The white lion's claws had already dug into the skin of the masked man's shoulder, but the physical pain was far less intense than the fear in his heart.
The masked man closed his eyes in despair, awaiting death. A good ten seconds passed, but the expected pain didn't come. He slowly opened his eyes, only to see a pair of gleaming green eyes still fixed on him, while his shoulders were firmly pressed to the ground by the large dog's paws. His usually boasted strength was completely useless.
If it were Zhuang Rui, he certainly wouldn't dare to look into that yin-yang face so closely. However, in the eyes of the white lion, there was no such thing as beauty or ugliness. It was just waiting for Zhuang Rui's order to tear this man's throat apart. Its beastly nature made the white lion's blood boil, and the gas it was breathing gradually became rougher.
"Spare me, spare me, help me, help me..."
Zhuang Rui prevented the white lion from biting down, but he also didn't let it let go. After about three minutes, the masked man finally couldn't hold on any longer. The white lion's eyes, which looked like they were staring at a dead man, completely broke down his mental defenses. His arrogant demeanor from before had disappeared, and he started yelling for help at the top of his lungs.
"Grandson, who do you think you are, your grandfather? Why aren't you being arrogant anymore?"
Zhuang Rui was really annoyed by this man's cursing, but now he was in a great mood. He also had a bit of a wicked sense of humor and hadn't had enough of the grimace-faced man's cries for help. So he wouldn't let Bai Shi get up, took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and started smoking it with relish.
"You're the grandfather and I'm the grandson, okay? You should make this big guy let me go first."
The man with the grimacing face was almost crying when he spoke. He was brave but not stupid; he cared a lot about his life.
This man's name is Yu Sansheng. He is from Luoyang, Henan Province. He is the third child in his generation. His name was given to him by his grandfather, and it was taken from the story of Zengzi's "examining oneself three times a day." The original intention was to encourage him to reflect on his actions when he grew up.
However, Yu Sansheng was never one to be trifled with from a young age. Coupled with his tall and burly stature, most people gave him a wide berth, which fostered his arrogant personality. His level of education was limited to being able to write his own name; as for what it meant, you'd have to ask his dead grandfather.
Yu Sansheng's face was originally the same as that of an ordinary person, but an accident disfigured him.
More than a decade ago, he went with Boss Yu to plunder a royal tomb in Hubei. Normally, given his size, it would be difficult for him to squeeze into the tomb, so he would usually keep watch outside. However, the tomb that Lao Ba dug that time was relatively large, and given his size, he was able to go down into it.
Normally, when tomb raiders break into a tomb, one person goes in to retrieve the items while another person stays outside to catch them. However, since Boss Yu has many men, usually two people go in while three to five people keep watch outside.
Yu Sansheng had also followed Yu Laoda to plunder more than ten ancient tombs, but he had never gone down into one himself. He was often ridiculed by Lao Ba, and feeling resentful, he finally went down with Lao Ba that time.
It was a tomb where an emperor and empress were buried together. However, once inside, they discovered a tomb robber's hole, meaning that at least one group of tomb robbers had visited the site over the past thousand years. The tomb had been almost completely emptied. One of the two coffins was empty, with the body dragged out and bones scattered all over the ground. The lid of the other coffin had also been opened halfway.
Most ancient tombs that have survived to this day have been looted, so the two weren't too disappointed. They prepared to open the coffin lid and take a look, and if there was nothing there, they would leave quickly.
Yu Sansheng was strong, and it was his first time going down into a tomb. In order to show off his strength and courage, he went up and lifted the coffin lid without Lao Ba's help. Everyone was stunned.
Inside the large coffin were two corpses. The clothes on both corpses had rotted away. The flesh of one corpse had completely decayed, revealing slightly grayish bones. However, the other female corpse was completely blackened, emaciated, and her muscles had not rotted. Her eyes were gone, staring at the two people outside the coffin with a pair of dark eye sockets.
What intrigued the two even more was that several objects were visible between the two corpses. When a strong flashlight was used to illuminate them, jade pendants and gold hairpins were visible, suggesting that there were quite a few interesting items.
"Hey big oaf, aren't you supposed to be brave? How come you're dumbfounded when you see a dried corpse? I'll go up there and learn from the boss what you do, hahaha..."
Lao Ba was short and naturally somewhat insecure. Although he and the tall Yu Sansheng were cousins, the two had never gotten along. Seeing Yu Sansheng's appearance, he couldn't help but make a mocking remark.
"Move aside, I'll take the body out, you go get the things."
Yu Laosan, feeling embarrassed by Lao Ba's words, climbed up.
In ancient times, the coffin and outer coffin were integrated, meaning that there was an outer coffin outside the main coffin, which was actually a larger coffin.
After climbing onto the coffin, Yu Laosan bent down to lift the female corpse out. He had heard many stories about corpses in tomb raiding, so he wasn't too scared. However, he didn't expect that the wooden coffin, after thousands of years of erosion, was already too weak to withstand the weight.
With a "crackling" sound, the coffin beneath Yu Laosan's feet suddenly shattered. This shattering caused Yu Laosan, who was bent over, to fall headfirst into the coffin.
Yu Laosan instinctively reached out his right hand to support himself inside the coffin, but unexpectedly, he pressed it against the female corpse's abdomen. To his horror, as the female corpse's abdomen bulged, a stream of black viscous liquid spurted out of the corpse's mouth. Because the distance was too close, Yu Laosan only had time to close his eyes and turn his face to the side before the other half of his face and neck were sprayed directly into him.
"It's a zombie!"
The burning pain made Yu Laosan scream, which frightened Lao Ba so much that he dared not continue to retrieve the items. He quickly pulled Yu Laosan up from the tunnel and rushed him to the hospital that night.
Upon examination, the black liquid on Yu Laosan's face was found to be a toxic liquid. Although it was not life-threatening, the black color had seeped into his skin and could not be removed.
Later, Yu Laoda and Lao Ba went down into the tomb themselves. After careful observation, they concluded that the female corpse must have been given a deadly poison before burial to prevent it from decaying. The corpse next to her was most likely left by tomb robbers, probably because they were contaminated by the deadly poison in the corpse's stomach when they moved it.
The reason why Yu Laosan did not die after being sprayed with the toxin may be because of the long time that had passed and the amount of toxin was not very large, which caused only a burn to the skin and was not fatal.
The once perfectly fine young man became like a ghost. He couldn't even find a wife. He would go to the hair salon to relieve his pent-up desires, but the ladies would always make excuses. From then on, Yu Sansheng's personality became increasingly irritable and eccentric.
However, facing a ferocious beast the size of a calf and the danger of death, the cowardice in the face-wearing man's heart was revealed.
Yingning and the little girl, who had just seen the masked man jump over the railing and had already run dozens of meters away in fright, were now stunned. They hadn't seen the whole process of the white lion tackling the masked man; they had only looked back while running away, worried about Zhuang Rui, and found that the arrogant guy was already lying on the ground, shouting for help.
This is exactly like using brine to curdle tofu; one thing subdues another.
Chapter 246 Five-Colored Soil
"Brother Zhuang, your Tibetan Mastiff is really amazing!"
Seeing that the danger had passed, the two hurriedly ran back. The little girl's affection for the white lion was overflowing; she looked as if she wanted to rush over, hug the white lion, and kiss it.
"Don't go over there..."
Zhuang Rui grabbed Meng Qiuqian. The White Lion had only managed to subdue this man by surprise. If he were to let him go, the White Lion might hurt him if it tried to subdue him again.
"My goodness, whose dog is that? Pull it away quickly, someone's going to get hurt!"
Just then, Er Mao and Fan Cuo arrived, panting heavily, followed by an old woman who was one of the people who delivered lunch. Upon seeing the person and dog lying on the ground, she couldn't help but shout loudly.
Zhuang Rui ignored the old woman and instead asked Er Mao, "Er Mao, is this person from your village? Why is he trying to attack people with a knife right away?"
“He’s not from our village. This is Yu Laosan, a relative of a family in our village. Brother Zhuang, come here, I’ll tell you…”
Er Mao glanced at the man on the ground. He pulled Zhuang Rui a dozen meters away and whispered to Zhuang Rui about the man's background.
It turns out that Yu Laosan came to Liujiazhuang a year ago. He was a relative of Yu Laoda from Henan. Because he was rather ugly, he couldn't stay outside anymore, so he came here with Yu Laoda to make a living.
Farmers are generally simple and honest. Although Yu Laosan looked rather frightening, no one laughed at him. Who knew that Yu Laosan had a bad drinking habit? When he was drunk, he liked to pick fights and often harassed the young wives and girls in the village.
Liu Family Village is a place where martial arts are passed down through generations, and there are many martial arts masters in the village. After teaching Yu Laosan a lesson a few times, Yu Laoda used the excuse that this relative was too troublesome and sent him to this mountain valley to look after the orchard.
Er Mao, fearing someone might die, whispered to Zhuang Rui, "Brother Zhuang, let him go. We're here; he won't dare cause trouble..."
"White Lion, come here..."
Zhuang Rui called out, and the white lion stuck out its blood-red tongue and licked Yu Laosan's face before releasing its paws and running back to Zhuang Rui's side.
"Murder! Someone's been bitten to death!"
This lick terrified Yu Laosan, who howled at the top of his lungs. After a few cries, he realized the big dog was gone. He scrambled to his feet, barely able to stand upright, and rolled over the fence, unaware that his shorts had fallen to his knees. He looked at the white lion beside Zhuang Rui with lingering fear.
"rogue……"
The little girl spat and turned her face away.
“Let us in. We just need to take some soil samples; we won’t damage your orchard…”
When Zhuang Rui heard that the orchard was indeed contracted by people from Liujiazhuang, he didn't want to cause too much trouble with them, after all, he was still Lao San's guest.
"You think you can just say you won't cause any damage? What if those Luoyang shovels you're carrying damage the tree roots? This orchard is contracted by my older brother. Nobody is allowed to come in without his permission."
Yu Laosan also came to his senses at this time. Although he dared not go out to cause trouble again, he was still very arrogant and refused to let Zhuang Rui and the others in no matter what.
"Luoyang shovel?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned when he heard the term "Luoyang shovel" from Yu Laosan. Although he had heard of the famous Luoyang shovel before, he wouldn't have recognized it unless he saw it with his own eyes. Why could Yu Laosan recognize it so easily?
Perhaps they've all seen too many tomb raiders in Shaanxi, Zhuang Rui thought, recalling what Er Mao had once told him, and found an explanation, though a sliver of doubt remained in his heart.
"Yes, this is an orchard contracted by the Yu brothers in our village. If you go in and dig randomly, who will be responsible for the losses?"
The middle-aged woman who came with Er Mao also spoke in favor of Yu Laosan. However, Zhuang Rui found it strange that among the three or four old women who came to deliver the food, only she came to stand up for him.
"Xiao Zhuang, you guys dig some exploratory holes around here first to check the soil quality. Don't argue with the villagers."
Professor Meng also received the news and came over, leaning on a hiking stick.
"Grandpa, this person is unreasonable and acts like a hooligan."
The little girl started complaining; she had never seen anything so ugly before, and her heart was still pounding.
Professor Meng ignored his granddaughter and instructed Zhuang Rui and the others, "Alright, it's too hot today. You guys take some samples of the soil around here, and then we'll head back."
Zhuang Rui and the others agreed and each found a spot to probe downwards with their Luoyang shovels. When Yu Laosan saw that the group no longer wanted to enter the orchard, he turned around and went back, cursing.
Taking soil samples with a Luoyang shovel is also a physically demanding task, especially at the beginning. You have to use all your strength to slam the shovel down into the soil. After the Luoyang shovel is inserted into the soil, it is pulled up, and a cylindrical container of soil is brought up from the center of the semi-circular shovel.
When Zhuang Rui first started digging, he found it quite difficult. However, after digging a small pit about 20 to 30 centimeters in diameter and about two meters deep, he found a trick. It turned out that the deeper he went, the easier it became. Once the hole was deep enough, he could use the inertia generated by the Luoyang shovel itself to go deep into the soil, and he only needed to lift the shovel up.
Professor Meng also followed Zhuang Rui, teaching him how to exert force and generate power. There is also a trick to it; you can use the weight of the Luoyang shovel to strike it down with very little force.
After Professor Meng's instruction, Zhuang Rui grasped the knack and his movements became more skillful. Furthermore, he could use his spiritual energy to eliminate the soreness and weakness in his arms. He essentially repeated the same action like a robot, leaving the little girl beside him completely dumbfounded.
While Xiao Fan and Ying Ning were still struggling with the first exploratory hole, Zhuang Rui had already started digging the third one. The first two were dug to a depth of fourteen or fifteen meters, and after the little girl examined the soil brought out by the Luoyang shovel, no mature soil was found.
Zhuang Rui is also learning to distinguish between fertile soil and raw soil, which is an important basis for discovering whether there are underground tombs.
Topsoil, also known as multicolored soil, is formed when different layers of topsoil and subsoil of varying colors are excavated during the digging of a grave. After burial, this mixture is then backfilled into the pit, creating what is known as multicolored soil. Generally, if a Luoyang shovel brings up multicolored soil, there is a high probability that a grave is located below.
Furthermore, the distribution of the burial pit can be discerned from the mixed soil. If the mixed soil is thin and scattered, it may be a tomb passage. If it is thick, concentrated, and plentiful, it may be a burial chamber. Thus, by examining the soil, the burial chamber can be located.
As for how to distinguish between the two, it requires some experience. Simply put, some mixed soil may contain cultural relics such as weeds, construction waste, and human remains, while native soil does not.
Of course, some mixed soil is also relatively pure, so you need to observe the soil quality carefully. Generally speaking, soil contains capillaries. The capillaries in mixed soil are disordered, while the capillaries in native soil are basically vertical.
These things are difficult to grasp intuitively through oral description or writing. Under the little girl's guidance, Zhuang Rui identified the soil brought out by the Luoyang shovel one by one and understood the raw soil. However, after digging four exploratory holes more than ten meters deep, he still did not see any mixed soil.
Although Zhuang Rui would use his spiritual energy to examine the underground conditions before each location he chose to dig with his Luoyang shovel, the soil always felt the same to him. Occasionally there would be some rocks or rotten tree roots, but there were no tombs.
"Thump!"
With a dull thud as the Luoyang shovel struck the soil, Zhuang Rui quickly pulled the rope with both hands, lifting the shovel up and tapping it on the ground a few times to scatter the soil it had brought up.
This was already his fifth burrow, and the others watching were completely dumbfounded. Zhuang Ruisi looked so refined; no one expected him to possess such strength and endurance. No wonder he dared to challenge that burly man with the two-faced expression earlier.
"Ahem... Xiao Zhuang, take a break. Rome wasn't built in a day. When we get back to the excavation site, I'll show you the mottled soil..."
Professor Meng was also finding Zhuang Rui's enthusiasm a bit overwhelming. When he was young, he would need to rest for half a day after digging two exploratory holes. He never expected that this young man was not only knowledgeable but also a fierce warrior.
"It's alright, I'm not tired, Professor Meng. I'll rest after I finish this caving."
While casually chatting with Professor Meng, Zhuang Rui picked up the Luoyang shovel again. The exploratory hole they were digging was now very close to the orchard. Judging from the length of the rope that had been lowered, the hole was now fourteen or fifteen meters deep.
"Hmm, the color of this soil is a bit off?"
Zhuang Rui discovered that the tube of soil brought up by the Luoyang shovel did not scatter after hitting the ground, but stood upright in a cylindrical shape, and the soil was brown in color, completely different from the soil sample taken out earlier.
Zhuang Rui squatted down and used his hands to pry open the soil. He saw that the brown color was in the form of a line. He rubbed it with his fingers and it immediately turned into powder, which didn't seem like soil at all.
Professor Meng's expression turned serious. He looked around and said, "This brown color isn't soil."
"Not soil?"
Zhuang Rui was stunned for a moment.
"Yes, these are the marks left after the wood rotted in the soil. You can see that the edges are very neat and the grain is straight. It's not wood that died and rotted naturally, but rather wood that has been processed."