Chapter 60 Returning Home
Xijing Province, Yellow River, Laolongkou.
This is the Yellow River section near the provincial capital Chang'an, named after its dragon-like shape. The Yellow River flows very slowly here, and the water is about five meters deep. What is amazing is that there are straight cliffs on both sides, and... there are many caves on the cliffs, which are obviously dug by humans, and sometimes you can even see a lot of corpses in the caves.
This is the famous "death kiln" - in ancient times, when the families of the elderly living by the Yellow River could no longer afford to live there, they would dig a hole in the rock wall of the Yellow River for them to live in with a week's worth of food. Most of the elderly died in the cave. This is a rare situation in the history of the development of Chinese funeral civilization. Therefore, this place has also become a tourist attraction.
"What's so good about this?" On the guardrail along the river, a beautiful woman picked up a lighter, took out a cigarette and lit it. She pushed up her sunglasses and said dissatisfiedly: "A few holes, a few bones. The wind is so strong that my hair is messed up."
Next to him was a young man in his early thirties. He coughed lightly and said, "We are here to see the humanities. Besides...besides, isn't the Yellow River quite interesting? You have never been to the Loess Plateau before..."
“Just because I haven’t been here before doesn’t mean I want to come here!” The woman was completely furious. She pulled her scarf and tossed her cigarette. “I’m embarrassed to post the photos I took here on WeChat Moments! It was so windy and sandy that my skin was dried out! How come you don’t understand how to be considerate of others?!”
Her voice was a little loud, and the police officer who was maintaining order looked over calmly. The man quickly said in a flattering way: "Don't be angry... When we save enough money, we will go abroad to play. Haven't you always wanted to go to the Alps? Then... then..."
The man's voice suddenly became intermittent. The woman was taking out her makeup box to touch up her makeup. She was happy to hear it at first, but frowned after a few seconds: "When the time comes? What will happen when the time comes? You can't bear to spend money? You can't even speak clearly? What's the use of you?"
"No..." The man trembled and finally came to his senses. However, he did not answer the woman. Instead, he rushed to the guardrail and looked at the other side in amazement.
The woman finally stopped putting on makeup and blinked in confusion.
How dare the man not reply to her?
No... Is there something going on behind me? Is the noise getting louder?
She turned around suspiciously and suddenly found that a group of people had gathered around the guardrail, pointing and talking at the other side. It is the nature of Chinese people to like to watch the excitement. The woman blinked her eyes and moved over instinctively.
Leaning on the guardrail, she glanced casually at the other side. In her impression, even if flowers bloomed on this loess plateau, it would not be very beautiful, unless the corpses came back to life. However, as soon as she took a look, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and exclaimed, forgetting to put down her hands for a long time.
Just on the opposite bank...close to the waterline of the Yellow River, a wall about three meters wide and two meters high...was actually collapsing!
And... and in the collapsed part, after the soil and rocks on the surface fell off, what appeared... what appeared was a piece of bricks and tiles covered with scars!
"What is that?" "Ancient bricks and tiles?" "Ancient tomb... Is there an ancient tomb here?" "Fuck you... This is too exciting, right? An ancient tomb was washed out by the Yellow River?"
Many people took out binoculars. The policeman was stunned for a moment, then immediately took out his mobile phone and started making calls.
"Captain Qin! We need police force at Laolongkou. An ancient tomb is suspected to have been unearthed!" "Lao Zhao! Notify the Archaeological Bureau! Laolongkou!" "Xiao Wang, notify the municipal government immediately. An ancient tomb is suspected to have been unearthed at Laolongkou!"
However, before they could finish their words, the ancient bricks on the opposite side moved away with a rumble, and in full view of everyone, a small wooden boat slowly rowed out.
silence.
Pah… a police officer's cell phone fell to the ground, and countless people stared at the boat with their eyes wide open. And… the two disheveled people on the boat.
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"It really is the center of attention..." Jiang Xian smiled with difficulty, looking at the crowd opposite him whose eyes were about to fall out. He pulled out a gun.
At the moment the gun appeared, the tourists on the opposite side were all stunned for a second, and then there was a scream, and they suddenly squatted down. Even the police next to them opened their mouths wide and looked at this scene in disbelief. Then, they raised their loudspeakers and shouted desperately: "Calm down! Calm down..."
Before he finished speaking, the muzzle of the gun was already pointed at the sky. With a bang, a long flare rose into the air and suddenly exploded. Before the sound had faded, several more flares followed.
"Huh..." Jiang Xian fell heavily on the boat, looking around with his last bit of strength. He couldn't muster any more strength, and murmured, "I'm so sleepy..."
"Just hold on..." Ling Xiaozi also lay down without any image. The boat was stuck at the exit, so it would not continue to float down. He simply closed his eyes: "Whatever you want..."
As they did this, the police on the shore didn't know what to do.
"Lao Zhang, what are their identities?" A middle-aged policeman frowned at the two people who didn't mind at all, put away the loudspeaker, poked the policeman next to him with his arm and asked.
Lao Zhang shook his head and said in a deep voice, "But he must have an identity... Don't ask these questions first, evacuate the crowd immediately, notify the Academy of Social Sciences and the Archaeological Bureau, and report to the municipal government. Give me the phone."
A colleague handed him a cell phone, and Lao Zhang picked it up and got into the police car, rang the siren, and immediately rushed towards a bridge.
Time passed minute by minute, Jiang Xian lay on the wooden boat, lazily looking at the sky. After a full hour, he suddenly saw... several shadows seemed to appear above his head?
I rubbed my eyes, but the shadow was still clear. The next second, a rope with a basket hanging on it was slowly lowered from the cliff.
The rope was slowly lowered to the boat, and Jiang Xian grabbed the basket and opened it quickly. Inside was a plastic bag of roujiamo and liangpi noodles, which made his stomach growl. Not to mention, there was also a bucket of mutton soup!
Without saying a word, he kicked Ling Xiaozi awake and ate everything in a whirlwind. Ling Xiaozi was not much better. The two of them had no manners and ate all the food in the basket in an instant. Only then did they see that there was a mobile phone under the basket. And the phone rang at the right time.
"You know how to behave." Jiang Xian wiped his greasy lips and lazily opened his phone: "Hello?"
"Hello." A middle-aged male voice sounded: "I am Zhang Zhigang, a police officer on duty in Laolongkou. May I ask who you are?"
"Shenzhou Company's Exploration Team 3." Jiang Xian grinned: "If you don't know which company Shenzhou is, you can ask the Archaeological Bureau. Also... did you hear that?"
On the edge of the cliff, Zhang Zhigang put down his phone in confusion. Just as it left his ear, a buzzing sound came from the sky. He subconsciously raised his head and saw two familiar black spots appearing in the sky.
Of course I am familiar with it.
That's a military helicopter!
Instantly, Zhang Zhigang took a breath of cold air and dared not ask any more questions. He changed the subject and said, "Excuse me, is there anything else you need?"
Beep, beep, beep... There was a busy tone on the other end of the phone.
Swish... The helicopter's propellers caused ripples on the lake surface. When the boat approached the shore, several figures had already rushed down the rope ladder, carrying the two people on their backs and boarding the plane.
His movements were quick and smooth, without any delay, and he didn't even say a word to the police officers who were blocking the scene.
Hot water, towels, blankets... just as he got on the plane, everything was immediately delivered to his mouth. Jiang Xian finally closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief.
He and Ling Xiaozi were on two helicopters, and in front of him, a thin elderly man was sitting on a chair in front of him with a smile on his face.
"Old man Long." Jiang Xianqiang perked up: "Why are you here?"
Elder Long smiled and said, "As the person in charge of Shenzhou Company, I heard that Master Jiang is coming personally, so I have to come here in person ."
Jiang Xian raised the corner of his mouth and wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.
"I know you're tired." Elder Long stopped smiling and said solemnly, "The plane is heading to the best hospital in Chang'an. Don't worry, it's a private hospital. It's owned by Boss Song. But before that, I have one more question for you."
"I have loved you." Jiang Xian answered without hesitation.
"..." Elder Long's beard was shaking. He took a deep breath and said, "How was this trip?"
He had no problem with the rest of the personnel and equipment. As for Chu Ziyi, someone would ask about him on the other plane.
Jiang Xian finally opened his mouth and suddenly smiled: "You can't eat it."
Elder Long's eyes suddenly flickered and his breathing quickened.
"There is nothing in Shenzhou that cannot be eaten." He moved a little closer. If the plane hadn't been low enough, he would probably have stood up with excitement!
"You should know who the four major surnames in Shenzhou represent."
Jiang Xian opened his eyes completely and looked at Long Lao with a half-smile: "You don't believe in my judgment?"
The muscles on Long Lao's face were trembling, and his voice was hoarse: "Can't eat?"
Jiang Xian closed his eyes again: "You should prepare now and ask the bosses to prepare to report to the Academy of Social Sciences, the Ministry of Culture, the Propaganda Department, and the major archaeological institutions."
"Just wait... the whole world will go crazy over this news..."
After saying that, he ignored Mr. Long and closed his eyes completely. Soon, a light snoring sound was heard.
Old Long trembled all over, was stunned for a few seconds, and then immediately dialed a number.
"Boss Song." His voice became extremely respectful: "Mr. Jiang and the others have come out. So far, only he and Ling Xiaozi have been seen."
"He said... we can't eat all the harvest this time. And... we have contacted several major national departments to make preparations. I'm afraid... something big is going to happen."
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Yanjing, Shenzhou Auction House, rooftop.
The greenery here is almost like a park. I don't know if it's because of my job, but all the decorations here are Chinese style. It's grand and exquisite. On the roof of the building, which is more than 200 meters high, there are pavilions, gurgling streams, and strange rocks. In a two-story attic, Song Yunshen was holding a fine porcelain teacup and sipping Lu'an tea. He listened with interest to the woman not far away plucking the strings of the zither.
He closed his eyes, his tailor-made suit slightly opened, and tapped his hands with his sapphire fingers. The armchair rocked slowly with his movements. But at this moment, his cell phone suddenly rang.
What a spoiler... He frowned, opened his eyes, and looked at his phone. He sighed and answered the call, but after a few words, his brows suddenly raised. He pressed his hand in the direction of the woman, and the girl immediately understood and stopped playing the piano.
Song Yunshen stood up and paced slowly. After ten seconds, he said, "I understand."
"Send him to the hospital for a thorough checkup. This is a huge contribution..." He licked his lips involuntarily, and a surprising brightness appeared in his kind eyes: "I will settle the matter with the Chang'an Academy of Social Sciences. Also, tell Deputy Secretary Chu that I will be going to Chang'an soon. Before that, block all news."
The person on the other end of the phone seemed stunned, and after a few seconds he said in astonishment: "Come in person."
"Of course." Song Yunshen smiled and raised his tie: "If we really can't finish it, my Song family never eats two-cut meat."
"Keep Mr. Jiang and Mr. Ling Xiaozi stable. Any requests they have will be met! Before I arrive, all antique and cultural relic personnel in Chang'an... no, Xijing Province are not allowed to meet with them!"
