Chapter 7: The Great Evil

Sun the Second grew increasingly agitated as he spoke, the veins on his forehead bulging as if he were ready to strike someone at any moment.

Sun the Third sighed, shaking his head, before pressing his walkie-talkie. "Boss, we have a new situation down here. This tomb has already been picked over."

There was a minute of silence on the radio before Boss Wang replied in a cold voice, "When was it picked? Have you reached the main burial chamber?"

"No, we’re still in the tomb passage. A towel just washed down with the standing water. We don't even need to guess—it was definitely looted recently. Boss, you know how those people from the south work. It’s rare for them to leave anything of value behind in a tomb they’ve touched."

Boss Wang pondered for a moment. "Second, do this: go into the main chamber and take a look. If it's already been emptied, don't even bother with the side chambers. Just pack up your gear and come back up."

"Understood, Boss." Sun the Second put down the radio.

I don't smoke, so my sense of smell is quite sharp. Just then, I caught a scent—a faint, lingering fragrance.

"Second Brother... why is there the smell of incense?" I asked, feeling puzzled.

At my words, Sun the Second exaggeratedly sniffed the air in front of him. He then turned to look at Sun the Third, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

"You're right. We didn't notice it before. This is Aloeswood." His expression suddenly grew grave.

"Second Brother, Third Brother, what’s wrong? Is there something strange about this Aloeswood?" Seeing their heavy expressions, I was confused. I had assumed that since wealthy people in the past were buried in Golden Silk Nanmu coffins, it was only natural for the wood to have a fragrance.

The relaxed look on the Sun brothers' faces vanished.

"Yunfeng, give me your hand."

"Huh? What do you need my hand for?" I reached out, confused.

"Second Brother, what are you doing!" My finger stung, and I couldn't help but cry out. He had used a small, sharp dagger to slice my fingertip.

As bright red blood welled up, the brothers took turns smearing a bit of it onto their wrists.

"Second Brother, Third Brother, why are you smearing my blood on yourselves?" I complained, sucking on my injured finger.

Sun the Second explained it to me then: "Yunfeng, in our trade of grave robbing, we fear the Four Major Evils and the Six Minor Evils. The cross-eyed tomb guardian beast, the scent of the rare Aloeswood, the black coffin that refuses to rot, and the eternal flame that never burns out—these are the Four Major Evils. The rules of our ancestors state that fresh blood breaks the evil."

It sounded mysterious, but I didn't take it seriously. I thought they were just trying to scare me like a child.

I muttered aggrievedly, "Then... why didn't you cut your own fingers? Why cut mine?"

Sun the Second patted my head with a wicked grin. "Our blood won't work. We need the blood of a virgin. Yunfeng, don't tell me you haven't even held a girl's hand yet?"

I stammered, unable to find a reply. I deliberately changed the subject and asked stubbornly, "What are the Six Minor Evils?"

Sun the Third shook his head. "Yunfeng, you’re new to this and haven't seen much. These are just things passed down by the older generation in the trade. A quicksand tomb, 'heavenly fire' flooding the chamber, an incorruptible corpse, pearls plugging the seven orifices, an outer coffin larger than the inner one, and a nest of rats inside the casket—these are the Six Minor Evils known to grave robbers of the old society."

"There are three hundred and sixty trades, and everyone has their own specialty. In the old society, we were called the 'Side Eight Schools.' Now, in the new society, they call us criminals. The 'Proper Eight Schools' are the elite, the 'Side Eight Schools' are the lower class, and besides those, there are the 'Hidden Seven Schools' that deal with the dead."

Sun the Third continued, "Yunfeng, since you’ve joined this trade, you need to learn these things so you don’t embarrass our Northern School when someone asks. The Hidden Seven Schools are: the Corpse Stitcher, the Executioner, the Corpse Driver, the Grave Piper, the Paper Effigy Maker, the Bone Collector, and the Little Coffin Maker—who specializes in coffins for dead children. You must remember these as you walk the path of the underworld."

I couldn't really keep track of all that scattered information. I just felt it was all very chaotic.

"Alright, Third, he's just a kid; telling him all this is useless. Let's go, let's head to the main chamber," Sun the Second said, shaking his wrists. "With Yunfeng's virgin blood on us, we're protected from evil!"

We waded through the water for another two or three minutes, but the main chamber didn't appear. As we drew closer, we realized that what lay ahead was just a stone wall.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in from somewhere, making my feet feel icy in the murky water. Standing beneath the wall, Sun the Second looked up. Above us, in the ceiling of the passage, we could clearly see a large, dark hole. The cold air was blowing in through it.

The hole was irregular. Sun the Third frowned at it. "The other group did this. The section we passed earlier wasn't blown open, so they must have changed spots. Judging by the shape, they used detonators."

Sun the Third pressed his radio. "Boss, we're at a stone wall. It's not the main chamber as we expected. No burial goods found yet."

The red light on the walkie-talkie flickered. Boss Wang’s voice came through, cool and commanding: "A tomb with blue sealing clay must have a main chamber. Keep looking. Head left and check the western side chamber."

"Copy that, Boss. How much time do we have?"

"Two hours and forty-five minutes until sunrise. Speed it up."

"Understood." Sun the Second put the radio away and led us around the wall toward the western side chamber.

It was my first time seeing a side chamber. It was essentially a small, hollowed-out room. Looking at the water lines on the walls, it was clear this entire area had been submerged.

And what did I see?

At first glance, I saw piles of bronze ware—a massive quantity of it, strewn haphazardly across the floor. Some were broken, others intact: small round tripods, square tripods, grain vessels, food containers, and wine goblets. A quick look revealed dozens of pieces!

"We're rich! We're rich!"

Sun the Second’s eyes turned red. He babbled into the radio, "Boss! We hit the jackpot! There are dozens of bronze pieces in the western chamber! Black-lacquer patina, mercury rust—this is authentic Western Zhou water-tomb goods!"

Boss Wang, who had seen his fair share of storms, replied calmly, "Transport them in batches. Get every single piece out."

"You got it," Sun the Second said, pulling out a snakeskin bag. He muttered, "Did those rats from the south go vegetarian? Leaving us this much meat? I really have to thank their ancestors for this!"

Sun the Third, being more level-headed, frowned. "Second Brother, I have a bad feeling. The rats from the south have noses as sharp as ours. It doesn't make sense that they wouldn't smell this much treasure..."

Sun the Second didn't care about the toxic mercury rust. He picked up a small bronze square tripod and kissed it. "Haha, baby, come home with me!"

He didn't forget to add, "Third, you're becoming more cowardly by the day. Why overthink it? Let me ask you: if a group of female college students were lying on the ground stripped naked, what would you do?"

"I'd definitely do them later," he replied.