Chapter 1: Into the Tomb

Zheng Xiaoming, a 25-year-old university student majoring in archaeology, works at a county museum in Hebei Province. He is an only child, his father is the vice president of the county people's hospital, and his mother has just retired and was the head nurse of his father's hospital. Because of the good family conditions and the only child, although he is smart, he has developed a character of being a child, and he never cares about the consequences of what he does, and he can do whatever he wants.

His father was a well-mannered and cultured man, but he did not inherit this, but he was born with a penchant for strange adventures, and whenever he heard something strange or strange somewhere, he would always go and see for himself, and he had to find out what was in it. Because he likes to explore, when he applied for the college entrance examination, his father asked him to apply for the medical major, he agreed, but secretly applied for the archaeology major, and his father was angry that he didn't eat for three days.

As soon as he arrived at the office that morning, he was assigned to complete an archaeological task. At that time, when he heard that he was going to go out for archaeology, he was so happy that he quickly packed up his things and set off with the archaeological team.

It turned out that an ancient tomb was found in Xiaoli Village, thirty miles away from the county seat. At that time, an excavation team was digging there for construction, and a trencher driver dug up a large stone tablet with a blurred font engraved on it. He slowly moved the stele to the side, and a hole half a meter square appeared under the stele, the hole was undamaged, and there were several stones supporting it.

The driver hurriedly told the foreman, the foreman came to the entrance of the cave to look, found a fist-sized stone and threw it in, after a while, only to hear a "click" inside, and quickly said to the excavator: "The hole has depth, don't be in any danger, we will no longer work here." He came to the stele and looked at it, saw the blurred font on it, and quickly called the county museum: "I am an excavator construction team, and I found an ancient tomb in Xiaoli Village, you can send someone to take a look!" By the way, if it's of archaeological value, don't forget to give me a reward. ”

Xiao Liu, who received a call from the museum, quickly told Teng Yicai, the director of the museum, about the matter. Director Teng is in his fifties, slightly fat, medium in height, and walks very stylishly, because his head is a little big, and he is nicknamed "Bighead". He organized a meeting of relevant personnel and decided to send Deputy Curator Lao Liu to take a few people to Xiaoli Village to see what was going on.

Director Liu is an archaeological expert who is almost fifty years old, and his personality is very easy-going, so he casually named the names of three people, including Zheng Xiaoming, who came to the place where the ancient tomb was discovered.

Zheng Xiaoming was called to come to Xiaoli Village together. He was very happy in his heart, he liked to explore such things as drilling tombs.

The cemetery is not very far from the county seat, half an hour's drive away.

Zheng Xiaoming pushed the car door, quickly jumped out of the car, and looked around. I saw that this was a depression at the head of the village, and there were many large willow trees around the depression, and there were half-human-high weeds growing under the willows. The environment in this place is really a bit uncomfortable, why does it feel a little weird! He muttered to himself.

Curator Liu saw a circle of people on the east side of the depression, pointed his finger, waved his hand and said, "Go over and have a look!" The tomb should be there! ”

Several people came to the crowd, and the foreman came out of the crowd and said with a sad face: "You are the leader of the county museum!" ”

Curator Liu took a quick step forward, nodded and said, "You called?" ”

The foreman said, "It was me who called, and I worked to dig a hole that looked like an ancient tomb, and we will call you quickly." By the way, if the tomb has archaeological value, will it reward us with some money? I called. ”

Curator Liu smiled slightly and said, "You businessmen know money!" Of course, we will report what you find to the higher authorities, and if it meets the reward rules, we will reward you with a certain amount! ”

Just as they were talking, Zheng Xiaoming hurriedly pushed aside everyone and came to the front of the cave.

A few meters away from the entrance of the cave, he smelled a fishy odor that made people feel like vomiting. He couldn't help frowning, covered his nose with his hand, and then raised his eyes to look at the entrance of the cave, only to see that it was dark inside, and he didn't know how deep, and at the same time, he could faintly hear a burst of "snoring" sound coming from inside. Zheng Xiaoming suddenly had goosebumps all over his body, and a very uneasy feeling unconsciously rose in his heart, and he felt a faint cool air, winding around his body, making him can't help but take a small step back.

At this time, a few villagers who were watching the excitement said: "Maybe there are ghosts inside, don't get close, get close, let the ghosts drag in!" ”

Zheng Xiaoming listened, his heart was also chuckled, he calmed down a little, he said secretly, I like to explore, I should be excited to see these strange things, if there is really a ghost, I will catch one and take a look. However, he looked closely at the black hole, and still had an ominous feeling.

Curator Liu waved his hand at Zheng Xiaoming, called him to him, and said, "Look at what this stone tablet is famous for!" Zheng Xiaoming came to the one-meter-high and half-meter-wide stone tablet, looked carefully for a while, and didn't see what was engraved on it. He asked the villagers who were watching the excitement to help get some water, washed the stele clean, and touched the words on it with his hand. The characters on it are very corroded, and it is impossible to identify any words, but judging from the individual strokes, it should be a kind of official script. He knew that this kind of Lishu strokes only existed after the Han Dynasty, that is, if judged by the strokes on the stone tablet, this is a cemetery in the Han Dynasty or after the Han Dynasty.

Curator Liu hired a few villagers to clean up the entrance to the cave. Several villagers took shovels and carts to clean the entrance of the cave for a long time before slowly cleaning up some muddy water, and then found a few stones to pad at the entrance of the cave.

Director Liu got in touch with the museum in time and proposed to excavate the discovered ancient tombs to further explore whether they have archaeological value. The museum agreed to his proposal and promptly sent a tent and some tools for inspecting the tomb.

Zheng Xiaoming looked at the black hole, and suddenly had a thought in his heart that he wanted to go down and take a look. What's in there? Is there a tomb owner? Why does it smell so fishy? He kept thinking about these strange questions. He moved his steps, came to the front of Director Liu, and said, "Director Liu, let's go down and have a look, we are archaeologists, how can we archaeology standing on it?" ”

Curator Liu knew that Zheng Xiaoming liked to explore the tomb, but he shook his head and said, "You can't go down now." After saying that, he came to the entrance of the cave, picked up a flashlight and shone it inside, pondered for a while, turned to the big guy and said loudly: "I'll go back now, report the things here in detail, and then decide on the next step." No one can go inside without my permission, and no one can afford to pay for it in case of any danger. After saying this, he deliberately glanced at Zheng Xiaoming.

Zheng Xiaoming is so smart, he knew that Curator Liu was saying it to himself, and he was a little reluctant in his heart, and scolded himself secretly, this old thing, did you say this because you didn't like it. He thought so in his heart, but he couldn't show it, so he couldn't help but nod his head and said casually: "It won't go down, don't worry, my leader." With that, he sat down on a raised mound of dirt next to him.

Looking at the shadow of Director Liu's car in the distance, Zheng Xiaoming turned his head and looked at the black hole blankly. This is the burial ground of the ancient common people? Or what is the burial place of an emperor? Will there be any treasures hidden? He continued to ponder these strange questions. He really wanted to go in and find out now, but the words that Director Liu didn't let him go down always rang in his ears.

He thought that since he liked archaeological work, he should have the spirit of daring to explore and dare to fight dangers, and he couldn't wait here stupidly, waiting like this for a year, and he didn't know what was inside.

Zheng Xiaoming slowly stood up and looked around, only to see a few colleagues who came with him, some of them were lying down in the tent to rest, and some were walking in the distance, they all looked very bored.

Zheng Xiaoming came to the tent, pushed his lying colleague, and said, "Lao He, let's go down inside and take a look, see what good things are inside, anyway, Director Liu has already gone back." ”

The person known as Lao He, called He Lizhu, was close to forty years old, slightly fat, slowly opened his eyes, coughed, shook his head and said, "You kid, the interest in exploring the tomb is here again?" Have you forgotten what Director Liu said when he left? ”

Zheng Xiaoming smiled and said, "Anyway, when he goes back, he can't see it." It's not interesting for you to sleep here, you might as well go down and take a look, we'll come up in a while, no one knows. ”

Lao He listened to Zheng Xiaoming's words, thought for a while, shook his head, and said: "Let's not go down, what if something really happens?" ”

Zheng Xiaoming looked at Lao He with contempt, if you are hearty, you Lao He, your courage is too small, you are still a member of the archaeological team, I think you are a timid and afraid little mouse. I'll use the method of agitation to let you go to the grave with me. Thinking of this, he pretended to look down on Lao He, and said loudly: "I don't think you're afraid of the leader, you're afraid of that black hole, so you don't dare to go down." ”

When Lao He heard this, he seemed to be enraged, jumped off the bed, stood in front of Zheng Xiaoming in an instant, put his hands on his waist, raised his head, and said: "Xiao Zheng, you still dare to underestimate me, don't you just go into the hole, let's go in, see who is cowardly!" How dare I say I'm cowardly! ”

Zheng Xiaoming didn't expect Lao He to be so easily provoked, so he quickly smiled and said, "Why are you really angry, I just feel that we have nothing to do, and I am so idle that I want to go in and have a look." You said you are bold and have the ability, let's go in and have a look now! ”

Lao He said: "Go in, go in!" Don't let your kid look down on me! ”

When Zheng Xiaoming heard that Lao He had agreed, he was secretly happy in his heart, and said softly: "You prepare, I'll go and ask Lao Zhan who is walking over there if he dares to go down to the cave." ”

After speaking, he ran to the person called Lao Zhan, smiled, and said, "Lao Zhan, let's go to the cave to play, do you dare?" ”

Lao Zhan's name is Zhan Kuo, he is not tall, in his forties, because he is thin and flexible, people call him "Zhan Monkey". He heard Zheng Xiaoming let him go to the cave, his face was serious, and he said softly: "Xiao Zheng, you still dare to hit the muzzle of the gun, what Director Liu said just now is?" Didn't you hear me? ”

Zheng Xiaoming didn't want to go down when he heard Lao Zhan, if he wanted to go in, I had to find a way to let Lao Zhan go in, otherwise what would he do if he made a small report, thinking of this, he hurriedly said: "Let's go in and have a look, and then come out, when I return to the county, I will invite you to eat at the restaurant, how about it?" ”

Lao Zhan has a problem, that is, he is gluttonous, as soon as he heard that Zheng Xiaoming invited him to dinner, plus Zheng Xiaoming said to go in and take a look, there would be nothing wrong anyway, so he casually agreed.

The three of them prepared their flashlights, then changed into tall rain boots and came to the entrance of the cave.

Zheng Xiaoming was very excited, and was the first to drill into the hole, and then Lao Zhan and Lao He also followed through the hole.

As soon as he entered the hole, Zheng Xiaoming felt a cold wind, as if blowing from inside, making him feel a strange feeling in his heart. He couldn't help but shudder, and said to himself, Damn, how can I have such an uncomfortable feeling today, master, I am a member of the archaeological team, and I am a complete materialist. So he moved his feet lightly and walked inside.

Suddenly, with a gust of wind, mixed with a pungent fishy stench, it made him feel a little like vomiting. This is not a seaside, how can there be such a strong fishy smell? He swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva, forced the feeling of wanting to vomit, coughed a few times and said, "Let's go inside and see where this fishy smell comes from?" ”

Zhan Monkey hurriedly covered his nose with one hand and said, "This smell is so unpleasant, it seems to be the disgusting smell of a dead person being burned." ”

Lao He coughed twice and said, "Nonsense, this is a cemetery, of course it has something to do with the dead, can you use your brain to talk a little bit?" ”

Zheng Xiaoming saw the two fighting and said, "Don't make noise, let's go inside now!" He paused, turned on his flashlight, and shone inside. Looking around through the light, I saw a half-human-high tomb road, which stretched all the way forward. The tomb passage is not very wide, and can only accommodate one person walking forward, and the top is in a circular arc. He touched it with his hand and found some small stones embedded in the outside of the tomb, and the small stones had a faint layer of green moss on them.

The three of them walked forward for more than ten steps, and a hole turned to the left. Zheng Xiaoming's words, this tomb is very exquisite, and it is still roundabout, but I will take a look, and I can see what I can see when I turn inside.

The fishy smell seemed to be stronger than just now at the moment, Zheng Xiaoming couldn't help it, and still spit it out. He wiped the corners of his mouth and scolded: "Damn, what is it, the smell is so bad!" After speaking, he waved his hand to Zhan Kuo and Lao He behind him, and made a move to continue advancing.