Outside the western suburbs of Xiâan, about 45 kilometers away, there was a small village called Nighua Village, which was remote and unremarkable.
In the early spring of 1999, the roads had not yet been built and only minibusses could be used to pass through.
Wang Ji and Zhang Mingzhi were two famous geologist scholars of that time who came to this small village to explore it.
There were several hills in Nighua Village, in these hills the villagers usually planted fruit trees; this could be regarded as their source of income.
Wang Ji and Zhang Mingzhi spoke to the village Secretary about this exploration. After communicating their intentions, they took their equipment towards the smaller hill on the east side of the stream.
This small hill was called the Dejin <sup>1</sup> slope. Dejin, as its name implies, brings money. The village Secretary explained to them before that because the soil was good, the villagers planted tons of peach trees in this area to grow and produce a lot of peaches, making this the origin of the small hillâs name.
Climbing halfway up the slope, Wang Ji took out a simple instrument and slowly began to take measurements.
Because this remote and poor village was rarely visited by people, this was the first time that they saw such a machine being used, these people came in with very strange machines and equipment. The villagers felt these things were a rarity, so adults and childrens rushed over to join in the fun.
âThe filling <sup>2</sup> is Q4ml brown and brownish-yellow, mainly clay and silt soil, with a low degree of compaction. The accumulation time should be less than 5 years, and the thickness should be between 1,2-1,5mâŠ.â
âThe flood fill <sup>3</sup> is Q4al grayish-white, yellowish-brown, same asâŠâ
While Wang Ji analyzed, Zhang Mingzhi took notes, this division of labor was very clear and they didnât take much time.
However, just as they were about to survey deeper to see if there was any water underground, a womanâs scream came not that far away from where they were at.
They subconsciously looked over from where the sound came from, only to see a hundred meters away, a woman sitting on the ground, paralyzed by fear, and at her side stood a man with his face showing a terrified expression as well.
But these things werenât what attracted Wang Ji and Zhang Mingzhi. Their eyes were caught by the blue fire on the ground.
Natural gas!
Wang Ji and Zhang Mingzhiâs eyes brightened up!
Could there still be natural gas hidden underneath this small hillâs village?
Stepping forward, Wang Ji hurriedly asked: âWhat happened?â
The paralyzed woman laying on the ground heard from the old folk, that a blue fire was a ghost that came from the netherworld. A ghost that was dissatisfied with the actions of the people living over the ground deliberately lit its blue fire to warn the living beings. And she had never seen before that from the ground, suddenly and out of nowhere, a blue flame could ignite itself. Remembering the sayings of the old folk, the womanâs legs were too weak to stand up for herself, she was trembling, unable to utter a single word.
When Zhang Mingzhi saw that the woman was unable to speak, he turned to the man standing next to her: âHow did this fire appear all of a sudden?â
The man swallowed saliva, and when he heard Zhang Mingzhiâs question, he returned to reality: âOh, like this, just now my sister and I came to the hillside to loosen the soil for the peach trees and prepare to add the fertilizer. After I tossed a cigarette butt, how could I know that it would suddenly ignite like thisâŠâŠâ The man hesitated, thinking that they might be some experts and will probably know something, after some more hesitation he finally added: âWill you look at my land, would you tell me if it is not auspicious?â
Wang Ji smiled and waved his hand: âThis could be natural gas.â
He looked at the Village Secretary that stood on the side and then said: âSecretary Tian, please keep the villagers away from Dejin hill. If thereâs natural gas underneath the ground, it will be dangerous.â Whether it was inhaled or provoked a fire that could lead to an explosionâŠ
As soon as the surrounding villagers heard that it might be dangerous to stay around, they hurriedly took their children away. When the villagers were almost gone, Wang Ji and Zhang Mingzhi took out a gas detector to make a test.
Both of them were extremely excited at the idea of finding natural gas in this small Village, however, they were soon disappointed. Before they could finish the exploration, the fire disappeared. At the same time, the results of the detention of gas showed that there was no natural gas here.
âThereâs only one logical explanation for this.â Wang Ji shook his head with some disappointment: âThere must be a large number of corpses buried underground.â
âThere used to be a cemetery here?â Zhang Mingzhi put away the detector and looked around: âBut, thereâs not a single monument in sight? If it was a cemetery, how come the people living here donât know? Could it be an ancient tomb?â
âThen can you take a look at the bottom soil layer?â
The shovel went down to 20 meters and brought out the underground soil.
Half a month later, when Wang Ji checked the research report he couldnât help but happily say: âI guess that old archeologist Li Guoxian will go crazy after he sees this.â
âYeah, after all, underground thereâs an ancient tomb of a thousand yearsâŠâ
Ninhua Village suddenly became lively and crowded, and after two years of excavation, the hill was almost flattened. After them, a thousand-year-old ancient tomb that was buried deep underground appeared in front of everyoneâs eyesâŠ
The bones and coffins of nearly a thousand people emitted a pungent stench of decomposition that wouldnât go away for a long time⊠This shocked everyoneâs eyes, and astonished their hearts <sup>4</sup> , making their hair stand, and their spine felt cold <sup>5</sup> âŠ.
Li Guoxian, the most highly experienced in archeology at X University, looked at this amazing tomb and exclaimed: âBurial pits <sup>6</sup> , this is just one of the burial pits!â
This scale of martyrdom is much larger than that of the Qin Gong tomb <sup>7</sup> . This must be the tomb of an Emperor!
He just doesnât know which Emperorâs tomb is this!
Archeological work doesnât happen overnight, nor is it built up as quickly as the construction of a high-rise building.
Twelve years later, the development of the city has been shaking the earth, high-rise buildings have been erected, and the former Ninghua Village has officially turned into a major archeological site. The local villagers, too, moved to another location five years ago.
Qin Cheng has been living in this village for the past two years, following his mentor Li Guoxian. Now, heâs a third-year graduate student.
When he first came to Ninghua Village, the excavations of the main tomb were just beginning. After two years, only one-fifth of the main tomb had been excavated.
There were so many utensils buried in the tomb, each one of them was rare and extremely valuable. They canât be careless.
However, for these archeologists that had already seen too many of these artifacts, the only thing that occupied their minds at the present was no longer the interest for these gold and bronze tripods, but the identity of the tomb owner himselfâŠ.
Yes, so many years have passed and they still havenât found any information about the owner of the tomb. In these nearly 14 years of excavation, they could only speculate and deny over and over again.
Who is the owner of the tomb? This mystery has not only remained unsolved but has also become more and more confusing due to these recent years of excavationsâŠ..
However, this archeological work that aroused the archeologistsâ hearts, suddenly stopped because of an incident that occurred last Friday.
Qin Chengâs fellow disciple, Jiang Bo, who graduated just the year before, died.
The way he died was unknownâŠ.
Hello, and welcome to a new adventure ïŒŻ(â§âœâŠ)ïŒŻ !!
The update schedule for this novel will be 2 chapters a week, those days being: Saturday & Sunday.
So wait tomorrow for the second chapter! Yay! ăœ(ăâ)ïŸ *:ă»ïŸâ§