The next day at noon, Wu Tingxiu left Stone Ridge. Before she left, she specifically cautioned me to be careful with everything.
Two people from the archaeological team arrived, as notified by Guan Zhenwan. One was old, the other young. I had no idea what their names were, nor did I particularly care.
The task of finding the imperial tomb fell to me. So, I took Bai Hanyan, Fatty, and Song Bing, and we went to Xiaoqing Temple again.
Upon arriving, Bai Hanyan looked around the surroundings and commented that this place was a geomantically auspicious location, with a high probability of ancient tombs. However, she added, it would take some time to find the most suitable burial spot.
I didn't understand much about Feng Shui, so I couldn't contribute to the conversation, and could only let Bai Hanyan take the lead.
We stayed at Xiaoqing Temple. For the next two days, Bai Hanyan roamed the mountain day and night. Sometimes Song Bing and Fatty accompanied her, and other times I did.
One day, Bai Hanyan announced late at night that she wanted to explore outside. Fatty had already gone to bed, and Song Bing was tired from helping the Taoist temple with chores during the day.
Thus, I was the only one available to accompany her.
Gathering our things, we left the main gate of the Taoist temple and headed towards the back mountain.
The moon was large tonight, and there were more stars in the sky than usual.
Bai Hanyan remarked that the possibility of finding the tomb tonight was very high.
I asked why. She rattled off a lot of things about celestial phenomena and the Eight Trigrams, but I couldn't make heads or tails of it.
Seeing my confusion, she explained, "Ancient people were very fond of observing the stars at night, using celestial patterns to select suitable burial sites."
"So, by looking at the stars, you can find ancient tombs?" I asked.
"More or less," she replied.
"Have you figured anything out?" I inquired.
Bai Hanyan gazed at the constellations for a long time before saying, "Theoretically speaking, the most suitable place for burial here is Xiaoqing Temple."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Matters like locating dragons and pinpointing穴s (xue, acupoints) are mostly guesswork. I can't be absolutely certain," Bai Hanyan admitted.
As she spoke, she pointed to the Polaris in the sky and said, "Look, we are currently at the northernmost part of Huaxia, and the Polaris looks different from what we usually see."
I noticed it was indeed different. She then pointed to the Big Dipper nearby and began explaining some Feng Shui principles. I quickly interrupted her, "Tell me something I can understand."
She sighed in exasperation. "What I mean is, the location of Xiaoqing Temple is considered an auspicious position, very suitable for building residences, applicable to both Yin and Yang residences."
"So, in the end, you still think Xiaoqing Temple is the most likely place to find a tomb, right?" I asked.
She nodded.
"In that case, why don't we just go back and dig to find out?"
"Dig? Do you think those three Taoist priests would agree?"
That was a problem. I thought for a moment and said, "Let's go back first."
When we returned to the Taoist temple, it was already past nine o'clock. I found Daoist Priest Yunhe, but he had already gone to sleep.
The matter of finding the Suihou Pearl was urgent, so I didn't think much about it and woke him up directly.
Daoist Priest Yunhe groggily put on his Taoist robe and asked me what was wrong. I told him the truth: there was a high probability of an ancient tomb beneath Xiaoqing Temple.
He was taken aback and asked, "How could there be an ancient tomb here?"
I didn't know how to explain it to him immediately, so I said I wanted to find someone to dig and asked for his consent.
He immediately shook his head like a rattle drum, saying, "This is a Taoist temple, and it's also my home. It cannot be dug."
Seeing his reaction, I said, "We'll only dig a small hole, and we absolutely won't damage anything in the Taoist temple."
He seemed hesitant. I continued, "Daoist Priest Yunhe, don't worry. Once we confirm there is no ancient tomb beneath, we will restore the dug pit."
After much persuasion, he finally agreed.
That night, I called Fatty and Song Bing. Song Bing brought some tools, including a Luoyang shovel.
With the Luoyang shovel, he started digging holes in the courtyard of the Taoist temple.
The Luoyang shovel went down five or six meters, and the soil brought up was different. Song Bing exclaimed, "There really is a tomb beneath!"
Upon hearing this, I was also delighted.
When Yunhe learned of this, he seemed somewhat in disbelief, asking how there could be a tomb beneath the Taoist temple.
I knew he was a tomb keeper, but it seemed he himself was unaware of his identity.
Let alone him, I suspected even his master might not know his own identity.
The next day, I immediately had Fatty return to Stone Ridge to inform Guan Zhenwan about the matter.
That afternoon, Guan Zhenwan arrived with a large group of people.
As soon as they arrived, they began the excavation work.
As for Daoist Priest Yunhe, he initially refused outright, but I stepped in and managed to persuade him.
I promised him that after this matter was resolved, I would help him renovate the Taoist temple.
This is how I explained it to him: I pointed to the statues in the main hall and said, "Daoist Priest Yunhe, look at these statues, they are all dilapidated. Don't you want to restore them? If you relied solely on yourself, when would you ever be able to restore these statues? And the houses in the Taoist temple are so old. What if they collapse one day? How about this, I'll pay to hire people to renovate the Taoist temple for you. This would be a good thing for both you and the temple."
Daoist Priest Yunhe, although older than me, was actually a very simple person. After my explanation, he finally agreed.
Thus, the excavation work commenced.
Guan Zhenwan's team brought modern equipment, including pneumatic drills and air compressors, which significantly sped up the process. In just over two hours, they had dug a pit over six meters deep.
Within the pit, however, was not the entrance to the ancient tomb, but its ceiling.
To avoid damaging the overall structure of the tomb chamber, they continued digging until they found the tomb's entrance.
This was a much larger undertaking. No one knew how vast the tomb underground was, and finding the entrance proved extremely difficult.
It would take a considerable amount of time, at the very least.
However, judging by Guan Zhenwan's demeanor, she would persist, and even my persuasion would likely be futile.
And so, she moved the entire camp from Stone Ridge to Xiaoqing Temple, initiating the lengthy excavation process.
This digging continued for over half a month. During this period, Guan Zhenwan also paid villagers from Stone Ridge to build a dirt road, which was an expansion of the original small path from Xiaoqing Temple to Stone Ridge.
With a road, vehicles could naturally come and go. However, it was only a dirt road, and after just a few trips, it was already riddled with numerous large potholes.
This day, Fatty and I were returning to Xiaoqing Temple by car from Stone Ridge. As soon as we got out of the car, I noticed that the entire front wall of the Taoist temple had been dismantled. A commotion could be heard from not too far away.
Fatty and I went over to investigate and discovered that the entrance to the ancient tomb had been found!