I knew about Song Laosan's bad deeds, and I was always very cautious when dealing with him: "As a successor of the Four Schools, you make and sell counterfeit goods. Don't you feel ashamed?"
“Dude, we’re all people who need to survive in this society. Life isn’t a martial arts novel; there’s no such thing as righteous indignation! Besides, who told you that the Four Gates are definitely clean? What your dad did sixteen years ago caused the Four Gates to fall apart. We lost our livelihood, but we still have to live, don’t we?”
After finishing his meal, Song Laosan picked his teeth with a toothpick and said to me, "If we're talking about relative cleanliness, perhaps your three families are a bit better off, but our Song family is all about external affairs! You think we only sell antiques? Let me tell you, the Song family is really in charge of intelligence!"
We need to connect with people from all walks of life, and we've had generations of friendship with several large families who deal in antiques. This is to ensure that there are no problems when shipping goods, and that we can receive news as soon as we find good items or large tombs!
No matter where the graves are, where the pits are, who's trying to double-cross us, or who's setting traps for us at the Four Gates, we'll have to investigate them all! Back in the Republic of China era, we had to maintain good relationships with bandits, officials, and our peers in various places. In modern times, we still have to keep in touch with people from all walks of life, both the legitimate and criminal worlds. If I don't learn to be a little more tactful, I'll die a much worse death than my older brother!
Back in China, I had the Four Gates as my backers, and I could be on equal footing with these people. Later, the Four Gates collapsed. If I didn't want my network of connections to break down, I had to make myself valuable, right? The antique business is inherently dangerous. When the Four Gates were together, we all worked together (collaborating in tomb raiding) and trusted each other.
After the four schools were lost, if I wanted to re-enter the profession, I could only either dabble in tomb raiding (asking someone to guide me) or form a group (being forced to raid tombs). Tomb raiders make their living off the dead; nine out of ten are black-hearted and greedy. Would I dare to cooperate with strangers? Without the lineage, how can I go abroad?
"So you weren't in India to be a peddler for Zhou Zhicheng at all, but rather you took advantage of India's chaos and lax rule of law to help families in China who collect antiques smuggle their goods?"
I believed half of what Song Laosan said. Each of the four families has its own strengths. If the Song family is only responsible for selling goods, their presence would be too low.
Song Laosan nodded: "You're half right. The peddler's identity is a disguise, but I never take domestic goods out of the country. Instead, I help them collect some rare items that have ended up abroad. I, Song Laosan, am not a good person, but I'm definitely not a traitor."
The monkey didn't believe Song Laosan's nonsense: "If you were really as righteous as you claim, why would you make fakes to deceive people?"
Song Laosan picked up the cigarette case: "I'm not trying to scam Zhou Zhicheng, but his European buyer. Last year, when I delivered goods to his shop, I happened to run into that foreigner and we talked on the phone. He asked about the legend of the jade-like corpse fetus. Do you know who that foreigner is descended from? His great-grandfather was Aurel Stein."
The monkey blinked: "I know Shaquille O'Neal, the one who plays soccer!"
"Shaquille O'Neal plays basketball."
I corrected him speechlessly, then explained: "Stein was a British Jew of Hungarian origin who served as the principal of the Lahore School of Oriental Studies and the university of Calcutta. Between 1900 and 1930, with the sponsorship of the British and Indian governments, he came to China four times to plunder ancient cities and tombs in the Western Regions."
During the late Qing Dynasty and early Republican era, the Western Regions were known as the "Land of Death," but they became a paradise for foreign tomb raiders. Stein was the one who looted the most and caused the most damage. He transported a large number of cultural relics, including the Dunhuang manuscripts, back to London. In 1904, he became a British citizen by presenting the treasures, and the Queen of England even awarded him a knighthood for it.
In 1931, upon learning of his fourth attempt to rob tombs, the Republic of China government twice telegraphed Xinjiang, demanding that the local government expel him back to India and seize the artifacts he had looted. He thus became the only foreign tomb raider expelled by the Republic of China government, and he never mentioned his fourth experience, even stating in his autobiography that he had only visited China three times.
"That's right, it's that grandson! When I heard that his descendants wanted to buy corpse fetuses, I made arrangements in advance and made a sheep jade. I thought that after I finished this job, I would take the money back to China to develop my career. I didn't expect that I would be exposed before I even left."
Song Laosan said with some regret, "I was out of my mind back then. With my skills, if I were to imitate an oracle bone script from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, he might not even be able to tell the difference. Why did I have to make something that is based on a legend?"
"Let's get down to business."
After hearing Song Laosan's explanation, my impression of him changed somewhat: "We came to see you this time to do something for the Wei family. We're going to Bihar to open a Tang Dynasty tomb."
Wei Shengnan added, "If you refuse, we will send you back to Zhou Zhicheng right now."
Song Laosan looked at me and Wei Shengnan with amusement: "Oh, you two, one fair-faced and one rosy-faced, look like a young couple. What's going on, are you dating?"
Wei Shengnan slammed her hand on the table: "If you talk nonsense again, I'll knock out one of your teeth!"
"Alright, alright! I'll go, okay? A little girl with such a bad temper, aren't you afraid of getting irregular periods?"
After finishing his sentence in a nonchalant manner, Song Laosan asked us, "Since the four sects split, I haven't been able to make any real money for many years. Besides, what the Duan family did back then didn't cause any loss to the Song family, so I naturally support the cooperation between the four sects! Wei family girl, this time when we go down into the tomb, shall we still follow the old rules of the four sects for profit sharing?"
When I opened Li Fan's tomb before, the Wei family didn't mention any rules to me, so I asked, completely confused, "What old rules?"
"No way, you don't even know this? How could you agree to cooperate with the Wei family?"
Old Song looked at me with the same curiosity, then suddenly realized: "I understand. You were threatened by the Wei family to get into this mess. If I'm not mistaken, the way they're using to drag you into this is probably by knowing your father's whereabouts, right?"
When I saw that Song Laosan had actually deduced the reason why I was involved in this situation, I gave him a thumbs up in my heart, but I didn't talk to him. Instead, I looked at Wei Shengnan and said, "You have never told me about the rules of the four gates."
"The number of the Great Expansion is fifty, and its use is forty-nine. This is a sentence from the 'Appended Remarks' of the Book of Changes, which our ancestors appropriated for the tomb raiding industry. The four-door tomb raiding is a righteous act. It is stipulated that each time we work, no matter how many burial objects are in the tomb, we can only take one item from each door."
After speaking, Wei Shengnan thought for a moment and then explained to me, "I didn't mean to hide this from you, I just couldn't remember it for a moment."
The so-called "righteous thief" must adhere to the principles of not digging up private graves, not digging up cemeteries dedicated to the deceased, not digging near tombs, and not actively destroying corpses, coffins, or burial sites. Furthermore, before digging up a grave, one must burn incense and kowtow before disturbing the earth, in order to beg for the forgiveness of the deceased and to lessen the sins, as well as to show respect for the deceased.
Many ancient tombs that have been looted still contain a considerable number of burial objects, precisely because the people who came down there before also followed the path of righteous thieves.
Because the motives and purposes of grave robbers differ, their methods of handling the remains also vary. Thus, in contrast to righteous grave robbery, the term "dirty grave robbery" arose, signifying a lack of respect for the deceased.
Because of Li Fan's tomb, Ma Zhenhong, who became my enemy, belonged to the He family. This group of people were the "best" among thieves. They destroyed everything they couldn't take, leaving nothing behind, whether it was a corpse or a tomb.
Regardless of the method used, whether it's a righteous thief or a thief who steals, it is essentially a great disrespect to the deceased, and all that is sought is psychological comfort.
Actually, I know in my heart that even if they are righteous thieves, it doesn't mean that the Four Gates are righteous.
Since ancient times, tomb raiding has been a circle of ruthless fighting, murder and robbery. The fact that the Four Gates have stood for more than a thousand years means that the heads of the family in each generation must have been ruthless people.
Wei Shengnan's willingness to explain to me indicated that our relationship had improved somewhat, so I didn't hold it against her: "Now that the Song family's descendants have been found, what should we do next?"
Wei Shengnan explained, "Time is of the essence. I have already arranged a convoy. We will go find the descendants of the Qu family and head to Bihar overnight to locate the burial site."
Song Laosan sipped his tea, somewhat puzzled: "I'm very curious, how did you persuade the Qu family to cooperate with the Duan family?"
Wei Shengnan sighed and said, "Qu Ruilin doesn't know about the four-way cooperation yet. I was originally planning to find you first before going to see him."
Song Laosan stared wide-eyed at Wei Shengnan: "Wei family girl, you have a vicious heart, how dare you let him meet the Qu family?"
Wei Shengnan's expression was grave: "The reason I came to you first was because I hoped you could help me persuade Qu Ruilin. The one who tied the knot must untie it. The Demon Monk's Tomb cannot be opened without the four gates gathering. The Qu family must go there. If Duan Shenxing doesn't show up, do you think this can succeed?"
"That's right. The reason your grandfather wanted to gather the four families to raid tombs was because we were united and could trust each other. There were some potential problems that had to be dealt with before we started working."
Song Laosan looked at me with pity: "But now, there's going to be a good show."
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