Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 330 Cave Entrance
"But, if he wanted to steal, why did he leave a pile of shit behind?" Although he had seen the evidence, this scene still shocked the Fifth Dimension.

"There are three possibilities." Ren Yuan analyzed: "One is provocation, two is to vent anger, and three is because he just needs to go to the bathroom."

"No matter how urgent it is, there is no need to rush now," the Fifth Dimension said speechlessly, "What kind of place is this? If you stay any longer, you might get caught. After you succeed, you have to run away even if you have to pull your pants pockets."

"That makes sense." Ren Yuan nodded and said, "Then there are these two possibilities, or both."

"In fact, it's more like both." The Fifth Dimension watched the man cover the box again, put it back into the rosewood niche, and then leave leisurely. The rat-looking guy also jumped back into the cave and covered the floor tiles again.

"That rat-faced fellow is blind and relies entirely on his sense of smell to determine direction. He must have a special ability in digging." Ren Yuan said as he drew his face so that he could go back and have the guards identify him.
"Yes." The Fifth Dimension nodded, then shook his head in disbelief, "Is it that simple? Why doesn't the ban work?"

"I think I understand." Ren Yuan already had an idea in mind. He walked to the position just shown on the screen and stretched out his hand to suck up the one and a half foot square floor tile.

Sure enough, a dark hole appeared under the brick.

Ren Yuan broke off a corner of the floor tile and threw it into the cave. A golden light flashed in the cave and the broken tile bounced back.

He reached out to take it and asked Dong Ping, "Mr. Dong, is there a restriction underneath?"

"Of course." Dong Ping nodded and said, "What kind of place is this? How can we take care of our heads but not our butts?"

"Then why has the ban on the ground stopped, but the ban underground hasn't stopped yet?" Ren Yuan asked again.

"Isn't it just a set of restrictions?" The fifth dimension's eyes lit up and he understood.

"Yes, there is nothing we can do about it." Dong Ping, who is worthy of being the chief eunuch of the palace, introduced the details like a treasure: "At that time, the restrictions set up by the Grand Minister Zu Geng were originally a complete set covering both the ground and underground. Unfortunately, the underground part could not be installed anyway. Later, it was discovered that it conflicted with the formation protecting Taicheng."

"The large formation that protects Taicheng?" Ren Yuan asked softly.

"Yes." Dong Ping nodded and said as a matter of course: "The forbidden area of the imperial palace must be strictly guarded. No one can fly in from the sky, and no one can drill in from the ground. That's not the most basic..."

As he was speaking, he saw the big hole on the ground and was immediately speechless.

"What's going on?" asked the Fifth Dimension in a deep voice.

"I remember now..." Dong Ping slapped his head and shouted, "This is the result of the Jinling formation stopping on the first day of the first lunar month!"

"Are the Taicheng formation and the Jinling formation connected?" The fifth dimension's pupils shrank.

"Yes." Dong Ping nodded and said, "Of course the emperor wanted to set up a formation of his own, but because of the conflict, he couldn't run a formation that covered the entire Taicheng in the Jinling formation, so in the end he could only make do with the formation provided by the Futu Sect."

"So the Jinling formation stopped around noon on the first day of the first lunar month, and restarted an hour later." The Fifth Dimension said in a deep voice: "So the crime was committed at noon on the first day of the first lunar month."

"That was a really good time." Ren Yuan sneered, "Not only did the battle stop, but there were also dog brains everywhere in the capital, and Xiao Hong also led the rebels to attack Taicheng. It was a good opportunity to fish in troubled waters!"

"Yes." The Fifth Dimension nodded and said, "It's a fleeting golden opportunity! The window of opportunity is only one hour, and they were able to seize it. I really have to admire it."

"It's not that bad. They just knew about it a long time ago and made sufficient preparations, waiting for this opportunity." Ren Yuan sneered and said:

"Even if you happen to have a pangolin, how can you dig accurately under the secret vault without making sufficient preparations in advance?" "That makes sense." Chen Qingzhi nodded and said, "It is really like looking for a needle in a haystack to find this small secret vault underground. And I remember that after the young man came up, he walked straight to the rosewood niche without looking around. It was obvious that he had already made up his mind and it didn't seem like he was just thinking on impulse."

"Go find it quickly! Dig three feet deep into the ground to find the other hole!" Dong Ping stomped his feet and gave orders loudly.

"What's the situation in the Heavenly Palace?" Ren Yuan asked Dong Ping again.

"Such a big thing happened, it must be a mess." Dong Ping said with a bitter face: "And the emperor kept all the princes in the palace in advance. The princes and their entourage ran around and shouted everywhere that day. It was a mess. Don't even mention it."

"Who is in charge in that palace?" Ren Yuan asked in a deep voice.

"It was Prince Yuzhang." Dong Ping answered, "At the New Year's Eve banquet, the emperor was so happy that he wanted to take the second prince to offer sacrifices to the heaven, but the second prince refused to go and volunteered to stay and look after the house. The emperor was very happy and said that he followed the rules, so he agreed to his request."

"Good guy." Ren Yuan smiled. Now he had the conditions to commit the crime.

~~
However, thousands of guards dug three feet into the ground, but they still couldn't find another entrance until the three men came out of the imperial palace.

"Our general asks if we can expand the search range?" The owner of the building who came to report was afraid that Dong Ping would be angry, so he hurried to add burden to his boss.

"A bunch of rubbish!" But he was bound to be scolded, so Dong Ping said with a gloomy face: "Expand the scope."

“No need.” The Fifth Dimension shook his head and said, “The ground of the palace has been compacted repeatedly, and it is as hard as stone. Even if a monster is good at digging, it can only dig a hundred feet in an hour.”

"And we have to take into account the time of committing the crime and retreating, so the entrance to the cave must be nearby." Ren Yuan said with certainty.

"How could it be?" Dong Ping disagreed. "The Imperial Palace is located to the west of the Taiji Palace, and the area around it is very empty. I have been thinking about it, but where is there a building within a hundred feet?"

"Didn't you say it was on the west side of the Taiji Palace?" Ren Yuan looked at the magnificent palace so close and asked, "How far is the Taiji Palace from here?"

"Fifty, fifty or sixty feet..." Dong Ping stammered, incredulous: "How is it possible? Are they crazy? How dare they dig a hole in the Taiji Hall?"

But Ren Yuan Youyou said: "He dared to shit in the jade seal box. Is there anything he dare not do?"

"Uh..." What he said made so much sense that Dong Ping couldn't refute it.

"Yeah, that makes sense." The Fifth Dimension agreed, "Drilling a hole in the Taiji Hall and shitting in the jade seal box is very much a person's style."

"Well, let's look for it." Dong Ping could only sigh and raised his voice to order: "You must be careful, handle it with care, or you will lose your head if you bump into it."

Soon, the guards searched every corner of the Taiji Hall, and finally only the high throne was left.

"Move away..." Dong Ping gritted his teeth.

When the four guards carefully moved the emperor's throne to the side, a dark hole was finally revealed.

(End of this chapter)