Guanzhong Tomb Robbery Notes

"No need to break it, just follow me." Taoist Master Zhang said firmly.

"Look at my brain!" Lao Xu patted his forehead. "Even the evil spirits will retreat when you come."

"How did you get trapped?" Taoist Master Zhang asked knowingly.

"Hey! This unlucky incident is all because of Han Gaotian. He took your villagers to dig up graves... Oh, did you know anything about this?"

Taoist Priest Zhang shook his head and nodded again: "I went to Shangba Village yesterday, and when I came back today, I found that there was no one in the village."

"Later, I heard there was an accident at the reservoir. I rushed to the reservoir and found out that he had led people to dig up mass graves. That's why I came here overnight to check it out."

Zhao Ziang rolled his eyes and continued, "Since you're here to look for Han Gaotian, why don't we go and take a look together?"

"It's not safe in the middle of the night. I think we should go back first and come back during the day..." Lao Xu was still a little scared.

Zhao Ziang looked at Taoist Master Zhang expectantly: "With Comrade Zhang here, what are you afraid of, Master Xu?"

"Let's do our best tonight. We'll have things to do tomorrow."

Taoist Zhang stroked his goatee and pondered for half a minute before slowly nodding and saying, "That's right, let's go find Han Gaotian first."

Zhao Ziang was so happy that he almost jumped up.

He immediately supported Taoist Master Zhang's arm and said, "Comrade Zhang, nod slowly and watch your step."

This guy is really a chameleon.

When he is cruel, he is like a villain; when he is flattering, he is like a lackey.

But such people can often climb up.

Taoist Master Zhang swung his arm lightly, shaking off the hand that was supporting him.

Old Xu immediately followed, nervously hugged Taoist Zhang's arm, and muttered trivial daily stories.

Zhao Ziang's eyes flickered slightly.

He quickly forced a smile and came closer to me: "Brother Chen, your accent doesn't sound like a local."

He was just asking questions in a tactful way.

"I'm from Xianyang. My elders have a long-standing friendship with Old Zhang."

"Oh."

"Xianyang is a good place, much better than our poor and remote place."

"You're so young, but you call him Lao Zhang. It seems he's quite senior."

Taoist Master Zhang is almost seventy years old, and is my grandfather's age.

But I just kept shouting "Lao Zhang, Lao Zhang".

I don’t know if Zhao Ziang became suspicious.

I said casually, "I am a younger man but older than you."

"My uncle is almost ninety years old and he gave Lao Zhang some advice before."

"The government is opening up and preparing to allow monks and Taoists to return to temples and Taoist temples."

"My uncle sent me to ask if Old Zhang is willing to return to the temple."

This explanation is something I just came up with, and it can be considered a well-founded explanation of the past.

After the policy was relaxed, starting from 1980, monks and Taoists who had returned to their hometowns to engage in production returned to temples and Taoist temples one after another and began to worship gods and Buddhas again.

Zhao Ziang nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Instead, he became more enthusiastic towards me.

Later I realized that he was not really enthusiastic.

He found out that the relationship between me and Taoist Master Zhang was not simple, so he wanted to get closer to me and change Taoist Master Zhang's opinion of him.

I have to say that this guy is quite smart when it comes to dealing with people.

But people like him will have no bottom line for the sake of profit.

The grudge between him and me.

It also started from his lack of bottom line...

Soon you will reach a mass grave.

It was quiet all around.

Not to mention people, there wasn't even a shadow of a person.

Han Gaotian and the villagers disappeared.

"Where are the people? Didn't they say that Han Gaotian brought people to dig graves?" Old Xu muttered in confusion.

Zhao Ziang shone the flashlight around.

Only messy footprints and scattered soil tell us that many people have been active here.

I stared at the mass grave.

Half of the grave mound was covered with very loose soil, which was obviously temporary backfill.

There were also some broken bones mixed in the backfill soil.

They didn't dig according to the tomb-robbing procedure.

Instead, they dug directly downwards from the east side of the tomb mound, just like digging earth, a bit like the method of uncovering the top.

What I can't understand is why they backfill?

The chaos of free speech and mass grave digging has become known to everyone, and this account cannot be erased.

Filling up all the excavated soil is simply a waste of time.

Taoist Priest Zhang also stared at the grave mound.

He looked for a moment, then looked away without saying anything.

I don't know if he noticed anything.

Whoosh!

The cool night breeze kept blowing.

Lao Xu rubbed his hands and said, "It's so scary. If there's no one around, let's go back first."

Zhao Ziang searched around with a flashlight and pointed it to the east: "Look at the footprints, they went that way."

"I mean to follow."

Lao Xu turned his head away angrily: "What are you still talking about?"

"Have you forgotten about the ghost wall?"

"If you follow him and encounter something strange, no one can save you."

"Just go back and tell them that there's no one at the mass grave. Whoever wants to look for it can do so. I won't be looking for it anyway."

Taoist Priest Zhang nodded and said, "That's it for tonight."

"If you want to find someone, wait until tomorrow. Come back."

As soon as he walked back, Lao Xu followed him immediately.

Zhao Ziang hesitated for a moment and then walked back.

Because they were following us, Taoist Master Zhang and I couldn't return the same way.

You can only keep walking towards Miaowan Village.

When we were almost at Miaowan Village, the sky was already turning pale.

The village, which should have been deserted, was actually filled with smoke from every household.

"This... Han Gaotian brought people back to the village?" Old Xu asked in surprise.

Zhao Ziang said angrily, "Because of him, we didn't sleep all night, and Han Gaotian still has the nerve to eat?"

"Lao Xu leads the way, I will make sure he doesn't have a meal!"

I secretly looked at Taoist Master Zhang.

He stroked his goatee with a serious expression and began counting with his fingers again.

This time he calculated quickly.

The fingers rose and fell a few times and then stopped moving.

At the same time, his solemn expression relaxed.

"Fortunately, that guy didn't do anything too extreme."

"Let's go into the village."

Taoist Master Zhang walked towards the village first.

I don't want to go into the village.

After all, the last time I came here disguised as a Hong Kong businessman, I had dinner at Han Gaotian's house. It would be difficult to cover up the lie if he recognized me.

But there is no excuse to get away now.

I had no choice but to follow them into the village.

Soon they arrived outside Han Gaotian's house.

Zhao Ziang walked into the yard and shouted, "Han Gaotian! Come out and explain the problem!"

Old Xu stamped his feet anxiously, followed and grabbed Zhao Ziang, saying, "This is not arresting a criminal."

"I'll talk to Lao Han."

Taoist Master Zhang waved calmly at Zhao Ziang.

Signal him to go out and not cause trouble.

Zhao Ziang took a deep breath to suppress his unhappiness.

He turned around, hugged me and took two steps out: "Brother Chen, have a cigarette with me."

I didn't want to go in, so I pulled him out of the village.

"Old Zhao, don't be angry."

"You are the one who does big things. Just let Lao Xu take care of these trivial matters."

"Haha, I like to hear that." Zhao Ziang took out a cigarette and gave it to me.

We lit up cigarettes and started chatting.

After two cigarettes, Lao Xu came over and asked Zhao Ziang to return to his hometown.

Taoist Priest Zhang and I walked towards where we had camped last night.

"Old Zhang, how are Han Gaotian and the villagers doing?"