Tomb raiding: Intercepting Yin Xinyue and building a family of immortals

Su Chen looked around and said to Wu Laogou and the others, "Find some stones and block the water flow!"

Following Su Chen's instructions, the group built a miniature dam in front of the stone gate to block the small stream of water flowing down from above.

When the water had accumulated to about knee-deep, Su Chen estimated it was about right, so he told the others to push the stones over and let the water flow to the stone gate and into the gaps.

Then, Su Chen gently pushed the stone door, and the heavy stone door was indeed pushed open!

Wu Jizong's eyes lit up, and he asked in surprise, "Brother Su, how did you open it?"

In the past, when faced with similar tomb doors that could not be opened, Wu Jizong would either take a detour or use a mountain-breaking hammer.

If it's a large tomb, just use explosives!

Although it was a big event, it contained virtually no technical content.

Seeing that Su Chen had simply moved some stones to block the water flow and easily opened the stone door, the Wu family members were all shocked.

Su Chen smiled faintly and explained, "It's actually very simple. This kind of flip-type mechanism is similar to a seesaw. The end closer to the stone door is lighter, and the end farther away from the stone door is heavier. When the stone door is open, it can block the lighter end. Once the door is closed, the lighter end will automatically tilt up and block the back of the door, so it can't be opened from the outside."

"However, the mechanisms used to create replicas are usually made of wood and embedded in the ground. As long as water flows by, the buoyancy of the water can make the heavier end lift up."

As they spoke, the group pushed open the stone door and went inside.

Sure enough, behind the stone gate, there was a similar replica of the mechanism, and it was also filled with water.

After observing the mechanisms, the group continued forward.

Behind this stone gate is a typical passageway, about the height of a person, large enough for three people to walk side by side.

At intervals, there are niches on both sides of the passageway, containing small bronze oil lamps with cloud patterns.

However, the grease inside had long since dried up, and the lamp body was covered in rust and was in a terrible state.

There's a saying in the archaeological community: "Dry for a thousand years, wet for ten thousand years, and neither dry nor wet for half a year."

The "wetness" here does not mean moistening, but rather being completely submerged in water.

For example, common shipwreck sites, or ancient tombs completely submerged by water.

The artifacts found in these tombs are often very well preserved.

On the contrary, antiques and cultural relics will decay faster in damp and humid places.

Wu Jizong looked at both sides of the passageway, stopped, and asked hesitantly, "Should we go to the left or the right?"

Before Su Chen could speak, Old Dog Wu hurriedly said, "Dad, you forgot? That mountain spring has the smell of coffin dew. As long as we follow the flowing water, we can't go wrong!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Jizong realized what was happening and quickly said, "Father, you're not done yet! I'm testing you!"

After saying this, Wu Jizong brought the torch closer and indeed saw that the water was flowing to the left. Clearly, the passageway in this direction was lower.

With a direction in mind, the group no longer hesitated and continued down the tunnel.

After walking about one or two hundred meters and descending several tens of meters, two rows of stone figures suddenly appeared before them!

The stone figures stand on both sides of the passageway, leaving only a gap in the middle that is only wide enough for one person.

"Father, look! These stone figures have bronze masks on their faces!"

Old Wu had sharp eyes and spotted the mask on the stone figure's face from a distance, which immediately filled him with joy.

He quickened his pace and ran to the foremost stone figure, reaching out to remove the bronze mask.

but……

Before Wu Laogou's hand could even touch the mask, Wu Laoba, the leader behind him, shouted sternly, "Stop!"

Old Wu froze, turning around with a puzzled look on his face.

"Grandpa, why won't you let me pick them?"

Old Wu walked up to the stone figure and lectured Old Dog Wu, saying, "In our line of work, you have to know the rules. Those who don't follow the rules passed down from our ancestors either die or go crazy! The reason your grandfather has been able to stay safe and sound all this time is because he follows the rules and doesn't do anything reckless!"

"Little San'er, remember this well: the first rule for setting up the tomb is that you can't touch anything inside!"

As he spoke, Old Wu pulled Old Dog behind him.

He then began to carefully observe the stone figurine.

He looked at it for about half a cup of tea's time, then nodded slightly and said, "There is indeed something strange about it!"

Then, Old Wu turned to his son, Wu Jizong, and instructed him, "Bring a stone over here and test the mechanism!"

Wu Jizong agreed and soon found a stone about the size of a sweet potato, roughly oval in shape, and tied it to the rope.

They kept throwing it out to test the ground in the gaps between the stone figures.

After this happened several times, they actually heard the tomb bricks on the ground collapse, and then they saw bronze swords emerge from the bellies of the two rows of stone figurines, filling all the gaps.

If you were to walk through it and accidentally trigger a mechanism, you'd probably end up with several holes in your body.

Wu Jizong breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the trap had been removed.

He turned to his two sons and instructed them, "Learn from him. Your grandfather is a seasoned veteran, someone everyone in the industry respects!"

Upon hearing this, Old Dog Wu was immediately filled with shame and quickly said, "Master, I understand."

Old Wu smiled and patted his grandson's head.

“From now on, the Wu family will rely on you younger generation to support it. So learn from me. I will be satisfied if I can teach you before I die.”

Wu Jizong muttered, "Dad, why are you saying that? You're in good health. Xiao San'er is still waiting for you to hold your great-grandson!"

Old Wu scratched his head sheepishly and quickly changed the subject, saying, "Grandpa, can we get the bronzeware now?"

"Take it."

Old Wu glanced casually at the bronze masks on the stone figures and commented, "These bronze masks aren't exactly high-quality; the lines are too coarse. They must have been mass-produced. But bronze masks are so rare now that they'd be worth twenty or thirty silver dollars each if sold elsewhere."

Old Wu has been robbing tombs for decades and has long since become a semi-expert on antiques.

With just a few glances, he was able to determine the value of the bronze mask on the stone figure with remarkable accuracy.

In this respect, he is many times more capable than Su Chen.

Upon hearing this, Old Dog Wu burst into laughter.

"Sir, twenty or thirty silver dollars is quite a lot. These dozens of stone figurines, if you take them all, they'll cost several hundred silver dollars!"

As they were talking, Wu Laogou and his second brother ran over excitedly to pull off the masks on the stone figurines' faces.

Listening to the conversation between the grandfather and grandson, Su Chen couldn't help but ask, "Grandpa, is there anything special about these copper goods?"

Old Wu got interested and casually found a clean niche to sit down.

But just as he was about to show off a few words, he heard Wu Laogou shout loudly not far away, and then he ran out like a madman!

Instantly, everyone was startled.

Wu Jizong cursed angrily and hurriedly chased after him.

At this point, everyone disregarded their masks and followed suit.

Old Dog Wu ran incredibly fast, and it took Wu Jizong dozens of steps to catch up with him.

He grabbed Wu Laogou's clothes and shouted angrily, "Kid, why are you running?"

But after straightening Wu Laogou, Wu Jizong saw a fox-like face.

He screamed in fright and immediately let go of her hand!