Chapter 161: The Fish Has Taken the Bait

The setting sun seeped through the clouds, glowing with a red light like a crab shell.

The withered yellow wild grass swayed with the wind, and a few sparrows pecked at the fallen wild wheat.

Graves were scattered here and there among the wild fields, tattered wreaths rustled in the wind, and paper money drifted everywhere.

To the north, the ring expressway stretched like a long dragon, spanning east to west.

Looking south, one could faintly see the sky filled with dust and smoke; it was exactly where the Aerospace City was under construction.

Lin Sicheng stood at the top of Sanyao Slope.

I said "the grave is in Beiliwang Village," and that woman pointed right to Beiliwang Village.

I said there was a Western Han Dynasty tomb, and that woman really pointed him to a Western Han Dynasty tomb.

And there were two of them?

She put in the effort...

With a "whoosh," a faint sound reached his ears, and Lin Sicheng turned his head.

He Zhigang held a piece of paper, examining it in detail.

But to be honest, he truly could not understand what was drawn on it.

"Little Lin, what is this?"

"A Dragon Vein Map!"

"What kind of dragon?"

"A Following Dragon!"

He Zhigang felt that he had asked for nothing.

Lin Sicheng pointed, "The three at the very top are the Ancestral Mountain; this crescent-shaped one in the middle is called the Lesser Ancestral Mountain. Sometimes it is also called the Main Mountain or Seat Mountain. That white patch beneath the crescent is the Vermilion Bird of the Four Symbols... If you map it here, it is the Qinling, Zhongnan, and Hao River..."

"The dragon vein rises from the Ancestral Mountain, is carried to the Lesser Ancestral Mountain, and then follows the terrain, winding its way to the auspicious land, gathering Qi to embrace the burial site—that is where the dragon lair is located."

"That winding, twisting line coming down from above is the dragon, and that pool in the middle like a lake is the auspicious land. The point below the auspicious land is the place where Qi gathers and embraces the lair, which is where the yin dwelling is located..."

"The left and right sides refer to the Azure Dragon and White Tiger, and further down are the Case Mountain and Audience Mountain. That last mountain range is the Black Tortoise. In ancient times, it was the official road south of the city; today, it is the ring expressway..."

He Zhigang had learned some knowledge of feng shui, but not much, so he listened without fully understanding.

After pondering for a while, he looked up: "Corresponding to this place, where does the auspicious land point, and where does the dragon lair point?"

"The auspicious land is Weiqu Town, or to narrow it down, Beiliwang Village. Where we are standing is the White Tiger ground of the Four Symbols. As for the dragon lair..."

Lin Sicheng pointed to the east: "Two kilometers to the east."

He Zhigang intuitively felt it wasn't very reliable, but he didn't say anything: because for this one piece of paper, Lin Sicheng had spent a full million.

If he dared to spend it, there must be some reason for it.

Chen Peng was right beside him, craning his neck to look, then he looked up again: "Seat Mountain and Backing Mountain are easy to understand—that's the Qinling and Zhongnan. But where are the Audience Mountain and Case Mountain? This place is so flat you can barely see a dirt mound... Besides, I don't see any water either?"

Lin Sicheng smiled: "Seeking a dragon on flat ground, with no audience bank in front and no high mountains behind. Yet the dragon hides in the auspicious land, and water comes from all four directions. The classics say: one inch lower is water, one inch higher is a mountain..."

Chen Peng was stunned: he was reciting the classics now?

Even though he had been lectured by Lin Sicheng many times, he was still half-doubting: "Is there really a Western Han Dynasty tomb?"

"There is, and it's a large tomb! With the map, it's not hard to find, and there must be a tomb tunnel, so it won't be hard to dig either!"

Lin Sicheng paused slightly, "But how much is left inside, that's hard to say!"

By his estimation, given the style of Yu Dahai, the burial goods should be similar to the Han Xiu tomb and the Wuhuifeimu: the tomb walls would be bare, enough to make even a mouse shed tears.

As for the Main Tomb, unless a professional Archaeology Team goes in and peels it back layer by layer, anyone who dares to dig a tomb tunnel will die for every ten they dig...

Thinking this to himself, he walked down the large slope.

Chen Peng and He Zhigang followed him down.

Besides that Land Cruiser, there were two more vehicles: a box pickup truck and a Jinbei van, filled with tools for exploring and digging tombs.

Not instruments, but the kind used by professional grave-robbing gangs...

The three got into the car, and then, a yellow dragon of dust rose from the fields, heading straight east.

It was only two kilometers, and they arrived in the blink of an eye. From afar, they could see a Benz off-road vehicle parked on the side of the road.

Lin Sicheng pointed, and Zhang Feng drove over slowly.

After the dust settled a bit, Lin Sicheng got out of the car. Zhao Xiuneng was one step ahead of him, walking up quickly to greet him.

The two shook hands, and Lin Sicheng smiled apologetically: "Boss Zhao, sorry to trouble you!"

Zhao Xiuneng gave a dismissive laugh: "Boss Lin, don't be so polite. Before I came, the old lady specifically instructed: do whatever you command."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and two sturdy men in their early thirties walked over.

These two were familiar; they were Zhao Xiuneng's pair of sons. Last time in Qishan, the old lady had made a joke: "Forget about the eldest, he's over sixty and can't save face. But for the kids, look at my two grandsons—if they catch your eye, can you teach them a trick or two?"

But he had been busy and hadn't gotten around to it.

In a flash, the two came up to shake hands, both using two hands, hooking their waists down after gripping, heads bowed, with humble smiles on their faces: "Teacher Lin!"

Lin Sicheng was stunned.

The last time he was addressed like that, it seemed to be in Chen Yangyan's villa.

Lin Sicheng nodded politely and looked at Zhao Xiuneng again: "Boss Zhao, this time I might drag you into trouble!"

"Boss Lin, it's not that exaggerated!"

Zhao Xiuneng didn't care at all, waving his hand indifferently: "Even if Yu Dahai and Gao Zhengang were here, I could still arm-wrestle them, let alone these two who have fled abroad?"

He paused slightly and looked behind him: not to mention, this time Lin Sicheng was carrying the burden for the government.

Dealing with those few was like pinching ants...

The two hit it off immediately, chatting happily, while Chen Peng and He Zhigang sat in the car, watching coldly from the sidelines.

They felt that Lin Sicheng not only knew a lot, but his methods were also too wild: like Zhao Xiuneng, although he wasn't a professional grave-robber, he had been on the radar of the Municipal Bureau and the Cultural Relics Bureau twenty years ago.

He didn't have the destructive power of Yang Bin, Yu Dahai, or Gao Zhengang, but he had greater energy, wider connections, and deeper influence.

Yet Lin Sicheng only made one phone call, and this person rushed back from Beijing overnight?

Thinking back to last night, the exaggerated expression on Zhang Feng's face when he came back to report: Yu Dahai's subordinates looked at Lin Sicheng as if they were looking at their founding master...

While lost in thought, Lin Sicheng took out that map, and the two of them discussed it head-to-head until the sun set and the stars filled the sky.

Afterwards, the two of them each took out a Compass, one facing south, the other north.

Their movements were much the same; from time to time they would stop, look up at the sky, then look at the mountain to the south and the Sanyao Slope to the west. Then they would either turn around or rotate their Compasses.

Chen Peng and He Zhigang exchanged a glance, feeling it was quite absurd.

After about ten minutes or so, Lin Sicheng called out: "Boss Zhao, come over and look!"

Zhao Xiuneng responded and walked over quickly. Then he squatted down and turned on his Flashlight.

I don't know what was said, but after muttering for two or three minutes, Lin Sicheng stood up again: "Brother Zhao, drive the shovel!"

Chen Peng and He Zhigang were invigorated: Did they really find the tomb?

The two exchanged a glance and got out of the car together.

With the sky this dark, if there really were someone Tai Mausoleum them, could they recognize who was who?

They walked over in three or two steps, and hearing the movement, Lin Sicheng and Zhao Xiuneng turned their heads.

Fearing Zhao Xiuneng might have taboos, Lin Sicheng didn't introduce them, but pointed at their feet with the Flashlight: "Two leaders, there is a Tomb Tunnel!"

The light was very bright, and it was very clear: on the wasteland, a few clumps of wild grass grew sparsely.

Comparing it with the surroundings, it didn't seem to be any different?

"It's different!" Lin Sicheng plucked a stalk and snapped it in two: "The grass seeds were scattered later, forced by chemical fertilizer, they haven't grown long enough... and this soil is loose soil, it hasn't covered this for more than six years."

Chen Peng and He Zhigang didn't make a sound.

They had heard of this method, but to be honest, they really couldn't tell.

Subsequently, Zhao Xiuneng's two sons began to dig, using Steel Shovels like drill bits, one pulling, one drilling.

With a "whoosh" sound, the shovel head sank into the soil, and with one lift, there was a hole over twenty centimeters deep in the ground.

Drilling again, lifting again, after just seven or eight times, with a "thump-clink" sound, the drill shovel hit empty space.

"It's through, Brother Zhao, switch to the Scoop Shovel... no need to dig out the loose soil, just poke straight down, widen the hole mouth a bit!"

"Brother Zhao Er, take the Probe Needle to probe the bottom... the hole is twelve point five meters deep... Zhang Feng, take the Hanging Mountain Ladder, thirteen sections!"

"General Manager Zhao, light the Candle Box, three of them!"

Lin Sicheng directed in an orderly manner, and Chen Peng and He Zhigang were both shocked and amazed: finding the tomb was only secondary; the key was Lin Sicheng's proficiency. It was as if he had led people to rob a hundred or eighty tombs...

Following the sound of falling soil, Zhao Da only poked about ten times before a hole with a diameter of about seventy or eighty centimeters appeared in the uneven wasteland.

Lin Sicheng took the Probe Rod and poked the walls of the hole one by one.

The rammed earth layer, over six meters high, was all yellow soil, and it was not ordinarily solid.

Subsequently, the windproof Candle Box was lowered down, and it actually didn't go out?

Looking at the flickering candle flame at the bottom of the hole, Lin Sicheng and Zhao Xiuneng exchanged a glance: it was ventilated on all sides; they feared it had long been robbed clean.

But this was just to lure the fish onto the hook; even if it were an empty tomb, they definitely had to go down!

The two brothers put on their gas masks and went down into the pit one after the other.

Before long, the bell on the end of the rope rang once.

Then, it rang four more times.

Zhao Xiuneng's expression changed, but Lin Sicheng had anticipated it long ago and remained calm.

One ring meant they had reached the heart of the tomb, which was the Main Tomb chamber.

The subsequent four rings meant it had been visited extremely often, and the tomb had basically been robbed empty.

Lin Sicheng sighed and pulled the bell twice: that meant to grab whatever there was, even the soil in the tomb would do...

Afterwards, a "clanging" sound came from below. After smashing about ten times, the bell rang once more, and Lin Sicheng grabbed the other rope and pulled it up.

The object wasn't heavy; after pulling it up in a few tugs and shining the Flashlight on it, it turned out to be two Tomb Bricks.

About thirty centimeters long, with four seal-script characters carved on the side.

The first one was: Yichun Eternal Autumn.

The second one was: Daily Income Ten Thousand Coins.

At first glance, they seemed like two Tomb Bricks inscribed with Lucky Word Marks, which were very common in Han Dynasty tombs.

But Lin Sicheng's face turned dark.

Previously, that woman had given him a similar brick, with three characters carved on it: Great Auspiciousness.

Bricks with this kind of inscription appeared relatively late, roughly in the late Western Han Dynasty, during the Wang Mang Xin Dynasty. That woman had also pointed to the North Village King, and Lin Sicheng suspected at the time: could it be the tomb of the Western Han Guannei Marquis, the Yichun Marquis?

Looking at it now, was it not as expected?

Buried down here was Wang Mang's brother-in-law, the younger brother of the Xiaomu Empress, the third-generation Yichun Marquis, Wang Zhang.

It had been robbed clean by Yu Dahai about five or six years ago, but it wasn't discovered until 2018 when they were building the Qianlin County residential complex here.

By the time the Archaeology Team uncovered the top of the tomb, nothing of any value remained in the tomb chamber except for the bricks on the tomb walls. Even the murals, the coffins, and even the stone beams with inscriptions in the tomb chamber had been robbed clean...

However, this was only a companion tomb; next to it was a Main Tomb, where Wang Mang's father-in-law, the second-generation Yichun Marquis, Wang Xian, was buried.

The tomb chamber and burial pits were much larger than this one, and there were many more items, but Yu Dahai didn't dare to rob it.

Because it was a Flowing Sand Tomb; outside the tomb chamber and the burial artifact pits, there was a layer of flowing sand nearly three meters thick. If you dared to dig a Tomb Tunnel, you would die ten times out of ten.

Besides that, a Mercury Pool was hidden inside the walls of the Main Tomb chamber. This tomb had been buried for nearly two thousand years, and the mercury had long evaporated into mercury vapor, seeping into the tomb walls.

As soon as someone went down and lit a fire, the vapor would begin to escape, and by the time it was discovered, even a god couldn't save them...

But that woman had sold the Dragon Map to him. And she was adamant: "Boss, there is definitely a big tomb, definitely good things. If you don't believe me, dig..."

So, this was more than just a "reverse-boot" trap?

That woman wanted his life...

……

Lin Sicheng gritted his teeth in secret; about a hundred meters away from them, two men were crouching in the grass, holding binoculars.

It was too dark to see very clearly, but at the very least, they could see lights going down into the cave, and then lights shining out from within the cave.

After watching for nearly half an hour, the two men stood up and headed north in the dark.

They crawled into a culvert, crossed the ring expressway, and got into a pickup truck at the bottom of the road embankment. Afterwards, one man took out his phone and dialed.

"Third Brother, the fish has taken the bait... The professional pit-digger hired is Zhao Polan from Qishan!"