Chapter 18: Are You Three Human Groundhogs?

The preliminary conclusion left the director completely numb. He stood there with a vacant stare as the assistant director approached cautiously with a tablet.

“Director…”

“What? Do you want me dead even sooner?”

The assistant director swallowed. “Our show is the number-one trending topic.”

The director paused. “What’s the headline this time?”

The assistant director looked down at the screen. “#JiangChenFindsUnknownAncientTombOnLivestream#”

The director fell silent for two seconds, then let out a long breath. “Thank heavens. Finally, a headline that sounds fit for broadcast.”

Looking awkward, the assistant director continued, “There’s also the number-two trend.”

The director’s eyelid twitched. “What?”

The assistant director turned the screen toward him. “#ThreesATeamCrewSuspectedOfLeadingTombRobbery#”

The director stared at the glaring headline. “Take the phone away. Contact public relations immediately!”

What worried him most was whether Jiang Chen and the others’ use of the Luoyang shovel counted as damaging an ancient tomb. That could carry a severe sentence!

As everyone waited anxiously, Professor Liu returned with several test reports and announced the final survey findings.

“Don’t be alarmed.” He adjusted his reading glasses. “This place is indeed an ancient tomb. But our deeper investigation shows it was emptied by robbers in ancient times. As for the bottles and jars Jiang Chen’s group dug up…” He pointed to the bronze bottle. “They aren’t ancient burial objects at all. They’re modern industrial reproductions.”

The crowd erupted. The director jerked his head up. “Modern?”

Professor Liu nodded and offered a geological explanation. “Simply put, someone in modern times dug a pit directly above the already-looted ancient tomb and built a modern burial. Later, mudslides and flooding washed through the area. The ground collapsed, causing the upper modern grave and the ancient tomb below to overlap, becoming one. The group only dug up modern discarded objects from the top layer.”

He sighed regretfully. “In other words, this tomb no longer has research value. Their actions were reckless, but they did not damage genuine artifacts and do not constitute a crime.”

His words were a reprieve. By this account, Jiang Chen’s lucky accident had not damaged the ancient tomb. And if everything inside was modern scrap, there was no question of a protective excavation either.

Captain Sun was deeply unhappy that he couldn’t arrest Jiang Chen, but he could only do his duty. “All right. Since this isn’t a cultural relics case, SWAT is withdrawing. Pack up!”

At his order, the officers quickly removed the cordon and left. Professor Liu and his students regretfully packed their instruments. “We got excited for nothing. Come on, back to our excavation trench.”

Soon the once-bustling hillside was quiet again. The director clasped his hands and bowed repeatedly to the sky. He let out a long breath, feeling as if he’d survived a disaster.

“That scared the life out of me. I knew it. How many tombs of princes and generals could there be for him to dig up in a backwater like Jiangzhou?”

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and called to the crew. “False alarm. Everyone withdraw and keep watch from the control room.”

They scrambled into the vehicles and fled. Only the three contestants—Jiang Chen, Liu San, and Chen Ming—and their long-suffering cameraman Wang Qiang remained on site to continue the stream.

Wang Qiang dropped onto the grass with the camera on his shoulder, gulping for air. “Thank god I’m still alive. Jiang Chen, let’s go somewhere else. We could help an old lady feed pigs in the village. Anything. I don’t want to spend another second here.”

Jiang Chen and Liu San ignored him and gathered beside the enormous hole. Liu San took an old compass from his clothing and frowned at its wildly spinning needle.

“Brother Chen, something’s wrong.” He lowered his voice mysteriously. “Look at the magnetic response. This really is an auspicious feng shui site, with powerful energy. If the ancient tomb below had been emptied, that energy would have escaped long ago. The compass wouldn’t react like this. The tomb hasn’t been looted at all!”

Jiang Chen stood at the opening, rubbing his chin. After a moment he ventured a bold guess. “What if we never dug deep enough? What if the layer Professor Liu’s team detected was only the top one?”

Chen Ming, who had been studying the soil nearby, sprang to his feet. He pushed up his glasses, academic fervor flashing behind them. “Captain Jiang is right! I carefully observed the direction of the breaks in the strata. The rock structure shows clear signs of secondary reinforcement by human hands. It’s very possible we haven’t dug deep enough!”

The three exchanged glances and nodded. Without another word, Jiang Chen grabbed the Luoyang shovel and jumped into the hole. Liu San followed, taking turns with the shovel, while Chen Ming cleared away the earth brought up from below.

Their smooth teamwork made Wang Qiang, who had only just caught his breath, stare wide-eyed. “Holy shit! Wait! The police have left and the experts said it has no value! Why are you still digging? Are you three human groundhogs?!”

Meanwhile, back in the control room, the director reclined in his chair with a freshly brewed cup of goji berry tea. Watching the terrifyingly high traffic on Jiang Chen’s stream, he grinned.

“Assistant director, see? What did I tell you?” He took a contented sip. “Jiang Chen is exhausting, but he’s a natural-born genius at livestreaming and variety shows! Look at the way he draws an audience. First he makes a bomb, then finds a tomb, then brings in SWAT and experts. Finally there’s a reversal and nothing happens. These twists are better than any melodramatic TV series!”

The assistant director nodded, flattering him. “Exactly, Director. Everyone thinks that abandoned pit has no value now and he’s only digging for the livestream. As long as he doesn’t break the law, our show has caught the windfall of a lifetime.”

The director was about to close his eyes for a nap when a deep, strange sound came from the large screen.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

The microphones carried it clearly through the control room: a metal shovel head striking an extremely hard stone slab. It wasn’t a sound ordinary rock would make. This was specially treated bluestone!

Jiang Chen’s Luoyang shovel appeared to have struck something extraordinary again. The director’s eyes flew open. He shot upright in his chair, spilling goji tea into his lap without noticing. The assistant director, operations staff, planners—everyone stood and stared at the screen.

In the footage, Jiang Chen pried hard at the bottom of the hole. With a sharp crack, the soil collapsed, revealing an enormous bluestone slab carved with intricate patterns. He had opened an even deeper, darker robber’s hole. Chilly white vapor streamed out, carrying an ancient, mysterious, oppressive chill.

At the sight, Liu San, holding the Luoyang shovel at the bottom, shook with excitement and howled toward the sky.

“I know! It’s a tomb within a tomb! The looted tomb above is a decoy, meant to fool tomb robbers! The general’s real tomb is beneath the abandoned one! Brother Chen, we found it!”