The four men in the canyon were clearly experienced tomb raiders. After deciding to use explosives a second time, the two men who had been inside the cave went back to dig the blasting holes.

About five minutes later, the man named Dazhuang led his companion out of the cave and waved to the other two, saying, "The blast hole is open, get ready to light it, everyone take cover!"

Those outside were somewhat surprised after hearing Dazhuang's words: "So fast?"

"Before I entered this line of work, I worked as a blaster in a coal mine in Shanxi for fifteen years. We were paid by the job, and if you wanted to make money, you had to be quick!"

Dazhuang connected the wire to the trigger and pressed his body against the mountain wall: "Open your mouth, cover your ears!"

I hid behind a rock, and after hearing Dazhuang's voice, I also lowered my head.

"boom!"

The deafening roar was amplified infinitely by the canyon, making my eardrums ache and causing me to sit on the ground, feeling somewhat dizzy.

Several seconds passed before my hearing returned, followed by the excited shouts of the people outside: "It's done! The inner door has been blown down, Dazhuang, you did a great job!"

"That's for sure. When it comes to digging up graves, I'm no match for you, but when it comes to violent destruction, all of you combined can't compare to me!"

Dazhuang fanned the smoke in front of him: "The cave is open, let's get to work quickly. Same old rule, two people guarding, two people going into the cave?"

"Let's get three in!"

One of them suggested, "We made too much noise just now. The usual way of working is too slow. Let three people go in, grab the stuff, and leave as soon as possible. Let's try to finish this quickly. Old Zhao's back injury has flared up again. Let him stay!"

After discussing their options, three of them went into the cave, while the remaining one sat at the entrance, smoking and waiting.

The monkey peeked out and asked, "Young Master Duan, shall we make a move?"

I glanced at my watch and said, "Wait three minutes, let his accomplices go deeper!"

After hearing what I said, everyone waited patiently.

I looked down at my watch, and the moment the three minutes were up, I suddenly stood up and rushed toward the man who was left behind.

The man who was smoking was startled by the footsteps and shone his flashlight in our direction: "Who goes there?"

Seeing the man's actions, I raised my crossbow and pointed it at him: "Don't move, and don't shout! We don't want to hurt anyone!"

"Go to hell!"

The burly man paused for a moment when he saw us all fully armed, then strode towards the cave entrance, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Dazhuang, Lao Ba, come out quickly! There are people outside..."

"Whoosh!"

I saw the burly man ignore all advice and pull the trigger of the crossbow without hesitation.

"Pfft!"

Thanks to the knife-throwing training I had received from Ma, the palm-sized crossbow bolt pierced the strong man's calf with pinpoint accuracy, causing him to scream and fall to the ground.

"Bang!"

The monkey rushed forward and kicked the burly man in the face: "I told you not to shout, but you insisted on shouting anyway. Did you have to ask for trouble?"

I walked up to the burly man and pointed my reloaded crossbow at him: "Where are you from?"

The burly man's face was covered in sweat from the pain, and he gritted his teeth and cursed, "When sailing on the rivers and lakes, one should simply avoid swift currents. Stirring up storms and waves is despicable!"

“I gave you a chance, but you yelled and forced us to take action.”

I pressed my palm down, pressing the tip of the arrow against the burly man's forehead: "I'll ask you one more time, where did you come from?"

"A temporary forklift team assembled from all corners of the country, with the flag bearer from Guangxi."

The burly man meant that their group was not a fixed team, but rather they had come together in search of the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace.

I overheard their conversation and know they know nothing about the tomb in front of them. I waved my hand and said, "Tie him up, gag him, and let's go in!"

Lin Que sniffed: "Big brother, there's only one exit here, and they've left someone to guard the door. Wouldn't it be better if we just wait for them to come out?"

"We can hear the explosion. Other teams can stay outside and wait; it's too much of a waste of time. Let's go in and take a look. If it's just an ordinary tomb, there's no need to waste time; let's just leave!"

After I gave the order, Manjing and Linque quickly left the wounded man in the cave. We all changed into our gas masks and entered the cave together.

Under the night vision goggles, everything we saw appeared a ghastly green.

The square dome of the cave in front of us looks like a city gate tower. It is about one meter wide and about two and a half meters high. Walking inside it can make you feel a bit oppressed.

Further ahead, there is a stone gate that was blown up.

I looked at the debris on the ground, moved the night vision goggles aside, and shone my flashlight over it.

The stone gate was carved from a single piece of stone, with door studs carved on it, and all the studs were gilded.

Although the stone slabs have lost their color, I believe they were painted red when the gate was erected here.

Seeing me scrape the gold off the door studs with my dagger, the monkey couldn't help but ask, "Young Master Duan, didn't you say we were in a hurry? Then why aren't we going in?"

I continued turning over the stones on the ground: "I'm trying to determine the dynasty of this tomb."

The monkey shone its flashlight on the ruins on the ground: "There are no carvings on this stone door, just these door studs. What can you tell from that?"

"Door nails, originally called 'floating pivots,' were used to fix wooden boards on doors. Later, they were named after the first star of the Big Dipper, Tian Shu. The Big Dipper has seven stars, and the emperor has seven celestial bodies, so it has an additional meaning. In the fifteenth year of the Hongzhi reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming government promulgated the 'Great Ming Code,' which mainly contained administrative law. It stipulated that only the imperial family and princely residences could use door nails."

I paused for a moment: "Door nails are divided into iron nails, copper nails, wooden nails, and stone nails. Iron nails are mostly found in temple buildings, mainly during the Song Dynasty. Copper nails are mostly found in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and are gilded on copper to complement the vermilion doors. There is also a type of stone stud nail, which is mostly found on the stone doors of underground tombs."

The monkey tried to understand: "According to you, this gilded stone gate is the tomb of a Ming Dynasty prince?"

“I’ve said before that this kind of terrain is unsuitable for burying kings and nobles, unless it’s their children! But these door studs shouldn’t be from the Ming Dynasty.”

I frowned as I looked at the gilded stone door studs and said, "Zhu Yuanzhang once included door studs in the regulations and ordered Zhang Chou, an official in the Ministry of Rites, and others to specifically study the form of ancient door studs. The final answer was that the origin of door studs could not be verified! So the Ming Dynasty only stipulated that the main gate of the royal city should be 'with red lacquer and gilded copper studs,' without specifying the number!"

Therefore, if this tomb belonged to a member of the Ming Dynasty imperial family, it would be impossible for them to violate regulations by using gilded stone instead of bronze! If we go back in time, according to the *Collected Statutes of the Qing Dynasty*, although door studs were no longer exclusively for the imperial family, there were still strict requirements regarding their arrangement and quantity. The door studs on this door are arranged haphazardly, which does not conform to Qing Dynasty regulations. Therefore, this tomb must be at least from before the Ming Dynasty.