Chapter 2415 - 2318: Jin, Silver, and Jewels
Chapter 2415: Chapter 2318: Jin, Silver, and Jewels
Shi Qingyun’s words immediately reminded Zhou Shitao and Xie Daoyuan, especially Zhou Shitao, whose face dramatically changed as he turned around and started to run toward the burial pit.
The archaeologists in the outer chamber were still waiting, and seeing Zhou Shitao rushing out urgently, they quickly reassured him:
"Professor, the stone door is closed and there are no signs of it being moved, everything inside should be fine."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Shitao relaxed his tense nerves, but he did not let down his guard completely.
They opened the aforementioned stone coffin in the main burial chamber, which showed no signs of tampering before they discovered a dry corpse inside, silently placed by someone with extraordinary abilities.
Zhou Shitao couldn’t guess how this was done, but if the person was interested in the items in the burial pit, they might take away all the artifacts without any effort.
Thus, Zhou Shitao was very nervous. Initially, he thought about opening the burial pit tomorrow, but now he was determined to work overtime tonight to move the items inside.
"Open it, today. Notify the Cultural Relics Bureau to send more personnel here, we must work through the night to clear out the items from the burial pit!"
Zhou Shitao was always decisive in his actions, and as the team leader, others certainly had no objections.
Director He was sent to the hospital, so the Deputy Director naturally took over his work. There weren’t many team members on this archaeological mission, so suddenly gathering more personnel would be difficult. But with Zhou Shitao’s orders, the Deputy Director had to hurry and make arrangements.
Zhou Shitao didn’t bother asking about their arrangements; he only cared about the results.
After encountering the previous array and the strange dry corpse in the stone coffin, the archaeologists were hesitant. Some timid ones were already feeling uneasy. But when they heard Zhou Shitao talk about opening the burial pit, those who initially wanted to back down began to reconsider hesitantly.
For these archaeologists, participating in the excavation of a large tomb was the most desired opportunity.
This tomb might be small now with only the auricle chamber and main burial chamber opened, but significant finds like Mermaid Cream and Jiaoxiao have already been discovered, things that could shake the archaeological world.
For them, this was a massive opportunity. Even for future employment, having this experience would be impressive.
Moreover, the previous finds are nothing compared to the burial pit contents.
Ge Hong, being a famed alchemist, had ample wealth, and the burial pit likely contains luxurious items that, although they may be handed over to the state, witnessing the unearthing of treasures at close quarters and experiencing ancient civilization two thousand years old is a great temptation.
It was Zhou Shitao’s decision to "excavate overnight" that made some frightened archaeologists, who intended to request withdrawal, reconsider and ultimately decide to endure these few days.
Despite their fear of spirits and the creepy atmosphere of the tomb, they reassured themselves that participating in a group excavation was safe, and if they didn’t perform any wrongful acts, nothing bad would likely happen to them.
With this psychological reassurance, the team calmed down and stood quietly waiting for Zhou Shitao’s instructions.
Opening the stone door of the burial pit went fairly smoothly; initially, Zhou Shitao feared Ge Hong might have set an array inside as well. So after the door was opened, Zhou Shitao blocked the entrance to observe before letting anyone enter.
Coincidentally, Bai Buzhi was still in the tomb, so Zhou Shitao entrusted him with the task.
Bai Buzhi didn’t enter but glanced inside and said directly:
"Alright, go ahead; there’s no array set inside."
Seeing Zhou Shitao still in doubt, Bai Buzhi smiled and said:
"The burial pit should contain the wealth of the tomb owner during his lifetime. But as Dao Men practitioners, we believe in not taking wealth, both in life and death."
"These treasures mean nothing to you ordinary people, but to practitioners, they’re insignificant and not worth the effort to protect."
"You should understand that the effort and cultivation spent on opening an array are more valuable than these treasures, a concept beyond your comprehension."
Saying this, Bai Buzhi ignored Zhou Shitao’s thoughts and walked inside, prompting Zhou Shitao to quickly follow.
Other archaeological staff remained motionless, only Xie Daoyuan and Shi Qingyun followed Zhou Shitao, while Huo Sining, holding a camera, casually followed behind.
The burial chamber was larger than the main burial chamber, and upon entry, a strong rust smell pierced their nostrils, stinging sharply. The first sight was several three-legged and four-legged Bronze Ding.
There were about a dozen or twenty such Bronze Ding, each about as tall as an adult, appearing very hefty, likely due to their age, overrun with rust.
The earlier rust smell inside seemed to have emanated from these Bronze Ding.
Bronze Ding from the Eastern Jin Dynasty are relatively common, so Huo Sining found nothing extraordinary.
However, as she approached with the camera, the footage revealed the contents of these Bronze Ding, causing her to stumble and nearly fall.
She struggled to breathe and almost choked; she could only stare wide-eyed at the contents.
Meanwhile, the video transmission reached Su Qingqing, Huang Zhenlong, and others outside the tomb.
Su Qingqing, a money lover, quickly regained composure as her voice rang through the walkie-talkie:
"Ahhhhh... my goodness, Ningning, focus the camera a bit more; I seemed to have misjudged earlier, are those Bronze Ding really filled with gold and silver jewels?!"
Huo Sining felt a bit helpless, thinking you seem a bit foolish, isn’t it just money, why are you so inexperienced?
But as the thought crossed her mind, she turned her gaze and saw Zhou Shitao, Xie Daoyuan, and Shi Qingyun stunned at the sight as well, completely taken aback.