Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Something’s wrong with this soil.”

A Luoyang shovel had a two-inch-wide, semicircular blade about forty centimeters long. One thrust into the ground could bring up a plug of soil. After picking it out with a tool and arranging the plugs in order, you could reconstruct the underground strata.

By Grandfather Murong’s feet, twenty or thirty sections of soil core had already been laid out evenly. Judging by the look of it, in just this short time, he had drilled down at least ten meters.

“Look at this section of green plaster clay. Logically speaking, there has to be a large tomb underneath.

“But this layer of green plaster clay is way too thin. In an ordinary ancient tomb, even a shallow layer of green plaster clay is thirty or forty centimeters thick, and a deeper one can even reach four or five meters. Only then can the burial chamber be sealed properly.

“Look at this. It’s as thin as my fingernail. If you didn’t look carefully, you wouldn’t notice it at all.

“And why is the soil under the green plaster clay red? Xi’an is mostly collapsible loess. There shouldn’t be this kind of red earth here.”

I squatted on the ground and examined that section of soil core closely. It was indeed as Grandfather Murong had said: beneath the yellow soil was a three- or four-centimeter-thin layer of green plaster clay, and farther down, the color abruptly changed into a vivid reddish brown.

I picked up a bit of the red soil and placed it in my palm. The soil was damp in texture, and when I squeezed hard, droplets of water seeped out.

The dark red droplets gave off a pungent, fishy smell, yet there was faintly a trace of sweetness in it.

I was shocked.

“This is black dog blood!”

“Black dog blood? A layer of black dog blood under the green plaster clay? This tomb has already been robbed?”

Grandfather Murong’s face went pale.

Holding the Luoyang shovel, he walked to a spot about two meters from the mouth of the hole and brought up several more sections of soil.

After drilling in a full circle, Grandfather Murong let out a deep sigh.

“Damn it. It’s been too long since I did this line of work. I almost forgot about this trick. This is the work of those stinking rats from the Hujian Gang!

“Sect Leader, you don’t know this, but among grave robbers, there’s a group called the Hujian Gang. They’re especially timid and love all that feudal superstition nonsense. Before going down into a tomb, they always worship gods and perform rituals. After they dig through the arched ceiling, they often pour black dog blood over the burial site to ward off evil.

“Just like a yellow dog pissing to mark its territory. Disgusting as hell. Everyone calls them the Rat Gang.

“The Rat Gang are ruthless when they take things. They don’t leave a single scrap for anyone who comes after. Despicable! This old man came one step too late. Today’s work was all for nothing!”

Grandfather Murong tossed the Luoyang shovel to the ground in frustration.

Murong Yue rolled her eyes.

“Grandpa, what do you mean, for nothing? Are you here to rob a tomb or to conduct a survey?”

“Ah, right, now that you mention it, the pain in my heart instantly disappeared. Hahaha, the sky is blue again, and the air is so fresh.”

Grandfather Murong perked up, and his mind cleared as well.

“Wait. No, that’s not right. Judging by how waterlogged the soil is, that black dog blood couldn’t have been poured down there more than a day ago.”

“Anything with green plaster clay is a big tomb. There’s no way they could empty it out in a single day. Those bastards couldn’t still be down there, could they?”

I had the same suspicion.

Among these construction workers, there were grave robbers.

After a large tomb was discovered at the construction site, they bribed the archaeological survey company, concealed the report, and deliberately caused trouble to delay the progress of the project.

Once they emptied out the tomb, even if the company later discovered there was an ancient tomb here and contacted the relevant authorities, those people would have long since vanished.

It was a good plan, admittedly. Unfortunately for them, they had run into the wise, mighty, brilliant, upright, and righteous Qiao Moyu, whose beauty surpassed Lu Lingzhu’s by a hundred times.

I made the decision on the spot and pulled out my phone.

“Call the police!”

Grandfather Murong was so frightened that he raised both hands. The Luoyang shovel fell to the ground with a clang.

“Sect Leader, I didn’t do anything! You’re the one who told me to come dig up the soil!”

Murong Yue and I looked at him with mild disdain. After freezing for a second, Grandfather Murong gave an awkward laugh.

“Heh, sorry. Just kidding. Trying to lighten the mood, that’s all.”

I put my phone away and raised my voice.

“Call the police-like hell we will!

“Grandpa, we can’t have made this trip for nothing either. Since the tomb is so big, why don’t we go down and dig up a few nice things too?”