novelraw Chapter 220
Chapter 220
Shen Nanchu walked at the very front, carrying a faded canvas bag on her back, while Pei Yunzhou and Zheng Tongwei trailed behind.
The three of them trudged through ankle-deep withered grass, heading toward the mountain col known as Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl.
"Sister-in-law, why haven't we reached this Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl yet? We've been walking for almost two hours, and my feet are about to fall off."
Pei Yunzhou rubbed his calf, panting heavily.
He thought he could hold out, but the mountain path was much harder to navigate than he had imagined. The soles of his shoes were caked with thick mud, making them feel as heavy as lead.
Shen Nanchu didn't look back. She merely pointed ahead. "Almost there. It's just over the ridge ahead."
She didn't break her stride, walking as leisurely as if she were strolling through a courtyard, showing none of Pei Yunzhou's disheveled exhaustion.
Zheng Tongwei caught up a couple of steps and patted Pei Yunzhou's shoulder with a laugh. "Yunzhou, your stamina just isn't cutting it. If you really want to study archaeology in the future and run around in the mountains every day, won't your feet bleed from all the blisters?"
Pei Yunzhou stiffened his neck and retorted, "This is my first time walking this far! Once I get used to it, I'll definitely walk faster than you!"
Despite his brave words, he still slowed his pace and stealthily rubbed his aching knees.
After walking for another half hour or so, the three finally crossed the ridge, and the view suddenly opened up before them.
It was a flat col of about a few acres, surrounded by two small hillocks. It looked just like two crouching dragons encircling a pearl—the exact terrain of Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl.
However, the col was overgrown with waist-high weeds. When the wind blew, the grass rustled, and it was hard to spot even a single flat stone.
Pei Yunzhou stood at the edge of the col, standing on his tiptoes to peer inside, and didn't say a word for a long time.
He had previously thought that a tomb would have a burial mound or a stone stele, but the scene before him looked no different from an ordinary wasteland.
"Sister-in-law, is... is this Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl? Are you sure we're in the right place? This doesn't look like a tomb at all."
Zheng Tongwei also leaned in, frowning as he sized up the area. "Yeah, Nanchu, there isn't even a dirt mound here, and the weeds are taller than us. Is there really an ancient tomb? We only brought hoes and machetes, not even a Luoyang shovel. How are we supposed to find it?"
He muttered in his heart, wondering if Shen Nanchu was just going by instinct since she hadn't brought any professional tools.
Shen Nanchu ignored their doubts. She walked to the middle of the col, found a shady spot under a crooked tree, sat down, and pulled a water bottle from her canvas bag. Unscrewing the cap, she took a slow, leisurely sip.
She looked up and scanned the surroundings. Her gaze paused for a few seconds on a patch where the weeds were sparse, and then she looked down at the soil beneath her feet. The reddish-brown dirt had a slightly moist stickiness to it. It was typical five-color soil—earth that had usually been artificially turned over, making it the most likely place to conceal a tomb.
Pei Yunzhou and Zheng Tongwei stood on either side of her. Following her line of sight, they saw nothing but weeds and dirt; they couldn't make out anything special.
Zheng Tongwei couldn't help but ask, "Yunzhou, what is your sister-in-law looking at? Did you figure out the trick to it?"
Pei Yunzhou squinted, pretending to observe seriously for a long moment, then suddenly slapped his thigh. "High! It's really high!"
Zheng Tongwei's eyes lit up. "Oh? What did you see? Tell me quickly!"
Pei Yunzhou pointed to the tree next to them and said with a straight face, "Brother Zheng, don't you think this tree is tall? It's even taller than the old pagoda tree in our village!"
Zheng Tongwei: "..."
So after all that time, the only thing this kid noticed was the height of the tree?
Shen Nanchu burst into laughter. She put down her water bottle and stood up. "Stop joking around. Let's start digging."
"Dig? Dig where?" Pei Yunzhou hurried over, his eyes full of anticipation.
"Wherever the grass and trees are the sparsest and shortest, that is where we dig."
Shen Nanchu pointed to an area right beneath their feet.
"The grass here is half as tall as everywhere else, and the leaves are yellowing. It is clearly malnourished. If there is a tomb down below, the soil's breathability will be poor. The plant roots wouldn't be able to grow deep, so naturally, they won't grow well."
Pei Yunzhou and Zheng Tongwei looked down. It was true! The grass beneath their feet only reached their knees, and the leaves were droopy, unlike the surrounding grass that was nearly waist-high.
The two exchanged a glance and quickly grabbed their tools to get to work. Zheng Tongwei swung his hoe, while Pei Yunzhou used a machete to hack through the tangled roots. Dirt soon piled up into small mounds.
Shen Nanchu, meanwhile, pulled over a rock and sat off to the side. With her arms crossed, she watched them, occasionally calling out instructions.
"Slow down, do not use so much force! If you hit a stone slab, do not break it!"
"Dig wider on the left, expand the area!"
The sun gradually rose to its peak. The spring chill faded away, and the heat beat down, making their bodies run hot.
Pei Yunzhou's forehead was covered in beads of sweat that dripped down his cheeks and splashed into the dirt, instantly vanishing without a trace. His cloth shoes were caked in mud, making every step a struggle, and his arms were so sore he could barely lift them. But seeing Shen Nanchu sitting motionless nearby, he was too embarrassed to complain about being tired. He could only grit his teeth and keep digging.
Zheng Tongwei was also panting heavily. He stopped to wipe his sweat. "Nanchu, my girl, can we take a break? We have been digging for almost two hours, and I can barely straighten my back."
Shen Nanchu glanced up at the sun, then looked down at the excavated dirt. "Dig for another half hour. Once it is twenty centimeters deep and covers about a fraction of an acre, we will rest."
Pei Yunzhou groaned inwardly, but he had no choice but to keep going.
After digging for another half hour, the two finally cleared out a shallow pit roughly half an acre in size. The color of the soil had also changed from a yellowish-brown at the surface to a reddish-brown underneath.
Shen Nanchu walked over, crouched down, grabbed a handful of dirt, and rubbed it between her fingers.
"Alright, that is enough for today. If we keep digging, we will not make it back before dark."
"Huh? We are going back already?" Pei Yunzhou froze, not even lowering his hoe. "We have not even seen the tomb yet! We dug for half the day just to make a pit?"
"What is the rush?"
Shen Nanchu rolled her eyes at him.
"Archaeology is not like digging for sweet potatoes where you see results with a single swing of a hoe. We cleared the topsoil today so we can dig deeper tomorrow. Otherwise, when we come back tomorrow, we would just have to clear the weeds all over again. It would be a waste of effort."
She sprinkled the dirt back into the pit.
"Pack up the tools and let's go. If we stay too late, the fog will roll in over the mountains."
Pei Yunzhou was reluctant, but he knew Shen Nanchu was right, so he obediently helped pack up the tools.
On the way back, he walked at a snail's pace, his mind completely consumed by thoughts of what the tomb might look like. One moment he imagined it filled with gold, silver, and jewels; the next, he pictured ancient weaponry. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, completely forgetting about his aching feet.
Early the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Pei Yunzhou was already waiting in the courtyard with a newly borrowed shovel slung over his shoulder.
Shen Nanchu and Zheng Tongwei had also gotten ready early, and the three of them set off toward the mountains, treading through the morning dew.
With the experience from the day before, they made much better time, reaching the mountain hollow in less than an hour.
Having been soaked by the dew overnight, the shallow pit they had dug yesterday had collected a little water. The reddish-brown soil had become damp and was sticky and muddy to step on.
Shen Nanchu walked over to the edge of the pit, casually picked up a wooden stick, and drew a half-meter square in one of the corners.
"Just dig here today. You don't need to make it too wide, just keep digging straight down."
She had figured it out a while ago: this was a small tomb. The burial pit wasn't very large, making it the perfect practice ground for Pei Yunzhou.
Pei Yunzhou tightened his grip on the shovel, hopped into the pit, and got to work.
The shovel was far more efficient than a hoe. With a single thrust, he could scoop up a massive chunk of earth. The more he dug, the more energized he felt, even humming a catchy little village tune as he worked.
"I'm digging, I'm digging, in the great big meadow, I'm digging and digging away..."
Zheng Tongwei jumped into the pit as well, using his hoe to break up the large clods of dirt. The two of them actually worked together in perfect harmony.
Meanwhile, Shen Nanchu sat on a rock by the edge of the pit, resting her chin in her hands as she watched them.
This time, she didn't even need to offer any reminders.
Having already gone through the process yesterday, the two men knew exactly what they were doing today.