Chapter 1981

Chapter 1981

Collected and organized by Kenshu Novel Network (KenShu.CC). Copyright belongs to the author or publisher.

10 PM.

Dong Xuebing had just finished work and arrived home when his mother-in-law called.

“Hello, Xiaobing, your mother told you, right?” Han Jing asked.

“She did. It’s this Saturday, right?” Dong Xuebing said. “I’ll try my best.”

Han Jing reminded him, “Try? No trying—you must come back. I just heard from your mom that you’re busy over there, so I called to make sure. You don’t need to come back too early. Just catch the last flight Friday night, and you’ll be fine. We’ve got everything else ready.”

“Okay, Mom. Got it.” What else could Dong Xuebing say?

Han Jing chuckled. “Good. Get some rest early and take care of yourself.”

Dong Xuebing replied, “Will do. You take care, too. Give my regards to Dad.”

“Oh, right, one more thing. The Hundred Days Banquet will be held at your courtyard house in Houhai. The place is big, and we’re not inviting too many people. It’s more than enough.” Han Jing added.

Dong Xuebing agreed, “No problem. You have the key anyway. You and Mom decide.”

Dong Xuebing had long left a spare key at his in-laws’ place—the car key and the courtyard house key- all had backups. Just in case they got lost. As for not choosing Old Master Xie’s villa for the banquet, Dong Xuebing understood. Even though the old man had been the one to propose throwing a Hundred Days Banquet for little Dong, the child still bore his surname, not Xie. Traditionally, it had to be hosted by Dong’s side. Holding the banquet at the Xie family villa wouldn’t feel quite right. So his courtyard house was the best choice. Plus, from an economic perspective, the Houhai courtyard was worth more than three or four of the Xie family’s villas. It was grand. Though it was called a Hundred Days Banquet, it was also, in a way, a show of strength. Even if the Xie family didn’t need to show off, they certainly wouldn’t allow anything shabby.

After hanging up, Dong Xuebing removed his dirt-covered shoes, grabbed his filthy socks, and tossed them into the bathroom, which was so dirty he didn’t even want to look at them. Sigh, all this mountain climbing daily… how could he not be filthy?

Only then did Dong Xuebing slip on his slippers and sit at his computer to book a flight.

A 4 PM flight was too early.

5 PM wasn’t great either.

After checking carefully, Dong Xuebing booked an 8 PM flight on Friday night. He’d land in the capital around 10 PM—just in time for the next day’s banquet.

Once done, he took a shower and finally fell asleep.

The Next Day

The archaeology team arrived from the capital.

Zhang Dongfang stayed behind in the county to oversee things. Dong Xuebing led a group to the provincial airport to meet them.

More than twenty people had come, including key experts from the archaeological team and technical and equipment support staff. It was quite a formation, indicating how seriously this was being taken at higher levels.

Officials from the city and people from the provincial cultural department also arrived.

Several leaders went up to shake hands with the archaeological team members. Dong Xuebing got his turn last, introducing himself and getting acquainted with the experts.

Then the city leaders proposed a welcome banquet.

But the small elderly man leading the archaeological team waved it off. “No need. We just ate on the plane. Don’t trouble yourselves. Let’s go straight to the site.” He was very professional, jumping straight into work mode. “The Han Dynasty tomb discovery at Qingluan Mountain is still confidential, right?”

A provincial cultural official replied, “Yes. Nothing has been made public yet.” The tomb hadn’t even been confirmed; the burial chamber hadn’t been uncovered yet. It couldn’t be announced.

The old archaeologist said, “Good. Not only must it stay confidential, but even our presence here should be kept under wraps. Don’t leak anything. Tomb raiders are far too rampant these days. We have to follow the procedure, and it takes time to get approvals for armed police or military protection. But those guys? They don’t wait. The moment they hear anything, they take their chances. If they ruin the burial chamber, it’ll be too late.”

It wasn’t that they didn’t trust Professor Chu and the others. Chu had already sent them photos of the site and artifacts. Their assessments aligned—this tomb was extraordinary. But the country’s processes were strict. They couldn’t skip protocol to apply for armed protection. They didn’t even have the authority to make exceptions.

A city leader said, “Jiaolin County has already stationed personnel for tomb protection.”

The archaeologist responded, “Can they manage it? It’s a whole mountain. Completely sealing it off? Even ten thousand people wouldn’t be enough. All it takes is a moment of inattention, and tomb raiders will sneak up the mountain undetected at night. And this ancient tomb cluster spans a huge area. Even a randomly dug tunnel might reach a burial chamber. So let’s not go public with this until security is airtight.”

These archaeologists had fought this battle for years. They knew how cunning tomb raiders were. Too many instances had already occurred where major tombs were looted by the time the team arrived. Some tomb raiders even had better intelligence and skills than the official experts. That’s why the first priority, once they arrived, was to lock things down and prevent looting.

Naturally, the city agreed without protest.

Dong Xuebing also confirmed it. Professor Chu had already warned him, and Dong had instructed Jiaolin County’s media outlets to block any further news reports about Qingluan Mountain’s artifacts.

By 2 PM

Dong Xuebing led the archaeologists, more than 20 of them, up Qingluan Mountain.

The elderly team leader didn’t go straight to the excavation site. He stopped repeatedly, directing staff to plant markers and equipment, and took detailed terrain observations.

After over half an hour of careful study, the group finally reached the dig site.

“Old Chu, still at it?” the old man greeted cheerfully.

Professor Chu was examining a newly unearthed artifact with gloves on. Upon hearing the voice, he carefully set the item down, stood up, and smiled. “Old Zhong, you’re leading the team this time?”

Professor Meng recognized him, too. “Brother Zhong.”

Old Zhong nodded, greeted Mu Zhengzhong, and said, “I’m not the site lead. I just brought the team. You, Old Chu, are in charge of the site.”

Professor Chu hesitated. “Is that appropriate?”

Old Zhong replied, “You’ve been here two days already, familiar with the situation, and you were the first to identify the tomb. Headquarters assigned the responsibility to you.”

Professor Chu said, “Alright. Heh, it’s been a while since we worked together.”

“Sure has. Not since that tomb two years ago…” Old Zhong’s face darkened. “Forget it. Let’s not talk about that.”

Chu sighed. “Tomb raiders are just too rampant. But this time, I’ve checked thoroughly. No signs of looting. I’m almost certain it’s an intact Han Dynasty tomb cluster.”

Dong Xuebing caught the subtext—their last collaboration had probably ended in disappointment after finding a looted tomb.

From there, Dong Xuebing had nothing else to contribute.

Professors Chu and Zhong got to work, mobilizing the team.

Local Jiaolin County cultural workers couldn’t help. They lacked the technical know-how. At most, they helped carry equipment down the mountain. The only real support came from provincial-level archaeologists and cultural officials, who had already been ordered to assist the national team on-site.

Soon, Chu and his colleagues divided them into groups—some dug, some operated equipment, and some took records. The mountain quickly became a hub of activity.

Two hours later

Roughly 160 meters from where the bronze mirror had first been found, a young archaeologist suddenly shouted:

“Bricks!”

“We’ve found the burial chamber!”

“Professor Chu! Come quickly!”

Professors Chu, Zhong, and the others rushed over.

Even Dong Xuebing and Zhang Dongfang tagged along, though they were amateurs. The top county officials had spent the entire day on the mountain, barely attending to county matters. A rare sight, but both had agreed long ago: the excavation was the county’s top priority now. Nothing else compares.

There were still plenty of other county leaders around. Departments ran smoothly. Whether Dong or Zhang was present didn’t matter. Dong had already ordered that department heads could make decisions independently if he and Zhang were unreachable.

At this point, Dong and Zhang were fully aligned.

“Expand the pit a bit more.”

“Don’t dig downward yet—expand sideways first.”

“Even if it’s just a subsidiary tomb, everyone stay alert.”

Excavations never yield results this fast. Chu and Meng conducted preliminary digs over the previous two days to discover the chamber early. This spot had been marked for priority excavation. Sure enough, a tomb passage had now been exposed.

“Is the equipment here?”

“Yes, right here.”

“Great. Let’s send in the probe first.”

Ancient tombs are dangerous, full of traps. Although centuries have passed and most mechanisms are defunct, caution is still vital.

A small opening was carefully created, and the probe was inserted.

Everyone crowded around the monitor.

Finally, several veteran archaeologists reached a unanimous conclusion: if the earlier guess of a Han Dynasty imperial tomb had been “almost certain,” then now, it was beyond doubt—the tomb beneath their feet was an imperial burial chamber from the Han Dynasty.

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