After questioning them, I roughly understood the cause and effect of the matter.

It was nothing more than two groups of tomb robbers who had come to Nanshan to dig tunnels and bumped into each other.

Misery loves company, especially in the tomb raiding business, where one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers.

Historically, there have been many cases of tomb robbers double-crossing each other. Often, one group of tomb robbers would go down into the tomb, only to be discovered by another group. The tomb robbers on the surface would directly fill the tunnel with earth and bury the other group alive. After ten days or half a month, when the people underground were all dead, they would dig open the tunnel and take all the gold and silver treasures for themselves.

Therefore, if two groups of tomb robbers meet on the surface, they must fight to the death to determine who is superior; otherwise, no one dares to dig a tunnel and go down into the tomb.

Lao Wei inquired and found out that one group was led by Liu Huangshu, and the other group was led by someone known on the street as "Big Hand," because his hands were larger than those of ordinary people.

According to Lao Wei, this Big Hand was also a famous zhi guo ren (one who sets up the pot, i.e., an experienced tomb raider), although his reputation couldn't compare to Silver Ring Snake and Liu Huangshu, but he was at least no worse than Wang Zhanggui and Yang Guo.

Lao Wei asked the haozi (scout) under Liu Huangshu, "Where is your zhi guo ren?"

The haozi replied that while digging the tunnel in the first half of the night, the zhi guo ren accidentally discovered an old tunnel. As the saying goes, "ancient is round, recent is square." He saw that the tunnel walls were smooth and round, and covered with weeds and tree roots, indicating that it had been there for many years. Moreover, the tunnel was quite spacious, like a cave. The zhi guo ren led a group of people along the tunnel and went inside.

Lao Wei was a little flustered after hearing this and asked in surprise, "What? Liu Huangshu has already taken people down into the tomb?"

The haozi nodded and said, "Yes, they went down in the first half of the night. We brothers originally wanted to go in with them, but who would have thought that we would suddenly encounter Big Hand's group? They also wanted to enter through that tunnel. We were afraid that they would be disadvantageous to the zhi guo ren, so we fought with them."

After Lao Wei questioned the haozi under Liu Huangshu, he went to the other side to question the haozi under Big Hand.

To prevent them from colluding, Lao Wei questioned them separately.

As a result, the haozi from Big Hand's side gave a statement that was basically consistent with Liu Huangshu's side. They also said that they had come to scout the area and dig a tunnel, and after much difficulty, they had discovered an ancient tunnel, but Liu Huangshu's people had taken it first. The two sides started fighting over a disagreement, and the Xiaoling Guards were called in.

Lao Wei asked where Big Hand was now. The haozi said that the zhi guo ren generally doesn't come to dig the tunnel himself, but only comes to the tomb after the tunnel has been dug, so he didn't come tonight.

After questioning them clearly, Lao Wei called the local police officer and asked him to bring people over to control the group of tomb robbers first.

But since Liu Huangshu had already entered the underground along the old tunnel, this was a good opportunity to arrest him.

He asked a cooperating tu fu zi (local digger) to lead the way and take us to the old tunnel. The tu fu zi obediently walked in front, leading us along the small forest where they had fought, towards the south. After walking about a hundred or two hundred meters, we saw a dark cave entrance covered with weeds at the bottom of an earthen slope.

The entrance was indeed wide. At first glance, it looked like a cave. It was covered with weeds, and some tree roots stretched out from the top of the tunnel, hanging densely in the cave, which looked quite scary.

Xiao Liang stood at the entrance and looked inside, and asked Lao Wei a little frightened, "Lao Wei, are you planning to go in now?"

Lao Wei nodded and said, "Didn't those people just say that Liu Huangshu is inside? If this tunnel leads to some ancient tomb, and Liu Huangshu gets in, he might damage the cultural relics. I have to go in and drag him out!"

Hu Wazi also quickly rolled up his sleeves and walked over to Lao Wei, saying, "Lao Wei, I'll go in with you. I have to settle accounts with this bastard tonight!"

Since these two had expressed their intention to go in, of course, I couldn't lag behind.

Firstly, I also wanted to take revenge on Liu Huangshu, and secondly, Hu Wazi had a very impulsive temper. If I wasn't there to mediate, I was afraid that there would be conflicts between him and Lao Wei after a long time.

I said, "I'll go too."

Xiao Liang was originally a little hesitant, but when she saw that I was going, she also followed suit and said, "Then I'll go too."

I said you shouldn't go. You have an injury on your foot. Go back and bandage it first. It should be enough for us to catch Liu Huangshu.

Xiao Liang shook her head and said, "No, I'm worried. What if you encounter any traps or mechanisms?"

When she said this, I couldn't help but recall the seven-star coffins we encountered in the Ming Dynasty tomb. If Xiao Liang hadn't been there at the time, we reckless men would probably have been finished.

Lao Wei probably thought of the same thing and nodded quickly, saying, "Xiao Liang, go with us. More people, more strength. I feel more at ease with her."

Xiao Liang responded and walked into the tunnel with us.

Lao Wei walked in front, Hu Wazi was next to him, Xiao Liang and I were in the middle, and behind us were several Xiaoling Guards bringing up the rear.

As soon as we walked into the tunnel, Lao Wei's flashlight shook slightly, and a large pile of black shadows suddenly flashed out from the depths of the tunnel. At the same time, there was a "plu lu lu" sound, and the group of black shadows flew towards our faces.

Xiao Liang was so frightened that she screamed and burrowed into my arms. Hu Wazi wasn't afraid, and while cursing, he swung his baton at the black shadows.

In the chaos, he actually knocked down a black shadow. I looked down and immediately broke out in goosebumps!

It was a large bat, two sizes larger than an ordinary magpie. The big bat was pitch black with red eyes. It fell to the ground and seemed to be in great pain, struggling with its mouth open. Its strange face was very scary, more terrifying than many ghost paintings!

Lao Wei quickly comforted us and said, "It's okay, don't be afraid, it's just a group of bats. This tunnel is in the deep mountains and old forests, and no one has disturbed it for many years, so it has become a bat's nest."

After speaking, he shone the flashlight on the top of the tunnel. In addition to the group of bats that had just flown out, there was also a group of countless large black bats hanging upside down from the top of the tunnel.

The scene was indeed chilling. I quickly covered Xiao Liang's eyes and said, "Xiao Liang, don't look, let's just walk through this area with our heads down."

Xiao Liang nodded, shrinking half of her body into my arms, and walked forward with her head down.

But after taking two steps, she seemed to step on something, and that thing made a "squeak" sound!

Xiao Liang was startled again and quickly hid in my arms.

I was also startled and looked down, but I saw a large gray rat on the ground. The rat had a fat head and big ears, and its eyes were very small. It was probably injured by Xiao Liang's stepping on it, and it couldn't recover for a long time, struggling on the ground.

I smiled and said, "It's okay, it's just a mouse. It doesn't seem to be very aggressive, much smaller than the Xi Shu (a kind of rat) we encountered in the Yazi River tomb."

Really, when I think of the Xi Shu underground in the Yazi River, this little thing is really insignificant. But I still don't understand where those Xi Shu underground in the Yazi River came from. Could it be that there are also some strange creatures living in the depths of this tunnel that are different from those above…