First Visit to the Ancient Tomb
The next morning, I was woken up by Second Uncle's laughter. I saw that there was a thin layer of water vapor on the military coat. The bonfire had already been extinguished. I took off my thick coat and sat up. My throat hurt a little, probably a sign of a cold. Uncle brought over a bowl of ginger soup from somewhere." Drink it and eat something else. We're leaving!”
That ginger soup was really good stuff. After drinking it, my whole body was sweating. I was sweating non-stop until I reached my destination.
In the morning, they ate compressed dry rations. That thing was really choking. They were not allowed to eat more and each person was given a piece. I killed him in no time and said to Uncle,"I'm not full!"
Uncle handed me the ginger soup." Drink some more! This was compressed dry food produced in the United States. It was very hungry.”
I didn't believe it at all. After drinking a few mouthfuls of ginger soup, I realized that I shouldn't eat too much of that stuff. His stomach was so swollen that he even felt like vomiting! I haven't seen Grandpa since I woke up. Other than seeing him come out of the car to pee, I haven't seen him since.
The car kicked up dust on the Gobi Desert, and the scenery behind it was basically unclear. This desert was very desolate. I asked my uncle,"Uncle, why would someone be buried in such a desolate place?”
Uncle looked at me." You don't understand. Many years ago, Xinjiang was the sea, and then it became a grassland. Then, the herders appeared. When the sheep finished eating the grass, the herdsmen would change places and graze the sheep again. This was the nomadic people. In the end, the grass wouldn't grow on its own after it was eaten. The ground slowly turned into sand and became what it was today. The dead herdsmen needed to be buried. It was best to bury them in the place where they used to live. If they had money, they could bury them together. If they didn't have money, they could wrap them in a felt and bury them! That's why we're looking for a tomb like this.”
I nodded thoughtfully and asked anxiously,"Uncle, how far are we?"
"You have to be there before ten in the morning, or you'll have to spend the night there," said his uncle. A long night would bring many dreams. They had to retreat before dark!”
"What's that?" I asked.”
"Why are you so stupid?" Think about it, unless it's a big grave, if we can't solve the small grave on the same day, wouldn't we be very unprofessional? They didn't deal with the grave that day and had to retreat a few kilometers away to sleep. Otherwise, who would be blind enough to see us tonight? If word gets out, we'll all be finished.”
I snorted." Could it be that no one discovered it during the day?”
His uncle raised his voice by an octave, as if he wanted to argue." He can see us, but we can't see them? Why don't I put you on a higher spot this time to keep watch?”
I was speechless and stuck out my tongue." I'm not going! I want to see what the ancient tombs look like!”
His uncle was amused." During the day. Even if we set off firecrackers in the Gobi Desert, no one would know. However, it was not necessarily the case at night. Many people were afraid of the heat during the day and traveled at night! Haha, kid, use your brain!”
I completely ignored him and blamed myself for being a layman. I lit a cigarette and started smoking slowly. Uncle seemed to be deliberately tormenting me." Why are you so blind? Can't you light one for me?”
I lit one for him in exasperation. He was like a victorious antelope with horns on his head. His neck was almost raised to the sky and he drove like a fried dough twist.
They had arrived at their destination. The car stopped in a depression. The surroundings were desolate, and some places were slightly desertified. I suddenly felt my heart beat faster. I pulled Second Uncle's arm and asked,"Where is this grave? Why is there nothing?"
Second Uncle said," You're so stupid. The tombs of the nomads are all wooden monuments. It's been hundreds of years. Do you think that piece of wood can live for so many years?”
I was unwilling to accept it and argued,"What about the grave?" He couldn't possibly bury the person and then fill the grave to the level of the earth's surface, right?”
"Over there!" said Second Uncle. Look at that mound! That one!"
I looked over and saw that there was indeed a medium-sized bump. There was even a cave-in. I helped my uncle carry the things while grandpa and uncle smoked by the grave. After a while, I realized that I didn't even qualify to be a laborer. I tactfully retreated to the side and looked at this group of busy people. Uncle had placed a geological measuring instrument not far away. I could tell that it was used to confuse people who might pass by and say something like," We are measuring the earth." All the shovels and other tools were taken out. Grandpa called out,"Put on your clothes!"
The few of us ran back to our respective cars to change into waterproof clothing. Wearing this felt very uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. Not only could we not breathe, but our entire bodies were drenched when we exercised. Little uncle poured a pot of water on his head, and second uncle drank half of the pot. I didn't know if I should pour the water on my head or drink it. I washed my face symbolically and followed them down.
On this day, other than a few large white clouds, there was also the scorching sun, roasting the earth and me who was suffering.
His uncle and second uncle began to sweat profusely. I thought they were going to dig up the entire grave, but I saw them digging a hole at an angle of 45 degrees from the outside of the grave. Sis Hua was wearing a waterproof suit, and her curves were so beautiful and moving. Everything was so harmonious and coordinated. Every time she moved, I felt like her breasts were about to jump out. I came back to my senses and suddenly felt ashamed of my own thoughts. I quickly went over and helped them carry the soil. There were too many rocks in the Gobi Desert. At the beginning, the speed was very slow. After more than an hour, they had only dug half a meter deep and the width was only about one person. During this time, Second Uncle began to pour water on his head, and Youngest Uncle began to drink water. This time, the two of them changed their actions completely. Uncle was different. He had not stopped for more than an hour.
At first, I carefully looked at the soil they dug out, afraid that a few gold coins were hidden in it and had been missed. However, to my disappointment, other than a dung beetle, the rest were all stones. I felt so aggrieved that I wanted to die. Grandpa, who was wearing a waterproof suit, kept walking around. He was also looking at the soil that had been dug out. He only took a glance at it every time. Time passed in these buckets of soil. At noon, we rested for an hour, ate something, and then continued digging.
The afternoon sun was even hotter. Every inch of their skin seemed to be burning, but no one stopped. I don't want to say how strong I am, but I must persist. At this moment, Grandpa took one last look at the soil and said,""It's going to be dug through! Be careful!"
When I was pouring the soil, I asked Sister Hua,"Aiya, why did Grandpa say that we have to dig through?"”
Sis Hua didn't even look at me and whispered,""Because there are no more stones in the soil, it means that we are about to dig them out. This was the rammed earth layer! Kid, take your time to learn!"
"Oh." Second Uncle and Youngest Uncle started to take turns digging. After digging for a while, they listened to the sounds around them. Finally, a dull thud came from the soil that the shovel had touched. Sis Hua straightened the lamp and aimed it at the soil. At this moment, Second Uncle stopped the shovel in his hand and touched the soil surface with his hand. He muttered to himself,"Iron?"
Grandpa took Second Uncle's place and touched that piece as well." Buried with him? Haha!"
Everyone was very excited, and their speed was also increasing. Slowly, the metal object was revealed. It was a black helmet. In the dry climate of Xinjiang, it was well preserved. The skull under the helmet was also pulled out. It was already a dried corpse. The first time I saw a human skull, I saw those shriveled eye sockets. If it was at night, I would probably have hundreds of nightmares. Judging from the hair on the skull, he was from a minority race. There was a hoop on his head. It was copper or maybe gold. At that time, I couldn't be sure.
Sis Hua fixed the lamp and went back to the car to take out a few pieces of oil paper. She wrapped the helmet and the hoop and put it aside.
The excavation was still going on. The space began to expand slowly, and the entire ancient corpse appeared. The armor on the corpse was made of leather, and it had reached the point where it would shatter at the slightest touch. It looked less than 1.7 meters tall, and it was wearing brown pants and leather shoes. Basically, other than the helmet, this ancient corpse had no value to his uncle and grandfather. There was also a strangely long knife in the tomb. Due to the passage of time, it had also been broken into several pieces. However, it could be seen that this was a waist knife. This person had carried the knife when he was buried. He had thought that the first grave robbery was over, but he did not expect Second Uncle and the others to still be digging.
I went to Grandpa and asked,"Isn't it gone?" Why are you still digging?"
Grandpa looked at the terrain and said,"This is just the beginning. Can't you see that only one has appeared? That was to accompany the dead down there. The good stuff was still behind!”
I was full of questions. I wanted to know how Grandpa was sure that this was buried with him and not all of them, but I couldn't ask any more questions.
Just as I was feeling puzzled, uncle called out,"Stop!"
Other than the sound of the wind, everything else seemed to be quiet. The uncle replaced the second uncle, put on the breathing mask, pulled on the waterproof suit, and went down. Sis Hua crouched down and aimed at the lamp. The uncle held a small military shovel in his hand and gently scraped against the earthen wall. There was some rotten wood where he scraped. The wood was black. It was probably roasted by fire to prevent it from being deformed. The wood was much easier to dig than the soil, but the uncle was not in a hurry. He picked up the shovel bit by bit, and the rotten wood that was dug out was sent out of the hole bit by bit. I watched his actions and didn't even dare to breathe loudly. At this moment, he pushed the shovel down and immediately stopped. He said softly to the outside,"It's dug through!"
His grandfather gestured for him to continue. He took out a large piece of rotten wood with a shovel, and a pitch-black space appeared inside. As more and more rotten wood was dug out, the entrance to the space became larger and larger. The air inside was very dry and there was no strange smell, but as soon as I leaned over, Grandpa asked me to put on a breathing mask. I was very reluctant to wear it. The rubber smell made me want to vomit. Moreover, when I wore it, the outside world felt like it was separated by a layer of glass. It was extremely blurry.
I wiped the lens with my hand and tried to see what the space inside was like. I saw a dim yellow light flash inside and Uncle crawled out with his back bent. At that moment, he gave people the feeling that he was a demon that had climbed up from hell. The sand that was kicked up made the whole world turbid. In the flickering headlights, I vaguely saw a coffin inside.
Uncle took off his breathing mask and wiped the sweat off his head. Only then did I realize that his hair looked as if he had just taken a shower and hadn't wiped it off. It was also mixed with sand. He walked up to his grandfather and said slowly,"This grave seems to have been robbed!"
Grandpa was shocked." Impossible! That's impossible!" Then he walked left and right, looked around, turned back to us, and threw the cigarette butt away." This is impossible! There were no more holes around, so how could it be stolen?”With that, he grabbed his uncle's breathing mask and went down.
I really wanted to follow, but the hole was too small. After a while, Grandpa climbed up with a rusty iron hook in his hand. He looked at us and said," What the hell? Which bastard robbed this grave a hundred years before me?!" How hateful!"
Shocked, I poked my uncle and asked,"How do you know it was a hundred years ago? How did he do it?"
"Do you see that collapsed place?" the uncle said softly.”
I looked at the place he was pointing at. It was the half-collapsed place." I saw it.”
"That's where he went in. It was no wonder that the old master was angry when he met his ancestors!”As he spoke, he began to take off his waterproof suit.
I'm anxious. I haven't gone down to take a look yet! Why did he have to go back? I ran to Grandpa." Grandpa! Can I…can I go down and take a look? Otherwise, I'll come here for nothing!"
Grandpa didn't seem to be in the mood to talk to me. He instructed,"Be careful! Go and see for yourself! Ask your uncle to help you order!"
After receiving the imperial edict, I ran to get the breathing mask and shouted at my uncle,"Uncle, Grandpa wants me to go down and take a look. Help me!”
Sis Hua walked over." Let's go! I'll accompany you!"
I was excited and anxious. I was naturally happy to be with a beautiful woman, but I was a rookie! A rookie is a rookie. If the corpse inside jumps up, should I run or be a hero saving the damsel in distress? This was very difficult! However, curiosity overcame my unfounded fear, and I excitedly went down. Sis Hua pulled me back and adjusted my equipment. She turned on the headlights for me." I'll be right behind you. The breathing mask can only last for half an hour. Don't touch anything. It's better for our ancestor's body to lie down!”
I nodded and crouched down. I quickly moved to the door of the rotten wood. Looking at the pitch-black hole, I began to hesitate again. Should I enter? What if it was full of black mud like what Second Uncle said? Sis Hua poked me from behind, telling me to hurry up and go in. I gritted my teeth and made up my mind. I stuck out a foot and slowly landed on the ground. The feeling under my feet was very dry and hard, which made me more daring. When I was completely inside, I realized that I could only squat. I looked at my feet. It turned out to be burnt rotten wood. I thought it was felt, but the crisp feeling was because I stepped on rotten wood.
I looked around and actually saw the bandit cave from many years ago. The dust falling from the bandit cave had already covered half of the tomb. I bent my waist and felt a little tired. I wanted to find a place to support myself. When I saw a place that could be supported, I supported it. Eh? It was actually a coffin. His imagination began to run wild. The emperor's tomb on television was full of jewels and treasures. My breathing suddenly became rapid. I stretched my head out and looked. The coffin was open, and there was a dried corpse facing me. Its eyes were half-open, and its hair was draped over its head. It was stuck tightly to the skull, and its teeth were very black. Its entire clothes had been unbuttoned from the middle. Perhaps it was because of the age, but the clothes were very tattered... The impact suddenly entered my mind. I turned around and wanted to go out, but Sister Hua was behind me. She couldn't move away. I vomited! He vomited until the entire mask was filled with filth.
I couldn't wait to take off my mask. Sister Hua held me down and quickly turned around to drag me out of the graveyard. I lay on the ground. When I took off my mask, I vomited again. Sis Hua stood at the side and looked at me. Suddenly, she kicked me on the ground and said angrily,"Didn't your uncles teach you not to remove your mask in the grave? You don't even know what's in the air below. No one can save you if you inhale dirty things. Is that all you have?”After saying that, he turned around and left.
I continued to squat there and vomit. The filth quickly dried on my face. Second Uncle got out of the car and walked over. He took the kettle and said with a smile,"Haha! I just made a bet with your uncle to see if you would be scared out of your wits. I didn't expect you to be so successful. Look at how he vomited, wahahaha! Come, come, quickly wash up!" As he spoke, he poured me a glass of water. I started to wash up. When I was almost done, I took the kettle and drank a few mouthfuls in one go. Then, I squatted on the ground and began to pant.
Second Uncle stroked my back and said,"Did you see it clearly from below? Was it a man or a woman?"
I looked at him, and that disgust surged up again. I turned around and started vomiting again. Second Uncle was so happy that he almost fell to the ground. Uncle also got out of the car and handed me a kettle. He said to Uncle,"Alright, alright. He still has to inherit our family's craftsmanship in the future. Look at how scared he is!”After saying that, he lit a cigarette and handed it to me.
I took the cigarette and took a deep puff. I didn't expect to smoke so hard that my tears and snot came down and mixed together. Second Uncle and Little Uncle comforted me while laughing wildly. Grandpa did not reply. After a while, he walked over." Clean up and look for the next grave!”After saying that, she ignored me and walked back to the Santana alone.
Uncle, Second Uncle, and Little Uncle went to work. I hid in the broken van alone, took off my waterproof suit, and changed my clothes. I sat in the front passenger seat and hugged my legs to organize my thoughts. When I thought of the corpse, I felt nauseous again. However, at that moment, I suddenly felt a little strange. There was something strange about that grave, but I couldn't tell what it was. I didn't dare to think about it, but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I replayed the entire process in my mind. That burial, that pile of rotten wood, that coffin, that dried corpse. When I saw that dried corpse, his face was facing me…No, no, we didn't see it all. We only saw the surface…Yes, yes, there was something under that corpse. What was it? What else could it be other than being buried with him?
I was in high spirits, happier than discovering a new continent. So I rushed out of the car and shouted,"Don't go, everyone! There's something down there!"
Seeing everyone stop and look at me, I said,"When I went down to take a look, the face was very close to me, and the coffin reached my stomach. This…how could this ancient corpse be placed so high? It means…it means that there's a layer below, a layer…"
Grandpa opened his car door and shouted at us,"What are you shouting for? Hurry up and help clean up!"
I rushed over." Grandpa! Grandpa! There was a layer under the coffin! I…"
Grandpa looked at me again." Who told you this?”
I said,"No one told me! When I went down, the coffin reached my stomach, and the ancient corpse reached my butt. It was so high that I thought it shouldn't be solid below! So there must be a layer below!"
Grandpa laughed." You're quite smart!”
I was anxious. Come down quickly! I…I'll go down again and get you a few things. You'll believe me!”I regretted it the moment I said it. If I really had to go down, I would really be a little worried. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to take it in there. I probably would have to spit out my bitter gall.
Grandpa laughed." Silly boy! Get in the car!"
I got into the car hesitantly. Grandpa said," Actually, we found it when we went down. It's just that the things below were taken away and replaced with big stones. This ancient person was probably worried about ghosts and used some stones to trick the dead.”
I was enlightened. I didn't expect these old fellows to be so smart. "Then…then why don't we dig up the corpse and sell it?" It should be able to sell for a lot of money!"
Grandpa laughed out loud." My silly grandson, if it was that easy, I would have retired long ago! There was no profit to be made from corpses. Who would put a corpse in their house to ward off evil spirits? If the Russians bought it, they wouldn't even be able to leave China. Even if they wanted to study it, they should study their own country. Leave these corpses to the experts!”
I suddenly realized and looked outside. Uncle and the others were filling up the hole. I asked again,"Grandpa, how much can that helmet sell for?”
Grandpa said," If you sell it to someone who specializes in collecting antiques, it'll be less than 100,000 yuan. If you sell it to a collector, it'll be 150,000 to 200,000 yuan. If you sell it to a nouveau riche or an old Russian, it'll be about 300,000 yuan." Min 'er, you did well today. The most important thing in this line of work is to be careful!"
I lowered my head." I vomited today.”
Grandpa laughed again." That's normal. Your second uncle peed his pants back then! Haha!"
I cursed Second Uncle countless times in my heart. Hmph, you're just teasing me. "Grandpa, why didn't you take the broken knife?" You can sell it for money if you fix it."
Grandpa said," It's best not to let others take everything. Also, that knife is not worth much. Those who know the industry will see that it's a piece of trash. If they haggle over the price, they will only give it away for free. Instead of provoking others, it's better to let it continue lying on the ground." It was very troublesome to repair this old thing, and it was easy to leave evidence behind! It's fine if it's a little broken. Look at how many pieces the knife has broken. Even if it's repaired, it won't be enough for me to repair it if I sell it for a few thousand yuan!”
I was enlightened once again. So there were so many paths in this! Grandpa seemed very happy to tell me this today. I asked again,"Grandpa! I heard from my uncle that they once went down and encountered a grave with hidden weapons, right?”
"Yes, there are, but there are very few in Xinjiang!" How could these sheep herders have such thoughts? That time…I won't mention it anymore!"
"Grandpa, how did you find this grave? The grave didn't tell you."”
Grandpa said,"Pay attention to your surroundings. Also, think about it, this isn't the Gobi Desert. This is a grassland. There are people living here. See if this place is suitable for people to live in. People won't live in the upwind, right?”
I nodded. Grandpa continued," Remember, the graves of ethnic minorities are rectangular. They are two meters long, one meter wide, and nearly two meters deep. On the side of the pit, a cave was to be dug, and the corpse would be placed in this cave. The victim's head was facing west, his feet were facing east, and his face was facing up. After placing the corpse, they had to block the entrance of the cave with soil before burying it. Most of the tombs were rectangular, some were round, and some were shaped like palaces. There was a crescent moon at the top, and rectangular tomb walls were built around the graveyard. The walls were made of earth blocks to form patterns, which were called 'maza'.”
"One day, the grassland was eaten up by the sheep, and the old ones passed away. They were basically buried on the spot. More than a hundred years ago, it was popular to sprinkle lime on graves. Because the white color looked good and could kill bacteria, it was easy to dry up the corpses after they were preserved for a long time. Your second uncle and the others had a strong lime smell in the car because they wanted to get used to this smell. Once they got the goods, they could tell what year they were from just by the smell.”
As he spoke, he took out something wrapped in oil paper from the side. After opening it, I took a closer look. It was a very strange lamp. It was only the size of a palm. On it was a little girl holding a lamp.
Grandpa said,"Sniff it, what can you smell?"”
I brought the lamp close to my nose and smelled it. Sure enough, there was a faint smell of lime powder that entered my nose. "Yes," I said. Grandpa, there is. It's very faint and has the smell of copper!”
"Yes, I am. This could not be faked. The fake lime smell was the main one, and the copper smell was secondary. The real thing, the lime smell and the copper smell were the same, and there was also a little Saturn smell!”
"But Grandpa, I still don't know how to look at graves!”
"Yes, I am. It was a feeling. You could guess that someone lived here hundreds of years ago. As long as you could think of the reason why he lived here, you would be able to find his grave! Another point was positioning. A hundred-year-old lump of dirt would definitely not have a tombstone, only a lump of dirt. Rich people's mounds were all big, and their graves didn't match the surrounding environment. For example, the tomb today. Look at the surrounding flat land, but there was an additional mound.”
I looked around through the window. Sure enough, there was only such a lonely hill. I seemed to understand something. At this moment, Grandpa said," This was a good place a hundred years ago. There was a lot of grass and the place was flat. Look at the cove over there. They lived there. It was leeward and you could see the sheep wherever they ran. For this family to be buried with the soldiers, it seemed that their status back then was not bad! Unfortunately, he left quickly! He probably left before he finished eating the grass."
I was shocked. You can even tell?"
"Look!" Grandpa said proudly. There was still a water bubble at the mouth of the valley. If the grass had been eaten clean back then, this place would not have been able to retain water. It would have become a Gobi desert long ago. However, the water bubble was getting smaller and smaller, and it was almost at the end!”
"Grandpa, why do you say that?"”
Grandpa said," They bury people in a similar way to us. They pay attention to the direction. It's just that they sit west facing east while we sit east facing west. They also paid attention to the mountains and rivers. They dug the place closest to the water to make a grave. It was very dry, so the people were preserved more intact.”
"Oh! Grandpa! Grandpa! And…"
Grandpa smiled and closed his eyes to rest."Grandson! You still have a lot to know. Grandpa is a little tired today! Sleep for a while. Go help your uncle and the others with their work. We still have to hurry on later!”
I tactfully got out of the car.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。