General of the Heavens

Chapter 101 The General's Tomb [Seeking Recommendations]

The next morning, everything was ready.

Ning Chen and his group of four embarked on their journey.

Seven or eight days later, in the vast primeval forest, Yingzi led the way with her mastiff, while Ning Chen, Hu Bayi, and Wang Pangzi each led a horse carrying tents and other supplies.

As they walked, Fatty Wang asked Yingzi, "Hey girl, what's the deal with the 'wild men' in Wild Man Valley? Has anyone seen them?"

Yingzi said, "My dad said that many people have seen it over the years, but no one has ever caught it alive, and those who have seen it can't describe what it looks like."

Hu Bayi spouted nonsense: "Fatty, that's because you're uncultured. Aren't these savages just wild people? They might be born from the ground, or they might grow on trees... Anyway, they're not man-made."

"So that's how it is..."

Ning Chen: "..."

Ning Chen was worried about Wang Pangzi's intelligence; no wonder he couldn't keep an eye on Hu Bayi and ended up being replaced by that American girl.

On the other side, Yingzi continued talking about the Savage Gully, "Actually, it wasn't called Savage Gully before, but Dead Man Gully. Even further back in time, it was called Moon-Holding Gully."

Pengyuegou was the burial ground of the royal family and nobles of the Jin Dynasty. After the Mongol army decisively defeated the main force of the Jin army at Heifengkou, they threw all the corpses into the gully.

Eventually, the entire valley was almost filled with corpses, so the locals called it Dead Man's Gully. Later, people saw wild men near the valley, and the name Dead Man's Gully was replaced by Wild Man's Gully.

Hearing this, Fatty Wang couldn't help but worry: "Director Ning, the Mongols are so ruthless, what if they dig up the ancient tomb along the way?"

Ning Chen shook his head and said, "The possibility is very small. The Mongols have a high opinion of themselves and most of them look down on the culture of the Central Plains. Even if they wanted to rob tombs, they would have to be able to find them first."

The Mongols were brave and skilled in battle, but they had many shortcomings in other areas. Few people probably understood the art of geomancy.

Yingzi seemed very interested in tomb raiding and asked, "Director Ning, I've heard there are many factions of tomb raiding, which one is the most powerful?"

Fatty Wang, eager to show off, blurted out, "Girl, you don't understand. The tomb raiders are the most powerful."

They can just stand there, take a quick look, and tell if there's an ancient tomb. And it's said that the earliest tomb raiders were established by Cao Cao—they were incredibly skilled!

Yingzi looked at Ning Chen with a questioning gaze, and the latter glanced at Hu Bayi and said, "Hu Bayi, what do you think?"

Hu Bayi thought for a moment and said, "I've heard from others that there are four most powerful schools in the tomb raiding industry. I don't know the specifics, but the Tomb Raiders should be the most powerful, right?"

Ning Chen shook his head: "In the tomb raiding business, there are four most powerful factions: the Tomb Raiders, the Grave Robbers, the Mountain Movers, and the Ridge Unloading Warriors."

Regardless of the unique strengths of the Mountain Moving and Ridge Unloading factions, the Tomb Raiders are indeed universally acknowledged as the best, but this assessment is made without considering the Tomb Raider Generals.

"Chief, who is this General Faqiu? How come he's even more powerful than the Tomb Raiders?" Fatty Wang thought the Tomb Raiders were the most powerful, but unexpectedly, this General Faqiu appeared.

Ning Chen stared at the two and said, "The tomb raiders have seals, and the gold diggers have talismans. The methods they use are almost identical."

However, there is only one Tomb Raider Seal, but there are ten Tomb Raider Talismans. No matter how powerful the Tomb Raider Captain is, he must be under the command of the Tomb Raider General.

Who do you think is the most powerful?

Hu Bayi sensed a hidden meaning in Ning Chen's words and said, "But I heard that the Faqiu Heavenly Seal was destroyed during the Ming Dynasty. Without the Faqiu Seal, wouldn't the Faqiu General be just a figurehead?"

Ning Chen laughed and said, "Who knows? What if it's a fake seal that's been destroyed? We can't travel back in time to verify it, can we?"

Alright, what's the use of knowing all this? You two can't possibly be tomb raiders, can you? I'd rather be the General of Tomb Raiders, haha!

Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang shook their heads repeatedly, saying, "That's right, that's right. How could we possibly be tomb raiders? If that were the case, the director would be our superior, making us tomb raiding generals!"

"Hahahaha!" Everyone burst into laughter.

.........

Because they couldn't climb steep mountains with horses, they had to detour around any large mountains, making the journey exceptionally slow.

The four walked for another four or five days in the primeval forest before finally reaching Heifengkou, the border between China and Mongolia. The density of the forest was indescribable.

The pile of dead branches and leaves on the ground was easy to handle for people, but the horses were afraid of getting stuck. Fortunately, despite the many hardships, they finally reached Black Wind Pass.

Finally, the four of them found a valley, which should be the legendary Savage Valley. It didn't look particularly special.

Ning Chen glanced at the scene as he used the art of geomancy to locate the burial site. The mountains and rivers, the earth's veins, and the feng shui layout were all clearly understood.

Before long, Ning Chen had a better understanding of the situation. The feng shui of this place was good, but with a mountain looming overhead and the sky blocking the way, it was rather ordinary.

However, one thing that intrigued Ning Chen was that the valley was filled with malevolent energy, giving him the vague feeling of being surrounded by a vast army.

In other words, there is not only a tomb in Yeren Gully, but also a general's tomb. The tomb owner was naturally a general who had fought many battles and held a very high position!

In just a few minutes, Ning Chen saw all of this, while Hu Bayi's understanding of Yin-Yang Feng Shui was far inferior to Ning Chen's, so he could only wait until night to draw a conclusion based on the Heavenly Star Feng Shui.

Yeren Valley is part of the Greater Khingan Mountains. The mountains on both sides are gentle and the valley runs north-south. The east and west sides are hills, and the central part receives very little sunlight throughout the year, making it appear gloomy.

Fortunately, Yingzi was an extremely competent hunter. Although Ningchen knew that eating wild animals was not good, tears kept welling up in his eyes as soon as the roe deer meat was placed on the grill.

In the end, all I could do was eat three big bowls with tears in my eyes…

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the moon hung high overhead. Ning Chen wanted Hu Bayi to help, but the kid was cunning and wouldn't show his true skills.

"You really can't find it?" Ning Chen asked.

"Director, I told you during my last business trip that I only know a little about feng shui, and it's only sometimes effective and sometimes not. That time it was just a lucky coincidence."

Hu Bayi answered with a "sincere" expression.

Just kidding, Hu Bayi didn't want to give Ning Chen any advantage, even though he had already observed the valley's terrain according to the "Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Technique".

He secretly used a compass to determine the Bagua directions and discovered that the valley had a stable and majestic terrain, and a sense of overwhelming power, thus drawing his conclusion.

This kind of feng shui must contain an ancient tomb!

But Hu Bayi didn't say a word!

Hu Bayi secretly glanced at Ning Chen, thinking to himself, "If you're really that capable, then go find the ancient tomb yourself. The key is you need to have the ability!"

Ning Chen sighed and then said to himself, "Yingzi said that Yeren Gou was originally called Pengyue Gou, so this place was once called Pengyue Gou?"

This is because when the moon rises above the valley, the hills on both sides resemble two giant arms reaching towards the bright moon, which was considered excellent feng shui by the ancients.

Moreover, one end of this area is grassland, and the other end connects to the Greater Khingan Mountains, making the Outer Mongolian grasslands resemble a vast ocean.

The Pengyuegou (Moon-Holding Ditch) resembles a great river flowing into the sea, with the sea overflowing into the river. While this feng shui might not be suitable for burying an emperor, it's more than enough for burying a great general.

Hu Bayi and his family were completely bewildered.

Ning Chen stopped speaking and looked at Hu Bayi, "I thought you could figure out such a simple feng shui, but I overestimated you."

Hu Bayi: "..."

"How can I compare to the director!"

Hu Bayi was furious. "Damn it, you've already figured it out and you're still asking me? Isn't this nitpicking? Isn't this just looking for trouble?"

Seeing Hu Bayi's disgusted expression, Ning Chen's lips curled into a smile. When it came to tomb raiding, he was the General of the Grave Robbers, the leader of the Tomb Raiders.

In terms of real-world archaeology, Ning Chen is the director of the research institute and also Hu Bayi's superior. Does Hu Bayi have the ability to slack off and cheat on him?

If Ning Chen doesn't subdue Hu Bayi properly, how will he lead these two unruly tomb raiders to accomplish important tasks in the future?

The Nine-Story Demon Tower, the Ancient City of Jingjue, and the Dragon Ridge Caves are all must-visit places. Ning Chen must maintain his leadership position.

As Ning Chen revealed the feng shui of Pengyuegou, Hu Bayi became listless, and in the end, he and Fatty Wang were reduced to being mere tools.

"Alright, time's up!"

After determining the entrance to the tomb passage using the celestial feng shui method, Ning Chen asked Hu Bayi to take out two entrenching tools, one for himself and the other for Fatty.

"Remember, you two need to work quickly. The terrain here is low-lying and not suitable for deep burials. The ancient tombs under the leaf litter layer won't be too deep."

Fatty Wang asked again, "Chief, um, weren't we here for research and investigation? Why are we digging up graves right away?"

"How can we investigate or research without digging? Wang Kaixuan, how many training sessions have we had in our institute? Can't you remember this?"

Ning Chen rebuked him!

"Okay, okay! I'll dig right away!"

Fatty Wang immediately chickened out and grabbed an entrenching tool, digging up and down. Hu Bayi had no choice but to join in. The two of them dug a pit a meter deep in two hours, but they didn't have the strength to continue digging.

"Here, have some Red Bull to perk you up!"

Ning Chen very kindly prepared drinks for the two of them. Wang Pangzi took a sip out of suspicion, but to his surprise, the taste was not bad, so he drank it all in one go.

Hu Bayi also drank it all up.

After resting for a while, the two bent down and continued digging. At that moment, the three of them suddenly heard a gunshot and knew that something had happened to Yingzi.

Ning Chen and the other two rushed over and saw a skeletal structure under a simple shack, with about a dozen human skeletons. Yingzi was trembling beside them.

"What's wrong, Yingzi!"

"Dead...dead people..." This girl was fearless, but she was terrified of dead people. In her haste, she instinctively fired a shot.

My face is burning up now.

"Director Ning, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!" Yingzi felt very apologetic, afraid of disturbing Ning Chen's affairs.

"It's alright, safety first."

Ning Chen looked around and saw a pile of human bones inside the shack and another pile outside. The two groups were dressed differently, so they should not be from the same faction.

It must have been those Japanese and tomb raiders.

"Old Hu, do you recognize the words on this?" Fatty Wang pulled out a notebook, but it was written in Japanese. He was completely clueless and had no idea what the notebook was saying.

"Ah, that's so simple..."

Hu Bayi, half guessing and half deciphering, said, "The Japanese are all our descendants, and they learned their writing from us. It's about right to half-read and half-guess!"

Ning Chen couldn't stand it any longer and snatched the notebook, saying, "These Japanese are looking for the Japanese troops in the Kwantung Army fortress, but they've been wandering around in the Savage Gully for two years without finding the entrance."

Later, they encountered a group of tomb raiders, a conflict ensued, and they killed all the tomb raiders. However, they couldn't get out and ultimately committed suicide here by disembowelment!

"Director, you also understand Japanese?"

The two were truly surprised that Ning Chen was fluent in Japanese. Seeing that he was not very old, yet he was already rich, powerful, and had a fulfilling life, the two couldn't help but feel ashamed.

Ning Chen casually said, "I learned it when I had nothing else to do. Japanese isn't difficult to speak at all, English is just as simple, and so are German and Russian..."

Since I was free anyway, I learned a little bit of everything. You don't know, I have a photographic memory, so learning so many foreign languages ​​is for convenience.

The crushing force from the wall almost brought them to tears. Was it really necessary to be so devastating? Ning Chen patted them on the shoulders, telling them to take it easy.

Hu Bayi and Wang Pangzi turned around and continued digging. Another half day passed, and the sun had already set. Finally, the entrenching tool hit something hard!

Something that looks like a tile?

Hu Bayi raised an eyebrow. "These are glazed tiles, Chief. This should be the Tianbao Dragon Fire Glazed Roof. We can't dig any further."

In the late Northern Song Dynasty, the Jin people would generally use a popular anti-theft technique after their deaths: the Tianbao Longhuo Glazed Tile Roof.

This technique is extreme, but it is very effective at preventing theft. The tomb chamber is hollow, and the ceiling is first covered with a very thin layer of glazed tiles, on which are bags of Western Region fire dragon oil. Then there is another layer of glazed tiles, and finally the sealing mound.

Once the glazed tiles are broken, the fire dragon oil from the Western Regions will ignite upon contact with air, eventually burning all the remains and burial objects in the tomb to ashes, leaving the tomb robbers with nothing.

Ning Chen said, "Let's go, there's no need to dig anymore."

When Hu Bayi heard this, he thought Ning Chen was going to give up. Although he didn't like Ning Chen, it wasn't like him to have worked hard for most of the day and come up empty-handed.

"Chief, I think we should be able to get into the main burial chamber by digging a hole from the side!" Hu Bayi didn't hide anything.

However, Ning Chen said, "I looked through my notes and realized I overlooked something. Didn't the tomb raiders killed by the Japanese dig a tunnel? Maybe we can save some trouble by looking for it..."

The two of them: "???"

"Director, why didn't you say so sooner?"

Hearing Ning Chen's words, Hu Ba's face darkened. Such an important clue had only been discovered at this time. Hadn't he and Fatty Wang been working for nothing all day?

Ning Chen smiled shyly: "It was an oversight..."

Bullshit! Ning Chen just wanted to give that silly kid a hard time. Don't think that just because Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang are respectful to him on the surface, Ning Chen doesn't know that they've been cursing him behind his back, calling him Ning the Skinflint!

Ning Chen remembers all of this!

Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang searched the area and found a tomb-raiding hole. It was unfathomably deep and clearly the work of professionals.

The two looked at Ning Chen with resentful eyes!

A long chapter of 4,000 words, please add it to your favorites and recommend it!

(End of this chapter)