"Yunfeng, find a good spot to stack it for now. Don't foolishly leave it on someone else's land."
"Don't worry, Second Brother. I know what to do."
There wasn't too much of the bluish-white soil. I took out seven or eight small bags from my backpack, carefully divided the soil, and piled them together.
"Huh?"
Just then, down in the pit, Sun Lao'er suddenly stopped digging with his whirlwind shovel.
"Lao'er, what's wrong?" asked the lookout above.
"Boss, take a look," he said, grabbing a handful of soil. "The further down I go, the wetter it gets. This isn't a good sign. There's a good chance there's accumulated water in the pit below."
Boss Wang frowned. "A water-filled pit? It can't be that unlucky... Try going down another twenty centimeters."
Sun Lao'er nodded and continued digging.
"Second Brother, you can't go any further! Below this is the tomb passage—it's definitely waterlogged!" Sun Lao'san urgently shouted.
"If the tomb passage has water, even if we break through, the tunnel will collapse as soon as the water seeps in!"
Wang the Boss couldn't help but curse, "Dammit! Didn't expect this twist. If Second Brother and Third Brother come up first, we won't have enough time to explore the water-filled cave."
The Sun brothers first tossed up the whirlwind shovel, then climbed out of the tunnel, supporting themselves with their legs.
"Boss, I guarantee that if we dig another meter and a half down, we'll definitely hit the 'pouring ceiling'!"
The "pouring ceiling" referred to the stone tomb roof, while the brick tomb roofs from the Ming and Qing dynasties were called "arched ceilings."
Sun Laodian lit a cigarette, squinted at the tunnel he had dug, and said, "Boss, we've come this far. Should we take the risk?"
"What's your idea, Second Brother?"
He flicked the ash off his cigarette and said coldly, "Tell Yikezhi to bring the portable water pump and the small generator."
Boss Wang immediately shook his head. "Pump the water out? The risk is too high. It hasn't rained this season, and given the temperature in Shunde, the pit definitely won't freeze. If we can't drain the water within two hours and dawn breaks, we're all done for. All our efforts would be wasted."
"Second Brother, I agree with the boss. It's certain that there's water in the tomb passage. If there's too much water, a single pump won't be enough to drain it." Sun Laosan frowned as he voiced his thoughts.
"Then what the hell do we do? It's like having a pot of fatty meat right in front of us but not being able to eat it!"
Boss Wang stroked his chin and thought for a moment. Suddenly, he turned to me and asked, "Yunfeng, what do you think? Should we pack up and leave the mountain or keep going?"
The two brothers also turned to look at me.
"Huh?"
I was squatting on the ground, sifting through the dirt, when I never expected him to suddenly ask me that. After a moment's thought, I spoke up right then.
"Boss, I want to make money."
"Brilliant!" Sun Laojiu laughed heartily. "Fortune favors the bold! Boss, if this kid isn't scared, what the hell are we waiting for?"
The walkie-talkie's red light lit up, and Boss Wang immediately said, "Contact Yikezhi. Tell her to get the stuff to us within an hour. One minute late, and her cut drops by one percent."
Speed is the essence of war.
That was the first time I witnessed the logistical efficiency of the support team. In less than an hour, a water pump and a small generator were delivered right to our location, right on schedule.
As soon as the pump arrived, Sun Laojiu rolled up his pants, grabbed a shovel, and went down into the tomb shaft. Soon, clumps of dirt were being tossed up from below, and the soil grew progressively damper.
Several dozen minutes later, a shout erupted from the pit. "Shit! There's a ton of water down here!"
He had just made it up when groundwater began flooding over half of the shaft. After connecting the generator and hoses, Boss Wang tossed the water pump straight into the shaft.
Below, water gurgled and surged upward, while above, we pumped and drained nonstop. We were lucky—the pump had only been running a short while when the water flow began to weaken, and the newly dug shaft didn't collapse from the saturation.
Once Boss Wang retrieved the pump, he ordered, "Laojiu, go down with the needle and break through the ceiling!"
The "needle" was a specialized, pointed tool used in tomb raiding, tipped with diamond, specifically designed to pierce vault ceilings. It was extremely effective.
The sound of chiseling against stone echoed up from the shaft.
Then Sun Laojiu's voice followed, "Boss! It's through!"
A smile instantly spread across Boss Wang's face. He checked the time and said, "Draining the water took longer than expected. Yunfeng, you go down too. An extra pair of hands will help us move faster. Grab as much as you can."
I was caught off guard and asked, "Boss, shouldn't we ventilate it first? What if there's no air down there?"
Boss Wang chuckled. "Oh, Yunfeng, think about it—if the tomb were properly sealed, how could so much water have gotten in? Don't worry, the air circulation down there should be fine."
So, wearing a headlamp, I descended into the tomb shaft for the first time in my life.
Sun Laojiu had broken a large hole in the ceiling. Bracing my legs against the sides of the shaft, I lowered myself bit by bit. There was still a two- to three-meter drop from the ceiling to the passageway below. Seeing how high it was, I grew nervous and hesitated to jump.
There was still some standing water in the passage, enough to submerge a person's calves. Both of the Sun brothers were standing in it.
"Jump, Yunfeng! It's not that high! We'll help you back up later!" Sun Laojiu, his headlamp shining upward, shouted at me.
Taking a deep breath, I silently prayed for luck and jumped. But I lost my balance on landing, tumbling face-first and swallowing a mouthful of the tomb's stagnant water.
"Yunfeng, you'll need some training. Look at those skinny arms and legs of yours! You alright?" Sun Laojiu laughed as he helped me up.
The passage was cross-shaped. We were in the center, with turns leading left and right to the eastern and western chambers, while straight ahead lay the main burial chamber.
Sun Laojiu rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Our luck's holding up. The passage hasn't collapsed. Judging by the structure, it's the tomb of a mid-Western Zhou feudal lord. At this level, the main chamber is bound to have a sealing stone. If it's collapsed, we're in the clear. Even if the stone's still intact, no problem—Laojiu's got a knack for dealing with those things."
"Right, Laojiu?"
"Second Brother, you flatter me too much," Old Third Sun said, staring into the darkness ahead. "For a sealed tomb entrance under three tons, as long as there's no self-locking stone inside, I can still handle it."
Our plan at the time was to first check the main burial chamber, then head to the eastern and western side chambers.
The three of us waded forward through the water.
Just then, something red floated toward us on the water's surface.
"What... what's this?" Old Third Sun fished the object out of the water.
Spreading it open, we saw it was a modern pink towel that had washed in from the main burial chamber ahead—and it even had a brand logo printed on it.
When the Sun brothers saw the towel, their faces turned grim.
Old Third Sun looked up, and his headlamp illuminated the vault above.
It was clearly visible: in the northwest corner of the vault, there was a small hole drilled straight through. The area around the hole was densely cracked, the stone vault shattered.
"Damn it!" Old Second Sun hurled the towel to the ground.
Staring at the hole in the vault, he said, "This was made by an impact drill. They must've planted explosives in there—those bastards didn't have a diamond drill bit, so they tried to blast through the vault! This towel was used to plug the hole and muffle the explosion!"
"This Western Zhou tomb has already been looted!"
"It must've been that gang from the south. After all the effort we've gone to!"
"We're just picking up their leftovers!"