"That's it, what does this mean?"
Atop the hill, the sun was blazing, and a few beads of sweat formed on Shen Qianqian's forehead.
Lin Chuan took cover behind a small tree, and then raised his hand to point to a location about a kilometer away from the construction site pit. It was also a relatively flat depression, but much more secluded.
"That should be where the tomb is located."
"How did you figure that out?" Shen Qianqian, once again, felt a trace of amazement towards the young man she had known for quite some time.
He always brought her something different.
"Seeking the dragon to divide the gold, observing how the mountains entwine, each twist is a barrier, eight dangerous gates as if in a bagua formation—doors must follow the eight trigrams," Lin Chuan recited cryptically.
"Pretty good at bluffing."
Shen Qianqian raised an eyebrow and smiled, saying.
"Actually, I'm not entirely certain now, we'll have to go down and see."
Lin Chuan also smiled, "Let's go, it's too hot up here, I'm about to sweat to death."
"Okay."
Shen Qianqian wiped the sweat from her forehead and followed Lin Chuan down the hill, back to the construction site pit they had come from.
"You're back, did you find anything?" Qin Sisi asked with a smile.
Shen Qianqian leaned closer to Qin Sisi and laughed, "We did find something indeed."
A look of surprise appeared on Qin Sisi's face, "What did you find?"
Shen Qianqian looked towards Lin Chuan.
Lin Chuan raised his hand and pointed, "Over there might be the location of the tomb you're looking for."
Hmm?
Qin Sisi frowned even more, her face filled with astonishment.
She glanced at Lin Chuan, then at Shen Qianqian.
Shen Qianqian waved her hand, "Sisi, don't look at me, I really didn't know Lin Chuan was into this stuff."
"Just take it as a reference."
Lin Chuan touched his nose and chuckled awkwardly.
Qin Sisi stared at Lin Chuan thoughtfully for a while, her mind full of doubts. Wasn't Lin Chuan just an antique appraiser and a web novel writer?
He went up the hill and then came back claiming he'd found the location of the tomb?
Utterly baffling!
Was he just talking off the cuff, perhaps boasting like he would inflate his word count when writing a web novel, or was he truly confident?
It was unknown.
But.
Since Lin Chuan had spoken, she felt it was best to report to the director and let him make the decision.
At that moment, Director Su Yu was in the pit, conversing with an archaeological expert.
"Director, Lin Chuan says he's found the location of the tomb," Qin Sisi ran into the pit, her boots covered in mud.
"He found the tomb's location?"
Director Su Yu also frowned, raised his head, and looked towards Lin Chuan standing outside the pit.
"Yes, Lin Chuan said it could be a reference for us," Qin Sisi relayed like a megaphone.
Director Su Yu rested his hand on his chin and muttered, "Old Zhang didn't mention that Comrade Lin had the expertise to identify tombs when he introduced him to me."
The Old Zhang he referred to was the police chief, Zhang Biao.
The archaeological expert, Old Lu, interjected, "Director, the Lin Chuan who found the tomb's location, which one is he?"
"He's a young man, quite promising, has solved many cases," Director Su Yu answered, then added, "all of them major cases."
The expression on the archaeological expert Old Lu's face grew sterner, "Archaeology is different from solving cases, they're entirely different things."
"That's my thought as well."
Director Su Yu glanced at the archaeological expert Old Lu and asked, "Have you found the location of the tomb?"
Old Lu's eyes shifted evasively, his complexion became awkward, and he answered hesitantly, "Not... not yet, but soon."
"How soon is soon?" Director Su Yu asked.
"Should be about three days," the archaeological expert Old Lu twitched his mouth, giving a timeframe.
"Three days is too long; I can't withstand the pressure," Director Su Yu sighed.
This was the planned site for the Anling New District, tied to the economic development of Anling City, but the emergence of Western Han Dynasty bronze artifacts had halted the construction of the intended shopping center.
There had to be both cultural preservation and economic development.
Both were indispensable.
The pressure to accelerate the excavation of the tomb naturally fell on Director Su Yu's shoulders.
But now, even the location of the tomb had not been determined.
Indeed, the progress was much slower than expected.
"With our current equipment, three days is the fastest possible," the archaeological expert Old Lu said with a troubled expression.
"How about this, we first check out the place that Comrade Lin Chuan mentioned; it won't interfere with the progress here anyway," Qin Sisi interjected to steer the direction of the conversation back.
'Economic development,' 'new district,' that was beyond her considerations.
All she wanted to know was where the tomb was.
And then dig, dig, dig.
Cough, conduct a protective excavation!
"All right, we might as well treat it as a hail Mary; let's go check if Comrade Lin's judgement is accurate," Director Su Yu agreed with a nod.
Qin Sisi quickly packed two sets of archaeological excavation tools, skillfully assembling them.
Then, she headed out of the pit to meet with Lin Chuan and Shen Qianqian.
"Comrade Lin, I heard from Sisi that you've located the tomb," Director Su Yu, holding Lin Chuan's hand with a smile on his face, inquired.
Lin Chuan smiled and replied, "I observed the mountain ranges and the position surrounded by hills, it's most likely there."
"Are you confident?"
Director Su Yu asked another question.
However, even if Lin Chuan said he wasn't certain, he would still check it out.
Lin Chuan pondered for a moment before smiling, "Probably about ninety percent."
"Ninety percent."
Director Su Yu raised an eyebrow and muttered, "It seems Comrade Lin is quite confident."
The archaeology expert, Old Lu, looked at Lin Chuan's youthful face—around twenty-four or twenty-five—and twitched the corner of his mouth. Young people are indeed brash, claiming ninety percent confidence just like that.
He had been here for several days and had not located the position of the tomb.
Now this young man had arrived and instantly claimed a ninety percent certainty of finding the tomb, which made him seem arrogant and, by comparison, made him feel somewhat incompetent.
But the archaeology expert couldn't find a reason to refute him.
Because, indeed, he hadn't found the tomb.
Amidst the archaeology expert's internal struggle and rather resentful gaze, the group walked about a kilometer to reach the spot pointed out by Lin Chuan.
At noon.
The sky above was a brilliant azure, clear of any clouds, with the sun directly above, casting the mountains and ridges in the eyes of the beholders into a deep ink-green tint, as if edged with gold.
Under a large tree, sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows on the ground.
The group stood there, looking up and surveying their surroundings.
In the distance across the river lay the silently standing Anling City.
Looking further, they could see mountains encircling them, rising and falling in successive ranges, where between the mountains the lush greenery was a sight that gave one a feeling of sitting in a place of honor.
"Is it here?"
The archaeology expert Old Lu couldn't help but ask.
The weather was too hot, beads of sweat shone on everyone's faces, and his shirt had a large wet patch on the back.
But he didn't dare to voice these discomforts directly, because Su Yu hadn't given him the cue.
After a while, a cool breeze blew by, bringing with it a hint of coolness.
Whoo—
Lin Chuan exhaled a breath of hot air, then carried an archaeology probe shovel forward a few steps, skillfully flipping it so that the shovel's tip touched the ground, and with a push of his arms, the shovel embedded into the soil, lifting out a shovel-full of earth.
The surface layer of the soil was somewhat dry, with the dry layer about half a finger thick.
Lin Chuan squatted down, scooped up a handful of moist soil, and sniffed it at his nose. The fragrance of the soil invaded his nostrils, along with a very faint, very subtle different smell, like the accumulated scent in an old house.
This scent was subtle.
Most people wouldn't notice it.
The others on site watched Lin Chuan's earnest actions and furrowed their brows.
"Comrade Lin Chuan, are you practicing the Technique of Sensing the Earth?"
Qin Sisi, who had a keen interest in archaeology and had also heard a lot about tomb robbing techniques, couldn't help but be the first to ask, seeing Lin Chuan squatting on the ground and sniffing the earth.
"You know about this too?"
Lin Chuan looked up and grinned.
"I've only heard of it, I don't understand it," Qin Sisi shook her head and picked up an archaeology probe shovel, walking over as well.
Lin Chuan smiled and said, "The Technique of Sensing the Earth, you can call it a dog's nose. This method allows one to discern whether there are ancient tombs below ground by smelling the odor of the soil, and some capable individuals can also determine if the tomb has been robbed and the era of the burial site."
"I always thought it was fictional."
Qin Sisi swallowed and a look of surprise flitted across her gentle and graceful face.
It seemed this web novel writer had something up his sleeve.
"Is there a tomb below?"
The archaeology expert Old Lu asked again.
Lin Chuan smiled and said, "Expert, why don't you come and have a sniff?"
Old Lu shook his head, feeling a bit annoyed and said, "I only believe in precise scientific instruments. If only I had known, I would've brought a sonic detector."
"My primitive method should work too," Lin Chuan chuckled.
Then.
Lin Chuan walked a distance further and continued to dig out another shovel of earth.
However, this shovel-full of earth was slightly different from the last one.
The surface layer was just as dry, but the thickness of the dry layer was about a finger's length.
Qin Sisi watched Lin Chuan measure the soil with his middle finger and, not understanding, asked, "Comrade Lin, what are you doing?"
Lin Chuan put down the probe shovel and scooped up more soil to sniff.
The soil felt slightly cool and gave off a fragrance.
Lin Chuan put down the soil and then answered, "The two spots here have the same conditions of sunlight, topography, and soil structure, but their dry layers are of different thicknesses."
"What does this mean?"
Qin Sisi's expression became puzzled, her brow furrowed as a flicker of realization seemed to cross her mind, but she was unable to grasp it.
"It means that the water storage beneath these two spots is different," Lin Chuan explained.
Qin Sisi's eyes lit up, and she quickly understood, "I see. You mean that the drier layer of soil has less capacity to store water. Our southern climate is humid, and most tombs are brick-constructed chambers, so often there's a waterproof layer built outside the tomb chamber. This stops the soil above from absorbing water downwards, making it appear more moist."
"Your knowledge of archaeology is not bad."
Lin Chuan smiled, giving her a thumbs up.
A flush of pleasure appeared on Qin Sisi's face, like a student receiving praise and recognition from a teacher back in her school days.
Hey, why did I start thinking of him as a teacher?
Elsewhere.
Director Su Yu's brows knitted together.
The two techniques Lin Chuan had shown were quite professional, inadvertently convincing them a bit.
This kid really has some stuff!
Meanwhile, the archaeology expert Old Lu next to Su Yu twitched at his lips, thinking, this kid is really playing dumb to catch the smart. Good thing I didn't jump out and get my face slapped!

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