The helicopters produced by the Qing Group are imported Robinson R22s, which are 6.5 meters long and 2.7 meters high. Production began in 1979, and they are the world's most numerous light two-seat helicopters.
I thought this kind of machinery would be very valuable, but after chatting with Qinghuai, I learned that the price of this second-hand helicopter is only a little over one million. For companies like theirs that own large farms, the cost of spraying pesticides with helicopters is lower than hiring workers.
I saw Qing Huai dressed in his gear, preparing to pilot the helicopter, in the yard of the Qing Group's farm. I looked at him, sweating profusely, and said, "Dude, if this thing crashes, we're both done for. Are you sure you can fly it?"
Qinghuai carried out the pre-flight checks and preparations with ease: "Don't worry, I bought this helicopter myself for fun. I completed my first flight when I was 18 and have more than a thousand hours of flight experience."
When the helicopter took off, I realized that Qinghuai wasn't exaggerating; he was indeed very skilled at operating helicopters.
I thought helicopters and passenger planes were similar, but I realized they were different once I got on. Helicopters vibrate and are noisy, and the comfort is relatively poor. Sitting in one is like riding a pirate ship, swaying back and forth.
Qinghuai didn't understand feng shui, but he was in charge of the Qing family's business in Luoyang, so he was quite familiar with the local situation. He took me directly to the north of the city.
Although the roar and shaking of the helicopter made me dizzy, I have to admit that looking at the feng shui from this perspective was incredibly smooth, like having a cheat code.
Luoyang is a famous cultural city, and it has a strong commitment to protecting ancient tombs. All the ancient tombs in the Beiman Mountain area with good feng shui have been excavated or protected.
Looking down at the protected area and the vast residential areas, I glanced at the map and yelled at Qinghuai, "We're too close to the city. Even if we find the chest, we can't move it. Keep flying north and head west along the Yellow River."
...
Qinghuai and I set off at 7 a.m., refueled twice along the way, and finally returned to the farm at 5 p.m.
After I got off the plane, I felt like I was walking on cotton, and I was vomiting violently while holding onto the plane.
After a whole day, I felt like my soul was about to leave me. I vomited more than ten times. Even after the plane had shut down, the roar of the engine still echoed in my ears for a long time.
Seeing that I tripped, Song Laosan reached out and steadied me: "How is it? Did you find the chest?"
I vomited everything out of my stomach and took about three minutes to calm down before wiping the cold sweat from my forehead: "Let's talk inside."
Inside the farm office, I pulled up a photo on my phone and placed it on the coffee table in front of me: "This is an aerial photo I took at Wanshan Lake Scenic Area in Xin'an County. What does the shape of the water here look like?"
The monkey stared at it for a long time, then scratched its head in confusion: "What does this look like? It's just a messy river."
I flipped the colors on my phone and adjusted the angle: "What about now?"
After looking around for a while, Song Laosan tentatively asked, "Does this riverbed look like a flying phoenix?"
"That's right, it's a phoenix."
I pointed to one of the directions: "Where is the dragon's lair? There must be a mountain between two rivers. To find the dragon's lair, look at the flowing water; the combination of mountains and water is the key. The mountains and water in this place have great turns and bends, so there must be a cave, but it shouldn't be very large."
Qinghuai compared the location I had chosen with the map on his phone and his face lit up with joy: "Zhashigou Village, I know this place well. I went there last year to discuss a farmland contracting project. It's a small village, and all the able-bodied men have moved away. There are less than fifty households left in the village, and the location is quite remote!"
Upon hearing this, Song Laosan said to me, "I contacted my friends in the industry in this province last night and hired a team of diggers. They've already arrived in Luoyang!"
Seeing that the location and personnel were ready, I slammed my hand on the table: "Now that the location is confirmed, let's get started as soon as possible, tonight."
Qinghuai also picked up his phone: "I'll call people over right now to cooperate with your operation."
...
11 p.m.
Zhashigou Village, Hanzhuling.
Holding my compass, I walked around the foot of the mountain, selected a spot, stomped my foot, and said to the leader of the drilling team, "This is about right. Let's drill a test trench!"
The other man was a capable fellow. When he saw me speak, he waved to his two companions and said, "Brothers, get to work. This is a pre-Han Dynasty tomb. Use heavy shovels!"
Upon hearing this, I knew that the drilling team that Song Laosan had found was professional.
The term "drilling team" refers to workers hired specifically to dig tunnels for tomb raiders. They are paid per job and do not participate in the division of burial goods.
In the tomb raiding world, there is a type of person called a "hands-off boss." These people know nothing and are just colluders. They buy information from tomb raiders to find out the location of ancient tombs, then hire "drill teams" to dig them up. They are only responsible for picking up the goods and investing. If they find something good, they make money. If the information is wrong, all their investment will be lost.
In the early years when the laws were more lenient, this method of tomb raiding was once very popular, and many hands-off managers made a fortune as a result. However, this cooperative method was not secure, because if the partners committed a crime, they might implicate their partners from many years ago.
For a while, the "guerrilla groups" in the industry would set up traps to fleece these shopkeepers. Over time, this business gradually disappeared, and those with skills went to form their own gangs, while the rest were eliminated.
While the drilling team was drilling the exploratory hole, Qinghuai's driver, Liu Yu, also came to my side with six or seven people: "Mr. Duan, Third Master, our people have been deployed. There are people on guard at the intersections along the way. Brother Huai has also gone out for drinks with the local police chief. If there is any disturbance, we will know immediately."
"Um."
After hearing Liu Yu's answer, I nodded calmly, but my heart was pounding.
This was my first time organizing a tomb raiding operation. Even though the Qing family was backing me up, I was still quite nervous.
The monkey, oblivious to the world around him, watched the diggers work and suddenly asked me, "Young Master Duan, something just occurred to me. You said our method of 'observing qi' to locate graves is based on feng shui theory. If the ancients hadn't followed feng shui principles and had chosen an inauspicious burial site, wouldn't we have been unable to find their graves? Why were these ancients so foolish as to insist on following feng shui theories like the 'Burial Classic'? Isn't it like everyone is sharing the same rules and playing hide-and-seek with us?"
“The ancients weren’t as stupid as you. They could think of the same things you could think of, which is why they left behind tomb keepers and set up so many traps in the tombs.”
I scoffed and said, "Ancient feng shui was used to find auspicious burial sites, but this so-called auspiciousness wasn't entirely a metaphysical concept. The original function of feng shui was to prevent natural changes in the landform from causing the tomb to collapse, be submerged, or be washed away. Therefore, a high position or a location within a circular river was chosen. Later, it developed into predicting good and bad fortune. These were all used by the ancient imperial family to rule the people. They controlled the dragon veins, which is why they called themselves the Son of Heaven. As for those inauspicious tombs you mentioned, they did exist, but they were all destroyed by earthquakes and floods throughout history."
About half an hour later, the middle-aged man from the drilling team came up to us with a cylindrical piece of soil and said to Song Laosan, "Boss, the trough has been cleared, and there's a porcelain chamber underneath."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com