The potting soil that Ma Zhenhong took out of the bag excited me.

Not only because I found the ancient tomb, but also because I proved myself.

After all, before me, the Wei family had already hired three groups of tomb raiders who had searched for nearly two months without finding the tomb, while I succeeded in less than ten hours.

However, after examining the other bags, Ma Zhenhong's expression gradually became serious: "Strange!"

Seeing that Ma Zhenhong's expression was off, I went over and asked, "Mr. Ma, what's wrong?"

Ma Zhenhong scratched his head, picked up a round piece of soil and showed it to me: "Of these bags of soil, only one contains mixed soil, the other bags are all sediment. This shouldn't be the case!"

Many people are curious about how the Luoyang shovel can be used to dig a hole and find ancient tombs.

In fact, the use of the Luoyang shovel is not that simple. When drilling holes, it is not just one hole, but many holes that need to be drilled to determine the shape of the tomb. This method is called edge shaping.

Experienced tomb raiders can generally deduce the dynasty and scale of a tomb by its shape and head straight for the coffin and the place where the burial goods are placed.

For edge shaping, whether vertical or horizontal, a hole needs to be drilled every meter to form a grid pattern. Then, a hole is drilled in the center of the grid, which is commonly known as the "plum blossom dot".

Common sense dictates that if the soil found is soft, grayish-brown, contains wood ash, burnt soil, bone fragments, and pottery shards, and is relatively shallow, then this is a cellar.

Conversely, if the soil is compacted, tamped, and has a mottled color, is free of inclusions, and is relatively deep, then it is the tomb passage.

There are many types of colored soil, including white colored soil, red colored soil, five-colored soil, and large-colored soil.

This type of soil is formed because after the tomb is built, the excavated soil is backfilled and compacted, or grout is poured to reinforce the tomb passage, which disrupts the original layers and color boundaries, turning it into a mixed soil layer that cannot be combined with other soils to form potting soil.

Although the soil filling in a typical tomb passage is tamped, its structure is not as dense and hard as natural soil. In places where this type of soil exists underground, plants and crops will grow worse than in other places.

The soil left over after backfilling will be scattered around the tomb passage, forming a layer of soil similar to the soil used for the tomb passage, but not very thick.

Generally speaking, if a Luoyang shovel touches the soil, it means that an ancient tomb has been found.

I noticed that only one of the fifteen bags contained potting soil, and after a moment's thought, I wondered, "Could it be that we dug too high and ended up in a courtyard?"

A characteristic of Tang Dynasty tombs is the construction of a courtyard above the tomb passage, which is generally shaped like the character "丄". The number of courtyards varies depending on the status and position of the tomb owner.

“I’ve been in this business for so many years, and I’ve never actually opened a Tang Dynasty tomb. What you’re saying is possible.”

Ma Zhenhong nodded: "In that case, I will go down again to confirm the location of the tomb passage."

I stopped Ma Zhenhong: "The courtyard and the tomb passage of the Tang Dynasty tomb are connected. Now that we have found the courtyard, we can dig a hole here and enter the tomb passage from the courtyard."

Ma Zhenhong nodded: "Very well, since you were able to find this tomb, your knowledge is already superior to mine! I'll go get the tool basket and the small tools, and we'll prepare to excavate!"

The shark was so excited that his hands were trembling as he asked, "Mr. Duan, is there anything you need to prepare?" I hadn't expected to find the tomb so quickly.

I spoke quickly: "Dragon-subduing wood, two-world knife, five-grain bag, incense burner, offering table, paper money."

Shark nodded repeatedly: "Mr. Wei asked me to prepare these things before you came. You rest here for a while, and I'll go down the mountain to get them!"

The so-called "dragon-taming wood" is actually peach wood, a type of wood with a long history in the country.

According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, when Kuafu was chasing the sun, he discarded his staff, which transformed into the Denglin Forest, which refers to a peach orchard.

In ancient times, people would choose to carve human figures from peach wood to ward off evil spirits in their homes. Even the Spring Festival couplets pasted up during the Lunar New Year were called "peach charms" in ancient times, which could drive away evil spirits and protect the home.

The "Dragon-Subduing Wood" used for tomb raiding is not ordinary peach wood, but lightning-struck wood imbued with divine power, and it must be carved into a wooden sword.

The Dragon-Subduing Wood drives away ghosts, and the Two-World Blade subdues demons.

According to the records of judges, after a person dies, due to the location of the burial site and some special factors, the corpse may turn into certain monsters due to excessive yin energy. The most famous of these is the well-known zombie.

These monsters have different abilities, but most of them are impervious to swords and spears, and can only be defeated by the Two Realms Blade.

This kind of knife is very rare.

The legend of the Two Realms Blade is on the verge of being lost in the martial arts world, with only the Four Gates and a few tomb raiding families still passing down this method.

The so-called two realms refer to the realms of Yin and Yang. This knife must have been used to kill someone in the Yang realm and left on the corpse, buried together in the tomb, to absorb the earth's energy, Yin energy, and the corpse's energy.

In ancient times, weapons were rarely left on the bodies during burial. Even if they were occasionally used, the knives used to kill slaves were not valuable weapons and had long since rotted away.

Therefore, these kinds of knives are usually left on corpses after two groups of tomb raiders encounter each other in a tomb and engage in a fight, making them extremely difficult to find.

According to rumors, some families would lure people to graveyards and kill them in order to create the Two-World Blade.

As for the grain bag, it is a belt containing sorghum, millet, buckwheat, oats, and barley.

Since ancient times, the people have been the foundation of the nation, and food is the most important thing for the people. Food is related to the survival of all people in the world and is one of the most important resources in human society. It absorbs the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to nurture all people and is regarded as the most yang energy. It is also regarded as a sacred object to ward off evil by tomb raiders.

But I think it's more like they were afraid the tomb raiders would collapse and starve to death inside while searching for their way out.

At 11 p.m., just as midnight struck, I held three sticks of incense and knelt facing north, praying: "High mountains reveal the rising stars, flat lands are adorned with dragons, thousands of palaces and dragon towers exist, fortune and misfortune all arise from the dragon! Duan Shenxing, the successor of Wangyunzhai, today observes the qi of the tomb and enters the Yellow Springs, please bless me, ancestors!"

I bowed and kowtowed three times to the north, and then rushed to the place where Ma Zhenhong was about to descend the cliff. I lit three incense sticks and put them into the incense burner, and then took out four more.

The monkey, providing light, reminded me, "Young Master Duan, you're carrying too much incense!"

"Three for the gods, four for the ghosts! The three incense sticks we just burned were for the mountain gods and the earth gods! These four incense sticks are for the deceased at the tomb!"

I explained to the monkey, placed four incense sticks in the incense burner on the offering table, and bowed deeply three times: "May the heavens and earth, and nature, dispel all impurities, drive away evil spirits, and deliver countless ghosts! Our ancestors have passed away, and we, their descendants, pay our respects! Please forgive any misfortune; this merit is immeasurable!"

Ma Zhenhong gave a thumbs up: "Young man, you're really good at digging for ancient artifacts! It turns out there's a lineage behind it. You're definitely much better than us self-taught folks! No wonder you were able to find this cliff tomb!"

In a short while, the four incense sticks burned out, and I nodded to Ma Zhenhong: "Mr. Ma, we can get started now."

Ma Zhenhong wrapped a homemade belt around his waist and put all the necessary tools on it: "You guys hold onto the rope and adjust your position according to my instructions."

This time, he was tied to three ropes. The shark was responsible for pulling him up and down to adjust the angle, while the monkey and I were responsible for adjusting him left and right.

Ma Zhenhong was an experienced worker. Even when he was hanging on the cliff, he didn't stop working. In just a few minutes, he dug a hole in the mountain and crawled inside.

We waited on the cliff for nearly three hours before Ma Zhenhong finally let us pull him up. He bowed to me with admiration and said, "Mr. Duan, you are a prophet! I did indeed dig out the well in the tomb passage. We'll wait for two hours to let the foul air out, and then we can enter the tomb!"