Chapter 159: Was it really that easy? (Two chapters combined, bonus chapter for 4,000 monthly votes)
A pickup truck led the way as the Land Cruiser drove along the county road.
Zhang Feng (male plainclothes officer) focused intently on driving, while Xu Gaolan (female plainclothes officer) touched her chest and then her cuffs.
"Zhang Feng, they won't search us, will they?"
Zhang Feng hesitated for a moment: "Probably not!"
"Then where's your gun? Where's it strapped?"
"I didn't tie it; I just stuck it in my pocket... I can hold it anytime, and it's convenient for opening the safety lock."
Lin Sicheng almost lost his composure: No... Brother, what if it goes off accidentally?
"Gentlemen, we're not going to sell drugs, are we?"
The two plainclothes officers remained silent.
In terms of ruthlessness, tomb raiders are no less ruthless than drug traffickers.
Just like last year, when they assisted Guangzhou police in arresting Yang Bin and his accomplices, weren't all of those people carrying guns?
"Don't worry, those are just a very few cases!"
Lin Sicheng smiled and said, "Besides, we're the buyers now, why would he search us?"
The two plainclothes officers remained silent: they were doing a job where their lives were hanging by a thread, so who could say for sure?
"Relax!" Lin Sicheng sighed. "Don't give yourself away!"
Definitely not.
Since Chen Peng dared to send them, he must have been very selective, able to convincingly portray any role and get into character in a second.
However, Director Chen's words were terrifying: "If anything happens to Lin Sicheng, you won't even have a chance to get out of this mess..."
I feel a lot of pressure.
We drove straight ahead to the foot of Erlang Mountain (the front of Zhongnan Mountain). Finally, the three cars pulled into a farmhouse.
There are no walls around it. Several antique-style tiled houses form a circle, with a courtyard in the middle and several osmanthus trees wrapped tightly in cloth.
Behind the wall was a fishpond, next to which was a large shed, like a vegetable garden.
A woven bag was hanging on the rammed earth wall of the greenhouse, containing a bundle of what looked like steel pipes.
Lin Sicheng glanced at it and was suddenly stunned: Centipede Hanging Mountain Ladder?
This is what it looks like when it's disassembled:
If connected, it would look like this:
But when you actually use it, it becomes like this:
Does it look familiar?
This thing is specifically used to steal hanging coffins on cliffs, as well as extremely deep and vertical burial pits.
Back in the days before the internet was widespread, even ordinary police officers wouldn't recognize it; they would just assume it was used by an electrician.
But those two plainclothes officers next to him definitely know each other...
The three exchanged a glance: Had they been led to the tomb raiders' lair?
After a quick glance, Lin Sicheng exclaimed, "Great place!"
Fan Qiang (the old woman's brother-in-law) paused for a moment: "What's good about it?"
Lin Sicheng didn't say anything, he just smiled.
It is bordered by the Hao River to the west and the Yu River to the east. To get here from the city, you have to cross those bridges.
We can send someone to keep watch by the bridge, and if there's any disturbance, we only need to make a phone call.
The key point is that to the south lies the Zhongnan Mountains, and once you go deep into the mountains, even sending troops won't be able to find you.
But the old lady's younger brother-in-law brought him here directly.
A thought struck him, and Lin Sicheng clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Fan Chutou, my apologies for my disrespect!"
The man's expression changed, and he forced a smile: "What is the boss talking about?"
Lin Sicheng smiled and said nothing more.
I didn't realize until I saw it: this guy who looks like a dead man when he smiles is actually a leader?
According to past tradition, in a typical tomb raiding gang, the boss who organizes and provides funds is called the "boss" and the second boss who is responsible for finding tombs and appraising artifacts is called the "appraiser".
Those who lead people to dig graves are called "legs," while those at the very bottom, digging holes and opening coffins, are called "lower-level laborers." Those who specialize in gathering information about the underworld and acting as lookouts are called "lookouts," and those who transport goods and sell stolen goods are called "street runners."
In more complex cases, there are "chutou" who specialize in handling leftover stock, and "fangka" who manages relationships between the legitimate and criminal worlds and also handles criminal law.
The last one is the most vicious: tomb raiders don't have the concept of being executed alive, but rather being allowed to "survive" or "become earth immortals."
To put it bluntly: bury the members who made the mistake alive in their graves...
The old woman's husband, Fan Qiang's older brother, was a street vendor.
Fan Qiang was the leader who handled leftover stock, ranking last among the bosses. His abilities were probably only average; he mostly worked alone.
Otherwise, they wouldn't stay at home waiting for guests to come.
Even if one's abilities are lacking, being ranked lower still makes one a leader. Thinking back to the past, how could I have led him to the tomb?
It's pretty funny.
But as fate would have it, things turned out perfectly by accident. It was because he had asked him for directions that Fan Chutou assumed he was also a fellow traveler, which is why he brought him here today.
While pondering, Fan Qiang led them into the brick house facing east. As soon as they entered, a man of about fifty years old came to greet them.
"The boss is here! Please have a seat and some tea!"
At the sound of the shout, an ordinary-looking woman came out of the inner room carrying a teapot.
Lin Sicheng nodded, sat down, and glanced around.
He was short and stout, with a ruddy complexion and a few faint patches of rust on his neck, indicating that he often went down into pits.
Looking further down, Lin Sicheng's heart skipped a beat: the fat man's hands had even more rust than Wang Qizhi's, who handled copperware every day. There were red, yellow, black, and green rust all around.
The key issue is that the nails are extremely thick and brittle, and the calluses on the fingertips are thick, stiff, and curled outwards. It looks as if the nails have grown into the flesh.
In the early days, due to insufficient productivity, holes could only be dug by hand with shovels. Sometimes the hole was too small for tools, so they had to dig by hand. Over time, their nails wore down, and calluses formed on their fingertips.
Having been in contact with funerary objects for many years, and corroded by various rusts, the calluses became increasingly stiff, and the fingernails could not grow, so they could only grow horizontally.
In the tomb raiding world, this is called "ghost-biting hand"!
So, this person used to be a "hard worker" who dug holes. It's estimated that he stopped going down into the holes and started receiving goods outside the pits, which is why his hands are so rusty.
At most, he's just a lackey leading people into the pit; he's definitely not going to be the one setting up the pot, much less the one making the eye.
Lin Sicheng thought for a moment, then cupped his hands in greeting: "What is your surname, Boss Leg?"
The fat man was still laughing, but when he heard "Big Legs," his smile froze on his face.
Her tiny eyes blinked and stared at Lin Sicheng's face.
Even Fan Qiang, who led them in, had such a stiff face, yet his lips kept twitching: "Just one glance, and Liu Tuizi's identity was exposed?"
After a long pause, the fat man silently stood up.
Then, the woman who had just brewed the tea sat down again.
He was of average appearance and dressed in ordinary clothes; at first glance, he looked like a cleaning lady who served tea and did housework.
He was in his early forties, but his hands were very clean, even cleaner than his own.
But it wasn't her either.
Because unless it's a family tradition like that of Old Lady Zhao and Zhao Xiuneng, traditional tomb raiding gangs would never let women go down into the pits, let alone let women take charge.
Guess: This woman's status in the gang is probably even lower than that of the two standing next to her...
She smiled first, then cupped her hands in a gesture of respect, "Yuanliang (a respectful term for tomb raiders), where have you made your fortune?"
The two plainclothes officers were startled: Were they starting to exchange passwords?
This clearly shows that they've mistaken Lin Sicheng for a colleague...
Lin Sicheng, however, was very impatient and didn't even bother to clasp his hands in greeting. He said, "There are views on both banks of the river (we are colleagues, but we are far away from you)."
The woman didn't care: "Going up the mountain to carry firewood, or coming down to make a fire? (What kind of work are you doing, selling goods, or working in the pit?)"
"They catch partridges and hunt hawks (from ancient times to the present, they do business related to cultural relics from all corners of the world)."
The woman was taken aback: What a boastful tone!
She patiently asked, "Have you ever been through fire and water? (What skills do you have?)"
"Jieqiu Men (knowledgeable in feng shui and astrology), Milong Lou (understanding geomancy and able to identify dragon veins), Dengbao Dian (imperial mausoleum, also referring to an extremely luxurious tomb!)"
Everyone except Lin Sicheng was stunned.
The two plainclothes officers simply couldn't understand, while the other three paused, exclaiming: "This is more than just arrogant!"
Stealing from imperial tombs... How old are you?
Guessing what they were thinking, Lin Sicheng clenched his fists, first extending his two little fingers outwards, then bringing his index fingers together and arching them forward:
"You're from the Jingwei School (a group of tomb raiders in the Guanzhong region specializing in the imperial tombs and grand mausoleums of the Zhou, Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties), right? But I'm just here to check the item codes (buy some goods). Is it really necessary to be so thorough? If you really want to investigate, please bring out a pot, or you can be my expert..."
As he spoke, Lin Sicheng set out the teacups in front of him, looked at the woman and smiled: "The person in charge doesn't show his face, yet you dare to call yourself Yuanliang and dare to challenge the Yuanliang Way? If you insist on challenging me, fine... Come, let's go through the Dragon Gate and discuss seniority!"
Fan Chutou, Fatty Tuizi, and a woman whose identity was currently unknown, all six of them stared intently at the teacup on the table.
Those two hand gestures, the one in front is called the Yuanliang finger, used to indicate identity.
The following phrase, "the immortal points the way," is a way of paying homage to the person who provided the pot and the appraiser.
These two hand gestures are ancient codes used by tomb raiders and grave robbers to determine the location of the tomb; very few people understand them nowadays. But it's not surprising that this young man could see through Fan Qiang and the fat man's identities at a glance.
It's understandable that they would be able to pinpoint the fact that they belong to the Jingwei Gang: anyone from Shaanxi and Gansu provinces who knows how to find and rob large tombs, can accurately locate the main burial chamber, and can cleverly dig out the tomb-robbing tunnel without using explosives, based on their lineage, can be considered a disciple or descendant of the Jingwei School.
What surprised them was these teacups.
This is called "passing the Dragon Gate." In martial arts terms, someone who knows how to do this must at least be the leader of a sect.
More importantly, this kid looked to be only in his early twenties, with barely any beard. But the aura and presence he exuded... for a moment, they thought they saw a big boss?
The two men and one woman looked at each other, somewhat at a loss.
The two plainclothes officers' expressions were even more interesting: judging by their ages, all three were old and frail, with the youngest-looking woman being over forty.
Compared to him, Lin Sicheng looked like a little kid.
But this little brat completely stunned these three seasoned veterans, their lips trembling as if they couldn't even speak.
Especially that woman, who was in her forties, her face would turn pale and then red...
Seeing that the three of them remained silent, Lin Si sighed, picked up her teacup and drank it all in one gulp, then stood up and said, "Alright, let's just consider it making friends!"
The woman snapped back to her senses: "Boss, don't go yet... It's not that the cook and the appraiser aren't coming out, it's just that they're abroad..."
What?
Lin Sicheng was stunned: Who is a good person who runs abroad?
It's obvious that the two leaders have already fled.
Let's calculate the timeline: Fan Qiang's older brother was sentenced four years ago, and the ringleader fled at most five years ago...
And yet, the Jingwei Gang, a very traditional group that always consults with their peers, is so cautious?
Moreover, their tomb raiding techniques are extremely advanced: they can locate the main burial chamber (golden well) in an area of at least a thousand square meters, and even dig tunnels seven or eight meters deep.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to steal the Phoenix Pattern Mirror, let alone Zhang Anshi's Jade Warm Mirror...
In an instant, a thought flashed through my mind: "Is the surname of the person in charge of the pot Yu?"
The woman was stunned: "How did you know?"
Lin Sicheng sighed: Because he's too famous.
This group of tomb raiders was the complete opposite of Yang Bin: they stole from their own tombs, sold the stolen goods themselves, and were extremely traditional and cautious.
They are so cautious that it takes at least three to five years to rob a single tomb, and they won't stop until the rats are running rampant.
The most typical examples are the tombs of Han Xiu, a prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, and Wu Huifei: these people looted the tombs to the point that only the stone coffins and murals remained.
That wasn't the end of it; they then sold the tomb site information to Yang Bin. Only then did Yang Bin steal the murals from Han Xiu's tomb and the stone sarcophagus from Consort Wu Hui's tomb.
They were also incredibly cunning, with an exceptionally keen sense of smell. As soon as a lead emerged, the two main culprits and most of their accomplices fled abroad. They weren't extradited from Thailand until 2018.
Three death sentences.
Unsurprisingly, this woman must be either the mistress or a close relative of the powerful Yu Dahai. Otherwise, a woman who never goes down into the pit wouldn't be able to control Chu Tou and Tui Zi.
It's a fish that slipped through the net, and a pretty big one at that. If Director Chen knew, he'd probably be so happy he'd grin from ear to ear...
After a moment's thought, Lin Sicheng sat down again: "Alright, speak your mind. Are you going to sell that bunch of silver flowers that Fan Chutou mentioned?"
The woman nodded: "Sell!"
"what else?"
The woman paused for a moment: "There are only two items: a tricolor female figurine on horseback and a bronze seal with a nose-shaped knob: Chief Secretary of the Guard."
Lin Sicheng's heart skipped a beat: Sure enough, the tomb of the Zhang Anshi family, the County Princess of the Tang Dynasty?
Many of the former have been unearthed, but they are commonly found in the tombs of Tang Dynasty princesses, county princesses, and county princesses.
The latter, the seal of the Chief Clerk of the Guards, belonged to Zhang He, the grandson of Zhang Anshi and the youngest son of Zhang Yanshou. Historical records state that he died young, having risen to the position of Chief Clerk of the Guards, and was granted a salary of 800 shi (a unit of grain).
There are definitely more than just these two items, but this woman is cautious and doesn't dare to bring them all out at once.
But it doesn't matter, I'm not really here to buy cultural relics anyway.
Lin Sicheng pondered for a moment: "There are so few funerary objects. You must have just finished setting up the tomb, dug the tomb shaft, and then attracted trouble. Then, the top-level experts and skilled climbers all fled... So if we give them to you now, I'm afraid you won't be able to move them... How about this!"
Leaning forward, Lin Sicheng stared at the woman: "If you join the partnership, you get 10%. Or, you can sell burial plots..."
Before she could finish speaking, the woman's eyes lit up instantly.
But before he could open his mouth, Lin Sicheng tapped the table first: "But let's make this clear first, if you set your standards too high, I'll find something myself!"
The woman paused for a moment: "That was a double gold box (two large tombs stacked together)."
“I know!” Lin Sicheng looked around. “One is from the Han Dynasty, the other from the Tang Dynasty… Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made this special trip just for a bouquet of silver flowers for you.”
Indeed: given the situation, it's already quite a feat for him to even send a driver...
The woman shook her head: "But you won't find it on your own!"
"Don't worry, I can find it, it just takes some time!"
Lin Sicheng leaned back: "It's either in Nanliwang (village) or Beiliwang, no more than three kilometers from north to south."
The woman's expression changed slightly, and her eyes bulged as if to say: How did you know?
Lin Sicheng smiled again: "I also know that the area is being demolished. At worst, I'll hire a demolition team and search inch by inch!"
The woman paused for a moment, looking puzzled.
Lin Sicheng knew perfectly well what she was wondering: wasn't the group that was stealing right now stealing in the same way?
He pressed his advantage, tapping the table: "Will you sell or not?"
The woman paused for a few seconds, gritted her teeth, and said, "Sell!"
In an instant, the eyes of the two plainclothes officers gleamed: Lin Sicheng, you're really that easy?
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