I was startled. I glanced at Qin Shihuang, who was fiddling with a game console next to me, and asked Lao Fei, "Shouldn't any further discoveries be the responsibility of archaeologists? Why did we call you here?"
Fei Sankou said with a wry smile, "Ironically, we Chinese weren't the first to discover them."
Who is that?
"Several foreigners who are supposedly tourists in China. But this is hard to believe. Tourists in China go to remote places and are even carrying the most advanced surveying equipment. Interpol notice: A group of international tomb raiders have infiltrated China."
I scratched my head and said, "Since we're on our turf, do we need to be so defensive?"
Fei San sighed and said, "Their operating funds are much more abundant than ours, and their high-tech methods are not inferior either. In fact, we also have a lot of information. They are not simple tomb raiders, but rather play a role somewhere between terrorists and the mafia. Their main business is high-value antiques, and behind them are some countries that support their operations, so their power cannot be ignored."
I said, "That's even simpler, just grab them and then press them with a mechanical pencil."
Fei Sankou gave a sad smile: "No, we still need them to help us find our treasure."
This is a bit ridiculous. A bunch of foreign villains are digging in front using high-tech methods, while our national guards are following behind to collect the spoils. They hate them to the core, but they dare not make a move that might alert them.
Fei Sankou said, "Take this time for example. If it weren't for the local farmers reporting it, we wouldn't know how far they'd gone. So even if we arrest a few of their henchmen, it won't help. As long as they don't give up their wicked intentions, our national treasures are not protected. We don't need many; if they take even a single piece of iron or a single tile out, we'll be traitors to our nation!"
I don't know if his so-called "we" includes me—I have to say, the people from the National Security Bureau are really good at ideological work; they unintentionally pulled you into their camp.
I said, "Um...didn't they say the Qin King's Mausoleum has already been found?"
"You mean the Lishan Tomb?"
Before Fei Sankou could say anything more, Qin Shi Huang suddenly spoke up from the side: "I already said it, that thing is fake—"
Fei Sankou glanced at Qin Shi Huang, then nodded at me and said, "Yes, that's fake!"
Qin Shi Huang probably only caught a few words of our conversation; after saying that, he lowered his head and went back to his own business. The pause button on his game console wasn't working properly, and Fatty was trying to fix it.
I glared at Qin Shi Huang and whispered to Fei Sankou, "Why did that fat guy have to bury so many things to harm future generations after he died?"
Fei Sankou asked blankly, "Huh? What fat guy—"
Chapter Forty-Three: Opening the Door to Let Thieves In
Fortunately, there is no historical record that Qin Shi Huang was fat. This is the only unofficial history book that mentions it, so there's no need to worry that Lao Fei will doubt that I'm talking about the owner of the grave he's going to dig up.
I asked cautiously, "Everything you told me was confidential, wasn't it?"
Old Fei said, "It's not exactly a secret; it'll be on TV soon enough. As for the guys we're following, even if they didn't know they were being followed, they should have been prepared for the risks. They're not exactly saints. People often say that arms and drugs are incredibly profitable, but they often overlook antique smuggling. An AK47 is only worth a few hundred dollars on the international market, and the four major drug-producing regions have a very stable supply. Only antiques are priceless. Besides, if you're in the arms business, you need ships, cars, and planes, while an antique only requires an old leather bag, yet the profits are just as good. So compared to antique smuggling, arms dealers and drug traffickers are simply despicable."
I listened with great interest.
Fei Sankou continued, "But antiques can't be made, much less grow. This creates additional risks for certain countries, such as China, Egypt, and India. Because the oldest thing you can dig up in the US is no more than 300 years old."
I chuckled.
"On the smuggling blacklists of various countries, artifacts from the Qin Dynasty of China have always been at the top. Now, an entire Qin King's tomb! It is conceivable that its effect can even influence the whole world. From this, we have come to the conclusion that we must protect the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum at all costs."
For some reason, I felt a chill run down my spine—because I remembered that among the things I'd thrown away were both the Jing Ke Sword and the Overlord Armor. I'd always considered my personal safety from the perspective of "not flaunting wealth," never imagining it had reached the point of influencing the world order. Fortunately, it was just an unfriendly joke He Tiandou played on me. Whether he's human or god, he's at least from China; surely he wouldn't do anything truly heinous?
I asked cautiously, "Didn't we save our tomb?"
Fei Sankou said, "We've saved this tomb, but it might be another fake one. They certainly won't just send one group. Now, what we need to do is race against time. But it's very difficult. They came prepared and have a strong financial backing. We can only defend passively. In the end, it's a bit like waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump."
I asked, "You said they had advanced equipment, what exactly is it?"
Fei Sankou said helplessly, "It's not necessarily that advanced, otherwise they would have taken action more than ten years ago."
I was stunned: "Those guys have been searching for over ten years?"
Fei Sankou nodded: "I'm afraid it's been more than ten years, and it's not just one group of people. Didn't I say that even an ancient country like China has this problem?"
I laughed and said, "Then let them keep searching. We can deliberately send out messages to lead people down the mountain road, and we can even help the villagers repair the road. When they can't search anymore, we can give them the 'Foolish Old Man Who Moved Mountains' award."
Fei Sankou chuckled and said, "If a thief knew you had something valuable in your house but couldn't find it right away, would you be willing to leave him at home to continue the search?"
I said, "Then kick them out."
Fei Sankou shrugged: "Then we're back to the same problem—if the owner doesn't know where the valuables are, what if a thief finds them? It's not a bad option for the owner to solve the problem."
I chuckled: "Looks like you guys are quite conflicted. So what you need to do now is find the Qin King's tomb first, so as to put an end to any outsiders' hopes?"
"You could say that. For those that have already been discovered, there's no need to send them back; they're essentially helping us search. For those that haven't been discovered, there's no way to force them back, which is a matter of risk. So ultimately, we still need to find and control the Qin King's tomb as soon as possible; that's what we call racing against time."
I couldn't help but glance at Qin Shi Huang again, thinking, "Look at all the trouble you've caused for future generations!" But I quickly realized I was being a bit foolish: the one who tied the knot must untie it. A later owner of a house might not know where the valuables are, but that doesn't mean the first owner didn't. Even if his memory was hazy, he'd have a general idea of where they were, like, "I hid that thing in the toilet," so he'd search in the bathtub, the toilet bowl, and there was no need to go to the dining room and cause further trouble.
Fei Sankou and I chatted for a while, then Fei Sankou got tired and lowered his head to drink water. I quietly walked up to Qin Shi Huang and whispered, "Brother Ying, how many fake tombs did you build for yourself back then?"
Qin Shi Huang had no suspicions and fiddled with the game console, saying, "4 turns (number)."
I gasped. So, besides the Lishan Tomb, there are three other tomb sites. Qin Shi Huang himself said he didn't know where he was finally laid to rest, but I don't think that matters at all. What we now call "authentic" or "fake" refers to whether there's Qin Shi Huang's remains inside the tomb. But the things inside are all real. Even if the round and square coins in a fake tomb are fake—they're still fake Qin Dynasty coins! As for the remains, I have absolutely no interest. We see the living every day; who cares about the dead?
I then asked Fatty Ying, "You know the approximate locations of these tombs, right?"
Qin Shi Huang: "I know."
As I patted myself down, I asked Fei Sankou, "Do you have a map on you?"
Fei Sankou asked in surprise, "What?"
I casually picked up a map from the bookshelf, told Fei Sankou "No need," and then turned my back to him to show the map to Qin Shihuang: "Brother Ying, mark their locations."
Qin Shi Huang put down what he was holding, and said with a half-smile, "What do you want to do? Make me point at you and have you dig up my grave?"
I was stunned. I truly hadn't expected this at this crucial moment. Graves aren't like gold bracelets or jewels that can be given away casually. The reason the fat man went to such lengths and spent so much money building so many graves was because of his superstitious belief that he could continue ruling the world in the underworld; there were many taboos surrounding them. Now, asking him to personally expose his own graves wouldn't be so easy.