Chapter 19: The Cameraman Is an Accomplice Too

Liu San’s frantic shout echoed through the livestream. After one second of silence, the comments exploded as never before.

【HOLY SHIT!!!】

【A tomb within a tomb?!】

【The director recovered less than three minutes ago!】

【Doctor: The patient is stable. Jiang Chen: Let me give him another shock.】

【It fooled the experts but not these three clowns?!】

【They’re finished! This time it’s really criminal!】

【Jiang Chen: The experts say it has no value, so I’ll dig up something valuable!】

The control room was deathly quiet. Staring at the seemingly bottomless opening on the screen, the director’s legs gave way. He dropped to his knees in front of the console and roared in despair.

“Quick! Get the legal department!”

Deep beneath the barren hillside, the dim burial chamber smelled of old, decaying earth. Flashlight beams swept across the tomb within a tomb. Through their screens, viewers got a proper look at the real ancient burial hidden beneath the abandoned one.

Intricate murals were carved into the gray-brick walls. Exquisite bronze objects and jade discs lay scattered on the floor beside several half-covered lacquered wooden chests. Fragments of jade gleamed faintly at the edges of the boxes.

The viewers went wild.

【Holy shit!】

【Are we allowed to see this for free?!】

【How much must all this be worth?】

【Take any one of those out and you could buy a luxury apartment outright in Jiangzhou!】

【Other people go on the show to find jobs. Jiang Chen goes on to find treasure!】

【Now that’s a real tomb raider!】

Cameraman Wang Qiang stood sweating behind his equipment, his heart threatening to leap out of his throat. Jiang Chen had actually found a real ancient tomb! Wang Qiang seriously questioned what “unemployed” meant on his application. Wasn’t a tomb robber unemployed whenever he wasn’t taking jobs?

Liu San crouched, practically drooling over the burial goods. With trembling hands, he reached toward an ancient-looking bronze tripod vessel.

Wang Qiang’s survival instinct kicked in. He set down the camera, grabbed the muddy Luoyang shovel, and held it across Liu San’s path. “Stop! Nobody move! Nobody touches anything!”

The livestream caught the whole scene. Viewers laughed at the fierce sight of Wang Qiang wielding the shovel.

【What’s happening? Is the cameraman going to kill them to silence them?!】

【Wang Qiang: Splitting three ways pays too little. I’m keeping it all!】

【Breaking: Cameraman armed with Luoyang shovel massacres ancient tomb!】

【Wang Qiang finally understands: tomb raiding pays faster than a day job!】

【Jiang Chen: I’m here for the show. Wang Qiang: I’m here to stock up!】

Seeing the comments race across the screen, Wang Qiang realized what it looked like. He dropped the shovel, waved frantically at the camera, and explained, “No, everyone! I’m not keeping it for myself! I’m trying to stop them! We have to protect the site. These are national cultural relics. Nobody can touch them!”

Jiang Chen pointed at the shovel and laughed. “Wang Qiang, explaining won’t help. Your fingerprints are on that Luoyang shovel now. We’re proper accomplices.”

Wang Qiang went numb. How the hell had he become an accomplice?

Before he could decide what to do, a commotion of car engines sounded outside the hole. Then the director’s rasping voice wailed from above.

“Jiang Chen! Jiang Chen! Get the hell out here!”

Jiang Chen dusted off his hands and beckoned Liu San and Chen Ming. “Come on. Someone’s here to pick us up.”

The three climbed the rope using hands and feet. At the opening, the director looked at their dirt-covered faces with utter despair. He snatched a flashlight from a staff member and bravely shone it down the hole. One glance made him gasp. He knew nothing about archaeology, but anyone could see from the orderly gray bricks and objects strewn across the floor that this was a real ancient tomb.

He turned sharply to Jiang Chen, his voice trembling. “Did you… did you damage anything inside?!”

Jiang Chen calmly shook his head. “No. We just went in for a look and shared some historical knowledge with everyone.”

The director breathed a long sigh of relief. As long as they hadn’t damaged anything, there was still room to maneuver. He took out his phone and called Captain Sun.

“Captain Sun! We’ve really found an ancient tomb!”

Sun snapped back at once. “Can your production team stop wasting public resources? The experts have already checked. They said those weren’t ancient tombs! Just stick to your script and stop dragging us into it!”

The director protested, “No, Captain! This time it really is an ancient tomb! A tomb within a tomb! Please come quickly!”

He glanced at Jiang Chen and his two eager teammates, lowered his voice, and pleaded, “Captain Sun, if you don’t come soon, the site really will be damaged. I can barely hold these menaces back!”

After several seconds of silence, Captain Sun took a deep breath. “Fine. I hope you’re telling the truth.” He hung up.

The exchange sent the viewer count climbing again.

【Ancient tomb: I’ve hidden for hundreds of years. Production crew: Randomly selects two people. Jiang Chen: Found it.】

【Director: I only wanted to film a variety show. Jiang Chen: I’ll turn it into a tomb-raiding documentary.】

【The director’s beyond caring. A couple more episodes and he’ll become a monk.】

【Normal people see two unrelated professions. Jiang Chen sees a complete criminal gang!】

Before long, Captain Sun returned to the mountain with a large contingent of officers.