After listening to what Song Laosan said, I took a deep breath: "Since you have already deduced that someone is tomb raiding, you shouldn't have appeared here so openly. If the other party notices that someone is here, they will definitely move to another place to dump the soil, causing us to lose our counter-tracking clues."

“I’ve considered all of what you’ve said. When I first discovered the soil theft, I had people lie in wait for a while, but I didn’t see anyone come to this area. Also, the soil on this hillside has different moisture levels, and the top layer of soil has lost a lot of moisture and doesn’t have a sense of layering, which means that this dumping site has been abandoned.”

Song Laosan pointed to the hillside: "I set up sentries a kilometer away, but so far, I haven't found anything."

I didn't offer any further comments, but instead asked, "When you spoke to me earlier, you mentioned that you had conducted a search in the surrounding area. How extensive was that search area?"

"About two kilometers away, the Shang and Zhou dynasties were located on both sides of the river, while the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods were buried on the mountaintop. I sent people to search the surrounding mountains, but we did not find any traces of earthwork."

Song Laosan pointed to the group of people waiting not far away: "As you can see, we have limited manpower here, and everyone can only search within a limited area. So I can't be sure whether they scattered the soil too far or the tunnel was too well hidden. However, I think it's unrealistic to carry heavy piles of stolen soil two kilometers away to dispose of it in this deep mountain forest. So I think the second possibility is more likely, which is why I thought of having you come and take a look."

"Let's check for soil theft first."

I looked at the whitish mud on the hillside, turned on my flashlight, and climbed up the hillside.

The hillside is about ten meters long, and the stolen soil dumped from above covers the entire hillside.

Seeing me turning over the soil on the hillside with a twig, Song Laosan interjected, "I've checked the soil here several times, and it's definitely grave soil."

"The arrangement of red soil, blue clay and yellow soil on this hillside does not have a sense of layering, but is mixed together, which means that the soil was not scattered by one person, but by many people coming together to achieve this effect."

I paused for a moment: "But you also said that the soil moisture here is different, which means that these people came more than once. The most reasonable explanation is that they dug more than one tunnel."

"What you're saying is making me more and more confused."

Song Laosan replied with a puzzled look: "We all know the process of tomb raiding. They should first use plum blossom dots to determine the boundary before starting to dig the tunnel. Since they have already found the location, why do they need to dig multiple tunnels? Is it because the first tunnel they dug could not lead to the tomb, so they changed to another place?"

"What we're looking for is the legendary Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. Its size is still uncertain, so your analysis isn't impossible."

I drew my dagger, scraped off the loose soil from a large clump of blue clay, and then held out my hand: "Take all your water bottles off and give them to me."

After the others handed me the water bottles, I cut off a large piece of green clay with a knife and placed it on a nearby stone to wash it.

After about five minutes of fussing around, I had used up all the water bottles they handed me, and the rocks next to me were covered in mud.

Song Laosan didn't understand my intention and couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Duan, have you found anything?"

I wiped my hands and pointed to the mud on the stone, saying, "These people who dumped the soil didn't find the tomb."

"That's impossible!"

Song Laosan retorted, "Blue clay is commonly found in tombs from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. There is also red soil mixed with blue clay because it contains a large amount of cinnabar. These two things create a sense of layering, which is obviously man-made. How could it not be a tomb?"

“I didn’t say they couldn’t find the burial site, but rather that they couldn’t find the tomb. Of course, that’s a very strange statement.”

I paused for a moment: "Qinggao mud is a special type of clay with strong adhesion and fine texture. When used to seal tombs, it can isolate moisture and water. Its fluidity is like quicksand, which can also prevent tomb robbers. Judging from the humidity of this Qinggao mud, it has not dried out even after being buried underground for so many years."

The ancients chose to use blue clay to fill the area around the coffin precisely because of its several desirable properties. However, the blue clay here is remarkably clean, containing no wood chips or stone fragments, indicating that these were not used to fill the area around the coffin.

Old Song scratched his head: "The more I listen, the more confused I get?"

"I believe that the blue clay here is a kind of mechanism used as an anti-theft measure."

I explained in the simplest way possible: "The people who dug these tunnels may have discovered the location of the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, but they did not manage to enter it. Moreover, the tunnels they dug were filled with blue clay, which served as an anti-theft layer. This explains why, after they dug the blue clay, they did not continue to dump soil here, and why the soil here was dug from multiple tunnels."

"You mean they've only dug up the outer perimeter of the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, which is like a giant quicksand tomb, its surface covered by a thick layer of blue clay. Due to the fluidity and collapse of the blue clay, they can't continue digging the tunnel."

Old Song suddenly realized: "These people originally planned to dig a tunnel directly down, but they had to abandon the tunnel because of the appearance of the green clay. They tried to try from other directions, but found that they still couldn't get around the green clay, so they stopped and threw the soil into this ravine... So if we continue to guard this place, we are very likely to find their whereabouts."

“That’s right! If this mud is indeed a trap on the outer layer of the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, then the inside of this tomb is likely covered by a protective layer similar to a tortoise shell, with a thick layer of blue clay on the outside. The collapsibility of this mud makes it impossible for tomb raiders to remove it completely. In order to prevent the tomb from collapsing, a large-scale excavation must be carried out.”

I shared my guess: "The Miao Jiang Immortal Palace has been guarded by the people of Ping'an Village for generations. Once someone makes such a big fuss about tomb raiding, it's impossible for it to escape the eyes of Ping'an Village."

Song Laosan nodded: "In your opinion, what should we do next?"

I scratched my nose: "We don't know how thick this mud layer is yet, so we can't guess what methods these people are planning to use. I suggest we split into two groups. You lie in ambush here, and if these people continue to dump soil, keep an eye on them! I'll take some men into the mountains, find a suitable place to dig and probe the mud layer."