Chapter 16: The Dragon Trapped by Flowing Water

I couldn’t understand why Tian Yuqing insisted on having our team and the Tan family’s workers go down first. From what I know of him, he’s shrewd and efficient, never doing anything pointless. There must be a reason he’s keeping the archaeological team from going down first, but whether it’s for profit, I can’t tell.

“Have you finished arguing?” Before Wu Yili could respond, Lu A’yao’s voice came from inside the cave. He emerged from the low tunnel, his pants covered in dirt, with a shovel slung over his shoulder.

He casually tossed the shovel onto the grass, brushed the dust from his hair, and then picked the shovel back up.

I watched him walk slowly toward Wu Yili, thinking that Tan Qiu and the others were still fuming. Going over now would only add fuel to the fire. I was about to stop him, but he treated me like air, brushing past without even a glance.

What kind of attitude is that? The atmosphere instantly became awkward, and I stood there, dumbfounded.

Seeing my hand hanging in the air, He Yu patted me sympathetically. “Their family is just strange like that. You’ll get used to it.”

I withdrew my hand and watched as Lu A’yao approached the group, planting his shovel into the ground and leaning on it with one hand. He spoke impatiently, “The tomb below is huge, and the walls are coated with oil. This tunnel was dug from the side and accidentally hit a burial pit for people and chariots.”

Wu Yili thought for a moment and nodded. “So the tunnel above is all bones. This area is useless; we’ll need to find another entrance.”

Lu A’yao shook his head. “It’s not useless. I found a spot with fewer bones where we can dig directly. It’s the fastest way, but it might damage the structure and the tomb walls. Can you accept that?”

“No, we can’t,” the bald professor quickly interjected.

Lu A’yao acknowledged with a grunt. “Besides that, I can offer another option. We can use a compass to find a new spot, dig from the top of the tomb, remove a few bricks to create a small opening, and lower people down with ropes to reach the Tomb Chamber directly.”

“Hey, that’s a good idea!” the bald professor exclaimed again.

At this point, I noticed Tan Qiu and Tian Yuqing frown simultaneously. If you think about it, there are issues with this method. First, the structure of the tomb’s top is fragile after being buried for so long. Removing the wrong bricks could be disastrous. Second, even if we reach the bottom directly, without a clear layout of the tomb, we could easily get lost. Of course, these are just my baseless speculations without any experience to back them up.

“Won’t it take a long time to find the top of the tomb?” Wu Yili asked, looking around at the waist-high grass that obscured everything. “And it has to be the top that leads to the Tomb Chamber. The depth varies, so if it takes ten days or half a month, we might as well head back.”

Lu A’yao chuckled lightly. “My ancestors taught me that craftsmanship is our livelihood. Without it, we’d ruin our reputation. I’ve already pinpointed the location; it’s up to you when you want to go down.”

This approach left the two professors a bit stunned. Lu A’yao had clearly organized all the options before presenting them, not as a discussion but as a set of choices for them to pick from.

Just like he did with me.

He Yu whispered to me, “Just like the saying goes, the Lu family is best at pinpointing locations. They have unique training methods that allow them to measure the size of an underground palace by pacing it out. They can tell how many Tomb Chambers and side rooms there are without going down.”

“Is it really that amazing?” I found it hard to believe, especially since I couldn’t even tell north from south in this vast place.

Wu Yili seemed to share my skepticism, so he said, “Then we should go down while it’s still daylight. At night, the forest is much more dangerous.”

Lu A’yao nodded, then took a Luoyang Shovel handed to him by a Tian family worker and walked over 500 meters in a certain direction. Sunlight filtered through the dense leaves, casting a glow on him as everyone watched him stop in a large patch of grass.

He thrust the Luoyang Shovel into the ground with a single motion, then turned and waved.

Before I could see clearly, the workers around me sprang into action, shovels in hand, gathering around him. He said something to them, but I couldn’t hear from the distance. His gestures seemed to indicate “dig here, half a shovel at a time.”

The workers began digging where his Luoyang Shovel had pierced the ground.

Wu Yili and the bald professor, curious, gathered around to watch the workers dig.

I wanted to see too, but Tian Yuqing insisted on taking me and He Yu into a tent they had just set up. Tan Qiu followed us. I was so dazzled by Lu A’yao’s performance earlier that I hadn’t noticed there were so many tents here.

The tents were far from the tunnel, perhaps for easy access to water. We had to cross through a tangle of shrubs to reach them. I estimated there were at least fifty military-green tents, clearly divided into two sections.

One section was for the professional archaeologists, and the other was for Tian Yuqing and Tan Qiu. The shrubs on either side of the tents had been cleared. As we approached, I saw Tian Tinghan pushing Tian Xiao into the sunlight.

I nodded at Tian Xiao, who nodded back. Tian Yuqing led us past Tian Xiao without a word.

Tan Qiu strode over to a tent, lifted the flap, and we followed him inside. He grabbed an enamel mug from the table, took a swig, and started cursing, “You shouldn’t have stopped me earlier. That stubborn old man just needs a good talking to.”

He Yu pulled me to sit on a camp bed. As soon as I touched the fabric, I knew these tents were special. The material of the camp beds was better than anything I’d seen on the market, likely military-grade.

“He just doesn’t fully trust us yet,” Tian Yuqing said.

Tan Qiu cursed, “So we just let them go down?! Even someone who hasn’t studied feng shui can tell this place is unusual. A Dragon-Trapping Formation tomb isn’t easy to explore. If it weren’t for that Lu kid, we’d have taken at least ten days to find this ‘spring’.”

At this, Tian Yuqing frowned and gestured for a private conversation. Tan Qiu, realizing our presence, quickly shut his mouth and walked outside.

Tian Yuqing told us, “Stay put and don’t wander off.”

Once he left, I immediately turned to He Yu. “Did you hear that?”

He Yu’s eyes lit up, and he even took out a notebook and pen. “I heard! They mentioned something about a Dragon-Trapping Formation. Do you know what that is? Isn’t your grandfather a famous feng shui master? Tell me.”

I replied, “Are you kidding? My grandfather never taught me anything. My Fourth Brother handles all the feng shui work. It has nothing to do with me. Why doesn’t anyone believe me?”

He Yu scratched his head, troubled. “You really don’t know anything? I wanted to ask you about this dragon-trapping setup, but if you don’t know anything, why did Tian Yuqing bring you here if it’s so dangerous?”

I wanted to answer but hesitated.

He Yu didn’t seem to notice my hesitation and said, “Don’t be fooled by Tan Qiu’s demeanor. He’s quite capable. Even he said this tomb is extraordinary. If you don’t know anything, I suggest you don’t listen to Tian Yuqing and stay out of it. The Tian family is like that; they’ll do anything to achieve their goals.”

Compared to them, my perspective seemed narrow-minded. They were genuinely concerned for my safety, while I was debating whether to tell the truth.

Realizing this, I was filled with regret. If I wanted to make friends, I needed to trust them instead of being suspicious like Wu Yili. I felt terrible.

So I said, “I have some knowledge of mechanisms. I’ve studied many ancient tomb and military engineering diagrams. Tian Yuqing thought I might be helpful down there, but he deceived me into thinking my Fourth Brother, Chen Si, was here. I wasn’t originally part of your team.”

“You’ve studied mechanisms?” He Yu’s expression suddenly became animated.

I nodded. “I’ve studied them, but I’m not an expert. Compared to those professors, I’m probably not that good.”

He Yu was silent for a moment, then said, “There aren’t many people who understand mechanisms these days. No wonder Tian Yuqing brought you here, even if he had to deceive you. But you don’t need to compare yourself to those professors. Their ‘orthodox’ knowledge isn’t practical for us.”

We ended up chatting about many things in the tent, and I learned a lot about He Yu’s experiences. His life was far more exciting than my routine of going back and forth between home and school.