Chapter 101: The Underwater Palace

Back inside the room, I hurriedly asked Black Sunglasses what had happened. He told me, “Judging by the attire, this female corpse is clearly an ancient burial companion. The fact that her body has only just begun to decompose now indicates one thing: the environment preserving her was excellent—sealed, dry, and so forth. Since this female corpse has appeared in this river channel, I can only speculate that there must be an ancient tomb nearby, or rather, a burial pit. Of course, burial pits are typically connected to tombs, but I’m still very puzzled.”

I asked him why he found it puzzling. He replied, “Although I don’t understand intricate feng shui principles, I do know a bit about the basics. The feng shui of this place is hardly a prime spot, yet this female corpse obviously belongs to a burial companion. That means there should be more than just this one. Tombs with burial pits usually belong to nobles or generals—people of high rank—and not just ordinary nobles. How could such a person be buried in such an unremarkable location?”

As he spoke, I listened carefully and contemplated his reasoning. Black Sunglasses’ deduction was meticulous and quite logical. Yet, the fact remained that a female corpse, clearly ancient and likely a burial companion, had appeared drifting in the Li Shui River.

At this point, our curiosity was merely a mild interest; it hadn’t yet demanded much of our attention. However, early the next morning, the village erupted in commotion. Several villagers, while gathering firewood in the mountains and passing by the Li Shui River, discovered numerous treasures—gold and silver—in the water. Some villagers brought back several pieces, all large golden ingots, which caused quite a stir throughout the village. Almost everyone grabbed whatever tools they had and rushed to the river.

This unexpected event caught us off guard. The village chief, an old Communist Party member with high awareness and considerable knowledge, understood that these items did not belong to individuals but to the state. Upon hearing the news, he hurriedly gathered several village officials and headed to the Li Shui River.

Although this matter was unrelated to Black Sunglasses and me, the village chief believed we were knowledgeable and capable, especially after Black Sunglasses identified the female corpse as ancient the day before. This convinced the chief of our expertise, so he invited us along. We had no choice but to comply, as it was important to maintain his respect. Besides, it would not waste much time, and I planned to leave Li Shui Village the next day and return to the capital.

Following the chief’s brisk pace, we arrived at the riverbank. Villagers were everywhere—almost the entire village had gathered, including elderly people and children. Some carried nets, others bags, and all sorts of tools, busily fishing treasures from the water.

The village chief quickly tried to stop them, while I approached the edge of the river. Feeling around in the water, I retrieved a small object. Upon opening my palm, I found an ancient-looking copper coin inscribed with archaic characters. Black Sunglasses glanced at it and said, “This is a five-zhu coin, from the Western Han Dynasty.”

I trusted Black Sunglasses’ judgment and examined the coin thoughtfully. “It seems your analysis is quite reliable. There must be an ancient tomb somewhere along this river channel.”

This made me suddenly realize: although this place wasn’t far from the Lou Fan Ancient Tomb, the two were likely connected. After all, within this hundred-mile radius, according to Black Sunglasses, this was hardly a feng shui treasure spot. If there truly was an ancient tomb here, it was probably closely related to the Lou Fan King’s tomb. Otherwise, it would be far too coincidental.

I shared these thoughts with Black Sunglasses, who agreed and added, “Exactly. I checked the map—the location matches the same feng shui line as the Lou Fan King’s tomb, right at the front end of the dragon’s head position. This cannot be a coincidence. As you said, this tomb contains burial companions, and judging by that corpse, these were living sacrifices, a very high standard. Such an elaborate tomb must belong to a person of extraordinary status. No one of that rank would build their tomb in the dragon’s head position of another. It simply couldn’t be coincidence.”

So, Black Sunglasses and I continued wandering along the Li Shui River for a while. We found that most villagers had picked up gold and silver ingots, with few bothering to collect the copper coins. After all, gold and silver seemed more valuable to ordinary people. But I knew better: these gold and silver pieces held little value in today’s market. The status of gold and silver artifacts has long been awkward; most people don’t regard ancient gold and silver as antiques with collectible value. Since they aren’t antiques, their worth is limited to the metal content itself. Unfortunately, ancient gold and silver were rarely pure by modern standards, so their value today is minimal.

Therefore, tomb robbers generally ignore gold and silver trinkets encountered during grave raids. Such items are less valuable than burial artifacts, cumbersome to carry, and not worth the effort.

However, the villagers of Li Shui had no concern for such distinctions. I saw many shouting excitedly, clutching silver ingots and hopping joyfully in the river. With only the village chief and a few officials trying to restrain them, it was nearly impossible to stop the frenzy. And who knew how long it would take for the township police to arrive?

We weren’t familiar with these villagers, and they paid no heed to our words. We weren’t eager to help the village chief persuade them either, so we followed him in a half-hearted manner. We walked along the river for about two miles and noticed more items floating in the water, the treasures becoming increasingly concentrated.

Black Sunglasses told me we were probably very close to the tomb, though he couldn’t say for certain if it was indeed a tomb. We informed the village chief that we wished to go ahead and investigate. He didn’t object.

The two of us walked another kilometer along the Li Shui River. The path was easier here, bordered by paddy fields with a farm road running between. Our pace quickened. At one point, I realized the items in the water were even more densely packed. Villagers mentioned that a heavy rain had recently washed these treasures out.