"I've got her baby. She won't run away." Gavin said with confidence. The baby is Venus's biggest weakness. She would die
before letting anything happen to her baby.
Gavin was right. Venus just went to wash her hands. While standing by the stream, she couldn't help but recall the scene in the
cave. She got chilly on her back, and felt as if a pair of dark eyes were staring at her.
After she hurried back to join Gavin's team, she felt much more at ease. Although Gavin and his subordinates were not good
people, they were at least human beings.
Alisa couldn't stand Venus's frail and timid look and satirized her, "You look like you've seen a ghost. Are you that scared?"
Venus didn't refute but admitted, "I'm not like you who have lived a life of fighting and killing, and got used to seeing people die
all the time. I just lead an ordinary life. Of course I'm afraid."
Alisa snorted in contempt and didn't say anything. The slight affection and sympathy she once had for Venus had completely
disappeared since the night Venus drugged her.
After having enough sleep, the baby woke up slowly. Seeing that it was Gavin who was holding him, he rubbed his eyes and
stretched out arms to ask his mother for a hug.
Venus put her hands behind her back and said with a gentle smile, "Mommy can't hug you now. Let uncle hold you first, okay?"
Even though she had washed her hands, her whole body still smelled. Moreover, so many bats had flied past her. What if some
bacteria got stuck in her clothes?
When Gavin heard the word "uncle," his expression softened a little. He thought to himself, Venus was really good at giving out
tasks. She didn't even ask for his permission before tasking him with the job of taking care of the baby.
The baby seemed to have understood what Venus said. He looked at Gavin with big eyes, and meekly put his little head against
Gavin's chest, as if he was still a little sleepy.
Gavin looked down at the baby and sighed warmly in his heart. It seemed that he had no choice but to take care of this little fella.
Alisa found this scene a bit harsh, so she turned her head coldly to look at the cave. She was more and more confused by
Gavin's attitude toward Venus and her baby. He could do very bad things to her. For example, he asked her to go in the cave
alone. But sometimes he could also be very tolerant. Last time when Venus drugged her and escaped, Heng Zhang told her that
Gavin didn't say anything, let alone punishment.
What was Gavin thinking? Alisa felt so strange.
Ten minutes later, Heng Zhang and two other subordinates came out in a mess, followed by countless bats. The bats didn't
return until they were driven out of the cave.
"What's in there?" Mr. Cai rushed up to ask. Since Gavin was holding the baby, he did not approach them.
The three of them all looked terrible, but much better than Venus when she came out of the cave. They gasped heavily. After
they finally calmed down, Heng Zhang said, "There are many skeletons inside, and they are scattered everywhere. There are
also many machetes, long swords and so on. Going further, we found several coffins which has been opened. There is nothing
but a few skeletons. "
The other man handed Mr. Cai a short sword, "I took this out of the cave. Please take a look."
Mr. Cai put on his gloves with a serious expression and took over the sword. It had an ordinary style and the blade was rusty. On
its hilt was a line of small letters that were clearly visible.
"What does it say?" Gavin asked curiously.
"Qing, the 34th year of Emperor Guangxu, Min, Li family." Mr. Cai read the words slowly and clearly.
"What does it mean?"
"That is to say, this short sword was forged in the 34th year under the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, by a
weapon forge managed by Li family in the southern part of Min, another name for Fujian Province." As Mr. Cai looked carefully at
the short sword, he explained, "The 34th year under the reign of Emperor Guangxu was 1908. In ancient times, every weapon
had an identity, including when and where it came from, and there were strict regulations. The style of this short sword is very
common and the blade is not sharp, so it should be forged by folk and not worth much money."
Heng Zhang responded, "So the people who died inside were all from the late Qing Dynasty?"
Mr. Cai shook his head, "Not necessarily, it could very well be people during the period of Republican of China, or later. After all,
swords are something that can be passed down."
"What does Mr. Cai think of this cave?" Gavin asked seriously. He was a businessman, so he didn't know anything about these
things.
Mr. Cai pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, looked around the cave and said, "This should be a cave of the dead."
"A cave of the dead?" Gavin looked confused.
"Yes. The ancient Miao people had a different burial custom. They didn't bury the dead in the dirt but in caves halfway up a
mountain. This cave is located in the main mountain, surrounded by other mountains on both sides and a stream in front.
According to Chinese Feng Shui philosophy, this cave is perfectly situated to embrace the beauty of both mountains and rivers.
All the laymen there were astounded by Mr. Cai's speech and shocked by his profound knowledge.
"Generally speaking, the caves of the dead of the Miao people are large enough to bury many people, but this cave has only a
few coffins and is located in such a good place, so it should be the grave of local gentries or dignitaries. The ancient people
believed in the existence of the underworld. So when they die, they will have a large number of goods buried with them, so that
they could continue living a rich life in the underworld. But this also attracted a lot of grave robbers. If I'm right, those who died
inside are grave robbers."
"Since they came to raid graves, why would they die?" Heng Zhang couldn't help but ask.
Mr. Cai did not have many expressions, "Perhaps it's because the booty was not divided evenly, or they encountered something
bad. After all, the ancient Miao people are very mysterious and boast much mystical witchcraft."
After absorbing this little-known knowledge, Gavin only had one thought in his mind, that is, he still didn't find the treasure.
It was getting dark. To avoid spending the night in the mountains, Gavin ordered everyone to go down the mountain first. And he
didn't give the baby to anyone else, but held it throughout the whole trudge.
Venus still felt frightened and even she was walking amid a group of people, she stll felt chilly on her back. So she walked quickly
to Mr. Cai and whispered,"Mr. Cai, do you think ghosts are real?"
Mr. Cai had no grudge against or conflicts with Venus, so he was nice to her. He couldn't help but laugh when he heard her
words, "There's no such thing as ghosts and gods. They just exist in people's imagination."
"But why do I keep getting an eerie feeling that there are eyes staring at me." Venus said while hugging herself more closely and
turning her eyeballs around.
Mr. Cai comforted her, "This is purely psychological. When you keep thinking about something, you will get suspicious and
paranoid. This is normal. You seem to be really scared."
Venus was extremely upset, "Then when will this feeling of mine go away?" If she kept being this suspicious, she had better not
sleep at night. She had already foreseen that tonight was destined to be sleepless.
"You should think more about happy things instead of what you saw in the cave."
Venus was about to cry. "I don't want to, but those images just keep flashing through my mind. There is nothing I can do to stop
them."
Mr. Cai was sympathetic toward her, "Well. There's nothing others can do. You can only depend on yourself to overcome it."
Psychological diseases should be treated psychologically, but how could she get cured psychologically? Venus stared at Gavin,
who was walking in front of her. It was all his fault. He forced her to go in, thus making her nervous.
Heng Zhang and Alisa were walking behind Venus. Alisa was quite curious and asked Heng Zhang, "Is it really scary inside?"
Heng Zhang cast a glance at her and said quietly, "You'd better not see it your whole life. Just seeing the countless bats clinging
onto the roof of the cave gives me the chills."
Alisa shuddered and asked, "Did you see the big fish that Venus mentioned?"
"No." Heng Zhang glared at Venus's thin back. Due to her words, when he and the other two men walked past the pool, their
hearts almost stopped beating, in fear of a big fish jumping out of the water to bite them. At last, they only heard the sound of
flowing water at the bottom of the pool, and did not see any big fish.
Although Heng Zhang was very bold, that was only when he faced humans. Whoever faces such unknown things will have a
sense of awe and fear.
"She is really having way too much time." Alisa said contemptuously.
"What?" Heng Zhang didn't understand what she meant.
Alisa shook her head, "Nothing."
When they arrived at the feet of the mountain, it was already dark. They continued to drive for a long time before arriving at a
small town. Since it was during the National Day holiday, almost all the hotels were fully booked. Finally they found a hotel that
wasn't full, but there weren't enough rooms. So men had to squeeze into a few rooms while Venus and Alisa slept together in a
standard room.
When Venus entered the room, she couldn't wait to get into the bathroom. She couldn't stand the rotten smell her body exuded
any more.
Alisa went out to have dinner without telling Venus. After been in the bathroom for over 10 minutes, Venus heard the bell ringing.
She thought it was Alisa, so she didn't ask. She rubbed herself hard for a third time, trying to wash off all the stench from the
cave until her body became red and she felt limp.
After drying herself on the bath towel, Venus suddenly realized she was too hurried to get a change of clothes.
Thinking of Alisa in the room, she called out in a soft voice, "Alisa, could you get me some clean clothes? I forgot to take it."
No one responded.
Venus knew that Alisa had always been resentful of her, but she did need the clothes now, so she had no choice but to plead
again, "Alisa, given that we are both women, could you please help me for once?"