The fatty seemed somewhat unconvinced and wanted to confront the other party head-on. I quickly pulled him back, signaling him to not act rashly.
Currently, the other side had more people, and we were on their territory. If we were to make a move impulsively, we definitely wouldn't come out on top.
"Let's go, we need to go in and get the things," I said to the fatty.
The fatty looked anxious and whispered, "Brother Xiang, you really want to go in? Once we go in, I'm afraid..."
I gave him a reassuring look and then said to the leader of the group, "Hey, can you at least give me a flashlight? It's so dark in there, how are we supposed to find anything?"
The man hesitated for a moment, then had someone next to him hand me a flashlight.
Taking the flashlight, I didn't waste any words and directly crawled into the tomb-robbing tunnel.
Although the fatty was reluctant, seeing me go in, he could only follow behind me.
This was an inclined tomb-robbing tunnel, and it wasn't very deep. Following the slope, we quickly reached the bottom.
The tomb chamber wasn't large, only about fifty square meters. In the center was an opened coffin, which seemed to have been emptied by tomb robbers.
Before I could observe the surroundings, I heard a sparse sound, and a lot of soil slid down from the tomb-robbing tunnel.
"Damn it, I knew it! Those guys never intended to let us out!" the fatty cursed, trying to use his body to block the falling soil.
I quickly pulled him over. "What are you doing?"
"Brother Xiang, we're going to be buried alive!"
"What's the rush?" I swept the flashlight around. "There's more than one tomb-robbing tunnel."
The fatty blinked. "What do you mean?"
"When we were outside earlier, I observed it. This tomb-robbing tunnel was dug recently. Look at their expressions, they clearly came here and found nothing. What does that tell us?"
"Tell us what?"
I sighed, "It means someone else got here first."
"So what?"
"Since someone got here first, there must be other tomb-robbing tunnels. When we find that tunnel, we can get out."
Upon hearing this, the fatty finally breathed a sigh of relief. "I knew it. You knew it was dangerous to come down, but you still came in. You had a plan all along. What is that saying? The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!"
"I don't know if we're the oriole, but I think we need to leave ourselves an escape route."
As I said that, I asked the fatty to help me lift the coffin lid from the ground and use it to block the narrow tomb-robbing tunnel.
This way, the remaining soil wouldn't be too extensive, and if all else fails, we could dig our way out from here.
After finishing this, I walked up to the coffin and looked inside.
I considered myself quite experienced at entering tombs now, so I wasn't particularly scared by the sight of the coffin.
The coffin was empty, the body was nowhere to be found, only some rotten wood residue.
I went to check the surroundings. The tomb's structure was simple, clearly not belonging to any high-ranking official, at most it was the tomb of a wealthy family.
Judging from the layout, this should be a tomb from the Qing Dynasty.
Not far away, there was a passage over a meter long, which seemed to lead to a side chamber.
The fatty and I crawled through that passage and entered a side chamber of about ten square meters.
There were many jars and pots on the ground, but they had all been smashed. Anything of value had essentially been taken. At the innermost part of the side chamber, there was a pile of earth.
I walked over and dug through the pile of earth, revealing a collapsed tomb-robbing tunnel.
"Is this the other tomb-robbing tunnel?" the fatty asked.
I nodded. "It should be, but this tunnel isn't inclined. Let's dig it open first."
The fatty found two relatively large pottery shards from the side, and we began to dig.
After about half an hour, we dug open the tomb-robbing tunnel. I shone the flashlight inside and found that the middle section of the tunnel had not collapsed, so we should be able to climb out.
I said to the fatty, "You wait here for me. I'll crawl in and check."
"Okay."
This tomb-robbing tunnel was very small, and we could only crawl. After a short while, the opening started to widen, allowing us to crouch and walk.
After walking a bit further, a gust of wind blew in my face, and I realized that we should be able to get out ahead.
I started to return, telling the fatty to come with me.
After more than four hours of toiling, we finally crawled out of the tomb-robbing tunnel.
We sat on the ground, exhausted.
"Damn it, those scoundrels, I'll make them pay sooner or later!" the fatty cursed, lighting a cigarette and asking me, "Brother Xiang, hurry up and find a way back. I'm starving after all this."
I stood up, surveyed the surroundings, confirmed our bearings, and said, "We can get back to where we were from over there. We should be able to go back the way we came."
The fatty stood up and brushed himself off. "Let's go then."
When we reached the national highway, we couldn't get a single car. Just as we were preparing to walk back, a familiar taxi appeared before us.
It was the same car we had taken earlier. The driver rolled down the window and looked at us with a smile. "Oh, what a coincidence, you haven't gone back yet? Do you need a ride?"
Was that even a question? There wasn't a soul in sight in this place. If we had to walk back, it would take ages.
The fatty and I opened the car doors and got in. The driver asked us what had happened.
Before I could speak, the fatty blurted out, "Damn it, we were double-crossed!"
"I told you to be careful earlier, but you didn't listen... But it's good that you're alright."
"Driver, why are you still cruising around here? Have you been waiting for us?" the fatty asked.
"You didn't say you needed a return trip, so why would I wait for you? I just picked up a fare and was coming back. It seems we're destined to meet."
As he spoke, he pulled out a small card and handed it to me. "This is my phone number. If you need a taxi in the future, feel free to call me anytime."
I took the card and said, "Thanks."
By the time we returned to the city, it was already dawn. The fatty and I were not only starving but also completely exhausted.
We found a noodle shop, and after each of us ate two bowls of noodles, we returned to the guesthouse.
After returning, we took a shower and then went to bed.
We woke up around three in the afternoon.
I called Hong Yunpeng and asked him to investigate the background of that group of people.
Having suffered such a significant loss this time, I definitely wouldn't let it go.
"Brother Peng, that group should be a bunch of tomb robbers. See if you can find out if anyone knows any tomb robbers in Guicheng. If not, ask around about anyone in Guicheng who specializes in dealing with funerary objects," I instructed.
Hong Yunpeng said on the phone, "Got it, wait for my news."