Guanzhong Tomb Robbery Notes

Chapter 123: Pores, Smelling the Earth

Old Li took two steps at a time.

He came to Ershuan and grabbed the soil that the Luoyang shovel had just brought up.

Under the light of a flashlight, you can clearly see that the soil has different colors.

Generally, as the depth of the strata increases, the geological structure and soil color will also change.

Large tombs are buried deep, and will penetrate several layers of soil of different colors.

Soils of different colors are mixed together during backfilling to form five-color soil, three-color soil, etc.

But this is just a widely circulated statement.

Tomb robbers do use color to distinguish flower soil.

But experienced tomb robbers will also look at the pores in the soil.

Capillaries are formed by plant roots.

Ever since plants appeared on Earth, they have left their mark in the soil.

The capillaries left in the natural original soil are usually vertically downward, and the traces are relatively straight.

In the disturbed flower soil, the remaining pores are in disarray.

After looking at the color of the soil, Lao Li picked up the strips of soil brought out by the Luoyang shovel and carefully observed the pores on it.

I also leaned over to take a look.

Old Li seemed to be testing me when he asked, "Look carefully, what else can you see besides the earthy color?"

I laughed.

It just so happens that Tuoye’s family notes have detailed instructions on how to look at soil.

In addition, there is also the method of smelling the soil.

Before the Luoyang shovel became popular, it was more difficult to examine the soil because the iron bar could not bring up a large amount of soil.

Only very experienced tomb robbers can distinguish between five-colored soil, green paste mud, white paste mud, etc. from the small amount of soil brought out by the iron rod tip.

So some tomb robbers with a keen sense of smell gradually figured out a way to smell the soil.

It just so happened that one of Tuoye’s ancestors was skilled in smelling the soil.

I also wrote down the secret in my notes.

I leaned over to take a closer look at the strip of dirt.

It was the first time I observed a large piece of soil at such a close distance, so I looked at it very carefully.

The three colors of loess, red soil and green soil are mixed together, with occasional black soil patches mixed in.

There are indeed some messy pores left in the soil.

I picked up another strip of soil and compared it with the mottled soil.

It was a line of pure loess.

The soil is denser than the mixed soil.

The exposed pores are mostly vertical.

It is very different from the pores of Wuhua soil.

When Old Li saw me comparing it with the loess strips, he laughed and said, "Don't compare. You won't be able to come up with a clear idea even if you try till dawn."

Daquan and Ershuan also laughed.

"Looking at the soil is my master's unique skill."

"If you want to learn, just become our disciple and be our junior apprentice, hahahaha."

Cui Hao glared unconvincedly and said, "My brother can also read the soil, there is no need for him to worship your master."

"Brother, show off your skills and put a damper on their arrogance."

Jiang Nanle pursed his lips and looked at me, then turned to look at Lao Li.

Then put your hands behind your back and hold the handle of the knife.

He leaned close to my ear and whispered, "If they dare to bully you, my knife will show no mercy."

"..."

This girl is really violent.

But what he said warmed my heart.

When traveling, who doesn’t want to have more friends who help their relatives but not others?

Well, it was not in vain that I saved her just for this.

"Don't mess around, how about I keep the knife for you?"

Jiang Nanle shook his head vigorously.

She quickly stepped back two meters, as if she was afraid that I would snatch her knife.

I put down the loess bar in my hand and said: "In addition to the color of the five-color soil, you also need to look at the pores."

"The pores on this loess strip are vertical, whereas in the man-made variegated soil, the pores are destroyed and disrupted, so it's messy and irregular."

Old Li's face froze.

"You, you... know all this?!"

Daquan and Ershuan looked at each other.

The two of them immediately picked up the yellow soil strip on the ground and compared it with the mottled soil strip.

It can be seen that Lao Li didn't teach them how to look at pores at all.

Now that I revealed it to them, they both started to learn it in a hurry.

Cui Hao and Jiang Nanle also leaned over to take a look.

Four people have eight eyes, and after watching and discussing, they all figured out how to see.

"How is it? Your master hasn't taught you, right?"

"Is my brother better than your master?"

"If it weren't for my brother, you two wouldn't have been able to learn it!"

"Why don't you two just take my brother as your master and become my nephews, hahahaha!"

Cui Hao's words made Daquan and Ershuan blush.

Both of them wished they could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

Old Li was also embarrassed.

He laughed dryly and handed me a cigarette. "That's impressive. You know how to read pores at such a young age."

"Many old tomb robbers don't know how to look at the pores."

I took the cigarette and held it to my lips.

Old Li quickly struck a match to light my cigarette.

This action shows that he has given in.

"I just happened to see it in my notes." I said lightly.

"What else is written in the notebook?"

Lao Li wanted to ask some questions, but I smiled and said nothing.

He was not embarrassed when he didn't get the answer. Instead, he grabbed the soil and smelled it.

This is the smelling skill among tomb robbers.

Cui Hao and others looked at Lao Li curiously.

They also came over to smell the scent of the colorful soil.

"Isn't this just the smell of earth? Nothing special."

"I don't smell anything else."

“Master, what’s the secret to smelling the soil? I’ve never seen you do that before… Ouch!”

Daquan had just finished speaking when Lao Li hit him on the head.

Old Li glared at him with his eyes wide open in hatred for his lack of fighting spirit.

"You bastard, why should I report to you what I know?"

"This is a unique skill in the tomb-robbing business."

"You guys, get to work quickly and find out the location of the tomb chamber and the tomb passage."

Daquan and Ershuan went to work with their heads down.

In fact, from Daquan's words, we can infer that Lao Li is not very good at smelling soil.

He probably did this to provoke me.

After making me feel competitive, he told me the secret of smelling the soil.

This is a common trick used by underworld people.

Regardless of whether I know how to smell the soil or not, I'll just try it out first to test the waters.

I threw away the cigarette butt and stomped it out, then walked over, picked up the five-flowered soil and smelled it.

Old Li narrowed his eyes and stared at me: "How is it, do you smell anything?"

It was my first time smelling Wuhua soil, so of course I couldn’t smell anything.

Just trying to remember what I smelled.

In fact, the ability to smell is more about accumulation of experience. Of course, a sensitive nose is also necessary.

But not as many were chosen.

Things like you need to have a nose like a dog and you have to quit smoking and drinking before you can learn the power of smell.

Actually, neither is necessary.

When you smell the soil, you first smell the strength of its fishy smell.

Generally, the longer the underground sediment is deposited, the stronger the earthy, stale, and moldy smells will be.

The shorter the time in the tomb, the lighter the smell.

Some tomb robbers who are experienced in smelling the soil can tell the approximate dynasty of a tomb by smelling the soil.

The second is to smell whether there is any special smell.

As long as it is not a brick chamber tomb, you can use a Luoyang shovel to break through the tomb and explore the tomb chamber.

Some soil that is close to metal utensils such as bronze will have a metallic smell.

The soil close to the coffin or lacquerware or wooden objects will have the smell of rotten wood.

All of these can be used to determine what is in the tomb based on the smell attached to the soil.

I took a deep breath and pretended to say, "I really smell something different."

"Brother Li, why don't you tell me what you smelled first?"