Volume One: The Graveyard of Eight Coffins Chapter 19: The Coffin

Uncle waved his hand dismissively. "No, that's not possible, at least not today. Just now, inspecting this feng shui formation drained a great deal of my vital energy. I need to recover."

Liang Yue quickly responded, "Alright. I’ve booked rooms for both of you at the hotel across from Tianyou Plaza so you can rest. We can wait for Mr. Wu to arrive at the hotel..."

Before she finished speaking, her words were abruptly cut off. Her brows shot up and she shouted angrily, "Who's there?"

Both Uncle and I were startled, and then we saw Liang Yue spin around and dart toward the iron door of the rooftop.

At the same time, a loud clang sounded by the iron door, followed by a figure swaying and hurried footsteps.

Liang Yue dashed through the iron door in pursuit.

All of this happened in a flash. Uncle and I looked at each other in confusion. Only after Liang Yue chased after the intruder did we realize that someone had been spying on us from the other side of the iron door and had been caught by Liang Yue.

Her agility was impressive—her reflexes and movements were noticeably faster than most people, clearly the result of training. Both Uncle and I couldn't help but look at her with newfound respect.

A short while later, Liang Yue returned, muttering, "Why did I have to wear this uniform today, and these shoes—otherwise, I would definitely have caught him..."

I quickly asked, "Who was peeping outside?"

Liang Yue shook her head. "I didn't get a good look. He moved fast. By the time I chased after him, I only saw his back as he ran down the stairs. These shoes just don't fit right..."

Uncle pondered for a moment and said, "Assistant Liang, it seems things aren't so peaceful within your corporation."

This unexpected incident left all of us unsettled. Liang Yue seemed lost in thought as well. Uncle said there was nothing else to see on the rooftop for now, so Liang Yue led us out of the main building of Tianyou Plaza and took us across the street to a hotel to rest. The hotel was called the Four Seas Grand Hotel—sumptuously decorated, supposedly five-star.

Liang Yue handled the check-in at the front desk. I sneaked a peek—our room was a suite, the listed price over two thousand.

I clicked my tongue in amazement. In my entire life, I'd never stayed somewhere so luxurious. This time, I was benefiting from my uncle's presence.

Liang Yue handed us the room key and said she wouldn’t go up, as she needed to bring Mr. Wu over.

After she left, Uncle told me to go up first—he had something to take care of.

I asked what he was up to, but he just said I'd know soon enough.

Seeing his mysterious air, I couldn't be bothered to ask further and went to the room on my own. The suite was fully equipped, lavishly decorated, with two bedrooms and a small sitting room.

I wandered around the room, preparing to take a hot shower. Just as I started undressing, Uncle called, telling me to meet him at the Chinese restaurant on the third floor.

I wondered what trick Uncle was up to this time. Reluctantly, I dressed and went down to the third-floor restaurant, where I found Uncle already seated with a stranger.

When I walked over, the stranger stood up nervously. He looked to be in his sixties, with dark, weathered skin, an untidy beard, and wearing a security guard uniform—quite out of place amid the restaurant’s opulence.

Through Uncle’s introduction, I learned that the man was the night watchman for the hotel’s parking lot, the one responsible for the front gate security booth.

So that’s who Uncle had gone to find, though I didn’t understand why.

It was only after we started talking that I learned his surname was Wei, and we were to call him Old Wei. He had worked at the hotel since it was built, which was precisely why Uncle had sought him out.

Uncle later explained to me that, after dealing with that haunted, abandoned building, he had learned a valuable lesson: never rely on hearsay or a single person’s account when investigating a haunted site. It was essential to gather information from all perspectives to fully understand the origins of the haunting. Since Old Wei had always worked at the hotel, he must have been around when Tianyou Plaza was being built and would know what happened.

Old Wei seemed uneasy, not used to such places, and glanced at Uncle and me with apprehension.

Uncle ordered a table full of dishes. I shivered and whispered, "Do you have money to pay for this?"

Uncle shot me a glare. "Have you no sense? In high-end hotels like this, everything is charged to the room account, understand? They’re footing the bill, we’re just enjoying ourselves. Didn’t you say I always treat you to fried dough sticks and tofu pudding? Now you can eat and drink to your heart’s content. I promised you, stick with me and you’ll live the high life."

The food arrived gradually. Uncle poured Old Wei a glass of wine. Just as Old Wei brought it to his lips, Uncle casually asked, "Old Wei, I’d like you to tell me—when they dug the foundation for Tianyou Plaza, was there any story behind it?"

Old Wei nearly spat out his wine. He quickly set the glass down and looked at Uncle, his face darkening.

Uncle waved his hand and pointed at me, saying to Old Wei, "Don’t worry. My nephew is an online novelist—he collects unusual stories. I heard something happened here, so I brought him to gather material. Whatever you know, just tell us. I’ll treat you to drinks."

Old Wei glanced at Uncle, then at me, knocked back his wine, and said, "Alright. I’m off duty anyway, nothing else to do. If you want to hear, I’ll tell you. That place across the street... it’s bad luck. You can ask around, but don’t go over there, or you’ll bring trouble onto yourselves..."

Old Wei barely touched the food, just drank steadily, and gradually began to recount what had happened years ago.

Just as Uncle suspected, when they were digging the foundation for Tianyou Plaza, something went wrong.

According to the blueprints, the plaza was to have eight buildings, requiring eight foundations. Of course, construction would proceed in phases, not all at once. The first phase was three buildings. Not long after they started digging, they unearthed coffins—not just one, but three.

As Old Wei spoke, he was visibly moved, his hand trembling slightly as he held his wine glass.

I guessed he must have seen the coffins with his own eyes, which explained the impact it had on him.

Uncle poured him another glass and asked him to tell the story in more detail.

It turned out Uncle had found the right person—Old Wei remembered every detail from those days. Steadying himself, he continued.

The three coffins dug up were already rotted on the outside, but in the sunlight, the coffin nails gleamed as if polished, with strange carvings on them. The nails looked as if they’d just been hammered in.

Tianyou Group dared not take the matter lightly and immediately called the police. The police sent people to open the coffins on site. The bodies inside had long since decayed, leaving only dry bones. The strange thing was, besides the bones, the inner walls of the coffins were lined with yellow talismans. Even after many years, the talismans hadn’t faded, as if freshly pasted.

After experts examined them, they concluded the remains had no archaeological value, and the coffins were just old, ordinary ones. The authorities ordered the coffins and bones to be disposed of.

But the night after the coffins were removed, three men died on the construction site. Their deaths were bizarre. They had been sitting outside drinking, but later, their coworkers found all three had fallen into the foundation pit. Their bodies were skewered through by the steel rods sticking up from below, like hawthorn skewers.

Rumors immediately spread: the three coffins shouldn’t have been disturbed—move them, and people would die. Three coffins moved, three deaths followed.

With the rumors swirling, no one wanted to continue working. To calm the workers, Tianyou Group invited several Taoist priests to perform a grand ritual at the site.

Eventually, they abandoned work on those three buildings for the time being and moved on to dig the foundations for the remaining five buildings.

But as soon as they started digging those five foundations, even stranger things happened...

At this point, Uncle interjected, "After three, the remaining five should have..."

Old Wei didn’t quite understand, but recognizing the mention of five, he nodded and confirmed that five more coffins were unearthed at the site. These five were just like the previous three.

Eight foundations, eight coffins—an ominous sign. Tianyou Group spared no expense, hiring Taoist priests from out of town to perform an even grander ritual.

Uncle shook his head. "Eight serpents entwining a dragon—rituals alone can’t solve it."

Old Wei quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, that’s exactly what the Taoist priest said at the time! Does this gentleman know Taoist methods too?"

Uncle waved his hand. "I’ve just heard things. Please continue."

Old Wei took another drink and went on.

Just as Uncle said, the priest was skilled in the arts. Upon arrival, he declared the site to be a feng shui formation. He insisted the eight coffins must be returned to their original positions, as they formed a formation dating back to the Qing dynasty. Once buried, the coffins could neither be exhumed nor moved, or else eight lives would be claimed.

But it was already impossible—three coffins had already been disposed of. Worse, such talk would only spread fear and escalate the situation. So Tianyou Group had the priest perform a perfunctory ritual and announced that the problem had been resolved. The remaining five coffins were carted away, and construction resumed.

From that point on, Tianyou Group began to tightly control information. Few people knew what happened afterward. Rumor had it that, just as the priest predicted, more people died. But deaths on construction sites were common—how many died, how they died, or how their families were compensated, no one could say.

After Tianyou Plaza was completed, business flourished for the first few years, and the story faded from memory. Only in recent years, with repeated incidents of people jumping from the buildings, did these rumors resurface. In private, people whispered that the priest’s prophecy had come true: the vengeful spirits of the eight coffins’ owners remained, seeking revenge. The deaths wouldn't stop at eight—many more would perish at Tianyou Plaza.