I wandered around the stalls in Fengmen Village, and it was two hours later when I returned to the pharmacy.
When Wang Qing saw me returning with a travel bag on my back, he quickly walked over and asked, "How's your preparation going?"
"no problem."
I avoided the crowd and stood in a secluded corner, asking Wang Qing, "How's things going on your end?"
"There are no results yet. To avoid arousing suspicion from those inside, I didn't linger in the pharmacy. Also, the shopkeeper I spoke with earlier isn't here, so I can't confirm their working hours for the time being."
When Wang Qing heard that everything went smoothly for me, he continued, "You all risked your lives for me this time. If you need anything, just let me know! We can't provide manpower, but we can cover all expenses."
I bought the Luoyang shovel as a gift for the monkey, not to trick Wang Qing: "I have prepared everything I need. Next, I need to find the location of their secret passage. You stay here and keep watch. We'll meet again after I confirm the location."
As soon as I finished speaking, I told Manjing to stay and cooperate with Wang Qing, while I took the monkey and wandered around the area.
Although it's difficult to distinguish between day and night in Fengmen Village, people's biological clocks are hard to change in a short time. It should be close to evening by now, and there are noticeably fewer people on the streets.
I avoided the road, squatted down on the ground behind the pharmacy, took out a stethoscope and pressed it to the ground, then picked up a Luoyang shovel and began to tap the ground.
Seeing my expression, the monkey interjected, "Young Master Duan, your feng shui skills are so amazing, do you still need to listen to sounds to pinpoint the location of tunnels?"
“When we identify tombs on the ground, we can analyze the underground conditions by looking at changes in soil, plants, and humidity. But Fengmen Village is located underground, where the temperature is constant all year round and it is not exposed to sunlight. Moreover, the ground is paved with stone slabs, so it is almost impossible to see any traces.”
After answering the monkey, I got up from the ground, walked about five meters away, and continued to tap the ground.
This method of locating sounds by ear is far less sophisticated than depicted on television. It requires constant probing, summarizing any suspicious points, and then further investigation.
If the tunnel is too far from the ground, the surveying will become increasingly difficult.
Over the course of two hours, I tapped and banged around the pharmacy, leaving seven or eight marks along the way.
When I returned to the front door, Wang Qing came over and said to me, "I have found out the situation here. The shopkeepers inside change shifts every four hours, and the shopkeeper who was talking to me earlier has returned."
I raised an eyebrow and asked, "When did he get back?"
“We don’t have a clock on us, but I guess it won’t be more than half an hour.”
Wang Qing paused for a moment: "I've already sent Wang Hong to the street vendor area to buy some antique pocket watches and the like, so we can keep track of time."
"We'll talk about these things later. I need to figure out the location of the tunnel first."
When I heard that I only had about three hours left, I immediately led the monkey back to the place I had marked earlier.
The ground in Fengmen Village is paved with bluestone slabs, which require a lot of effort to pry open.
Fortunately, my marking machine was located behind the pharmacy, and with Manjing, a strongman, present, we managed to lift the stone slab successfully despite encountering some minor problems.
After assembling the Luoyang shovel, the monkey quickly dug a trench in the soil beneath the stone slab.
After lifting the Luoyang shovel, he glanced at the changes in the soil and nodded to me, saying, "Young Master Duan, there is indeed a problem with the soil below, but the humidity is too high. I suspect that although it is hollow below, it is not a passageway for people, but something like a drainage ditch."
"Let's try another spot. Manjing, restore this place to its original state!"
I heard that this point was not right, so I quickly moved on to the next point.
When we dug to the third spot, the monkey looked at the soil layer we brought up and his face lit up with joy: "Young Master Duan, we found the right place this time. The soil layer below has been compacted by hand and is not very moist, which means that it is hollow underneath."
I threw away my cigarette butt: "How deep is it?"
The monkey glanced at the markings on the handle of the Luoyang shovel: "Two and a half meters. Give me an hour and a half, and I can dig the tunnel through. The problem now is, what should we do with the excavated soil? There are often patrols here. Once they find any traces, we're all doomed."
"You just focus on digging, I'll handle the soil theft."
As the monkeys began digging, I called over Manjing, Wang Qing, and Wang Hong, and said to them, "We've roughly determined the location of the passage. Now, the monkeys can start digging, and we'll be responsible for clearing away the stolen soil on top. Everyone, use your travel bags to pack up the loose soil and take it back to your respective places to avoid being discovered. Remember not to talk to anyone on the way, and don't let the soil in your bags spill out."
After listening to my instructions, Wang Hong asked, "Isn't it too far to transport the soil back to our lodgings? Could we transport the soil to the center of the village and scatter it around that big banyan tree? Or in those empty houses with white couplets pasted on them?"
"No, many tomb raiding gangs have been wiped out because they were careless when scattering the soil and were discovered. Fengmen Village is full of expert tomb raiders. If we are not careful when scattering the soil, we will be in serious trouble."
I flatly rejected Wang Hong's suggestion: "Even if the journey is longer, we must scatter the soil in a safe place."
"Xiao Hong, let's listen to Duan Tao on this matter. They've already taken a huge risk to help us, we can't drag them down with us!"
As Wang Qing spoke, he began using a shovel to fill his travel bag with the soil the monkey had dug out. Once the bag was full, he left first.
So the monkeys dug holes below, while the rest of us stayed above, carrying the stolen soil back to our lodgings, trip after trip.
In just over an hour, we had already transported out more than a dozen bags of soil.
After I returned with a bag of soil, I looked down at the monkey and asked, "How's the situation down there? How much longer until the tunnel is cleared?"
The monkey's voice echoed from the dark cave: "I'm not sure. I've dug down to the rammed earth layer. Digging any deeper is getting difficult, but I shouldn't be too far from the space below."
Just as I was about to continue speaking, the surrounding light suddenly changed color.
We were already feeling guilty, and I was startled by the sudden change in light.
Turning my head, I saw that the surrounding lanterns had turned green.
The lockdown in Fengmen Village has begun again!
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