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墨書 Inktalez
The technique recorded in "Mausoleum Secrets" is called the "Hawk Flip Technique." This method reminds me of the story of Wang Anshi and Liu Gongfu. Back in the day, someone told Wang Anshi that if the Liangshan Marsh were drained, it would yield thousands of acres of fertile land. Upon hearing this, Wang Anshi began to worry and asked historian Liu Gongfu how to deal with the water. Liu Gongfu jokingly replied, "That's easy! Just dig a pit next to it that's the same size as the marsh, and you can divert the water! What do you think?" This became a popular joke.
The reason I thought of this story is that we need to dig a pit next to the tomb to drain the quicksand. The quicksand flows from the burial chamber into other tunnels, resembling the flipping motion of a hawk in Peking Opera, hence its name.
Using the Hawk Flip Technique makes sense here. This tomb is situated slightly higher than the surrounding desert terrain. By digging a channel through the quicksand layer, the sand will rush out from the channel. In no time at all, we can clear all the quicksand from the tomb.
We connected the threaded steel pipes and attached the shovel head. I made a few marks on the ground with my foot to indicate where to dig. Bald Qiang secured the shovel head and began digging with a short-handled hammer while I placed one hand on the steel pipe to gauge what was happening below. After striking once, I felt the bottom of the probe loosen, and I exclaimed, "Got it!"
We pulled up sections of the shovel one by one until we finally brought out a clump of dirt. Bald Qiang removed the shovel head and came over to show us. When Big Mouth Lee and I looked at it, our faces turned pale, and even Zhengyang gasped. It turned out that the sand was mixed with a large amount of cinnabar, which looked like solidified blood clots.
Finding cinnabar in a tomb is not unusual. During the Western Zhou period, cinnabar was often discovered at the bottom of tombs; it was used to ward off evil spirits. The ancestors were superstitious and believed in a ghost called Fang Liang that specialized in stealing corpses and souls, which could only be repelled by cinnabar.
There is also a type of tomb known as a Vermilion Tomb, which serves to suppress evil. After its construction, a layer of raw earth is placed on top, followed by a layer of clay and another layer of raw earth before finally sealing it with red earth mixed with cinnabar. The surface of such tombs appears vividly blood-red and does not fade even after thousands of years. If located in a damp area, it looks as if blood is seeping out when rainwater falls on it—this explains how the Changsha Biaozi Ridge Blood Corpse Tomb was formed.
However, finding cinnabar in a quicksand tomb is entirely different. In this case, cinnabar neither wards off evil nor suppresses malevolence. Such tombs are extremely rare; even among the four major tomb raiding families, only Tomb Raider encountered one during the Three Kingdoms period, which nearly led to their extinction due to its ferocity!
Cinnabar resembles pure Yang blood in witchcraft. Its presence in quicksand suggests that blood is still flowing; thus, not only can Yang Qi circulate through the tomb, but Eerie Energy can also continuously cycle. This means that whatever lies within this tomb has not only been sealed along with its body but even its soul cannot reincarnate. After thousands of years of resentment has transformed into Killing Intent within this tomb, cinnabar has transmitted vast amounts of quicksand into it!
"Something feels off!" I said as I pinched some quicksand between my fingers, frowning slightly. According to "Mausoleum Secrets," sticky sand represents Yin while scattered sand represents Yang. This quicksand clearly contains an abundance of Yang Qi. What could be going on? Has this entity been sealed for a thousand years without any resentment?
I couldn't explain it all just yet.
Based on where we struck with our probe, we outlined an area for further digging. We roughly determined that the quicksand layer in this tomb was not very deep—about seven or eight meters underground. Our task was to dig a channel approximately ten meters long to divert the quicksand into lower surrounding areas.
Bald Qiang worked like an experienced grave robber; his speed was impressive as he wielded three whirlwind shovels that quickly descended seven or eight meters down. Big Mouth Lee may look thin but he had some strength; he swiftly dug out a channel over ten meters long from the sand. Then Big Mouth Lee jumped up and tossed aside his shovel while shouting, "Done!"
Boom! Boom!
Quicksand surged forth, carrying stones along the channel we had previously dug, roaring like a giant wave! The fine sand, mixed with boulders, took a full half-hour to drain completely.
As expected, once the quicksand was cleared, a brick wall revealed itself at the cave entrance. The wall was extremely smooth, not even a crack could be seen. When I tapped it with my hand, there was no echo at all. Dong Tong wiped his hands and exclaimed, "The Ancestors' methods are impossible to have no gaps at all!"
I replied, "This type of tomb brick has an interlocking structure, one side concave and the other convex, allowing two bricks to fit perfectly together. That's why it can be as smooth as a mirror!"
"Then it's simple! As long as we remove one brick, the structure of this wall will be compromised!"
Upon hearing Zhengyang say this, I couldn't help but laugh. How could you possibly remove a brick when there wasn't even a gap? Blow it up with explosives? These bricks were used in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City; even a detonator would only create a hole. How could we mere mortals extract one?
Just as I was lost in thought, Zhengyang used two fingers to touch the wall and with a pop, pulled out a brick cleanly. We were all stunned; how much strength did those two fingers possess?
"There’s a mechanism within these interlocking bricks; we must be careful when moving them. If we create even a spark from friction, we're done for!"
We proceeded cautiously and exerted considerable effort to remove the brick wall.
Indeed, wrapped in a fragile pouch was a layer of fire dragon oil. Once broken and exposed to air, it would ignite. We carefully buried the fire dragon oil in the sand before fully dismantling the tomb wall.
"You have quite the skill; it's a shame you don't become a Grave Robber!" Big Mouth Lee remarked nonchalantly. I found myself both amused and exasperated; while we weren't grave robbers, what was the difference? In fact, this method had already been employed by ancient grave robbers multiple times.
As we walked through the tomb passageway with our mining lamps, we unexpectedly discovered a theft hole. The hole was circular. "This is from before the Tang Dynasty!" I finally had something to show off in front of Birdman. Bald Qiang laughed upon hearing this. "Alright then! How did you figure out it's from before the Tang?"
Regarding this topic, I was well-versed and didn't hold back. "Tombs from before the Tang Dynasty are often vertical tombs. A vertical tomb is dug out from the ground with stone slabs supporting the chamber above and then covered with earth. The soil in such tombs is quite thick; only circular theft holes can bear that weight. After the Tang Dynasty, tombs were usually carved into hillsides with thick soil layers, leading to square holes being dug instead. You can only crawl into circular holes while square ones allow you to walk in. Thus, the era of theft holes is very distinct!"
"There's so much knowledge here? Truly, different fields are like different mountains! I, Big Mouth Lee, am impressed by your knowledge!"
"Brother Li, there's much more knowledge here than you realize; we Shifting Mountains Lifter family have the least knowledge among the four great families, yet we still possess over three thousand pages of secret techniques!"
"Then what about those who dug the holes?"
"They're all dead!" Dong Tong replied coldly. My previous impression of her was that she was a carefree girl, but after spending some time with her, I realized she was not only indifferent but also quite cunning. As we followed the path of the holes, we discovered seven or eight round and square openings. "Damn! There's even an old phone!" Big Mouth Lee exclaimed, and I could see he was about to burst with excitement. The phone was a style that had been popular ten years ago, which meant this tomb had been visited by grave robbers at least once in the last decade.
"Who would dare rob such a tomb?" Zhengyang seemed to be talking to himself.
Soon, the holes changed from circular to triangular, densely supported by Poplar beams inside. We crouched down and continued deeper. Bald Qiang led the way, and before long, we heard him shout, "Damn! A ghost!" Normally, someone like Bald Qiang had encountered many strange events and shouldn't react so dramatically.
On the ground lay several people in disarray, completely skeletal. From their remains, it was evident they had experienced a fierce battle. All their spinal bones were broken, twisted as if they had been snapped alive. One person's skull had five holes in it, as if five fingers had punctured it.
The sight of these corpses was terrifying; no wonder Brother Qiang screamed like that. Logically speaking, his courage should rank among the top in our group. Either he was just a coward at heart or this scene was simply too horrifying. We paused for a moment to carefully observe the bodies; it truly was unsettling. If I had stumbled upon this unexpectedly, I would have screamed even louder than he did.
After a moment, I examined my surroundings closely and began to piece together how these individuals had died. They were definitely grave robbers who had dug up from the bottom of the tomb to enter the chamber while avoiding quicksand. Inside the chamber, they must have encountered something unclean and were driven into the passageway, where they met their demise. The thought sent chills down my spine, and my face turned pale.
The shock combined with prolonged labor left me feeling heavy in my chest!
On top of that, Sand Hammer bit down on my shoulder, releasing its venom. My vision darkened, and I fainted! My eyelids felt heavy as if they were fighting against each other; through the haze, I caught a glimpse of a shadow passing through the passageway. It definitely wasn't any of us five. I didn't have time to think; that thing vanished in an instant.
What on earth was that? In the end, I couldn't withstand the effects of the poison and lost consciousness!
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