I, too, pulled out my snake skin bag and squatted down, stuffing it with bronze ware.

The round and square tripods were heavy, and I struggled to lift them. Third Brother looked after me, suggesting I pick up smaller pieces.

So I filled my bag with bronze beans and small bronze goblets. It wasn't strange to find these items together, as they were common kitchen utensils during the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods.

Bronze ding were used for cooking meat, jue for drinking wine, and bronze beans for holding salt and other seasonings. The role of the bronze bean was akin to the small dish we dip dumplings into vinegar today.

What's it like to pick up money with a sack? That's exactly what I was doing.

Being quite slender and not very strong, I decided to make a trip with my bag now that it was nearly full.

Turning my head from side to side, my headlamp's beam happened to shine into a corner of the ear chamber.

"Hmm? What's that? A water jar?"

"Second Brother! Look! There's a jar!"

Second Elder Sun was intently stuffing tripods into his bag when my sudden shout startled him.

"Damn, Cloud Peak, what are you yelling for? You scared the hell out of me."

I told him, there's a big jar in the corner.

Without even looking up, he said, "That's just coarse pottery, not as valuable as bronze ware. Too big to transport down the mountain, and not worth the effort for a mere pittance. We don't want that."

Heeding Second Elder Sun's words and glancing at the large water jar with a stone lid, I didn't approach it.

Struggling with a bag full of bronze ware, I waded back through the water. At that moment, a rope was lowered down from the tomb passage's consecration area.

King Leader's voice echoed from above: "Cloud Peak, tie the snake skin bag tightly to the rope. Once it's secure, head back and fill another. Hurry up, we don't have much time."

I twisted the bag full of bronze ware a few times and tied it to the rope. Then, bit by bit, the bag was hoisted upwards, pulled from above.

In the following hour, we worked overtime and managed to transport eight big bags full of bronze ware.

Then, through the walkie-talkie, King Leader's urging voice came: "You three, hurry up and come up. It's almost dawn, we need to descend the mountain quickly."

Ever heard of stacking Arhats?

I was lifted to the consecration area by the Sun Family Brothers, using a method akin to stacking Arhats. Then, King Leader lowered a rope and pulled me up.

The Sun Family Brothers were even more impressive; they climbed up to the consecration area without a rope, just bracing themselves against the thief's hole.

Once up, the joy on Second Elder Sun's face was irrepressible.

He looked at the bulging snake-skin bags scattered on the ground and asked with a smile, "Headman, how many 'points' do you reckon this is?"

King Leader shook his head, smiling, "Specialization in a Particular Field. How many 'points' this is, that's a question for the Boss. He's the one who estimates accurately."

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Later, I came to understand that the 'points' they referred to meant tens of thousands; one 'point' equaled ten thousand, a hundred 'points' equaled a million. Considering the salary levels back in the year 2000, many people didn't make even one 'point' in a year.

Eldest Elder Sun was in charge of lookout and sales.

As long as there were no issues, he generally wouldn't speak over the Walkie-Talkie. Conversely, if Eldest Elder Sun initiated a conversation on the Walkie-Talkie while on the job, it surely meant that a stranger was nearby.

"Headman, this is just the West Ear Chamber; there's still the East Ear Chamber. Damn, it's bizarre, we haven't seen the Main Tomb Chamber yet. I think we need to set up a Base here. We haven't found the Main Tomb Chamber, and who knows how many treasures are hidden inside. This job can't be done in less than ten or eight days."

"Base," in the context of Tomb Raiding, specifically referred to a situation where a Large Tomb was encountered, too vast to be scoured in a day or two, necessitating the establishment of a Base around it.

In the early days, acquaintances in the Tomb Raiding circle would often greet each other by asking, "Hey, I heard you hit two big Bases last year?"

The person would modestly reply, "Not at all, not at all. Just got lucky and hit two small Bases, that's all."

Setting up a Base was risky, as it could easily be discovered. If an elderly man or woman took a fancy to stroll up the mountain in the morning and accidentally fell into our Thief's Hole, then we'd be done for.

Thus, profit and risk were directly proportional; high rewards required taking high risks.

After weighing the options, King Leader nodded and said, "Western Zhou Goods have been fetching crazy prices in the black market lately, fluctuating daily. I think it's worth taking the risk. Let's go for the Base."

Once we had our hands on the goods, Eldest Elder Sun immediately contacted A Mole, asking her to send people to move the items and, in the process, help cover up the Thief's Hole.

A Mole was quite the remarkable woman. Through several encounters, I learned that the 'Big Brothers' and 'Little Brothers' she acknowledged all had significant clout. Not only did she serve as the Logistics Department for King Leader, but she was also rumored to be juggling the same role for other gangs.

Logically, such behavior was against the rules, but given A Mole's competence, King Leader turned a blind eye, deliberately overlooking it.

This was much like those career managers in big corporations, who often held important positions in multiple companies at once.

A Mole had a few young lads under her wing, who followed her with unwavering loyalty and dedication. They were the ones who delivered generators and water pumps to us at night, and helped us conceal the Thief's Hole—it was all the handiwork of A Mole's young crew.

Our gang, at that time, would have been nothing without A Mole.

Those carrying the Green Ointment Clay were too conspicuous. In the urgency of the moment, they dared not discard it carelessly and ended up bringing it back with them.

This soil was like a ticking time bomb. Countless in our line of work had been tripped up by it. The Ba Bao Mountain Tomb Raider Gang in Beijing had met their downfall because a little pile of this greenish-white earth was spotted by an old lady taking a walk, leading to the gang's complete annihilation and a decade or so behind bars.

The next day.

Back at the small hotel in Shunde, I squatted by the sink brushing my teeth, pondering where I could scatter that greenish-white earth.

Just then.

"Smack!" A heavy pat landed on my backside.

Mid-brush, startled by the slap, I swallowed the mouthwash I hadn't yet spit out.

I turned around in anger, only to see A Mole wearing a tank top, laughing.

Although A Mole was a generation older than me, she maintained her figure exceptionally well, thanks to her wealth. She used the finest skincare products available, and the sight of her thighs peeking out from under her pink tank top left my throat parched.

"Hehe..." A Mole teased me with a sultry voice, "Little Cloud Peak, I heard from Second Brother that you haven't even touched a girl's hand? Is that so?"

My face flushed, I retorted, "Mind your own business."

Seeing my embarrassment, A Mole's laughter shook the flowers and stirred the waves.

She beckoned me with a crooked finger, "Little Cloud Peak, do you want to be my forty-fifth man..."

Back then, I was young and naive to the ways of the world, and blurted out, "I don't want that. By the time you're forty, I'd be wearing 99 Green Hats. You shameless woman, don't even think about ruining me, Xiang Yunfeng!"

A Mole, stung by my rebuke, flew into a rage. She grabbed a mop from the hotel and chased me all around the courtyard.

At noon, taking advantage of the mealtime rush, I slung a black backpack over my shoulder, disguised as a high school student, and wandered aimlessly through the streets of Shunde.

The backpack was stuffed full of greenish-white earth, which I needed to dispose of somewhere appropriate.

As I walked, one thought kept circling in my mind.

For some reason, the large covered water jar in the corner of the West Ear Chamber of last night's tomb seemed amiss.

I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. (To be continued)

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I have also posted the following more chapters [All free]: https://www.readgates.com/article/7b136c