Fraser’s once proud face twisted as he yelled, “This can’t be!” and charged towards the scale.
When he reached the scale, he reached out to lift the burlap bag on it. As soon as he lifted it, his whole body froze.
The bag was indeed quite heavy, at least 50 kilograms. How could leaves be so heavy…?
It was too abnormal; where there is smoke there is fire. Fraser’s mind raced like lightning.
Vaguely, he seemed to have caught something and let go of the burlap bag in his hand. He took a few steps towards that small tree.
The noise slowly subsided and the villagers watching understood that Fraser had lost this round; they didn’t know what he would do next.
Fraser pointed at the small tree in front of him and said coldly, “Bentley, call someone to dig up this tree!”
“Fraser, you…” Bentley thought Fraser was angry because of losing and wanted to dig up this tree; hesitating for a moment.
“What are you standing around for? Hurry up and dig!” Fraser became furious.
It had been a long time since anyone had seen Fraser so angry; Bentley was startled by his sudden outburst but quickly called on some villagers with tools to start digging up the tree.
Many hands make light work – within five or six minutes they dug up that small tree with its roots intact.
Looking at the hole left behind after digging out that small tree, Fraser ordered, “Keep digging down.”
So everyone continued digging down until one villager exclaimed in surprise, “There seems to be something below!”
“What kind of thing? Quickly dig it out and take a look.” Bentley became even more curious.
Driven by curiosity, everyone worked even harder until they finally dug something out from under all that dirt.
This object was completely black all over – about one meter long by half a meter wide – roughly resembling a black board.
The onlookers were greatly curious about the object, thinking that they had unearthed a valuable treasure.
The people of White Orchid Village were mostly experts in deception, so they had a keen sense for genuine items, especially valuable ones. Just by looking at this pitch-black object, they could tell it was no ordinary thing.
“Fraser, what is this thing, and how did it end up buried under a tree?” Bentley picked it up and examined it from all angles.
One side of the black object had many peculiar patterns, while the other side was engraved with numerous symbols.
They called them symbols because they didn’t resemble any known characters or runes. They were simply incomprehensible.
“Give it to me!” Fraser took the black object from Bentley’s hand, attempting to decipher any clues.
“What’s that smell? It’s so foul!” muttered a villager.
Another villager exclaimed, “Look at the pit!”
Everyone quickly turned their gaze to the hole in the ground and saw a dark gray, foul-smelling sticky liquid oozing out of it.
Upon witnessing this, the onlookers stepped back in fear, afraid of coming into contact with the terrifying stench.
The dark gray liquid continued to bubble, making gurgling sounds, and the foul odor quickly spread through the air, causing many people to start retching.
Fraser took several steps back, holding the black wooden object, his face displaying a complex expression.
Fortunately, the noxious liquid soon ceased to emerge from the pit. It covered an area approximately two meters in radius around the pit, and the tree that had been dug out became tainted with the dark gray liquid.
“Tree, tree…” a villager pointed in the direction of the small tree, struggling to speak clearly.
The tree trunk and branches, devoid of leaves, began to blacken and carbonize. In just a matter of seconds, the entire tree turned into black charcoal and then disintegrated, merging with the foul-smelling liquid.
Even a fool could see that the cause of the tree’s transformation was undoubtedly the noxious liquid.
A chill ran down the villagers’ spines, and a sense of fear overwhelmed them. Instinctively, they took several more steps back.
Some of the timid villagers in the back, influenced by the exaggerated accounts of those in front, were scared out of their wits and ran straight home.
The villagers of White Orchid Village had strong beliefs in geomancy. Although they didn’t voice it aloud, they were well aware that Fraser was responsible for the ominous turn of events.
If he hadn’t dug up the tree and unearthed this eerie object from the pit, how could such a putrid liquid have been drawn up?
Sensing that the atmosphere was amiss, coupled with his loss in the competition, Fraser had already made up his mind to escape.
Fraser’s intuition as a geomancer told him that the black object he had unearthed was likely a treasure and needed to be thoroughly studied.
Leo had long seen through Fraser’s intentions. With a swift movement, he appeared in front of him and shouted loudly, “The contaminated water has overflowed, and the geomancy of White Orchid Village has deteriorated to this point. Fraser, don’t you feel any remorse?”
“Remorse my ass! Stop spreading your deceptive words here, get lost!” Fraser was becoming increasingly frustrated.
Fraser wanted to bypass Leo and leave the area when suddenly his body involuntarily began to shake.
Leo was startled, feeling as if the earth was trembling.
He initially thought it was an earthquake, but the earth only trembled two or three times before returning to calmness. Apart from that, he faintly heard a dull “boom” sound, as if something had collapsed.
Caelan pushed through the panting crowd and ran over to Fraser, looking anxious and wanting to speak, but he couldn’t find the words.
“What’s wrong, Caelan?” Fraser asked in a deep voice.
After catching his breath, Caelan was finally able to speak, “Fraser, it’s… it’s not good. The stream that flows through the village has turned dark gray, emitting a foul stench. And, the a-a-altar…”
“The altar what!?” Fraser roared, wishing he could kick him.
“The ancestral shrine has collapsed!” Caelan finally managed to say.
“What!?” Fraser’s expression was priceless, as if a gambler had lost not only all his savings overnight but even his underwear.
Fraser threw the “black treasure” in his hand to Caelan and rushed towards the direction of the White family ancestral shrine like a gust of wind.
The villagers who were close enough to Fraser heard their conversation and followed him towards the ancestral shrine. Other curious and bold villagers, though unaware of what had happened, followed behind Fraser as well.
“Mr. Stone, Bob, Bevis, Chasel, let’s go and see too,” Leo suggested.
Fraser arrived at the ancestral shrine, and a huge depression appeared on the ground. The ancestral shrine had completely collapsed.
Fraser suddenly felt a sense of helplessness, as if he wanted to cry but couldn’t shed tears.
Of course, he wasn’t grieving for the ancestral shrine itself, but for the underground factory beneath it.
It was all over now. Fortunately, he had thought ahead and sent his brother to dismiss all the workers from the underground factory in advance. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable.
As the large depression began to emit the gray-black, foul-smelling liquid, Leo, Antonio, and Bob also arrived at the scene.