When I woke up, my hands and feet were tied with ropes. The back of my head was throbbing, and I felt nauseous.

I was sitting by the ancestral grave.

In front of me, a grave had already been dug open, and there was a person inside shoveling soil out with a shovel.

There was someone with their back facing me, burning paper in front of the grave.

When this person heard my movement, he turned around to look at me. The firelight reflected on his face, flickering.

It was Uncle Jin San.

I quickly shouted:

"Uncle San! It's me!"

Uncle San walked over with a hoe in his hand.

"Dare to shout, and I'll knock you down with a single blow of the hoe!"

A coffin board slowly emerged from the grave. Xiao Wen, his father, and Uncle Qing carried the coffin board out of the pit.

I quickly asked:

"Xiao Wen, Xiao Wen, what happened to you?"

Xiao Wen dropped the coffin board, squatted in front of me, and pointed at my head with his finger.

"Chaoyang, in terms of studying, using your brain, and fighting, where am I worse than you?"

I was stunned for a moment, not knowing what he meant.

Xiao Wen pointed to the grave of our great-grandfather.

"They say our ancestral grave is well built, and there's a phoenix branch in the earthly veins. Why should all this good fortune be enjoyed by you alone?"

Only then did I understand. Xiao Wen was digging the grave of his own great-grandfather, who was the younger brother of my great-grandfather.

The one that emitted green smoke earlier was the grave of our great-grandfather, one level higher.

Uncle Jin San also said:

"Chaoyang, don't blame us."

He then spoke to the ancestral grave:

"If you haven't been treated fairly, don't blame us for acting on our own. I'll properly repair your grave later."

Uncle Jin San, Uncle Qing, and Xiao Wen, three generations of ancestors and descendants, looked at me coldly. This gaze sent a chill from the depths of my heart.

I had never been so afraid even when encountering ghosts.

"What are you going to do?" I struggled desperately.

Xiao Wen and Uncle Qing came forward and started taking off my clothes.

With my hands and feet bound by ropes, it was difficult to take them off, so they simply tore them apart.

After a few tries, they had stripped me naked.

Uncle Jin San held a small dish in one hand and a brush dipped in gold powder in the other, starting to draw talismans on my body.

The brush writing on my body felt cool and itchy. I struggled hard, but it was useless, and this gold paint was hard to remove.

Xiao Wen held a dagger against my throat, and I dared not move.

After a while, my whole body was covered in strange characters written by Uncle Jin San.

Uncle Jin San actually knew these things?

I suddenly remembered what Old Li Si had said:

The true experts are those who don't show off their skills.