Guanzhong Tomb Robbery Notes

Chapter 16: Fire Cave, the Beginning of the Nightmare

"I just want to hear a story."

I took out the speech I had prepared long ago.

It's a bit rash to ask directly about tomb robbing.

It’s better to use listening to stories as an excuse.

Let Camel Master tell the story of tomb robbery first, and then make indirect hints along the way.

An imperceptible gleam of brilliance flashed in Tuoye's narrowed eyes.

"It's easy to listen to stories, but first I have to test you."

"What was our Xianyang Plateau called in the past?"

Without hesitation, I answered, "It was called Hongduyuan in the Tang Dynasty and Wulingyuan in the Western Han Dynasty. It was the burial place of the princes and nobles of the Han and Tang dynasties."

Xianyangyuan can be regarded as a treasure land of Feng Shui.

Nine of the eleven emperors of the Western Han Dynasty were buried here.

Because five mausoleums including Changling were built as mausoleum towns, wealthy and prominent families from all over the country were moved to live in the mausoleum towns, and thus it was called Wulingyuan.

"Young men from Wuling compete to tie their hair, and countless red silks are used for one song."

"It's about the wealthy and luxurious life in Wulingyuan back then."

Grandpa Tuo laughed and said, "What about further ahead? What was our Xianyang Plateau called in the Western Zhou Dynasty?"

"what?"

This really stumps me.

When I was studying with Professor Zhang, he never told me what the Xianyang Plateau was called during the Western Zhou Dynasty.

"Hahaha, I don't know."

Uncle Tuo was a little proud.

"During the Shang Dynasty, we had Bifang here."

"After the Zhou Dynasty replaced the Shang Dynasty, it was granted to Duke Ji Gao of Bi to establish the State of Bi."

"Our Xianyang Plateau was called Bi Plateau at that time."

"The tomb-robbing story I want to tell you has something to do with the Bi Kingdom."

My heart suddenly tightened.

If it is true as Tuoye said, Xianyangyuan is the fiefdom of Bi State.

Could the possible royal tomb be the tomb of the king of the State of Bi?

During the Western Zhou Dynasty, Xianyangyuan was considered the royal capital.

The State of Bi was responsible for guarding the royal capital and protecting the royal family. It was an important official of the emperor, and there must be a lot of treasures in the king’s tomb!

Countless thoughts ran through my mind, but Grandpa Tuo continued talking to himself.

"That was more than forty years ago. A group of tomb robbers were commissioned by foreigners to search for the tombs of the Bi Kingdom on our Xianyang Plateau."

The more than forty years ago that Grandpa Tuo mentioned is before 1940.

It was a time of turmoil, and many foreigners entered my country under the pretext of archaeology to engage in tomb robbing.

For example, Stein, who stole a large number of precious cultural relics from Dunhuang.

Kozlov, who stole countless treasures from Blackwater City.

Warner and foreign missionary Huai Liguang hired tomb robbers and villagers to dig up the tomb of the Eastern Zhou emperor in Jincun.

During that period, countless treasures were stolen and flowed out of the country.

"That group of tomb robbers explored all the way from Zhouling to Zandagou, and finally found something in the fields east of the village."

In the fields east of the village?

How about such a coincidence!

The tomb I intercepted is in the field east of the village!

Could it be that what Mr. Tuo was talking about is the royal tomb that I suspected might exist?

My breathing became heavy.

I listened attentively to Grandpa Tuo's story, afraid of missing a single word.

"The Luoyang shovel wasn't popular at the time. They used bamboo poles connected together, tied with iron rods, and hammered them into the ground to separate the drops of soil they brought out."

"The iron drill penetrated more than 18 meters and finally brought out white plaster."

White clay is kaolin, which is often used as burial mound in ancient aristocratic tombs because of its strong anti-leakage and sealing properties.

When dry, it is white and is called white paste.

It is green in a humid environment and is called green paste mud.

They are the same thing.

Usually, as long as white or green clay is found, it means that a large tomb has been discovered.

"They used the spot where the white plaster was brought out as the center and drilled iron rods every half a meter forward, backward, left and right to explore the structure of the tomb."

When encountering a large tomb, experienced tomb robbers will not rush down.

Instead, they continuously lowered the shovel to explore the direction of the tomb passage and the structure of the tomb chamber.

As long as the structure is determined, we can basically enter the main tomb chamber directly, saving the trouble of passing through the tomb door.

"The investigation took all night."

"It is confirmed to be a large tomb in the shape of the character '甲'. The passage is 49 meters long and the burial chamber is 33 meters deep."

"Based on the specifications, it's basically the tomb of a monarch."

When I heard about the king’s tomb, I clasped my ten fingers together tightly.

Grandpa Tuo glanced at my hand and then quickly looked away.

"They immediately drilled a hole in the tomb chamber, and when they broke through the clay layer, something strange happened."

"What's the change?" I couldn't help but ask.

"A foul green stench erupted, and the stench immediately ignited upon contact with the fire. The two tomb robbers who were working together to dig the hole were immediately consumed by the flames."

"what?!"

"Is it a fire cave?"

I cried out in surprise.

When Professor Zhang was teaching me, the excavation of Mawangdui in Changsha happened to be underway, and he was very concerned about this matter.

Later, he got the Mawangdui excavation report and took me to read it.

The Mawangdui Han Tomb is the first fire cave excavated by the archaeological team after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

It caused quite a stir in archaeology and history.

At that time, Professor Zhang said that fire holes basically appeared in the south and not in the north.

"How can there be a fire hole in the north? It only exists in the south."

Uncle Tuo picked up his pipe and took a deep puff.

Shaking his head, he said, "Who told you there's none in the north?"

"When Wang Mang usurped the throne, he ordered the tombs of Empress Dowager Fu and Empress Dowager Ding to be dug up. A foul-smelling fire erupted from the tombs, killing or injuring the thieves."

"The notes of Shao Bowen in the Northern Song Dynasty recorded that when robbers broke into an ancient tomb on the Xianyang Plateau at night, they saw a fire. This clearly records the existence of a fire cave here."

I was stunned.

I didn't expect that Tuo Ye could quote from classics.

Is this still the Camel Master I know?

"Every profession has its own expertise. A historian may not know more than a tomb robber."

"Then there were the two tomb robbers, their bodies on fire, screaming like pigs being slaughtered. The flames shot out from the hole they dug, directly onto the ground, and burned more than a meter high."

"People upstairs rushed to pour water into the tunnel. When the water wasn't enough, they sprinkled dirt down and finally put out the fire."

"But those two people couldn't be saved and died directly in the tomb."

"It's really unlucky that someone died before entering the tomb."

"And the greenish-green stench was continuous, forcing the tomb robbers to stop and wait for the stench to dissipate before continuing."

"They waited for three days until the green stench finally stopped coming out, so they decided to go to the tomb at night."

"But they don't know that going to the grave is just the beginning of the nightmare!"

"Seven people went down, and only one escaped!"

Uncle Tuo held the pipe tightly in his right hand, veins bulged on his hand, and his whole arm was shaking.

Every muscle from the base of my neck to my cheeks was tense.

Bloodshot appeared in his wide-open eyes, and uncontrollable fear was revealed in his shrunken pupils.

He is afraid!

I was frightened by the appearance of Camel Master.

I felt like the temperature around me suddenly dropped by more than ten degrees, and my body couldn't help but tremble slightly.

He held on to the bench under his buttocks with both hands.

Always be ready to pick up a bench as a weapon for self-defense.

"When they entered the tomb, they heard noises coming from the tomb."

Tuoye's voice became sharp, and every word he spoke was trembling.

"These tomb robbers, who have experienced great storms, didn't take the noise seriously."

"But the closer we got to the tomb, the clearer the sound became. It was a very soft wind sound, carrying a sobbing, plaintive tone that reached my ears!"

"Like a girl crying in my ears!"