So, the three of them drove east, over the mountains, in search of the ancient tomb of a governor from the previous dynasty.

Unfortunately, they did not find anything.

The trio was undeterred and continued to search for other ancient tombs.

"Ahead is the grave of a man surnamed Zhou, reputed to be a wealthy merchant from the previous dynasty. His grave is even more lavish than the governor's one we've just seen!"

With those words, the three of them drove in a certain direction.

"Huh!"

The sight before them left the three stunned.

A corpse lay in the middle of the road ahead, its entire body was pitch black, clearly the victim of a massive influx of evil qi.

Moreover, the identification of the corpse sent an even greater shock through the three of them.

This was a mutant, one with physical mutations, having sprouted three heads and six arms.

"Let's go take a look."

Xiao Mu was the first to leave the vehicle.

The lethal qi was intense. The mutant's body was so corroded it barely maintained its shape.

With one look, Xiao Mu immediately made a deduction, "It's an evil zombie!"

Indeed, the culprit behind the mutant's murder was an evil zombie, and it was far from an ordinary one.

"It looks like he hasn't been dead for long."

Wang Tong made a rare judgment as he inspected the mutant's body.

He said this because there were fresh scratch marks on the stones on the ground, obviously left by the mutant before he died. The bloodstains were recent and still not entirely dry.

Zhao Yan alighted from the vehicle and, while putting on a mask, handed one each to Xiao Mu and Wang Tong.

The evil qi was dense, and all three of them put on masks.

Although this evil qi would not significantly impact them, it nevertheless smelt terrible.

"Strange, this mutant's strength wasn't great, but it appeared to be at least at the level of a second-level mutant. Such power would have been superior blood food for the evil zombie. Why didn't it eat him? It even let him escape and his corpse was left here?"

Zhao Yan raised a query.

Xiao Mu pondered.

Zhao Yan had a point. A second-level mutant would indeed be considered good blood food for evil zombies. Unlike ordinary humans, consuming the flesh of such a strong performer would indeed bring about a boost for the evil zombie.

Why then, if the evil zombie could kill a second-level mutant, did it not eat him?

Could it have been hindered by other matters?

Such a thought immediately crossed Xiao Mu's mind.

Given the circumstances, this speculation was reasonable. Unless distracted by other more pressing matters, an evil zombie would never leave the corpse of a second-level mutant uneaten.

"Let's go check out the grave of the merchant named Zhou."

Xiao Mu promptly suggested.

"Aargh!"

Just as they were speaking, a zombie's howl suddenly echoed from the front. A regular zombie bellowed, charging towards them.

The zombie had noticed the mutant's corpse on the ground and Xiao Mu's group. Its primitive instinct kicked in at the sight of them and the mutant's corpse, its potential food, making it sprint over in an attempt to devour them.

It grunted in excitement.

"I'll handle it!"

Wang Tong stepped forward excitedly.

Seeing this, Xiao Mu and Zhao Yan did not compete with him.

"Wham!"

The Demon Suppression Palm struck the zombie, killing it instantly.

"Well, it's better than nothing, I guess it counts as good luck for our outing".

Wang Tong picked up a small energy crystal and exclaimed joyously.

"Let's go check out the grave of the merchant named Zhou."

Xiao Mu had a nagging feeling that the fate of the mutant was somehow connected to Zhou's grave. So, he signaled for Wang Tong and Zhao Yan to get back in the vehicle.

The trio continued their journey towards the merchant Zhou's grave.

"There's indeed something wrong?"

The sight that greeted them was both surprising and a welcome one.

The grave of the merchant surnamed Zhou had been dug up, and the tombstone was even missing.

Xiao Mu was the first to leave the vehicle and inspect the grave.

The grave of the merchant surnamed Zhou was big, yet after digging it up, the coffin was nowhere to be found.

Did the evil zombie steal the merchant's coffin?

This was the first thought that popped into Xiao Mu's mind.

If it was the evil zombie, why would it steal the merchant's coffin? Like what happened with Li Guangyou's case, did it want to steal the luck from the Zhou family too?

Check it carefully.

Xiao Mu soon found something strange. Although he discovered traces of evil zombie and zombie activities around the gravesite, he didn't find any inside the grave.

This meant that the evil zombie and the zombies hadn't entered the grave.

If neither the evil zombie nor the zombies entered the grave, then who stole the coffin?

Could it be other people?

Did someone beat him to it, dug up the merchant's grave, and took away his coffin?

Were these people the accomplices of the three-headed six-armed mutants he'd seen before?

If this was the case, what did these people want with the merchant's coffin?

Nobody would mysteriously take away a coffin, unless it was of great value.

Could it be?

Xiao Mu's face lit up as he thought of something.

"Mr. Xiao, did you discover anything?"

Zhao Yan walked up to Xiao Mu, gently asking him.

"Let me check."

Xiao Mu said, then jumped into the trench. He wanted to investigate carefully in hopes of finding more clues.

"Huh!"

Xiao Mu soon looked delighted. After jumping down, he smelled a strange fragrance in the trench.

The smell should have come from some sort of strange fruit.

However, he couldn't determine what kind of strange fruit it was.

"Zhao Yan, come down here."

Xiao Mu turned around to call Zhao Yan.

Both Zhao Yan and Wang Tong jumped down.

"Ah, it smells so good, what kind of treasure is this?"

The moment he smelled the fragrance, Wang Tong could not help exclaiming.

Zhao Yan took a few deep sniffs, then made a judgement, "It's an energy fruit."

"Are you sure?"

Xiao Mu turned his head.

Zhao Yan nodded confidently, "There's no doubt. I have eaten the energy fruit. This is its smell."

"That's strange!"

Xiao Mu's face lit up with joy.

No wonder someone wanted to take the coffin. No wonder the mutant was killed by the evil zombie and the zombie didn't pursue it after it escaped.

It seemed that everything had something to do with the mutant fruit.

Maybe there was a mutant fruit in the merchant's grave, and both the evil zombie and the mutant had found it.

As for the energy fruit, it's very likely that it grew on the merchant's coffin, and the fruit probably hadn't ripened yet.

Otherwise, there would be no need to take the coffin. They could simply pluck and eat the energy fruit.

After the coffin was taken away, the evil zombie may have chased it.

"Let me check it out."

Xiao Mu continued his investigation, trying to find more clues in the grave.

Soon, something caught Xiao Mu's attention.

He bent over, picked something up from the ground, and examined it closely.

"What's this?"

It was a lump of ash, the remnants of something made from paper after being burned.

From the Yin Qi released from the ash, it was clear that this wasn't ordinary paper, but the ashes of burial items like paper humans and paper horses.

"Interesting!"

A touch of delight made its way onto Xiao Mu's face, seemingly unintentionally.

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