Chapter 6: A Turn of Events

"Yunfeng, find a good spot to pile it up—don't foolishly dump it into someone else's field."

"Second Brother, don't worry, I got it."

There wasn't much of the blue-white soil, so I took out seven or eight small bags from my backpack and carefully divided it up, piling it together.

"Eh?"

At that moment, Sun the Second—while digging in the pit—suddenly stopped using his whirlwind shovel.

"Second Brother, what's wrong?" asked Yan Batou from above.

"Boss, look at this," he said as he reached out and grabbed a handful of soil. "The deeper we go, the wetter it gets. This is no good—there might be standing water in the pit below."

Boss Wang frowned and said, "A water pit? It can't be just a little—try digging down another twenty centimeters."

Sun the Second nodded and began to dig further down.

"Second Brother, you can't go any lower! That's the tomb passage below—there's definitely water there!" Sun the Third shouted urgently.

"If there's water in the tomb passage, even if we dig down, the tunnel will be soaked by the water! We won't be able to hold it together at all!"

Yan Batou couldn't help but let out a curse, "Damn it, didn't foresee this—Sun the Second and Sun the Third, come up first! We don't have enough time to explore a water-filled tunnel!"

The Sun brothers first hauled the whirlwind shovel back up, then, stretching their legs, they climbed out of the tomb tunnel.

"Boss, I guarantee that if we dig another 1.5 meters down, we'll definitely see the 'Guanding'!"

("Guanding" refers to the stone cap of a tomb; during the Ming and Qing dynasties, brick tomb caps were called "Juan Ding.")

Sun the Second lit a cigarette and, squinting at the tunnel he had dug, said, "Boss, we've come this far—shall we risk it?"

"Second Brother, what exactly do you mean?"

He flicked his ash and said coldly, "Send One Mole over with a water pump and a small generator."

Boss Wang immediately shook his head and said, "Pumping water? That's too risky. It isn't raining at this time, and judging by the temperature here in Shunde, the pit won't freeze. But if we can't pump out the water within two hours, then when dawn comes, we'll all be screwed—our efforts will be for nothing."

"Second Brother, I agree with Boss Wang's point. As it stands, there's definitely water in the tomb passage. If there's too much water, a single pump won't be enough." Sun the Third frowned as he expressed his thoughts.

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do? We can feel the fat meat but can't get at it!"

Boss Wang stroked his chin and considered for a moment before suddenly turning to ask me, "Yunfeng, what do you think? Should we call it quits and head back down the mountain, or continue?"

The two brothers also turned to look at me.

"Eh?"

I was crouched on the ground sorting the soil when I didn't expect him to suddenly ask me.

After a moment's thought, I simply said, "Boss, I want to make money."

"Brilliant!" Sun the Second burst into laughter. "The bold will thrive while the timid starve. Boss, this kid isn't afraid at all—what are we even afraid of!"

Immediately, the red light on the walkie-talkie flashed, and Yan Batou said at once, "Contact One Mole—tell her to deliver the gear within one hour. If she's even a minute late, she'll get one less percentage when we split the profits later."

Speed is of the essence.

This was the first time I witnessed such impressive organizational ability from the logistics team. In less than an hour, a water pump and a small generator were delivered to us right on schedule.

As soon as the pump arrived, Sun the Second rolled up his pants, grabbed his shovel, and went down into the tunnel. Soon, more and more wet soil was being thrown up from below.

After several tens of minutes, we suddenly heard Sun the Second shout from down in the pit, "Damn! It's gushing water!"

He had just come up, and the standing water had already filled more than half of the tunnel.

After connecting the generator and the pipes, Boss Wang immediately tossed the water pump into the tunnel.

Below, water gurgled continuously while above, the pump kept drawing and expelling water.

We were lucky—the pump reduced the water level fairly quickly, and the tunnel we'd just dug didn't collapse.

Once Yan Batou hauled the pump back up, he said, "Second Brother, go straight down with the 'needle'—drill right through the guanding!"

(The "needle" is a specially made pointed tool used in tomb raiding, with a tip made of diamond, designed specifically to chisel through the guanding with great power.)

We soon heard rhythmic sounds of chiseling on stone coming from below the tunnel.

Shortly afterward, Sun the Second's voice came, "Boss! It's through!"

Yan Batou immediately smiled. Checking his watch, he said, "Pumping water took up a lot of time. Yunfeng, you go down too—every extra pair of hands counts. Hurry and grab as much as you can."

I was momentarily stunned, and then asked, "Boss, shouldn't we take a break to let some air circulate? What if there's no air down there?"

Yan Batou laughed and said, "Heh, you, Yunfeng, think about it—if a tomb were perfectly sealed, would so much water be able to get in?"

"Don't worry, the air circulation down there isn't a problem."

Then, for the first time in my life, I went down into the tomb tunnel with a headlamp.

Sun the Second had created a large opening in the guanding. I carefully descended along the sides of the tunnel.

The guanding was still two or three meters above the tomb passage below. Seeing that height made me a bit scared—I didn't dare to jump down.

There was still some water in the tomb passage, enough to cover one's calves, and both Sun brothers were standing in the water.

"Jump, Yunfeng—it's not that high! We'll hoist you up later!" Sun the Second, with his headlamp on, shouted at me.

Instantly, I silently prayed for divine protection and jumped down, only to land unsteadily—falling flat on my face and gulping down a mouthful of the tomb passage's water.

"Yunfeng, you really need to train. Look at your skinny arms and legs—are you alright?" Sun the Second laughed as he helped me up.

The tomb passage was cross-shaped; we were in the center. Ahead, there were turns to the left and right leading to the east and west ear chambers, and straight ahead was the main burial chamber.

Sun the Second grinned and said, "We're pretty lucky—the tunnel hasn't collapsed. Judging by the style, this is from the early Western Zhou period among minor feudal lords. At this level, there must be a sealing stone in the main chamber ahead. If it collapses, we won't have to waste our efforts. And even if the sealing stone is still there, Old Three is quite skilled at handling these things."

"Right, Old Three?"

"Second Brother, you flatter me too much," said Sun the Third, staring into the darkness ahead, "For sealing stones under three tons, as long as there's no self-supporting stone at the top, I can still break it open."

Our plan was to first feel our way to the main chamber, then proceed to the east and west ear chambers.

The three of us waded through the water.

Just then, a red object floated across the water's surface ahead.

"What… what is that?" Sun the Third fished the object out of the water.

Spreading it out, we discovered that it had come rushing from the main chamber—it was a modern pink towel… and it had a brand logo printed on it.

Seeing the towel, the Sun brothers' faces darkened noticeably.

Sun the Third lifted his head, and his headlamp illuminated the guanding.

Clearly visible at the northwest corner of the guanding was a small hole that had been directly drilled through; the stones around this hole were cracked all over—cracked densely.

"Damn!" Sun the Second abruptly threw down the towel.

He looked at the small hole on the guanding and said, "This damn thing was drilled out with an impact drill. They originally put explosives in there. These sons of bitches didn't have the diamond needle—they wanted to blast open the guanding! This towel was used to block the small hole and reduce the noise of the explosion!"

"This Western Zhou tomb has been disturbed!"

"It must be the work of that group from the south. We've wasted so much effort!"

"This is like picking up a used shoe!"