After exploring the camp for a while, Fu Honglang took the stone and told us to stay put while they went to scout the surroundings.
Once they left, we rested where we were.
About an hour later, Fu Honglang and Shi Tou returned. I asked them about their findings.
Fu Honglang looked helpless. "We didn't find any tomb raiding tunnels. It seems this underground palace isn't in this vicinity."
"Not nearby, so where is it?" I asked.
Fu Honglang said, "I'm not too sure myself. When Gui Zhi and I learned about this place, we only knew a general location, but the exact coordinates weren't determined. After all, we were just inferring from the map at the time."
"Brother Fu, what kind of tomb is this, exactly?" I asked.
I had asked him this question several times along the way, but he always gave vague answers.
What's more, the Dead Sea Scroll actually recorded the location of an underground palace, which was quite unbelievable.
To be honest, I didn't believe the Dead Sea Scroll recorded this place.
"Little brother, it's not that I want to hide it from you..." Fu Honglang glanced at me. "Actually, I don't know how to explain this... When I first obtained that Dead Sea Scroll, there was also a map attached..."
"A map was attached?" I asked, puzzled.
He nodded. "This is a long story..."
Seeing that he didn't want to elaborate, I directly asked, "Brother Fu, I'm still more curious, whose tomb is this place?"
He pursed his lips. "You must have heard of the legend of Cao Cao's seventy-two tombs, right?"
I nodded. I believed that not only I but also many others had heard of Cao Cao's seventy-two tombs.
Legend has it that after Cao Cao's death, his son Cao Pi, following his wishes, opened all the city gates of Ye City on the day of his funeral. He ordered seventy-two coffins to be carried out of the city from the east, west, north, and south directions and buried separately.
No one knew which coffin contained Cao Cao.
To this day, Cao Cao's tomb has not been found.
"Brother Fu, are you saying that the tomb your wife came looking for is one of the seventy-two tombs?" I asked.
Fu Honglang sighed. From his expression, I understood. It seemed to be true.
"Little brother, to be honest, I have no interest in this matter. Putting aside whether Cao Cao is buried here or not, even if he is, I wouldn't come to dig up his tomb."
Fu Honglang said with a bitter smile, "What's so good about digging up Cao Cao's tomb? Didn't Cao Cao himself set a rule earlier? No elaborate burials... Since it was his own rule, what kind of burial objects could he have after death?"
I knew about this too. In 218 AD, Cao Cao issued the "Dao Ling," which stated that he should not be buried elaborately and should be buried in a barren land. Furthermore, the tomb should not have a mound or trees planted on it, and gold, silver, jewelry, and ritual vessels were strictly forbidden as burial objects.
Some say that Cao Cao did this because he himself was the originator of tomb raiding, and the Mojin Xiaowei were founded by him.
Having raided so many tombs, he consequently implemented strong preventive measures for his own tomb.
It's also possible that issuing the "Dao Ling" was just a smokescreen, or he might have done it to prevent others from raiding his tomb, as Cao Cao was inherently suspicious.
However, I still agree with Fu Honglang's view. Even if Cao Cao's tomb were found, there probably wouldn't be many treasures inside.
Even before he died, Cao Cao was very frugal. He once set a household rule that all clothes of concubines in the harem must not be brocade, the dresses of maids must not exceed the height of their shoes, and any torn curtains must be mended and reused. Bedding was not allowed to have patterns, and violators would be severely punished.
In 217 AD, Cao Cao ascended the Bronze Sparrow Terrace and discovered a woman wearing silk and adorned with jade beads. He sent someone to question her.
Upon learning that the woman was his daughter-in-law, Cao Zhi's wife, Cao Cao was furious. He immediately issued an edict stating that Cao Zhi's wife was dressed extravagantly, violating the household rules, and ordered her to commit suicide as an atonement.
In the end, Cao Zhi's wife, having no choice, hanged herself.
This shows that there likely aren't many good things in Cao Cao's tomb.
Fu Honglang said, "There's an old saying in our profession: 'Better to demolish a rich merchant's tomb than to excavate a poor underground palace.' Instead of digging up Cao Cao's tomb, I'd rather rest at home."
"Then why did your wife..."
Before I could finish, he sighed. "My wife is different from me. I tomb raid for survival, for money. She tomb raids for research, to uncover historical truths... Anyway, I don't understand her."
I felt a mix of amusement and helplessness. They say it's hard to reason with a soldier when you're a scholar, but this time it seemed reversed.
"Little brother, even if we find Cao Cao's tomb, what can we possibly dig out from it?" Fu Honglang shook his head helplessly.
I didn't know how to answer his question, as everyone's definition of valuable things differed.
Just as Fu Honglang thought a good tomb must contain gold and silver, his wife, Mao Guizhi, might think that anything with research value would suffice.
And me?
If I could find something about the Suihou Pearl in the tomb, that would be a good tomb for me...
We put the excess equipment into the tents and divided into three groups, expanding our search for tomb raiding tunnels around the area.
Originally, I was in a group with Fatty, but then I reconsidered and let him team up with Jianghu Rat. I would go with Wang Yang.
Logically speaking, Wang Yang talked just as much as Fatty, but he had been quite subdued these past few days, not saying much.
Seeing his preoccupied look, I knew he was most likely thinking about Sister Ying.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked, feigning ignorance.
Wang Yang glanced at me. "Nothing much..."
"Don't worry, if I see Sister Ying again, I won't ask about anything else. I'll ask her about your father and grandfather for you first..."
He gave a wry smile. "I don't know why, but I have a feeling..."
"What feeling?" I asked.
"If you see her again, she probably won't recognize you at all."
Hearing this, I was taken aback.
I hadn't completely ruled out the possibility Wang Yang mentioned.
If Sister Ying really suffered from amnesia, we had no idea how often it would occur.
As I thought about it, I felt both worried and somewhat expectant...
Worried because I feared Sister Ying wouldn't remember me.
As for expectant...
If Sister Ying truly didn't remember who I was, would I be able to make her get to know me anew?
I chuckled to myself, thinking my idea was rather amusing.
Even if Sister Ying got to know me again, what difference would it make?
"What's that over there..." Wang Yang said, pointing at the swaying bushes not far away.
As we both moved towards it, something suddenly darted out and flew past our heads with a "swish"....