Chapter 178 - 178 Trouble for Luo Feng! Unearthing Someone’s Burial Grounds! (1)
Deciding that it was better to take his mind off the issue by digging out the jade the system had detected, Luo Feng then set off to work.
Within a few minutes, he had unearthed a jade ornament – a curved, flat piece with intricate patterns on its surface.
“Wow, it’s an ancient jade piece, Luo Feng, you’ve struck it rich!” Li Shishi exclaimed, immediately approaching him to get a closer look.
“Old Luo, you’re really something! You might not have located another ancient tomb, but you sure have found some interesting treasures!” Zhang Shunyong laughed heartily.
“Are you looking down on me!? Did you actually think that this is enough to satisfy me nowadays?” Luo Feng retorted irritably, “This object is called a ‘yuhuan,’ a curved, flat jade piece. It’s an ancient type of ornament, and it’s the most important component in a set of matching jewelry. It serves to balance the entire set. Yuhuan from different periods have their own unique features, but all of them have an arc-shaped design. Their styles and patterns may vary greatly, but regardless yuhuans are one of the oldest jade ornaments that were created within our nation.”
“Moreover, this piece is from the Yuan Dynasty!” Luo Feng added, without further explanation.
His focus was not on this artifact worth merely tens of thousands of yuan, after all. He was trying to see the bigger picture.
“What? Luo Feng, so you’re saying the hairpins from before and this jade piece are from different dynasties? How could this be?” Li Shishi questioned, puzzled.
“I am not quite sure myself!” Luo Feng scratched his head, “The hairpins are indeed from the Ming dynasty, but the jade ornament component is from the Yuan dynasty. As for why they appeared together, we’ll need to dig up more items to find out!”
Luo Feng answered, affectionately looking at Li Shishi and patting her head before continuing the excavation. Half an hour later, he glanced at the distant mountains and the somewhat tired wealthy youngsters. He decided it was time for everyone to rest and had intended to use the break to analyze the situation.
Firstly, there might indeed be an ancient tomb in the mountains, and the items from the Ming or Yuan dynasties could be burial offerings. Secondly, there might be a Yuan dynasty tomb in the mountains that had been plundered by Ming dynasty tomb raiders, leaving behind a few Ming dynasty gold hairpins as a result. Thirdly, there might be ancient tombs from both the Ming and Yuan dynasties within the mountains, and these items were left behind by tomb raiders. After all, it would be understandable for ancient people to lose one or two pieces of jewelry in the wild. However, this theory breaks down since the likelihood of losing this many items in such close proximity by chance is rather low.
Meanwhile, in Dalong’s town at the foot of the mountain, the local archaeological team and museum staff were very excited. It seemed that Luo Feng’s treasure hunt was not baseless. After searching for over a day, he had really uncovered some valuable artifacts. They were all quite thrilled, but also curious as to how both Yuan and Ming dynasty jewelry could be found in the same location.
Upon hearing the news, Lin Yide from the Jiangnan museum immediately called up Luo Feng. “Little Luo! I heard you’ve discovered another ancient tomb?”
“Wow, news sure spreads fast, huh?! Well, I’m afraid to tell you this, but the answer’s no, for now,” Luo Feng replied, munching on a piece of dried lamb and chuckling. He had only recovered a few pieces of jewelry, after all, which was far from any substantial discovery.
Lin Yide humbly asked, “Based on the current situation, do you think there’s an ancient tomb?”
“I think there’s a chance,” Luo Feng replied.
“Why not dig deeper? Perhaps it’s right beneath where you found the hairpins,” Lin Yide suggested.
“I don’t think there’s anything down there,” Luo Feng responded. His cheat system had scanned ten meters deep without any indication of hidden items. It was unlikely that anything was buried further down, especially considering they were in the mountains rather than the riverbed where sediment was easier to accumulate.
“In that case, do you want us to come over and help? We’re a government-sanctioned team and are properly organized, so you don’t have to worry about us taking advantage of you!” Lin Yide offered politely.
“Actually, I’m already part of an archaeological team, since I’ve been officially registered into the government database!” Luo Feng replied.
“Ah, well, sorry to bother you then!” Not wanting to impose any further, Lin Yide cut off the conversation.
As soon as he hung up, Gu Santong called. “Little Luo, is it an ancient tomb?”
“No, no, it’s just a few pieces of jewelry. They might have been accidentally dropped,” Luo Feng said, somewhat amused. He had barely found anything, yet everyone seemed so impatient. It was like the saying, ‘The emperor isn’t anxious, but the eunuchs are.’
“I’ve been watching your stream, and the jade ornament appears to be from the Yuan dynasty, right?”
“Yes,” Luo Feng nodded, “The craftsmanship involves heavy cutting, shallow relief, and intaglio lines. It is indeed a technique from the Yuan Dynasty. Anyway, I’ll keep looking! We’re done for today, so don’t worry too much! There might not even be an ancient tomb here!”
After finishing the call, Luo Feng decided not to continue the livestream. They had already worked overtime until 8 p.m. and the sky had already turned dark. Even if there was a large tomb, they could not stay up all night to search for it.
“No, don’t leave, let’s chat some more!”
“Old Luo is ending the stream already? Why not pull an all-nighter to find an ancient tomb?”
“Damn, that’s not fair! Just when things were getting interesting, the stream ends!”
“It’s like being left on a cliffhanger. Ugh!”
The viewers undoubtedly left the livestream grumbling and complaining. They hated having their appetites whetted but then left unsated.
However, they needed to give everyone a break, didn’t they? The reason Luo Feng and his party had pulled an all-nighter last time was that they had discovered a tomb entrance. How could that not excite them? As for now, they had not even found a significant clue. Why should they stay up all night?
Logically speaking, the right move for them was to resume the search the next day.
Despite the artifacts not being worth much, the Dalong County archaeological team and museum staff were unhappy. After all, they had initially proposed collaborating with Luo Feng on the treasure hunt, but he had rejected them.
“Captain Li, let’s head up the mountain and conduct a search of our own tomorrow. I refuse to believe that we need Luo Feng’s help to locate an ancient tomb!”