General of the Heavens

Chapter 77 A Humorous Take on Archaeology [Seeking Recommendations]

"I understand! 'Ling' refers to a tomb. Given Brother Chen's character, it must be an extremely precious ancient tomb for him to risk his life to protect!"

Sometimes inspiration strikes and you can't stop it. Xu Yicheng suddenly glanced at the newspaper on the table: the Eastern Qing Tombs were robbed last night…

"I understand, I understand everything! The five fingers are pointing to the five emperors in the Eastern Qing Tombs!" Xu Yicheng exclaimed excitedly.

Ning Chen mentally gave Xu Yicheng a thumbs up, "Congratulations, you perfectly avoided all the correct answers..."

Humans sometimes have an incredibly strong ability to fill in the blanks.

Xu Yicheng thought about it more and more and felt that this was the case. Although Ning Chen knew a lot, letting Xu Yicheng explore on his own would draw most of the firepower to him and make it easier to attract those old schemers who were still hiding in the dark. So he did not reveal too much.

"As for the local customs and practices, those related to the tomb should be the Japanese local customs survey team. Besides, Brother Ning mentioned before that Brother Chen was being hunted down by the Japanese!"

Xu Yicheng stroked his chin, analyzing the situation, and then said, "Brother Ning, you're also interested in archaeology, and protecting ancient tombs is a common goal for all of us archaeologists. You can't stand idly by!"

Ning Chen smirked and said, "Brother Xu, don't worry. The Japanese have long coveted Chinese cultural relics. Since this matter concerns them, I will definitely stand on your side."

Xu Yicheng was moved, and Ning Chen said, "However, since it involves the local customs and culture investigation team, we can test them first."

"How should we test him?" Xu Yicheng asked.

"Just come with me!" Ning Chen kept everyone in suspense. This wasn't really to help Xu Yicheng; Ning Chen mainly wanted to know whether Sakai Daisuke was alive or dead.

With a powerful backer, Ning Chen quickly found out the location of the Chinese customs and culture survey team.

Dahua Hotel.

Ning Chen drove Xu Yicheng to the Dahua Hotel, a high-end luxury hotel specifically for foreigners.

It is said that a New York designer was hired to design it. Xu Yicheng walked into the hotel and went straight to the counter, slamming a copper coin onto the counter.

"What Japanese guests have been staying here recently?" Xu Yicheng asked, though he was probably used to this kind of scene.

The man didn't even glance at the copper coin Xu Yicheng had confiscated, and said with a smile, "I'm sorry, it involves the guest's privacy, so I can't comment."

Xu Yicheng was taken aback and was about to take out more money when Ning Chen couldn't wait any longer and directly took out his ID and threw it on the counter.

The receptionist picked up the document suspiciously, glanced at it, and immediately deflated, then handed it back to Ning Chen with a wry smile.

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you. Please don't be angry, distinguished guests. The political situation has been unstable recently. Right now, there is only one Japanese inspection team staying here, from Tokyo Imperial University."

"What are they here for?"

The receptionist said, "I heard they're here to inspect some historical sites. We have a young guy here who helped them carry their suitcases. One of them fell to the ground, and he saw that it was full of maps."

Finally, he pointed and said, "Look, the one by the window is the professor in the group. I don't know why, but I haven't seen the others for a long time."

Ning Chen thought to himself, "It would be strange if you could even see this; I basically wiped out everyone in the expedition team except for those who didn't go to Dongling!"

Xu Yicheng looked in the direction he pointed and saw a Japanese man in a kimono sitting on the sofa by the window.

Ning Chen turned his head and gave Xu Yicheng a wink. Xu Yicheng walked directly to the Japanese professor and handed him a business card.

Then he clasped his hands in a fist and said, "My name is Xu Yicheng. I study archaeology at Tsinghua University. I heard that you are an archaeology professor from Tokyo, and I would like to get to know you."

When Kido Yuzo heard the word "archaeology," his eyes lit up instantly. Without doubting whether Ning Chen and Xu Yicheng were bad people, he began to talk non-stop.

Kido Yuzumichi: "I am a professor of archaeology at Tokyo Imperial University. I was invited along with several other scholars to join the China Culture and Tourism Research Team to investigate ancient sites in the northwest region. I am very pleased to meet you two."

"A local customs and culture inspection team?"

Upon hearing this name, Xu Yicheng felt a chill run down his spine. He took out the local customs markings he had previously copied and handed them to Kido Yuzo for a look.

"This is the mark of the Soil and Environment Research Society."

Xu Yicheng was about to ask another question when Ning Chen interrupted, "I heard this is a foundation, an organization dedicated to excavation and tomb raiding?"

Kido shook his head three times, explaining urgently, "No, no, we are an academic group that excavates and studies the history of East Asia."

"Isn't that still tomb raiding?"

Ning Chen pursed his lips and said, "Kido has to go to the bathroom." He then tried his best to explain the difference between archaeology and tomb raiding in his not-so-fluent Chinese.

Ning Chen appeared indifferent, but inwardly he sneered. These Japanese had been coveting Chinese culture ever since the First Sino-Japanese War.

Japanese people who come to China to plunder tombs under the guise of archaeology are as numerous as carp crossing a river. They plunder tombs and ruins in order to collect ancient books and cultural relics and protect East Asian culture.

This is almost an open secret.

Professor Kido Yuzo was a bookworm; for example, the local customs survey team he was part of did not do things the way he claimed.

Their leader, Daisuke Sakai, was one of the best among them. Xu Yicheng, who was more concerned about Chen Weili, asked Kido Yuzo, "Are you planning to investigate ancient tombs?"

Kido Yuzo is indeed an honest man. "Yes, and we hope to have at least one on-site excavation. A Han or Tang tomb would be most suitable."

Ning Chen couldn't stand how shameless they were. The Japanese were talking about tomb raiding with such seriousness, they were completely disregarding him, the General of Tomb Raiders!

"I say, don't you Japanese people realize that digging up graves in other countries is a form of theft?"

Kido Yuzo looked at Ning Chen strangely and said, "How can an archaeologist's work be considered stealing? This friend's question is really strange."

Ning Chen: "..."

Ning Chen was so angry he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. This was so shameless! The last time someone said something like that was Chen Yulou, right?

Kido Yuzo continued to speak eloquently: "Moreover, these cultural relics are precious treasures of East Asian history. If they are not excavated and protected as soon as possible, your warlords will destroy them completely."

"Bullshit! These are our precious treasures. Don't you Japanese have any graves? We should thank you for stealing from our country?"

Kido Yuzo had never seen such a pedantic person before, and his voice rose involuntarily: "History is not the property of any one person, group, or country; it belongs to all the people of the world."

"Nonsense! According to you, your country has more than a hundred imperial tombs, covering thousands of years of history. How come we've never seen you excavate them?"

If our country's precious historical relics belong to all the people of the world, then shouldn't your Emperor's Mausoleum also be excavated and protected by archaeologists from all over the world?

Kido has a three-word idiom.

Ning Chen's words hit the nail on the head!

Japan has a rule against excavating the imperial tombs, yet now they are coming to China to covet the imperial tombs of past dynasties. Isn't that a contradiction?

So, the Japanese have always had double standards...

P.S.: Please add to your favorites and recommend!

(End of this chapter)