Just as Chen Xi turned away, Yu Jinâs voice reached him, âStrategist, if you give these people gold ingots, they might end up dead. You can use gold beads, gold leaves, gold ingots, or gold bars, but these guys canât handle gold ingots.â
Chen Xi was speechless. He always carried gold beads on him, and while he had some copper coins, he didnât have more than twenty. How was he supposed to know if using gold ingots would get them killed? But thinking about the situation in this era, it wasnât entirely out of the question.
âWho among you is the best at digging?â Chen Xi decided to drop the gold vs. copper issue. As long as they were willing to work for money, thatâs all that mattered.
Immediately, the group scattered, leaving one hunched-over, forty-something-year-old man standing in the middle, shaking so badly it looked like he might spit blood.
âAlright, youâre the one. Here, take half the money. Zijian, take this expert and let him assess the terrain. Figure out how we should proceed.â Seeing that everyone had agreed this old man was the best, Chen Xi was delighted. Every profession has its leaders, and this was exactly the kind of person he needed.
The rest of the group nearly choked. The guy hadnât moved because he was stuck in the middle, but when everyone else stepped aside, he was left standing there like a sore thumb. Not a single person had actually acknowledged that the old man was better than them.
Yu Jin felt a bit embarrassed and turned away. Chen Xi could be a bit oblivious at timesâlike right now, where it shouldâve been obvious that the old man wasnât volunteering. Yet Chen Xi had just made him the leader.
âClatter!â Hua Xiong used a large bucket to fill a bucket with money. After seeing that the bucket was overflowing, he casually took out two gold ingots from his bodyguardâs pouch and tossed them into the bucket. âTake this money and stick with me from now on. I need people with your kind of professional skills!â
Hua Xiong didnât quite understand why Chen Xi called it âprofessional skills,â but he thought it sounded impressive. Who knew when a person like this might come in handy? Best to keep him around.
Clearly, Hua Xiongâs understanding of social interactions was a step behind Yu Jinâs. What Hua Xiong had just done was pretty much poaching, but Chen Xi typically turned a blind eye to such things.
After Hua Xiong took the old man away, the remaining group looked at Chen Xi with teary eyes. If they had known, they would have stayed in the middle.
âDo you need anything else dug out, sir?â It was true that a large forest contains all kinds of birds, and among them, thereâs always one smart one. Here it wasâa smart bird finally stepped up.
âYou, yes, you! The one who spoke, step forward!â Chen Xi called out. He didnât know who had spoken, but someone volunteering meant they had initiative and gutsâqualities worth rewarding.
The man hesitated for a moment but eventually stepped forward and cupped his fists in a salute to Chen Xi.
Chen Xi looked the man over. He seemed to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with a muscular build, dressed in simple hemp clothing. Compared to the others, he was completely out of place. What was going on here? Never mind. Maybe he was an archaeology enthusiast. Whoâs to say? It wasnât like archaeology was unheard of in ancient times.
âGive him half the money. Heâs the foreman now,â Chen Xi instructed Yu Jin. It didnât really matter who took the lead; be it a tomb robber or an archaeologist, even if Hua Xiong had caught the wrong guy, it wasnât a big deal. Chen Xi just needed someone to lead the way.
Meanwhile, Hua Xiong took the âprofessionalâ up to the hillside to start the assessment.
âWhatâs your name?â âThey call me Pouch,â the old man replied.
âPouch, stand here and figure out where to dig a tunnel that will safely reach Pingyu City,â Hua Xiong instructed, pointing toward Pingyu. In the background, the trebuchets kept launching stones every so often, just to lower the enemyâs morale. They werenât aiming to killâjust to disgust them.
The old man was stunned for a moment, then squinted at the layout of Pingyu City. He wasnât the best tomb robber out there, but he had the basics down.
âGeneral, there are many places where we could dig, but the moat will be difficult to cross. It would be best to dig the tunnel deep, but the water veins in Runan are plentiful, so digging deep might cause flooding,â Pouch said cautiously.
Just by looking at the small pond under the mound, Hua Xiong knew the water in this area wasnât something to be taken lightly.
âHow long would it take to dig through to the inside of the city?â Hua Xiong asked.
âWith this soil and if everyone works around the clock, we could dig a tunnel wide enough for two people to walk side by side in about twenty days,â Pouch replied cautiously, noting that this task was simple for any tomb robber.
âIt needs to be discreet,â Hua Xiong warned.
Hearing this, Pouch breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed this general didnât really understand their line of work. If tomb robbers werenât discreet, theyâd have died out a long time ago.
âGeneral, rest assured. I can connect the tunnel to a well inside the city without disrupting its structure,â Pouch said confidently, now that he was certain Hua Xiong was an outsider. This was a piece of cake for them.
âAlright, then do it. If you get this done, I wonât be stingy with the rewards,â Hua Xiong said, patting Pouch on the shoulder. He was satisfied. Once the tunnel was finished, money wouldnât be an issue.
With a designer in placeâthough perhaps not the bestâand a foreman in charge, they were ready to start. Hua Xiong, like a ruthless coal mine boss, didnât care about cave-ins or the labor force.
They worked eighteen hours a day, embodying the very definition of a heartless businessman. As for why the workday was so long, Hua Xiong had heard that tomb robbers were more efficient at night, but he didnât want to waste daylight eitherâŠ
Anyway, in Hua Xiongâs view, this group deserved to die, and digging a tunnel was their way of atoning. If they managed to dig through, all would be forgiven. If the tunnel collapsed while they were working, it would be a sign from the heavens, reclaiming those it couldnât tolerate any longerânothing to do with him. If they died of exhaustion, well, they just werenât strong enough. After all, in this era, tomb robbers deserved to be drowned once caughtâŠ
For these reasons, Hua Xiong considered himself merciful and generous. Instead of tying these tomb robbers to stones and sinking them in the Yangtze River, he was letting them atone by digging a tunnel. Truly, the heavens have the virtue of cherishing life.
Meanwhile, a new mound had been built near Pingyu Cityâs walls. This one was closer to the city but much higher. With over ten thousand men working for five days, it was quite the construction. Once it was done, Chen Xi sent people up every day to shoot arrows down at the enemyânot to wound them, just to annoy them. Every day, Chen Xi stood on the mound and watched Qiao Rui curse. The man must be fuming.
But those things didnât matter as much as the fact that the tunnel Hua Xiong was overseeing had already passed under the moat. It had to be saidâthese tomb robbers were skilled. Although the twenty-some-meter-long section under the moat was damp, they managed to prevent a cave-in by using wooden planks and supports.
However, Pouch had warned that this makeshift structure would only last for a month. After that, water would start seeping in more and more, eventually flooding the entire tunnel.