Otherworldly Merchant

“This guy is a grave thief!” The first time back.

How do you know that? ”Li Mazi is a little strange.

“Because of the cocoon on his palm.” I added: “The cocoon on the palm of this man's hand is thick and in strange shape. The cocoon is beneath the root and at the joints, but the cocoon on his hand is lying in the palm of his hand. This is because Luoyang shoveling holes swing up and down when digging the earth, which is why this effect is caused, and his face is also white some unusual, which is caused by the fact that the sun is not visible all year round. ”

“Isn't that right?” Li Mazi said something strange: “Why are we looking for an antique shop, not just to find a tomb thief for clues? That just happened to be one. Why did you leave? ”

“The guy was a raw rice eater, and it didn't do much to ask him.” I shook my head.

“Raw rice. What's raw rice?” Li Mazi is strange.

I'm sure I'd be too lazy to answer this before, but now Lee Mazi is trying to learn from it. It's rare that he's so into it. These are some basic common sense and experience, and I certainly won't be stingy when it's time to teach him.

“Didn't you put a bowl of rice in front of the dead man's grave? The rice is cooked half the time, commonly known as raw rice. Eating raw rice is a black word from a tomb thief. It refers to a doorman who just walked in and could only do some rough work, just like a small worker in a factory. ”

“Grave thieves are just a common name. In fact, the division of labor here is very narrow. There are special public inspection caves, selected cemeteries, and there are those who use Luoyang shovels to further determine where the graveyard coffin is, as well as those who do not fear the ghost to take treasure from the cave. Plus the lookout, the appraiser, the buyer, the force-protector... a professional grave-theft team requires a wide variety of professionals. The raw rice eater is the lowest of all types of graves burglar, hardly any technical content, dedicated to hard work. ”

“For example, after identifying specific locations, punching holes in the head; pulling ropes when entering and exiting the earth; carrying tools and bags when crossing the mountains… is basically similar to hard work. You may never know anything but what you do. Don't say he hasn't seen the tablet yet, even if he has, he probably won't say anything. ”

“As you saw earlier, he didn't care about us, he didn't even point to selling jade stones to make money, and the antique shop up there was a front. To ask, you have to ask the guy behind him. If you expose your horses and feet and shock the others behind you, you won't have to pay for it. ”

“Oh, I see.” Li Mazi nodded like a sudden enlightenment.

We were close to finding a small hotel to settle in, prepare for the next morning, then go to the antique shop to discover the truth, will hide behind the tall people for a while.

I was used to living a black and white upside down, taking a hot bath and getting more spirited. I reclined on the bed and studied the Yin Dynasty for a while and took my phone out again.

Repeatedly detailing that tablet photo.

The tablet is supposed to be on a small slope, probably a dozen meters below the slope from a photographic point of view.

If this guy likes to take pictures so much, why don't you come closer?

Is there something between the photographer and the tablet?

The tablet is milky white, because it is old and the writing is blurred, but because of the sun and the shadows, it still leaves a trace of the road on it.

It is also discernible that the remaining stone tablet should have a word and a half.

There are many complete font strokes at the bottom that cannot be distinguished at all.

The next half of the word, like a curved band of four points, or a long cross, looks like the lower half of the word "bird” or “horse."

Why is this tablet so abruptly built in the wilderness?

Is there an ancient tomb or pubic house nearby, as Li Mazi said?

Is this where the father and son of the Lin family and the Taoist monks were killed? What the hell happened to them?

I put my phone down, closed my eyes and thought again.

No, it's not a headstone!

The word at the bottom, in general construction, is a lot like the word "tomb," but if it's really a tombstone, the word above should usually be “of," or next to a name, like a tomb, a family tomb.

Ancient tombstone writing, especially such large tablets, will definitely follow the rules of "old birth”.

The so-called "old age" is the number of words on the tombstone according to the sequence of "old and alive", the number of lines and words must fall on the words "born” and “old”. Otherwise it would be a great taboo!

Though the tombstone was broken in half, according to the ancient aspect ratio, the fracture was about half, that is, when the tablet was complete, there were only three words. It's not even “raw” or “old”.

As you can see, this is not a tombstone!

So what is this place?

Lin Changqing, what are these people after his son?

What the hell is going on with the people who killed them?

Was it a conspiracy to lure their fathers and sons, or did they break in unintentionally?

I thought about it in the middle of the night and it still didn't work out.

The next morning, we had breakfast in a hurry and walked towards Gubao Xai.

In order to prevent accidents, Hatsumomo and I stayed outside the door to pick up, and Li Mazi and I went in to visit.

The young man I saw yesterday still lay tired on the bamboo chair and saw us come in just lifting his eyelids and sweeping them. His face showed an impatient look, but he didn't answer.

“Morning!” Li Mazi said with a smile, pointing to the stairway: “Brother, is the door open upstairs? ”

“It's on.” He didn't respond well, but he didn't even move.

Neither of us ignored him and went straight upstairs.

The stairs are narrow and the space upstairs is much smaller than downstairs and should have compartments.

The light inside was dark, the curtains were half-covered, and the decoration of the house was obsolete, and the skins on both sides fell off like a broken map.

There's an old bookshelf just across the street, sporadic porcelain bottles on top, yellow wired books in a further closet, and green embroidered bronze. A large tree carving cylinder surrounds the Eight Immortals table with some shaft scrolls inside.

That's all!

This is an antique shop, too? It's a little too cold.

Probably heard us stepping on the wooden stairs and walking out of the next room with a dry, skinny little old man.

Wearing a black blue medium mountain suit, no buttons, and a red vest with a broken chicken collar on it, his clothes, combined with the setting in this room, are no different from old movie footage from the '60s and' 70s.

The old man had a chicken fur duster in his hand, and he looked at us strangely and amazingly: "Who are you looking for? ”

“Sir, we are here to buy antiques.” I laughed politely.

“Oh, well, you can just watch.” The old man said a random word and turned around and went into the next door.

As if it wasn't his business at all, it doesn't matter if he sells or not, and he's even a little disgusted with our arrival.

“That's it!” I picked up a bronze jade and asked him, "How much? ”

The old man's front foot had just entered the house, and his back foot was not waiting to go in. He looked back at me in surprise.

Even if you buy cabbage, don't you have to pick one? Where did you decide to buy antiques without looking? In a second, I decided to pick it up and take it. It's either sick or ill.

“How much?” I asked again.