Upon hearing what the little girl said, Gu Xu couldn’t help but look towards the little girl’s heel; sure enough, he saw her foot still pressing the brake, but the wheels weren’t responding at all. Clearly, there was a problem with the motorcycle’s brake!

Seeing this situation, Zhou Shitao decided not to be too harsh on the little girl anymore. Seeing that the traffic light was about to change, he quickly signaled Gu Xu to release the girl’s motorcycle so she could leave.

The girl kept apologizing and thanked Zhou Shitao before climbing back onto the electric motorcycle and moving forward. After riding a few meters, perhaps out of curiosity, the girl pressed the brake again. Unexpectedly, the wheels screeched against the ground, and in less than two seconds, the motorcycle came to a smooth stop.

"Strange, what’s up with the brake? Wasn’t it broken just now? How is it working again?"

The girl was also bewildered by this situation. She examined her motorcycle for several seconds, muttering in confusion, then turned back to give Huo Sining and the others an embarrassed look before hitting the throttle and speeding away.

Seeing this, Zhou Shitao and Ji Kun both froze for a moment, only snapping out of it when the girl disappeared into the traffic, looking at each other instinctively and appearing perplexed.

When they used to hear Huo Sining talk about how supernatural phenomena were common in this area due to the heavy Yin energy, they were skeptical. But now, having experienced it firsthand, it wasn’t just Zhou Shitao and Ji Kun; even Gu Xu got cold sweat, thinking this place was really bizarre.

"See, I told you this place was strange? I asked Grandpa Bai, and he said that only a Feng Shui Master could create a Gathering Yin Formation, which consumes a lot of power, indicating something extraordinary is buried underground. I think it’s likely a Han Tomb. After all, the only ones capable of commissioning such a formidable Feng Shui formation would be none other than the Royal Family. Such grandeur would be beyond the reach of any Royal Family."

While walking, Huo Sining continued, "And you must know, Gathering Yin Formation is used to restrain Yin spirits, which implies there are many innocent souls who died unjustly that need to be suppressed beneath this tomb. If it were just a simple burial pit, there wouldn’t be a need for such a formation for a single tomb owner. That suggests this tomb once involved live sacrifices. I think such a cruel practice, apart from the royalty, who else would dare to let hundreds or thousands be buried alive?"

Zhou Shitao nodded: "Your deduction must be correct, and this area indeed feels as eerie as you mentioned."

Beside them, Ji Kun provided hard data for comparison, saying: "I just tested the temperature with a thermometer. Outside the hotel, it was 12 degrees at ten-twenty when the sun wasn’t very strong."

"Now it’s ten-forty, and this Anmin Alley area is an old neighborhood with fewer plants, even less green than near the hotel. Logically, based on the direct sunlight principle, the temperature here should be higher than at the hotel, but look at the thermometer in my hand now."

Ji Kun brought out an outdoor thermometer, and the eyes of the other three fell on the display. Upon seeing it, they collectively gasped.

The temperature displayed was 9 degrees Celsius.

This meant the temperature difference between the area around Huo Sining’s hotel and Anmin Alley was a whopping 3 degrees.

This didn’t even account for the twenty-minute time gap and the temperature increase from the sun shining on the ground.

The data alone demonstrated that there was something wrong with Anmin Alley.

However, the data alone was insufficient to substantiate Huo Sining’s perspective.

Hence, Zhou Shitao decided to visit some of the old residential houses in the area and ask the elderly locals to see if any useful information could be gleaned from them.

The old man had traveled to various provinces with the archaeology team in his earlier years, needing to visit nearby villages when working on ancient tombs, so this task was familiar to Zhou Shitao.

Zhou Shitao first spotted several old men playing chess by the flower beds on the street.

Appearing interested in the game without showing it, Zhou Shitao subtly pointed out a few moves, quickly getting the old men to chat with him.

There is a unique bond among chess players, and although Zhou Shitao spoke standard Mandarin, his friendly attitude and polite way of speaking soon had the old men feeling comfortable with him.

Gradually, Zhou Shitao steered the conversation towards the historical development of Anmin Alley, which immediately resonated with the old men, who began talking nonstop as if a floodgate had been opened upon hearing Zhou Shitao’s questions.

"When we were kids, there weren’t any concrete houses here yet; they were all thatched cottages. Only the better-off families lived in houses made of blue bricks and tiles, which only landlords could afford."

"See over there, that big road? That used to be a wide river. When we were playful children, we’d bathe in the river and swim from one end to the other, catch fish, and hunt crabs in the summer. Later, the river dried up, and the hill on the other side of the river was leveled by excavators. With nowhere to dump the soil, they just filled it into the river, and that’s how it got buried."

"The river and hill disappeared, and nowadays children’s only fun is playing computer games. They have no idea how fun it was for us back then, picking mushrooms in the hills and catching wild beasts. We even saw wild boars! My grandson can’t even recognize a domesticated pig, let alone a wild one."

"Right, last time my granddaughter picked up a broken piece of pottery in Liu Family Village and insisted it was an antique. I said, what do you know about antiques? Back in the day, pieces like that were everywhere on the old riverbank. Someone even found an intact pot in the river. If those were antiques, they would’ve been collected long ago!"

"Indeed, the old riverbank was filled with unwanted pots like that. Adults said they washed down from upstream. My family picked up several and still keeps them; my wife used those pots to ferment pickles for decades."

Zhou Shitao was initially just casually chatting with the old men but unexpectedly heard some astounding information, causing him to tremble all over, his pupils contracting and instinctively looking up to meet Huo Sining’s gaze.