Tomb raiding: Carrying a coffin during a funeral procession, rewarded with the Dragon Elephant Prajn

"Wu Chongfu..."

Xiang, the foreman, muttered the name on the inscription to himself, then, as if he had just remembered something, he quickly ordered his men to continue digging.

He looked at everyone and explained, "I know this Wu Chongfu. He was the first Left Provincial Administration Commissioner of Sichuan in the early Ming Dynasty. Chongfu was his courtesy name. As for the great-grandfather of the Feng family, if I'm not mistaken, he should be the first generation of Guanshan Taibao, a prince personally appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang."

Black Bear's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed in surprise, "So, this tomb is the tomb of the Feng family's ancestor!"

Guanshan Taibao may not be well-known among ordinary people, but in the tomb raiding industry, he has a notorious reputation that has been passed down for hundreds of years.

During the Ming Dynasty, sects such as the Mojin, Xieling, and Banshan sects were suppressed to the point of being unable to raise their heads.

The lineage of the Heavenly Official of the Tomb Raiders was severed, and the sect's most precious treasure, the Tomb Raider Seal, was destroyed.

Later, with the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the Feng family could only hide in the deep forests of Wushan, living as mine owners and local tyrants, until they were arrested and sent to labor reform as typical examples after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Li Changsheng was quite surprised as he listened to their conversation.

The trio of Hu Bayi had only met Feng Shigu in Dixian Village, but they knew very little about the ancestor of the Feng family who lived earlier and single-handedly created Guanshan Taibao, and had never seen his tomb.

About an hour later, Xiang's men dug to the top of the tomb.

Unsurprisingly, there were several holes dug in the top of the tomb.

Judging from the fracture, the tomb robbers' holes date from the Ming Dynasty to the present day.

Tiger scratched his head, looking puzzled.

"Wasn't the Feng family supposed to be the local tyrants? How come people dared to rob their ancestor's tomb during the Ming and Qing dynasties?"

Black Bear shrugged and casually said, "Who knows? Maybe it was dug up by their own people!"

Xiang, the head of the gang, laughed and said, "It's really possible! My master once told me that the Feng family members are all crazy and capable of anything. What's digging up their own ancestral graves compared to that?"

Since there was already a tomb-raiding tunnel, the group didn't need to dig another one and went down into the tomb chamber.

The tomb was dark, and the water was knee-deep.

The original waterproofing measures in the tomb were quite good, but later tomb raiders dug so many holes that the tomb was riddled with holes, rendering these measures ineffective.

In addition, Xiang Batou's choice of location was indeed accurate.

Coming down through the tomb robber's hole leads to the main burial chamber.

However, the tomb was in a mess, with various pieces of damaged wood and fragments of artifacts piled up in the water.

Xiang's men shone flashlights and groped around in the water for most of the day, but in the end they could only shake their heads in frustration.

"Boss, forget about the treasure, they've even taken the coffin lid!"

The fragments of these artifacts in the water show that the tomb was not without treasures; they just arrived too late, and everything inside had already been looted.

The Taoist priest, who had remained silent until now, shook his head and said quietly, "Feng Wangli was the ancestor of the Guanshan Taibao, a grandmaster in the tomb-raiding world. Would his tomb be so simple, without even a trap?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.

Xiang, frowning, asked, "Master Gou, do you mean this is a fake tomb?"

"I don't know if it's a fake tomb, but I don't believe the tomb of the patriarch of tomb raiders could be found so easily!"

Xiang nodded slightly, agreeing with what Gou Daoshi said.

Another notorious tomb raider in history, Cao Cao, built a total of seventy-two fake tombs to confuse tomb raiders in order to prevent his tomb from being robbed after his death.

Even if the ceremony of bestowing a title of king was not on par with Cao Cao's, there would still have been some obstacles. His tomb could not possibly be so simple.

Thinking of this, Xiang, the foreman, and his men hurriedly searched for any possible hidden mechanisms or compartments.

Seeing this, the others followed suit and searched the surrounding area.

But after searching for most of the day, they found nothing.

The tomb itself was not large, and the burial objects inside had long been removed, so it was almost completely exposed.

Xiang led his men to knock on almost every brick in the tomb to confirm that there were no hidden mechanisms or secret compartments.

Black Bear kicked the tomb wall in exasperation and muttered, "Found nothing. Did this King-Conferring Ceremony realize something before he died and not care about what happens after he's gone?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the tomb brick he had kicked fell into the water with a splash.

Everyone glanced at it and then looked away.

However, Li Changsheng possessed the talent of night vision, so even in the dimly lit tomb, he could see as clearly as in daylight.

He noticed that there seemed to be something different on the back of the tomb brick.

Li Changsheng quickly went over and fished the tomb brick out of the water!

The tomb was not particularly luxurious, but it was in accordance with the status of a prince who had been granted the title of Guanshan Taibao.

The only thing that was a bit out of the ordinary was these tomb bricks.

The tomb bricks are black yet translucent; they were imperial bricks used in the construction of the Forbidden City. These imperial bricks also have another name: golden bricks.

The production of gold bricks is complicated, with as many as fifty processes involved in making a single gold brick. The yield rate is low, and the process takes up to two and a half years. Therefore, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, gold bricks were exclusively supplied to the imperial family.

Of course, gold bricks are not as sensitive as golden nanmu wood. Even if high-ranking officials or aristocratic families purchase gold bricks, the court will mostly not interfere.

Xiang, the foreman, noticed Li Changsheng's actions and asked curiously, "Boss Li, is there something wrong with these tomb bricks?"

Li Changsheng nodded and handed over the gold brick directly.

"Don't look at it with your eyes, touch the brick surface with your hands!"

Upon hearing this, Xiang, the foreman, quickly took the gold brick and rubbed its surface.

After a moment, he exclaimed in surprise, "There seem to be patterns on this brick!"

The gold brick is so black that it absorbs most of the light, and even when a flashlight is shone on it, it is difficult to see the fine indentations on it.

Only by touching and feeling them with your own hands can you discover these textures.

Xiang, the foreman, realized this and quickly ran to the tomb wall, removing another brick from the tomb.

"This one is also available!"

Seeing this, the others also sprang into action.

"Hey, I have one too!"

"I have one too, and it looks like there are words on it!"

As more and more tomb bricks with grooves and indentations appeared, Xiang, the head of the tomb, ordered his men to move all of them to the ground.

After working for more than an hour, the group moved out three hundred tomb bricks.

However, even under the sun, the dents on the tomb bricks are still difficult to see.

However, this did not stump the group. Mike returned to the camp and found some paint, diluted it with water, and splashed it on the gold bricks. Finally, he wiped it clean with paper, leaving light-colored paint residue in the dents.

Following this method, the group processed all three hundred tomb bricks, eventually obtaining a jumble of characters and lines.

Seeing this, Black Bear rubbed his forehead in exasperation and sighed, "It's over, I still have to piece together the puzzle bit by bit!"

It is worth mentioning that when A Ning learned that Li Changsheng had made a discovery, she hurriedly led more than a dozen of her men over.

With more people joining, the speed of piecing together the gold brick pattern increased several times over.

In less than an hour, the pattern on the bricks of the tomb of the Prince Conferring Ceremony was completely pieced together.

Looking at the somewhat abstract diagram of acupuncture points that had been pieced together, Ah Ning was a little confused and asked with a puzzled expression, "What is this? A medical book?"

In the crowd, Gou Daoshi stared at the human figure drawing and the few lines of small characters next to it, and fell into a frenzied muttering.

Upon hearing A Ning's words, he retorted without hesitation, "What medical book? This is the 'Illustrated Guide to Cultivating Truth Through Falsehood' written by the Southern Song Dynasty's Danyangzi! Everyone says this diagram reversed the laws of heaven, attracted a lightning tribulation, and was destroyed long ago. I never expected it to still exist!"

"Using fake photos for image editing?"

Even after the Taoist priest explained the origin of the picture, Aning was still completely confused.

Black Bear suddenly realized, "So this is the 'Borrowing Falsehood to Cultivate Truth' painting! I've heard a bit of a legend about this painting before!"

"It is said that the Hermit Master Piyin was a famous Taoist priest in the Song Dynasty who cultivated the Golden Elixir and became an immortal. Before he ascended to heaven in broad daylight, he left behind a picture called 'Borrowing the False to Cultivate the True,' saying that it contained the secrets of becoming an immortal and achieving longevity."

"However, not long after Pi Yinzi ascended to immortality, the painting eventually fell into the hands of the emperor, who stored it in the imperial treasury, intending to study it carefully. But on the very night the painting was placed in the treasury, a divine lightning bolt struck and burned down the entire treasury. Thus, the 'Illustrated Painting of Cultivating Truth Through Falsehood' was completely lost."