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

Shenyang was also the site of Shengjing during the Qing Dynasty, and it has a Qing Dynasty imperial palace.

Huaiyuan Gate of the Shengjing Imperial Palace is also known locally as the Great West Gate.

In addition, Daximen also has a nickname: Ghost Gate.

This is because, before the Qing army entered the pass, they would execute criminals through the West Gate.

Of course, that's all ancient history.

The Qing Dynasty has been gone for almost ten years now, so the so-called Shengjing Imperial Palace is no longer the imperial city.

Of course, it is not open to the public and is closed most of the time.

The reason for mentioning Daximen is that it is the largest trading and distribution center for antiques and cultural artifacts in Shenyang.

Many products from the land will flow to the market through this route.

At the same time, this place is also a melting pot of all sorts of people, from all walks of life, and is where information is most readily available.

Su Chen arrived outside the West Gate and casually browsed some of the street stalls, but after a few glances, he lost interest.

Because the items on these street stalls are ridiculously fake; even if he doesn't know much about antiques, he can tell at a glance that they're fake.

Fortunately, these stall owners didn't intend to cheat their own people.

Their targets were either blond-haired, blue-eyed Westerners or islanders wearing kimonos.

As they were talking, Su Chen saw a foreign couple chatting skillfully with the stall owner.

The stall owner knew a bit of Russian and rattled off a bunch of things, finally pointing to the jade disc on his stall and making an eight-shaped hand gesture.

"I'm a national treasure, I deserve 80,000 silver dollars!"

Su Chen almost burst out laughing when he heard this.

He raided an entire regiment's armory and only made 60,000 silver dollars. This guy really dares to ask for 10,000.

But... since it's all outsiders anyway, Su Chen doesn't care!

He then chimed in, "Brother, how can we sell our ancestors' treasures to foreigners! I just don't have the money. If I did, I'd buy it for 800,000, let alone 80,000!"

Upon hearing this, the Russian couple clearly showed signs of being interested.

The husband, with his red hair, thought for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and saying in broken Chinese, "Eighty thousand is impossible. I can only offer five hundred at most!"

He figured that if he could negotiate the price down from 80,000 to 500 and bring this treasure back to China, he could make a profit no matter what.

Upon hearing the price of two thousand, the stall owner immediately became troubled.

He hesitated for a long time, frowning and sighing.

Finally, under the tense gazes of the Russian couple, he said dejectedly, "Oh well, alright, alright, I'm only doing this because I listened to Commander Zhang and wanted to maintain good relations with you Russians. Otherwise, I wouldn't sell!"

As they spoke, the stall owner deftly wrapped up the jade disc and handed it to the Russian couple.

The couple thought they had gotten a great deal and readily paid the money.

Little did people know that the cost of such a specially made fake ancient jade disc was only a few dollars.

After receiving the money and the Russian couple leaving, the stall owner immediately beamed with joy.

In the antique business, the motto is "no business for three years, then make enough to last three years."

Moreover, once the bet is placed, there's no going back.

Of course, this rule didn't apply to foreigners, so the stall owner put away the money and tickets and prepared to pack up and go home.

I don't plan to set up a stall here for the next year or two.

As he tidied up, he glanced at Su Chen and said, "Thanks a lot, brother. This deal wouldn't have been easy without your help. Come on, let me treat you to hot pot!"

"I'd rather skip the hot pot and ask you something, brother."

“No problem. There’s nothing on Daximen Street that I, Hou San, don’t know.”

"Have any Taoist priests, two men and one woman, visited Shencheng recently?"

"A Taoist priest? No! What do you need a Taoist priest for, brother?"

Su Chen thought for a moment, then asked, "Does this brother know where I can buy genuine treasures?"

"Hey, you've come to the right person! Let me tell you the truth, the stalls on Daximen Street are all ripping off foreigners. The real good stuff, the stuff that comes straight from the ground, is here, and it's not here."

The stall owner, wanting to show off, started talking about the real secret of the Great West Gate: the Ghost Market, which only happens once a month and can only be entered by insiders!

"Alright, I think you're a pretty good guy. Tomorrow is the Ghost Market at Daximen. If you really want to go in and find some real treasures, just wait for me at Daximen after dark tomorrow."

"it is good!"

Su Chen and Hou San made an agreement to meet at night tomorrow.

He wanted to find clues about the tomb of the Liao Dynasty's imperial concubine, but he foolishly searched all over the mountains and fields, which was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The quickest way is to get to know the local tomb raiders and scavengers and get clues from them.

The places that tomb raiders and thieves frequent most are these ghost markets that only insiders can enter.

Outsiders who want to get in won't even know where the main gate is unless someone guides them.

The next day!

To his surprise, Su Chen still didn't bring his sixth uncle and the others, and went to the appointment alone.

At night, the area outside the West Gate is deserted. Occasionally a few people pass by, but they are in a hurry. It is nothing like the bustling scene of the street filled with stalls during the day.

Su Chen waited at the street corner for almost half an hour, almost thinking that Hou San was going to break his promise, but unexpectedly he arrived at the last minute.

"I'm sorry, brother, something came up at home and I was delayed for a while."

"It's okay, I just arrived too!"

Su Chen was puzzled when he saw that Hou San was dressed in all black and even took out a monkey king mask from his pocket to cover his mouth and nose.

"Do I need to wear this to enter the ghost market?"

"Yes, a lot of people inside are scoundrels who don't wear masks. If they get reported, they'll go to jail."

As he spoke, Hou San, as if performing a magic trick, pulled another red-faced Guan Gong mask from his pocket.

"Brother, you should wear it too. Once inside, talk less and listen more. Also, don't buy anything too expensive. You don't seem like a local; you're probably from out of town, just looking around. Just buy a couple of things."

It's clear that Hou San is quite sincere because Su Chen helped him make a lot of money; he doesn't intend to deceive Su Chen.

Su Chen nodded, took the mask, and put it on.

The two then wandered around the alleys near the West Gate, eventually ending up inside the Shengjing Imperial Palace.

"The ghost market is here?!"

Looking at the towering city walls of the imperial city before him, Su Chen was somewhat surprised.

Hou San nodded and said with a smile, "Yes and no, the location of the Ghost Market changes frequently. It's here for a while, but it'll be moved again later."

As he spoke, he tapped on the wall.

A moment later, a deeply hidden doorway was suddenly revealed in the smooth wall.

Inside the doorway were two people wearing Peking Opera masks.

Hou San made a gesture, and the two men moved aside.

Su Chen remained calm and followed Hou San into the imperial city.

The place where the ghost market was held must have been somewhere in the imperial harem.

Nowadays, apart from a few old men guarding the city, the imperial city is practically deserted.

This gave the ghost market operators a loophole, allowing them to operate the ghost market for several months without anyone noticing.

Soon, Hou San led Su Chen to a secluded straight road.

This should be the junction of the inner and outer city, and the outer barbican of the imperial city is not far away.

In this wide, straight road that can accommodate two carriages side by side, many stalls have already been set up.

Su Chen glanced around and found that there were many good things on the stalls, mostly treasures from the ground.

Another noteworthy point is that almost everyone here was covering up.

Some wore cloaks, some wore face masks, and many others, like Su Chen and Hou San, wore masks.

"It really is a ghost market, it's eerie and unsettling!"

Su Chen's heart stirred, and he stopped in front of a stall displaying Liao Dynasty gold and silver hairpins.

Seeing this, Hou San instructed, "Brother, this ghost market is only open for three hours. We need to leave before dawn. Let's leave from the same spot."

"Okay, brother, if you have something to do, go ahead and take care of it."

Hou San nodded and turned to walk deeper into the ghost market.