Faced with their shamelessness, Guan Yue was fuming. She pointed at them and said,
“If you’d just watch some science programs on TV, you wouldn’t be so superstitious! And look what you’ve done, splashing blood all over someone like this.”

Si Wan stopped Guan Yue, her eyes cold and unwavering. Standing firm against dozens of people, she spoke with reason and authority,
“We have no way of knowing if what you’re carrying contains viruses. We have every right to sue you for intentional harm.”

As she spoke, Si Wan adjusted the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose. Behind the lenses, her eyes carried an endless chill, and the unintentional pressure she exuded made one’s heart tremble.

Her gaze swept over them unhurriedly before she spoke.

“Given your earlier slander against me, I see no reason to let you off now.”

Nian Nian stood nearby, smiling gently. Yet the words she spoke, paired with her uniform, made the villagers immediately drop what they were holding.

“Intentional injury, obstruction of official duties, defamation, when you add it all up, the charges are quite serious. But rest assured, as representatives of justice, we in the police force will not overlook a single person involved in this organized activity.”

Hearing Nian Nian’s words, the villagers’ hands trembled. They wanted to argue, but the earlier events had proven that there was no ghost beside Si Wan, leaving them at a loss for words. They could only try to appeal to emotion.

“There’s a ghost here! Shouldn’t you, as police officers, protect us first?”

Si Wan’s voice was cold as she retorted,

“What ghost?”

Not expecting Si Wan to deny it, they immediately pointed at the person lying on the ground.

“Didn’t you see it with your own eyes just now?”

Guan Yue let out a cold laugh and said,

“You’re being utterly unreasonable. You splattered someone with blood and then accused them of being a ghost.”

They exchanged glances, murmuring among themselves about the probability of the person on the ground having suddenly gone mad.

Only then did Guan Yue walk over to Si Wan’s side, leaning in to whisper,

“Officer Nian and I just went to check the cave entrance. There are indeed signs of human tampering, though we can’t be sure yet if someone actually went down.”

“No matter what, we have to go down and see for ourselves,” Si Wan said.

To prevent anyone from intentionally destroying or taking cultural relics, Guan Yue agreed with Si Wan’s suggestion.

After Guan Yue nodded to Nian Nian, the latter continued with a smile,

“Now, we can offer you a chance to redeem yourselves through meritorious service. Just moments ago, we discovered that someone has illegally entered the ancient tomb. If you tell us who it was, we’ll let bygones be bygones.”

…