Human path is faint and distant, the immortal path is vast and obscure, the ghostly path is joyful. At the gate of human life, the immortal path values ascension, the ghostly path values termination. The immortal path always brings good fortune, the ghostly path always brings calamity, high above, pure and beautiful, a sorrowful song echoes in the vast sky, I only wish for the heavenly path to be accomplished, not wanting the human path to be exhausted.

  Beidouquan Miao Fu, within which there are myriads of ghosts, but wanting to block human calculations and cut off the gate of human life, Ah Ren Ge Dong Zhang, in order to capture Beiluo Fen, bind and restrain the evil spirits, behead the six ghost peaks, all heavenly energy is majestic, my Tao prospers daily!

  This text comes from the classic "Taishang Dongxuan Lingbao Wuliangdu Ren Shangpin Miao Jing" of the Dongjin Southern Dynasty's Gulingbaopai, specifically from the "Xiandao Jing", which is the earliest recorded document to mention the term "ghost path". It says that on Mount Feng there are six peaks, each with a palace, and since there are six palaces, it is called the Six Ghost Peaks. One palace surrounds a thousand miles. There was a demon king who called himself Ah Ren, who received the talismanic magic of the person who created this scripture, asking him to kill one ghost every day and offer up its left ear, as the left ear belongs to yang, so the demon king took it to cultivate his magic, and this type of magic is also called "ghost path".

  Whether the records in this article are true or not, it has been passed down for thousands of years and can be verified through generations. Although there may be exaggerated elements, based on the theory that written records must have a basis, many people in various sects and schools of thought hold the opinion that "ghostly paths" exist. However, those who have seen "ghostly paths" are few in number. The development of Taoism has declined over several thousand years, regardless of whether it is the Ziyang Temple in the famous mountains and rivers that were once worshiped by the world, or the small Taoist temples scattered among the people in the countryside. Now, they have degenerated too much compared to their predecessors.

  In the old days, Zhang Daoling, the Heavenly Master, founded Zhengyi Dao in Qingcheng Mountain. In Shu, he beheaded over 10,000 evil spirits and eliminated plagues and diseases, bringing blessings to the world. He also established rules for thousands of years to come: humans rule during the day, ghosts roam at night, yin and yang are separate, each with its own duties, those who violate this will be punished by Zhengyi law, and must be executed!

  From then on, the world was at peace, and yin and yang were separated, no longer daring to offend each other lightly. Later, there was also the Six Ghosts Peak Demon King A*. The Supreme Old Lord bestowed upon Zhang Daoling the "Orthodox Alliance Mighty Talisman Record", the Three-Five Beheading Evil Male and Female Swords, the Yangping Governance Merit Seal, the Flat Crown, the Eight-Sealed Robe, the Square Skirt, and the Vermilion Shoes. Zhang Daoling then offered sacrifices to the left of the Primordial Heavenly Lord, to the right of the Thirty-Six Departments' Respectful Scriptures, set up the Ten Absolute Spirit Banners, rang the bell and struck the chime, deployed the Dragon-Tiger Divine Soldiers, and exercised his magical powers.

  Alone, in white clothes and with a sword in hand, on the Six Ghosts Peak, nine times in and out, killed eighteen rounds, collected eight departments of ghosts and gods, annihilated six great demon kings, beheaded Demon King A Ren, and the ghostly demons were exterminated.

  Later generations have many records of this history, and when the Taoist sect mentions this matter, they all admire Zhang Tian Shi, but are afraid that after Zhang Tian Shi flew away as an immortal, he would again emerge from the ghostly path. Fortunately, in later generations, there were few sightings of ghosts, only scattered records of those who secretly practiced, most of whom were suppressed by the orthodox sects. The manifestations of the ghostly path are: fear of light, fondness for darkness, eating half-cooked and raw food, a face as white as paper with no blood color, long and curved fingernails, and an aura of evil energy.

  "It's hard to make a judgment based on just one side of the story, and the person is already gone." Thinking of his own Shifu Ye Huan, Cha Wenbin couldn't help but wonder: Could that old man from the Jiang family be a practitioner of the Ghost Dao?

  "The old master is buried just behind here, not far from here, do you want to take a look?" Hu Genglin pointed to the ruins behind and said: "It's only about two miles away from here, it's said that the old master chose this location himself, close to home, convenient for them to go to the grave."

  Cha Wenbin heard this and became somewhat suspicious, he asked: "Isn't that the ancestral tomb of the Jiang family?"

  "No," said Hu Genglin, "The old ancestor of the Jiang family is buried in Longshou Mountain. It's strange to say that there was originally a ancestral hall of the Jiang family, but before his death, the old master did not let people put his memorial tablet into the hall. That piece of land only buried him alone, and also set rules, the descendants of the Jiang family are not allowed to be buried nearby."

  "Oh? That's strange, let me take a look."

  It's strange to say, but on this Gobi Desert where nothing grows, the tomb of Old Master Jiang is different. A circle of shrubs grows densely around it, and from a distance, it looks like a small hill. The cemetery covers an area of about two rooms, with a mound of earth piled up four or five meters high, forming an inverted funnel shape. The perimeter is surrounded by a ring of stones, one meter high.

  Such a project would not be considered small in any dynasty, and if it were to happen several hundred years ago, at least it would have been a high-ranking official above the third rank who could enjoy such treatment, which can explain how strong the financial resources and talents of the Jiang family were back then.

  "What's missing here?" I pointed at the stone wall and found that some of the stones had gone somewhere, and yellow soil had fallen down to form a landslide.

  Hurry up and use your hand to pull it: "Ayo, this hasn't been discovered yet, if the old master blames us..."

  "This doesn't feel right, Wenbin, come take a look." I found that the missing stone blocks hadn't been lost, but were scattered nearby, some in disarray, and many had been smashed into fist-sized pieces, clearly damaged by an external force.

  Cha Wenbin's idea was the same as mine, he said: "Have you been stolen?"

  Although Zhu Zihao didn't know the owner of this tomb, they were after all from the same ancestral source and clan. Once he heard that his own ancestor's grave had been robbed, he naturally felt uneasy and immediately shouted: "Who is the son of a bitch who did this?"

  Cha Wenbin stretched out his hand and rubbed the soil, saying: "The soil is still very new, I estimate it's not been long since it dried up. Such a large tomb in this vast plain is really eye-catching, and there's no one around to take care of it, so it's reasonable that it was targeted." Those few days happened to coincide with an antique craze sweeping the market, with newspapers and radio broadcasts full of such information. Added to that, supervision back then was far from as strict as it is now, so tomb raiding was rampant. The destructive power of modern equipment and explosives used by these grave robbers was dozens of times greater than that of Li Ya's crew, who had only used hand-held Luoyang shovels.

  I said: "This place is known as Antique Beach, and it's possible that someone will come to visit. Let's check it out and see how much damage has been done."

  After removing the outer layer of yellow soil, a snake skin bag was pulled out in no time. It's the kind used to hold fertilizer in rural areas. I tugged at the bag and with a rustling sound, the soil loosened, revealing a dark cave below, large enough for an adult male to enter and exit.

  One was his own ancestor, the other was his former master, Hu Ganglin was so old that he cried silently, Zhu Zihao also sat on the ground, both of them were stunned, how could they be stolen?

  I took a look, that snake skin bag was probably used to transport soil. This is good, it's likely that the inside has already been turned upside down. I thought about reporting the case and getting it over with, since there wasn't much time left anyway. But then Wenbin whispered something that made my heart skip a beat. He crouched on the ground and said: "This is strange, the footprints in this tunnel only show the bag's marks but no signs of anyone leaving, only going inside. Could it be that someone went in but didn't come out?"

  "What?" I thought for a moment and said: "I'll go take a look."

  "No!" Cha Wenbin blocked my way and said, "It's not uncommon for grave robbers to die in the tomb. It's very likely that it was a collapse. If you go in, you may also encounter danger. Let's report to the authorities first. I think Zi Hao is there, they won't dare not to take care of it. We might as well find someone to bring some mechanical equipment and just flatten it, which would be more convenient."

  Back in the countryside, this matter was indeed taken seriously. Zhu Zihao invested under the pretext of searching for relatives. Now that the ancestral tomb has been stolen, isn't that stirring up a hornet's nest? The county immediately sent people to investigate and Cha Wenbin requested that the coffin be exhumed and reburied today on the grounds that it was necessary to destroy the feng shui. A excavator was dispatched from the county to assist, with dozens of officials present at the scene.

  At noon, after worshiping ancestors and lighting incense, with a shout of "start", the excavator began to work. The several meters high soil was dug away in an instant. As more and more parts were gradually exposed, the machine stopped at this time.

  "We can't dig anymore!" The excavator's operator jumped down and said: "It's all granite, the machine is going to be damaged."

  Unexpectedly, the soil two meters down was actually granite! Moreover, it was even more unexpected that this place did not produce such stone materials. After removing the layer of floating soil on top, some uneven stones were exposed, seemingly carved by human hands.

  Construction had just begun when it was halted. Where would the leader put his face? He immediately sent someone to adjust the manpower, but was stopped by Zhang Wenbin: "Wait, today's best time for excavation has passed, we'll have to do it another day."

  Although these leaders have received advanced education, they naturally cannot engage in feudal superstition, but tradition must be respected, especially in such matters. The host family has made this suggestion, and of course, one cannot disobey; as long as the Hong Kong businessman is happy, it's okay to serve him however he wants, with a wave of his hand, the large troops retreated back.

  I don't understand why Zhang Wenbin wants to stop, but he said with a serious face: "We've dug up a landmine, and if we're not careful, we'll get into trouble."

  "What does it mean? Can't we move this grave?"

  "It's not that it can't be moved, but once it's moved, there will be big trouble. Just now I went up to take a look and saw that the tombstone was a whole piece of granite carved with a ghost head. This thing is called Ah Ren, said to be the Magic King, I reckon this Old Man Jiang is probably his follower, these people call themselves Ghost Tao, privately doing all sorts of dirty deeds that make people feel sick, especially skilled in using witchcraft. Such tombstones often have some bad things, if you rashly open it, something will definitely go wrong, so I told those people to leave first."

  "In that case, we'll withdraw too. If all else fails, we can just blow it up and be done with it." I said this without any regard for Zhu Zihao, your ancestor was probably like that anyway, even if he were to be reduced to ashes, I think he wouldn't have a big opinion about it either.

  "No way, this is the only clue I have and I don't want to lose it." He paused for a moment before saying: "That shadow really does look like him..."