Chapter 45 Bizarre Tomb

So the group of five cooperated with each other and took turns dividing the work. Starting from the hiding place they found, they first dug a pit in the ground where the five of them could rest. They left only a small hole connected to the surface that allowed for one person to enter and exit at a time. The opening of their cave was sealed with a dustpan and covered with dirt so that nothing looked unusual. It was only by stepping on it that you would find that there was actually a pit there.

The place where they dug the pit was very clever in that it went right up against a ridge, so there was a very small probability of being discovered. They usually moved around the village during the day, collecting some small tools and dry food before carefully transporting the goods to the cave when night fell. Soon, they had hoarded a month’s worth of daily necessities in the cave. In order to solve the problem of defecation, they dug two smaller holes on each side of the hole that were six or seven meters deep and then blocked them with thatched balls to serve as temporary latrines.

Zhang Haike told me that one of the Zhang family’s first lessons was a special training program focused on dieting. They could eat very little every day but still maintain their physical strength, which also helped them control their defecation. Living underground for a long time without seeing the light of day was also a good way to control the amount and frequency of defecation. You could only defecate once every five or six days, and sometimes you could even stay underground for thirty days without any sign of defecation. They had originally dug holes in the ridges of the fields so it didn’t matter even if some excrement stunk, but they still ate just enough rations to maintain their general physical strength, just in case.

When I heard this, I felt that the Zhang family was really miserable. If they couldn’t defecate for thirty days, wouldn’t they be suffering from severe constipation? How did Little Brother survive before? His body’s detox functions must be a mess!

When the tools and materials were ready, they began to carry out the plan and dug holes in the ground. The most troublesome aspect of this work was the amount of excavated soil, because digging holes would produce a large amount of waste soil, which had to be transported outside the hole. Although they could reduce some of it by pressing it against the wall of the cave, the project was simply too big. As a result, every night was filled with the painful task of doing everything possible to transport the waste soil out.

It had been nearly two weeks since they began digging their way to the tomb and there were only ten days left before they had to go back to their hometown to celebrate the New Year. It was very important that they finish everything within this time frame. This was when Zhang Haike realized for the first time that being a grave robber was actually very difficult. In all the training he had undergone, his elders often said to him, “In many cases, luck is often the most fundamental factor determining everything.” He understood deeply that no matter how strong you were or how hard you worked, some things were likely to fail. Only luck could really make you succeed.

In the first two days of this ten-day countdown, they began to dig the grave robbers’ tunnel in earnest. They didn’t eat, drink, or sleep at night and just worked around the clock until finally, their tunnel hit the top of the tomb. When their shovels touched the bluestone slab, everyone couldn’t help but let out a long sigh. This kind of sigh wasn’t happy or depressed, but a kind of helpless exclamation after working so hard for such a long time. They slept for three hours on the bluestone slab and then immediately began to pry it up, ready to enter the tomb. But at this time, they began to make a very serious mistake.

The structure of this ancient tomb consisted of a bluestone slab about twenty-six meters wide at the top, under which was a layer of blue-green bricks. The slab was a long strip of stone about one person long and half a person wide. They tried to pry it up with a crowbar and then used the kung fu they had learned to try to break it open. At that time, none of them had reached the point where they could pull out the blue-green bricks with their two fingers, so they very carefully wedged sticks into the cracks, pried the bricks up, and then smashed them one by one.

All of the bricks had been placed on top of the tomb by means of a borrowed force, so if you pulled out the wrong piece, you were likely to make the whole roof collapse.

They had to work very carefully and slowly under such circumstances, but they finally cleared a barely passable hole. Zhang Haike and the others couldn’t fit into this hole, but Poker-face could because he was so small. Zhang Haike was a little worried. After all, Poker-face was still so young.

But it would save them a lot of trouble if someone could observe the tomb from the inside. And seeing as how time was very urgent and there was no other way, they had to let Poker-face go down there.

The inside of the tomb was in good condition: it was very dry, cool, and free of any accumulated water. After going down, not only did Poker-face not smell a trace of rot in the tomb, but he actually smelled the strange scent of sandalwood.

Poker-face dropped into the tomb, lit a torch, looked around, and found that this tomb was very unusual. He discovered that the whole tomb was upside down and the ground was full of Jiutian Xuannü (1) murals. There was nothing on the tomb’s ceiling but a line of jagged blue-green bricks. When Poker-face turned around again and looked around, he realized what had happened. There were many things hanging upside down from the top of the tomb, all of which he had normally seen at the bottom of tombs.

<Chapter 44><Table of Contents><Chapter 46>

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TN Notes:

(1) Also known as Xuan Nü, a fairy in Chinese mythology. Her name can be translated as the “Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens” Wikipedia says she’s the goddess of war, sex, and longevity in Chinese mythology.

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Updated 12/22/2021

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