Guanzhong Tomb Robbery Notes

Jiang Nanle, who was possessed by a mountain ghost, spoke lightly and even drew a big pancake to help me get the seven-star nail.

But the more she said this, the more uneasy I felt.

I always feel that something will go wrong on this trip to the tomb.

"Okay, let's go now. Once we dig the tunnel, we can take you to the tomb."

I took her out of the yard.

Old Li was getting a little impatient waiting.

Seeing us coming out, Lao Li urged us: "Hurry up, don't waste time."

"I've asked my two apprentices and Haozi to set up the tarpaulin first. We can then go over there and dig a exploratory hole to find out the structure of the tomb."

We quickened our pace.

When we arrived at the place, Cui Hao and his team were hanging tarpaulins on wooden poles.

There are wooden poles planted every two meters in the field, stretching out for more than twenty meters.

After the tarpaulin was hung up, Daquan and Ershuan got busy with the Luoyang shovels, digging test holes at the location I had marked.

The first exploration hole he dug led to a brick chamber, and Old Li was extremely happy.

"You're the real deal! There really is a tomb down there!"

"How did you know there was a tomb here? Tell me."

Old Li took out a cigarette and handed it to me while asking.

I pouted at Jiang Nanle and said, "The guest said so."

"How about I call the bumper over here and tell you everything in detail?"

I was hinting at the danger to Lao Li.

But he didn't understand at all.

Instead, he shook his head and said, "Eh~! Forget it!"

"It's scary to deal with those dirty things at night."

"Let's just rob tombs in peace."

"Take the treasure back to Xi'an, sell it and live it up."

After tomb robbers get rich, they usually spend their money lavishly.

In fact, not only tomb robbers, but anyone who does shady business likes to be free and easy.

They often squander all the money they earn in a short period of time and then go back to their old ways of working.

This cycle repeats itself until someone commits a crime and is caught.

For example, the unrestrained nature of Master Yao outside the Great Wall is gambling.

He lost all the money and things he got from tomb robbing, and in the end, even himself.

And Lao Li's coolness is to find a woman...

Lao Li hugged me, winked at me, and said with a lustful look on his face: "When we get back to Xi'an, I'll take you to have some fun."

"Whether it's a big sister or a little girl, I can arrange it for you."

I quickly shook my head: "No, I don't like that."

"Eh~! What's there to be embarrassed about?"

"Look at Emperor Huizong of Song. He had so many concubines but still wasn't satisfied. He still went to the brothel to look for Li Shishi."

"Men, when they see a beautiful woman, they are all the same, they just want to..."

Old Li started telling dirty jokes.

After more than half an hour, Daquan and Ershuan determined the location of the tomb chamber and the tomb passage.

The tomb chamber is not big.

The length and width are both two meters.

Single-passage vaulted tomb.

"This tomb is a bit small. It doesn't look like it can yield a lot of gold, silver, and treasures." Old Li frowned.

This tomb is nearly half the size of Guard Jiang's tomb.

Generally speaking, the larger the tomb chamber, the more burial objects there are, and a smaller tomb chamber means fewer burial objects.

"Did you mistake the location that the bumper mentioned?"

"You're right, it's here. If you don't want to dig, you can leave." I hinted to Lao Li again.

While hinting to him, I secretly glanced at Jiang Nanle.

Seeing her bright smile like a flower, my heart started pounding.

The feeling of uneasiness in my heart became stronger.

I always feel that if Lao Li and the others stay, they will become tools used by the mountain ghosts.

Old Li still didn't understand the hint.

He took a deep drag on his cigarette and said, "Since we're here, there's no reason to leave empty-handed."

"When we were digging graves, we would let go of the wrong trees."

"Let's open the dome and go down to the tomb, Daquan..."

When he was arranging Daquan to dig a tunnel, I stopped him.

I shook my head and said, "This tomb cannot be opened from the top of the dome."

"Why not?"

"Nine iron chains hung from the top of the tomb, suspending the coffin in mid-air. One of the chains was right in the middle of the dome."

I made this guess based on what Mr. Ai said before.

Mr. Ai said that nine iron chains were hung on the top of Yu Zhenren’s tomb, and the coffin was suspended in the air using the Nine Dragon Formation.

Eight iron ropes can be hung from the four corners of the coffin and the four midpoints at the top, bottom, left and right.

The ninth iron rope must be hung in the center.

Lao Li and others were stunned.

After a long pause, he whispered, "Good fellow! Are you telling me ghost stories on a grave?"

"Nine iron chains, a nine-dragon formation, and a coffin suspended in the air—even storytellers wouldn't dare to tell such a story."

"I'm not a newbie in this field. I've seen all kinds of tombs, but I've never seen a tomb with a coffin suspended in the air!"

In fact, Lao Li still has little experience.

The burial form of iron chain hanging coffins appears in both the north and the south.

According to folklore, those who are buried in hanging coffins are extremely evil and wicked, and the coffins must not be allowed to touch the ground during burial to avoid being contaminated by negative energy.

Once contaminated by negative energy, they will turn into evil spirits or zombies and wreak havoc on the world again.

That's why the coffin was suspended in the tomb with iron chains.

Later, I read a lot of information and found clues about the iron chain hanging coffin in "Maoshan Records".

According to the Maoshan Records, the tomb of Tao Hongjing, the master of the Shangqing School of Taoism, was robbed in the Song Dynasty. After it was opened, a coffin was found hanging with iron chains in the tomb.

When the coffin was opened, there was no corpse inside, only a sword, a bowl, and a mirror.

In addition, there is an inscription on the coffin: "Practice the Three Truths of Shangqing, rest in the sacred mountains to entrust your traces, and travel in the universe to rest your soul."

At this point, the tomb robbers believed that Tao Hongjing ascended to heaven and became an immortal after his death, and spread the rumor that hanging a coffin with iron chains was a necessary condition for ascending to heaven.

After that, people who believed in Taoism and longed to become immortals would often arrange iron chain hanging coffin tombs for themselves after death, hoping to ascend to heaven and become immortals after death.

I insisted, "It's just that you haven't seen it. To enter the tomb, you must open the door."

Seeing my firm attitude, Lao Li gave in after hesitating for a moment.

"Yes, then go through the tomb door."

"But please stop doing weird things to confuse people."

I was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

That's not to cause trouble, but to make him give up.

It’s a pity that Old Li was obsessed with money.

Then we determined the location of the tomb door based on the structure of the tomb chamber and the tomb passage.

He laid out a tarpaulin with a hole in the middle and asked Daquan and Ershuan to dig a hole.

The two took turns working for nearly an hour, using a Luoyang shovel to dig a hole with a diameter of 50 centimeters.

The excavated soil was piled up on the tarpaulin, which looked quite spectacular.

Old Li rolled up his sleeves, squatted at the edge of the tunnel and shone a flashlight downwards.

"Daquan, how are you doing?"

"I see the tomb door, there's a brick sealing it...hiss!"

Daquan suddenly took a breath.

Our hearts skipped a beat and we all lay down at the edge of the tunnel and looked inside.

Only Jiang Nanle stood aside and didn't come closer.

Ershuan asked anxiously, "Brother Quan, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?"

Daquan tilted his head back and grinned at us.

"No, the flashlight light bulb flickered twice. I guess the battery is bad."

"Put down the chisel and hammer. I'll pry open the bricks sealing the door!"

Second bolt to lower the tool.

The uneasiness in my heart became stronger.

I always feel that something will happen if I open the tomb door!

"Daquan, wait a minute!"

As I spoke, I turned to look at Jiang Nanle and said, "Let Jiang Nanle go down and open the tomb door!"