Chapter 19 Catching a Thief

Hearing my words, Uncle Mei looked up and asked, "Rongsheng, what do you mean?"

I said, "Wang's group of grave robbers is large. The core members of the gang must have come from other places, but the work of scouting, spreading soil, digging holes, and finding treasures is probably done by locals. It's impossible for all dozens of them to be from out of town; that would be too big a scale and easily attract the attention of the relevant departments."

Uncle Mei nodded immediately upon hearing this, "That makes sense! Our town is in the middle of nowhere, and there are hardly any outsiders coming here. If a large group of outsiders suddenly came, it would definitely stir up the grass and startle the snakes. That group of rats are very cunning and would never reveal such a flaw!"

I added, "Besides, the rats who act as lookouts and spread the soil need to show their faces often and inevitably meet people in town. Outsiders can't do these two jobs; only locals can do them without arousing suspicion."

After I said this, Tiger Cub squinted his eyes and asked me, "Brother-in-law, what does spreading the soil mean?"

I quickly explained, "Grave robbers have to dig a tunnel. The soil layers around the ancient tomb are different from ordinary soil, such as qinggao ni (blue paste mud), baigao ni (white paste mud), and hangtu ni (rammed earth mud). If this soil is seen by others, they will realize that someone is robbing the tomb, so it must be scattered in all directions little by little to avoid being discovered. Spreading the soil is what they do."

Uncle Mei added, "Those who spread the soil must move around to scatter the dug-out soil completely. This movement inevitably leads to them being seen. If outsiders wander around, it will definitely arouse suspicion, so the ringleader often looks for local rats to do this job."

After listening to our analysis, Tiger Cub immediately said, "Okay, I'll take my brothers to catch all the rats in town and interrogate them! I won't let any of them go as long as they've done anything related to digging graves! You guys wait!"

Uncle Mei quickly stopped him, "Stop! You blockhead! Isn't this stirring up the grass and startling the snakes? There are so many rats in town; can you catch them all in one fell swoop? By the time they hear the news, they'll have already run away!"

I also persuaded, "That's right, it's best not to make a big fuss. If you want to catch people, you have to strike accurately and succeed in one go!"

Tiger Cub asked me, "How do I succeed in one go? How do I know which rat is involved in this matter?"

I thought for a while, turned my head, and asked Uncle Mei, "Uncle Mei, could the Tuhang Sun (Earth Travel Master) we caught in the tomb be a local? I heard him speak with a Sichuan accent, a local accent."

Uncle Mei nodded, "It's possible! Even if he doesn't live in town, he's from the Sichuan area. If Wang recruits laborers locally, he will inevitably have Tuhang Sun act as a go-between!"

I quickly said to Tiger Cub, "Tiger Cub, there is a rat in this group nicknamed Tuhang Sun, but his surname isn't Sun, it's Rao, the Rao of 'abundance'. You secretly send your brothers to investigate and see if they can find any rats closely related to Tuhang Sun. They must know some inside information."

Tiger Cub resolutely replied, "Got it! Don't worry, I will catch the person within a day!"

After saying that, he strode away like a dragon and a tiger, causing a gust of wind, and left the yard in the blink of an eye.

I still hadn't completely recovered from my fever. After talking with Uncle Mei and Tiger Cub for a while, I began to sweat profusely.

When Uncle Mei saw this, he quickly cooked me a bowl of noodles, told me to eat it while it was hot, and gave me a fever reducer, telling me to sleep with my head covered.

Although I had already slept for five days, I was still sleepy after taking the fever reducer. I lay on the bed and fell asleep again. When I opened my eyes again, it was already dark.

This fever reducer really worked, and my temperature returned to normal after waking up.

Just as I was about to go find Uncle Mei, I suddenly heard the sound of a car outside, followed by Tiger Cub's low and angry roar coming from the door.

"Be honest! Don't make a sound! If you dare to yell, I'll break your neck!"

I quickly got out of bed, put on my clothes, and walked out.

I saw Tiger Cub carrying a skinny man like a chicken, coming in from outside the door.

The skinny man was bruised and swollen, obviously having been severely beaten by Tiger Cub. He had a sneaky look, sparse hair, and was unremarkable.

I looked closely and saw that his ten fingers were thin and long, the pads of his fingers were full of muscles, and his fingernails were full of black mud.

Although I am not an expert in catching rats like Jiang Yongguang, I immediately recognized him as a grave robber when I saw the skinny man's hands.

Seeing me come out to greet him, Tiger Cub said in a deep voice, "Brother-in-law! I caught him! This kid is Tuhang Sun's apprentice! He's been active in our town for the past two months!"

I was overjoyed when I heard this.

If we caught Tuhang Sun's apprentice, there was hope of finding the murderer who killed Aunt Mei. If we found the murderer who killed Aunt Mei, there was hope of finding Little Mei's whereabouts!

At this time, Uncle Mei also heard the noise and came out. Seeing that Tiger Cub had caught a living person, he was slightly flustered at first, but quickly returned to normal. After thinking for a moment, he pointed to the cellar in the yard and said, "Throw him into the cellar! To avoid the neighbors hearing the noise!"

I looked at Uncle Mei with admiration—the old ginger is indeed spicier.

Tiger Cub obediently grabbed the skinny man, dragged him into the cellar, and tied him securely with a hemp rope hanging on the wall of the cellar.

Uncle Mei then pulled a wire, connected a light bulb, and hung it in the cellar for lighting.

I followed them into the cellar and closed the cellar door, so no matter how much noise we made inside, the neighbors wouldn't be able to hear it.

After the three of us arrived, the skinny man begged for mercy desperately, "Heroes, spare my life! Heroes, spare my life! You can have whatever you want, just spare my humble life!"

Uncle Mei asked Tiger Cub, "Who is this person?"

Tiger Cub said in a deep voice, "I don't know his real name, but people in the underworld call him Skinny Monkey. The Tuhang Sun you mentioned, surnamed Rao, is his master! He has robbed many tombs with Tuhang Sun and made a lot of money."

Uncle Mei nodded, walked over, took a look at him, and asked, "Are you really Tuhang Sun's apprentice?"

Skinny Monkey looked at Uncle Mei timidly and said with a guilty conscience, "I am, I really am...Honorable heroes, did my master offend you? Debts have debtors, you should find him to take revenge! My relationship with my master is very ordinary! He has a bunch of apprentices, and the one he looks down on the most is me! You've come to the wrong person!"

Uncle Mei's face remained unchanged, and he said lightly, "Okay, then we'll go find your master. But your master is very cunning! We can't even see his shadow; where can we find him? Tell us, where is your master now?"

In fact, we all knew Tuhang Sun's whereabouts. He was probably already drowned in the ancient Shu tomb.

But Uncle Mei deliberately asked this to trick Skinny Monkey into talking.

Skinny Monkey was cooperative and quickly replied in a low voice, "Honorable heroes, I dare not deceive you. To be honest, I don't know where my master is..."

As soon as he heard this, Tiger Cub instantly changed his face and kicked him in the chest, causing him to fall to the ground on his back.

"Damn it! You're still not being honest? It seems you won't drink a toast, you'll only drink a forfeit!"

Skinny Monkey was kicked so hard that he couldn't breathe for a long time. He struggled on the ground for a while before saying with a bitter face, "Hero! Hero, don't hit me! I didn't lie to you, I really don't know where my master is! I only know... a few days ago, he talked about a big deal, saying he hitched a ride with an expert and was going to make...make a lot of money under the Tuo River!"