Title: A Southern-School Tomb Raider’s Experiences in the Tombs
Synopsis:
This novel is the account of me, Jin Ping, a Southern-School tomb raider. The story begins with how I was taken on as an apprentice by “Foreman Zhou,” Zhou Zhenhai. Told from my first-person perspective, it paints a vivid picture of bonds between master and disciple, underworld codes, and dangers lurking beneath the earth.
On a rainy night in the Year of the Snake, in the year of Jisi, at an unremarkable branch office in Changsha, Zhou Zhenhai, already famous throughout Huguang, took notice of me for my inherited knack for “smelling soil to determine a tomb’s age.” He said my nose concealed a “living tomb inscription.” From then on, I followed this renowned Southern-School “living Lu Ban” and embarked on the true path of tomb raiding.
What Foreman Zhou taught me was not merely the tomb-exploration techniques of “observing, smelling, asking, and feeling,” or the tricks for disarming “box pits” and “interlocking flip boards.” More than anything, he taught me the principles and perils of our trade. He often said, “We who dig in the earth revere the founding master and fear the calamities brought by the heavens. The next Bingwu year is bound to bring disaster.”
As the Bingwu Year of the Horse drew near, Foreman Zhou’s words proved prophetic. One bizarre tomb after another, none of which should have come to light, began revealing signs of its presence. The earth’s energy grew chaotic, and ominous portents appeared everywhere. Foreman Zhou took me along the hidden routes he had traveled in his youth to reopen an investigation into a cold case that had haunted him for half his life: a shocking tomb-raiding massacre from decades ago, closely tied to the Year of the Horse. We had to uncover the truth before the true Bingwu year arrived, or the tragedy of that time might happen again.
This is not merely an adventure in searching for and raiding tombs. It is also a story of redemption and legacy spanning two generations of tomb raiders. The book will recount in detail the Southern School
