Chapter 248 He said it could be as deep as he wanted
Under the blazing sun, the stone steps were scorching hot. The cicadas' chirping was deafening.
The leaves tumbled in the sunlight, revealing their dark green undersides; the air was humid and stuffy, as if one were inside a steamer.
The floodwaters had long since dried up, and the silt had settled at the bottom of the valley, gradually drying up and creating a deep opening resembling a tortoise shell.
Suddenly a gust of wind came, and the smell of damp, rotten mud filled my nostrils.
Sun Jiamu held up his binoculars, looking around. Wang Qizhi stood to the side, his eyes filled with a strange expression.
Why are you coming here to join the fun instead of excavating Neolithic sites?
"Director Sun, isn't the archaeological cabin area very busy today?"
Sun Jiamu didn't have time to speak, he just nodded.
Lin Sicheng has already uncovered the surface layer and excavated the first cultural layer, not to mention making a very comprehensive and systematic follow-up excavation plan. Next, we just need to dig deeper according to the plan; it doesn't matter whether he, as the section chief, goes or not.
In contrast, Sun Jiamu was more curious about what the egg-white jade that Lin Sicheng was willing to reject the olive branches extended by him and Deputy Commander Wu looked like. He was even more curious about how Lin Sicheng could deduce the kiln site from a tomb.
After looking at it several times, Sun Jiamu asked suspiciously, "Professor Wang, I don't see any tomb."
“We really can’t see it, and there are no signs!” Wang Qizhi nodded. “Lin Sicheng said it was just a possibility… so I guess it’s still buried underground!”
Sun Jiamu was taken aback.
He thought that the grave Lin Sicheng mentioned was washed out by the flood and that Lin Sicheng had accidentally come across it.
So it's still buried underground?
“Right, there aren’t even any markers on the ground?” Sun Jiamu looked around. “How is he supposed to find it?”
Wang Qizhi thought for a moment, then pointed to the foot of the mountain: "He knows feng shui!"
What is that?
Sun Jiamu raised his binoculars again: halfway up the mountain, Lin Sicheng was circling the mountain ridge, sometimes going east, sometimes going west.
Every now and then, I would stop, look up at the sky, look at the mountaintop, and look down at the valley below. Sometimes I would even count on my fingers.
He was holding something that seemed to be reflecting light; upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a compass.
Sun Jiamu looked completely bewildered, his eyes wide and mouth agape. After a long while, he finally managed to say, "So, Lin Sicheng is searching for dragons and acupuncture points?"
Wang Qizhi nodded: "That's not entirely wrong!"
It's no wonder Sun Jiamu was so puzzled; the contrast between his earlier and later designs was too great. The archaeological chamber designed by Lin Sicheng was advanced and ahead of its time, even Director Wu praised it highly.
But a few days later, Lin Sicheng suddenly took out a compass and pretended to be a Taoist priest? It felt like Gundam had traveled to the Jurassic period.
Sun Jiamu has spent half his life in archaeology. He has only ever heard of tomb raiders relying on feng shui, but he has never heard of archaeologists relying on feng shui.
Wang Qizhi wholeheartedly agreed: to be honest, he had never heard of it before. It wasn't until he came to Xi'an and met Lin Sicheng that he understood.
Sun Jiamu took a deep breath: "The school doesn't teach that, so where did he learn it from?"
"In the book!"
Sun Jiamu's eyes widened: "Professor Wang, you're talking nonsense. Who teaches this in a proper textbook?"
Wang Qizhi scoffed, "I didn't say he learned it from a proper book!"
Sun Jiamu was speechless.
"Director Sun, you don't believe me, do you?" Wang Qizhi smiled. "Then tell me, where did he learn that archaeological chamber from?"
Where else could Lin Sicheng learn from?
Of course, it's self-taught.
But then again: Lin Sicheng relied on two meeting documents, without any ideas whatsoever, and built that cabin entirely out of imagination. How do you explain that?
As for whether it's easy to use... those who have used it know. Compared to that, isn't Feng Shui easier to learn?
Although it sounds a bit far-fetched, at least it has some basis and theory.
Sun Jiamu was just a little puzzled: "Why would he study this?"
"Of course, it's for archaeology!"
"Will it work?"
Wang Qizhi thought for a moment, then remained silent.
If you're asking what was useless, isn't the Zhang Anshi tomb incident the best example? If Lin Sicheng hadn't found it quickly, dozens of tombs would probably have been dug up before the police could even find the person.
In terms of usefulness: archaeology, especially the excavation of ancient tombs, has always been a passive and rescue-oriented process, so so-called feng shui knowledge is basically not applicable.
To put it bluntly, it's a bit like a dragon-slaying technique—you learn it but can't apply it in practice, which is why Sun Jiamu was so surprised.
Just as he was having a sudden thought, Lin Sicheng waved his hand up the mountain. Sun Jiamu and Wang Qizhi put away their binoculars and went down the stone steps.
More than ten minutes later, the three met at the foot of the mountain.
Wang Qizhi couldn't wait: "How is it?"
"There is indeed a tomb, either from the Song or Jin dynasty. But it's not large; it's likely the tomb of a landlord, wealthy household, or merchant from the commoner class. If it belonged to an official, it wouldn't be higher than the seventh rank..."
Where exactly is it?
Lin Sicheng pointed: "Due east and slightly south, on that slope about two hundred meters from here... the tomb passage runs east-west, no more than fifteen meters long. The tomb chamber faces south, and is a figure-eight shaped or round brick chamber tomb. The tomb chamber is not large, about twenty square meters. The cemetery is also not large, about one and a half acres..."
Sun Jiamu stood to the side, growing more and more suspicious as he listened: If Lin Sicheng had found an ancient tomb at the foot of a mountain without any markers by relying on his knowledge of feng shui, he would at most be half-believing and half-doubting.
Because some tomb raiders rely on feng shui knowledge to find tombs, of course, they need to be extremely knowledgeable in feng shui and be highly professional.
But if Lin Sicheng could simply take a compass and circle it a few times on the mountain ridge and determine the location of the tomb, its dynasty, and its rank, including the size of the cemetery, the size of the burial chamber, and even the direction and length of the tomb passage, Sun Jiamu resolutely refused to believe it.
This is feng shui, not fortune telling. No matter how studious or erudite Lin Sicheng was, he still had to be scientific.
Sun Jiamu found it increasingly strange, his face filled with suspicion, and he hesitated to speak.
Wang Qizhi could tell what he was thinking at a glance, but he swallowed the words back before he could say them.
Seeing is believing, hearing is deceiving. Once he sees it for himself, he'll know that Lin Sicheng is even more amazing than he imagined.
Just as he was pondering this, Lin Sicheng picked up the walkie-talkie: "Tadasuke, do you see those two elm trees at seven o'clock? Head thirty meters due east and use a diesel drilling rig... to a depth of three and a half to four and a half meters. Be careful not to use too much power; only increase speed when you encounter obstacles. Don't extend the drilling pipe too far; remember to stop drilling when you reach the end and the hole is hollow... Secondly, make sure to drill vertically and try to ensure the integrity of the soil layers!"
"Understood, Teacher Lin!"
After receiving a reply, the archaeological team sprang into action, with two pickup trucks rushing up the gentle slope to begin assembling the exploration machine.
It's not far away, just across the street, but because you have to cross a gorge, you have to drive around it.
After the car crossed the bridge, Tian Jie had already assembled the machine. By the time the car arrived, the drill bit was already in the ground.
With a few sharp cracking sounds, mud gushed from the drill hole. Sun Jiamu, standing nearby, glanced at it and asked, "What are they trying to probe? Soil layers?"
Lin Sicheng succinctly stated: "The tomb chamber!"
What is that?
Sun Jiamu paused for a moment, then looked around.
This is a gentle slope at the foot of the mountain, stretching over a hundred meters from north to south. It extends even further from east to west, seemingly endless.
Such a large piece of land, without even a mound on the surface, it's astonishing enough that there's a tomb underneath.
So when Lin Sicheng made the arrangements, Sun Jiamu thought it was just a trial exploration by the archaeological team. He even thought: it would probably take at least eight, nine, or ten drillings, and there was no guarantee that they would find anything in the end.
But then, Lin Sicheng said: "Is this a tomb chamber?"
Moreover, it was extremely certain, without using any words like "maybe," "should," or "perhaps."
So, what are the odds of finding a tomb chamber of about 20 square meters out of tens of thousands of square meters?
Subconsciously, Sun Jiamu thought of two times that his local colleagues often mentioned:
The first time, Lin Sicheng carried a pole and drilled around in the mountains and fields. As he went around, he found a pit of grass and wood ash with one dip of the pole.
The second instance was even more mysterious: he simply walked around the mountaintop and drew a simple diagram, including the location, size, and type of the kiln and its supporting facilities. The result was that the excavated site matched his drawing perfectly.
In particular, the kiln had never been discovered before, and it was not even recorded in historical documents. However, after it was unearthed, it was exactly as Lin Sicheng had predicted, as if he had built the kiln himself.
But to be honest, Sun Jiamu remained skeptical. He didn't deny that Lin Sicheng was capable and talented, but not to the point of being deified.
Therefore, he remains highly skeptical: to point casually and claim there's a tomb here, even being able to pinpoint the exact location of the burial chamber, seems rather exaggerated...
In a flash, Sun Jiamu kept his eyes fixed on the drilling rig. It started smoothly, drilling three meters in a row with basically no obstacles.
But when they reached the fourth drill pipe, and had only drilled halfway through, the engine sound suddenly became low and muffled.
Sun Jiamu glanced at the odometer: "Rust layer?"
"It doesn't seem like it!" Lin Sicheng listened intently. "It sounds like rammed earth!"
Sun Jiamu's eyes widened: What is this, three-in-one soil?
How could such a thing possibly appear in the desolate wilderness?
Unless there really is a tomb below.
But that's secondary. The key point is that Lin Sicheng tilted his ear slightly: I never knew that this thing could be heard.
Startled, Tian Jie increased the power, and the drilling rig sped up. But after drilling for a short while, the drilling rig began to roar again.
Lin Sicheng tilted his ear slightly: "Brick chamber tomb ceiling, fifty to sixty meters deep, keep the engine running at full speed, and be careful to collect brick ash..."
Tian Jie responded, added another nozzle, and then turned the diesel engine throttle to its maximum.
The noise was loud, and Sun Jiamu didn't ask anything more, just stared at the drilling rig. Ten centimeters, twenty centimeters, thirty centimeters... The newly connected drill pipe was halfway drilled when there was a "whoosh" sound, the sound suddenly dropped, and the drilling rig's speed suddenly increased.
Is this... a breakthrough?
Sun Jiamu seemed stunned: Three meters plus one meter, plus half a meter, how much is that?
Just right, four and a half meters.
What did Lin Sicheng say before?
Three and a half to four and a half meters.
The 3.5-meter section is the surface layer of the rammed earth, i.e., the top layer of the tomb, while the 4.5-meter section is the bottom layer of the brick roof of the tomb chamber.
In other words, however deep he says it is, that's how deep the tomb is...
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