A comprehensive overview of tombs: starting with the Yellow Weasel's Tomb

After exchanging glances with Hu Bayi, Bai Jing smiled at Bai Qi.

What a coincidence! Everyone at the table had worked in this line of work.

As Big Gold Tooth continued his introduction: "My father was later conscripted by the Kuomintang. During the Huaihai Campaign, he revolted and joined the PLA. After that, he went to the Korean War and his legs were frostbitten, so he was discharged. After the reform and opening up, he returned to Beijing and started doing business in antiques and trinkets. Mr. Hu, you must know something about this business, right?"

After saying that, Big Gold Tooth gestured to Hu Bayi.

Upon hearing this, Bai Jing remained unfazed, but Bai Qi looked at Hu Bayi with a strange expression.

Immediately afterward, Hu Bayi paused for a moment before speaking, "Back when your old man was tomb raiding, didn't he find a big zombie?"

Upon hearing this, Big Gold Tooth's face lit up with joy, knowing he had found the right person.

"Wow, you're an expert?"

Bai Qi looked at Hu Bayi with even more curiosity. He really hadn't expected that Hu Bayi, a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes, would actually be a descendant of tomb raiders.

These are all industry jargon. If you don't have relatives in this line of work or if there's a family tradition, you're unlikely to know these things.

Although he hadn't known Hu Bayi for very long, Bai Qi always thought Hu Bayi was from a respectable family with impeccable political background.

Who would have thought that their family was in the same line of work as mine?

However, to be fair, were there that many people doing this job during the Republic of China era?

The fat man on the other side was completely confused and immediately asked, "What zongzi?"

Upon hearing this, Big Gold Tooth knew that Fatty wasn't in this line of work, but he still explained, "Zongzi is a code word in the tomb raiding business, referring to whether the tomb is well-preserved or not."

The rotting corpse, or rather, the corpse of the King of the Vertical Eyes, which was discovered in Northeast China and has only recently begun to be exhibited in the last two years.

It is said that this corpse, which has been preserved for 7000 years using some kind of secret medicine, has not only not decomposed, but even the clothes on its body are completely intact, feeling as new to the touch.

Upon hearing this, Bai Jing and Bai Qi exchanged a glance; this was getting interesting.

You should know that the body of the King of the Vertical Eyes was brought up by them. However, why is it that even though it has been ten years since it was brought out of the tomb, the body has no signs of decay and even the clothes are not damaged?

This is truly baffling.

Bai Jing had almost forgotten about this matter, but now he was intrigued. It seemed he would have to go and see what was going on sometime.

Then Big Gold Tooth continued, "We've gone off-topic. Encountering a zongzi is like encountering a corpse, but encountering a big zongzi is like encountering big trouble."

At this point, Big Gold Tooth seemed to remember something, opened his mouth, pointed to his big gold tooth, and said, "Gentlemen, take a look, do you see this tooth of mine?"

The people present looked at Big Gold Tooth with some doubt, wondering what he was planning to do.

Then Big Gold Tooth said boastfully, "I dug this out of a tomb. It's a Ming Dynasty enamel gold piece. I couldn't bear to sell it, so I pulled out my own tooth and replaced it with this."

Upon hearing this, Bai Jing and the other three exchanged glances, not finding anything to brag about, and even feeling a little uneasy about it.

Just then, the waiter came to serve the food, and Big Gold Tooth invited everyone to start eating.

Originally, it was just Da Jinya, the three of them eating, but now Bai Jing and Bai Qi have joined them. Da Jinya isn't a stingy person, so he immediately asked the waiter to add more dishes.

If someone is treating, then there's no need to be polite. Besides, Bai Jing knows that Big Gold Tooth isn't a bad person; he's quite righteous.

The group immediately began eating and drinking, chatting and laughing.

When they realized they had almost finished eating, they started chatting again.

Upon learning that Bai Jing was a professor in the Archaeology Department of Peking University, he became even more respectful, and then added that he also knew a professor at Peking University, and that they could get to know each other later.

Bai Jing naturally knew that the professor Da Jin Ya was referring to was his own cheap teacher, Professor Chen.

Fortunately, Bai Jing didn't say anything.

While simmering vegetables in the broth, Big Gold Tooth said, "My dad, before he was conscripted, said he learned from a tomb raiding expert named Cai from Hunan. He knew a lot about grave robbing and tomb raiding. Their school mainly relied on their noses to detect things."

As a result, in 1923, the Luoyang shovel was invented. No longer did we need to smell it; we could see it with our eyes. By observing the soil brought up by the Luoyang shovel, we could determine what was underground.

Hearing this, Bai Jing nodded. The appearance of the Luoyang shovel actually lowered the requirements for tomb raiders, and even made tomb raiding activities more rampant.

After all, finding a grave is not something everyone can do.

Before the invention of the Luoyang shovel, finding ancient tombs usually involved only three methods: observation, listening, and questioning.

The so-called "observation" refers to the method by which experts in feng shui directly locate a tomb by observing its feng shui features.

Smell, that's the method Big Gold Tooth just mentioned. The air around the tomb is different from the air in normal areas.

The question, naturally, involves inquiring about local legends and myths to determine the location of the ancient tomb.

Chapter 120 Communication

However, with the passage of time, technological advancements, and social development...

Nowadays, tools like the Luoyang shovel are available to help locate tombs.

Furthermore, Bai Jing also knew that in the future, there would be modern technological means to find tombs. A more advanced method might be to use metal detectors or similar devices to search for the metal underneath.

High-end methods can even utilize advanced technologies such as satellite remote sensing, geological exploration, and lidar to detect underground structures and locate ancient tombs.

Bai Jing didn't think it was a big deal; it was an inevitable result of the development of science and technology.

Take the Terracotta Army of Qin, for example. If we have good enough science and technology to protect it, then there is nothing that cannot be excavated.

At that moment, Big Gold Tooth was still talking nonstop.

“Those underground porcelain shards, wood shards, gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, mercury, lead, etc., including rammed earth, bricks and tiles, etc., etc., can tell us the age and layout of the underground tomb.”

However, I heard that this craft was lost by the time it reached me. My father has difficulty walking, and I have congenital asthma. So, I can only rely on my eye for antiques to make a living.

Upon hearing this, Bai Jing and the other three raised their glasses and drank together.

After finishing his drink, Hu Bayi finally spoke up.

"I've heard older generations talk about tomb raiding before. True masters don't need iron shovels or Luoyang shovels. Skilled people can tell whether there's an ancient tomb down there just by going to a place."

The location of the burial site and its internal structure can be determined at a glance; this is called "finding the burial site by selecting the gold!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Qi's gaze towards Hu Bayi changed; he sensed that Hu Bayi was subtly criticizing him.

Bai Jing naturally noticed Bai Qi's gaze, and immediately smiled without saying a word.

Speaking of which, although the "Measuring the Golden Ruler" manual and the "Dragon Seeking Technique" passed down by the Jinshan Tomb Raiders have similarities, Bai Jing, as someone who has read both the "Measuring the Golden Ruler" manual and the "Tomb Records," knows that these two are not from the same lineage.

Perhaps the heritage represented by the "Measuring Ruler" goes back even further.

After all, the place where Bai Jing and Bai Qi's grandfather found the "Measuring Golden Ruler" also contained the "Golden Jade Pendant".

Now there are two Tomb Raider Jade Pendants, one on Bai Qi and the other on Fatty Li (mentioned earlier, Bai Qi's classmate, who went to Baoxianghua with Bai Jing and the others, and even ate two Baoxianghua fruits).

According to Bai Jing's experiments, Mo Jinjue can be considered a treasure in the tomb raiding industry.

This is because it can not only counteract illusions, but also change color when exposed to poison, and even prevent the carrier from being possessed by evil spirits.

In some ways, it is even more useful than the Faqiu Mudra.

At least Bai Jing has not yet discovered that the Faqiu Seal has any function other than suppressing corpse disasters and warding off evil spirits.

I don't know what the purpose of the "tomb-raiding jade pendant" is.

The value of the "Measuring Ruler," which was placed alongside the Tomb Raider's Jade, is therefore self-evident.

The facts have proven that the author of this secret manual, "The Golden Ruler," was very likely also a remarkable person no less capable than Zhang Sanlianzi.

We've gone off-topic, Hu Ba

One was still talking.

"In other words, wherever there is excellent feng shui, there will be a large tomb, and the person buried in it must not have been an ordinary person in life, and the tomb is full of treasures."

At this point, Hu Bayi paused slightly with a hint of disdain, took a sip of his wine, and continued, "Those who are truly capable do indeed look down on things like the Luoyang shovel."

Upon hearing this, Big Gold Tooth was surprised and tried to stand up, but seeing that there were many people in the store, he sat down again.

Immediately afterward, Big Gold Tooth asked in surprise, "Master Hu, you also have expertise in geomancy and feng shui?"

Hu Bayi held a wine glass in his hand, and then said with a look of disdain and contempt, "Hmm, I know a little bit."

Bai Jing almost burst out laughing at this moment.

Hu Bayi really managed to show off.

Big Gold Tooth, having learned what he wanted to know, immediately seized the opportunity to invite Bai Jing and the others to sit in his shop.

How could Bai Jing not know what Da Jin Ya was thinking?

This is nothing more than preparing to have Hu Bayi go tomb raiding.

Bai Qi wasn't interested in this at all. He already had enough stuff at home. Whenever Bai Jing went on business trips or archaeological expeditions, he would bring back a whole bunch of antiques and curiosities, and most importantly, every single one of them could be considered a masterpiece.

Even when the reform and opening up had just allowed the buying and selling of houses, Bai Jing specifically bought a courtyard to store these items.

So after seeing so many white flags, I naturally lost interest in them.

Therefore, they parted ways at the restaurant entrance.

However, as soon as Bai Jing and his group stepped out of the restaurant, they saw a roast chicken vendor at the entrance. Bai Jing immediately took out his money and bought three chickens: one for his parents, one for Bai Qi's family of three, and one for Bai Pi to take home as well.

After packing the three roast chickens, he had Bai Qi take them back.

After that, Bai Jing, Hu Bayi, and Fatty Wang went to Da Jin Ya's place.

As luck would have it, the storefront of Big Gold Tooth and the store that Bai Jing found for Fatty were on the same street in Panjiayuan, just at opposite ends of the street.