Chapter 12: Seek the Dragon and Fix the Compass Bearing Among Winding Mountains; Each Winding Ridge Is Another Gate

Cold wind swept across the deserted mountains. Jiang Chen stood on the slope as the system’s prompts filled his mind.

【Seek the dragon and fix the compass bearing among winding mountains; each winding ridge is another gate.】

【Though eightfold dangers bar the entrance, their form follows yin, yang, and the eight trigrams.】

Following the system’s guidance, Jiang Chen surveyed the terrain. The setting was indeed remarkable: a towering main peak at its back, with two ridges extending around it like protective arms. A perfect place to shelter from the wind and gather auspicious energy.

In the livestream, viewers who had been mocking his performance suddenly grew quieter. Then several bold comments appeared.

【Guys! I just checked the local historical records!】

【There really is a record of a memorial tomb for a General Who Pacified the North in the hills west of Jiangzhou!】

【Wait! This doesn’t look like a set the crew built in advance!】

【Even the weeds and weathering look completely natural!】

【Oh my god! Did they actually find a major tomb?!】

The mood changed at once. Amusement gave way to collective panic.

Holding his camera, Wang Qiang watched historical facts scroll across the screen. His legs began to shake. Jiang Chen looked utterly confident, while Liu San and Chen Ming rubbed their hands excitedly. Were these three lunatics really going to dig up someone’s ancestral grave?

Wang Qiang agonized. If he shut off the camera now, would that be destroying evidence? If he kept filming, would recording the whole thing make him an accomplice?

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw what Jiang Chen was doing. His world nearly collapsed.

Jiang Chen crouched and opened Liu San’s enormous black canvas bag. He took out sections of threaded steel pipe and a semicircular steel shovel head. With practiced movements, he tightened the screws, joined the pipes, and attached the head. A few clicks later, he had assembled a proper Luoyang shovel.

Wang Qiang’s voice cracked. “Jiang Chen! Are you crazy? Where did you get a Luoyang shovel?!”

Without looking up, Jiang Chen gripped the handle and aimed at a clear patch of ground. He drove it into the earth with both hands, twisted his wrists, and pulled up a cylindrical core of soil. Without pausing, he attached another section of pipe and thrust it down again.

As the shovel went deeper, the color of the soil it brought up changed. Hundreds of thousands of viewers watched intently. When the latest sample emerged, the livestream collectively held its breath. The camera zoomed in. It wasn’t ordinary yellow earth!

The comments exploded.

【Holy shit!】

【There really is a tomb!】

【Mottled rammed earth! A moisture-proof charcoal layer! Those are classic signs of a major underground tomb!】

【The moment Jiang Chen pulled out a Luoyang shovel, I knew this wasn’t simple!】

【Director! Get out here!】

【There’s still time to stop them. In ten minutes all you’ll be able to do is cordon off the crime scene!】

【Cameraman, stop shaking! Any more and the footage will look like a first-person confession!】

Jiang Chen paid no attention to the frantic comments. More astonishingly, Chen Ming, who had always seemed so mild-mannered, dropped to the ground. His glasses slid down his nose, but he didn’t bother to push them up. He scooped the mottled earth into both hands, sniffed it, and carefully crumbled it between his fingers.

His eyes shone with unprecedented excitement. “A rammed-earth layer! It really is a man-made sealing layer! There has to be a major tomb underneath! Jiang Chen, quick! Let’s dig!”

The formerly reserved teacher looked more excited than anyone. Even Jiang Chen stared at him. “Mr. Chen, when did you decide to start digging? Weren’t you hesitant in the car?”

Chen Ming pushed up his glasses, academic hunger flashing behind the lenses. “In the ten seconds when you took out and assembled the Luoyang shovel. I made up my mind. For research combining geology and history, what’s a little risk?”

Liu San could no longer contain himself. He snatched the shovel from Jiang Chen. “Brother Chen, let me! I’m strong!”

Gripping the steel pipe with both hands, he jumped high and drove the shovel downward with his body weight. Once, twice, three times.

On the fifth thrust he stopped, staring at Jiang Chen in astonishment. “Wait! Brother Chen, I think I hit a hollow space! There’s no resistance!”

He pressed the pipe down again. Several dull, strange knocks sounded from deep underground. Though quiet, they were distinct in the silent hills.

Jiang Chen’s face changed. “Holy shit! Did you just hit the coffin lid?!”

Wang Qiang’s knees gave way and he dropped to the ground. Good heavens! They weren’t merely looking for a tomb. They’d punched straight through someone’s coffin!

He no longer cared about the livestream. He tossed the camera onto the grass and dialed the director with wildly trembling fingers. The moment the call connected, he screamed into the phone.

“Director! Call the police! They’re really digging up someone’s ancestral grave! They’ve hit the coffin lid!”

It was the assistant director who answered. “What?! What ancestral grave? Slow down!”

Wang Qiang glanced toward Jiang Chen and nearly jumped out of his skin. Jiang Chen and Liu San were working together to move earth out, while Chen Ming frantically recorded changes in the soil layers in a notebook. They looked more professional than an archaeological team!

Wang Qiang gripped the phone with both hands and shouted, “Assistant director! Send someone! Jiang Chen and the others are going down into the tomb! This is serious!”