"Going to Mang Mountain? Tonight?" I asked in surprise.
He looked at me and nodded.
"No, boss, it's already past nine o'clock. I asked Xiaoxuan to go up to Mang Mountain? Are you looking for a place to visit a tomb?"
"And I looked at the weather forecast. It may rain moderately in Luoyang at night."
The boss said: "It's okay, bring an umbrella. You and Xiaoxuan will go with Mr. Li's family of three. He asked me specifically."
"What are you going to do? Are you going to take the lead?"
"I'm not going. Mr. Li will explain to you on the way. I'll leave at 10 o'clock. If you hurry up, I'll be back around one o'clock."
"Then...okay, I'll call Xiaoxuan."
When I said I wanted to go to Mang Mountain, Xiaoxuan was also confused.
Around 9:50, the guests dispersed. Mr. Li, Yuan Bao, and Yuan Bao's new daughter-in-law, who had just passed by, came out. The new daughter-in-law's name was Xiaoxia. They all had umbrellas in their hands, and they probably also read the weather forecast.
Parked outside the courtyard was a three-wheeled motorcycle, a blue Jincheng Suzuki King. There were two bamboo baskets on the back of the three-wheeled motorcycle, covered with a raincoat.
"Xiao Xiang, can you ride a bicycle?"
I said yes.
The old man nodded, threw the key to me and said, "You can get on the car and follow me later. It will take about half an hour to reach the foot of the mountain, and then we will walk up the mountain. Thank you for your hard work."
After saying that, he looked up at the sky and said, "I hope it won't rain. If it does, it will be difficult to walk in the mountains."
I took the Suzuki car key and asked, "Master Li, you didn't tell me, why are we going to Mang Mountain so late?"
A trace of sadness flashed in the old man's eyes, and he said lonelyly: "Go and see my son and daughter-in-law. I promised back then that I would come and tell them when Xiaobao gets married."
At this time, Xiaoxuan bit my ear and asked quietly: "What's going on, Yunfeng? Does their family live in the mountains? It's such a big event that my son is getting married, why don't you come during the day?"
I see....
I couldn't help but say in my heart, if I could just come during the day, it would be a ghost in broad daylight.
Mr. Li originally hired someone else, but on this day he changed us temporarily. I guess it’s because we are both insiders.
Xiaoxuan and I are a boy and a girl, and our status is equivalent to the best man and bridesmaid.
Suzuki's battery went bad and there was no power to start the ignition.
I kicked more than a dozen times in succession before I hit it. After a few turns of the accelerator, Xiaoxuan sat up and put her arms around my waist.
Mr. Li was riding a three-wheeled motorcycle in the front, Yuanbao and his wife Xiaoxia were sitting in the car, and I followed behind.
The couple were loving each other on the road. Yuanbao put his arms around Xiaoxia to help block the wind. From time to time, he would raise his head and kiss each other.
The road was a little bumpy, so Xiaoxuan hugged me and pressed her face tightly against my back.
10:30.
We could no longer ride bikes as we approached the bottom of the mountain, so we started hiking up the mountain.
We were afraid of what would happen. Not long after we went up the mountain, raindrops began to fall from the sky. We used flashlights and held umbrellas.
The north-south range of Mang Mountain is almost 200 kilometers, and the altitude is more than 200 meters. The altitude here is not high, with more soil and less rocks. It is a loess mausoleum landform. The highest peak is Cuiyun Peak.
"It's raining and the road is slippery. Grandson, please hold on to Xiaoxia and don't slip. The next section of the road will be difficult to walk on."
"I know, Grandpa."
The old man turned back to remind Xiaoxuan and me: "Xiaoxiang, you should also pay attention to your steps and look for the robber holes that have not been filled in tightly. I am not exaggerating, but there are probably more than 20,000 robber holes here in the north of Guangming Mountain."
"So many..." Xiaoxuan couldn't help but exclaimed.
The old man held an umbrella and smiled and said: "You don't know something. There are more stolen holes in the south of Mang Mountain. There are at least more than 30,000 stolen holes in the past and present. The Forestry Bureau conducted a survey more than ten years ago.
Mountain, a lot of backfilling.”
I secretly smacked my tongue when I heard it.
The rain gradually turns from light rain to moderate rain, and depending on the pattern, it may turn into heavy rain.
I was afraid that Xiaoxuan would get wet, so I threw the umbrella over her, and my whole back was soaked.
The path in the mountains became more and more remote, and finally passed through a forest. Mr. Li, who was leading the way, slowly stopped.
The old man held his hand on a persimmon tree with a crooked trunk, took a deep breath, and said, "My dear, daddy is here to see you."
At this time, Xiaobao made a pop, knelt on his knees, choked with sobs and cried loudly: "Dad! Mom! My son is here to see you!"
"Xiaobao got married today!"
"Dad! Mom! I'm getting married!"
After choking up his words, Yuan Bao pulled his wife Xiaoxia to kneel down and kowtowed to the persimmon tree together.
The grandchildren and daughter-in-law knelt down and kowtowed. Mr. Li supported the persimmon tree with tears in his eyes.
There were candles and paper money in the bamboo basket, which was not wet because it was covered with a raincloth before coming, but it was not good.
After finding several sheltered spots under the persimmon tree, Mr. Li took a long time to light the candle.
Then I lit a handful of incense and placed it on the ground. Xiaoxuan and I went over and paid our respects as the best man and bridesmaid.
"Master Li, I have a question to ask. I don't mean anything else. Just don't be angry."
"You said." The old man was still trying to light paper money with a lighter.
"This...should be an ancient tomb, right?"
"Oh? How did you tell," the old man asked without raising his head.
I held the umbrella, turned around and looked around, frowned and said, "Master Li, this is a basin. The basin is easy to retain accumulated water, and the plants and trees should grow well."
"But you see, compared to the woods we just passed by, these persimmon trees here grow crookedly and are obviously malnourished. Also, the grass is wilted and cannot grow very high."
"Maybe it's from the Han Dynasty, or tombs before the Han Dynasty. There was a lot of white plaster mud underground that was irrigated by rainwater. Over time, the underground soil in this area turned into an alkaline soil layer."
"You're right."
The old man praised: "There is indeed a Han tomb underground. My son and daughter-in-law died in this tomb."
"Because the cave collapsed?" I asked in a low voice.
The old man nodded and recalled: "Maybe there is some connection. I remember it was raining heavily that day. My son estimated that the cave could withstand it and would not collapse, but in the end... it still collapsed...
.”
Hearing this, I suddenly had questions in my mind.
The descendants of Li Yaya can be said to be a family of tomb robbers, passed down from generation to generation, and have rich experience. Even I, a newcomer who has just been in the industry for a few years, know that it is taboo to go to the tomb on a rainy day.
Even if you build a vertical tunnel that goes straight up and down, even if you use a gap board for support, if it rains heavily, the tunnel will become a water inlet, which is very dangerous.
At this time, the soil on the wall of the cave will begin to soften, falling piece by piece, and eventually the whole thing will collapse.
I have studied it before and found that this is a problem with the structure of the tunnel. Square tunnels are more likely to collapse.
In ancient times, the circle was close to the square. Before the Republic of China, there were no Luoyang shovels, so the holes dug out were all round, which was relatively more stable.
If you don’t believe it, go and take a look. Most of the ones that can be left behind today are the old thieves’ caves from the past.
"Master Li, then your son's body was not transported out?"
After finally lighting the paper money, he stood up and shook his head and said: "It was not shipped out because the last thing my son shouted was that he wouldn't let me go down."
"Said there was something in the tomb."
"Is there something? What thing?" I asked in confusion.
Mr. Li pushed the paper money with a branch and said two words.