447: Chapter 447 Tomb Raiding!

The leader was a Middle-aged Man in his forties with dark skin, wearing ordinary farmer's clothes, with mud splatters still clinging to his trouser legs.

Behind him followed several men dressed the same way; they were all taciturn and didn't speak, simply beckoning to the owner to order several expensive dishes.

Then, they ordered a dozen beers.

Yan Qingwu swept a glance over the group with her peripheral vision, her elegant brows knitting slightly.

She lowered her voice and leaned into Ye Chen's ear.

"Are those people from a construction site?"

"Have living conditions for construction workers gotten this good now?"

"The dish they ordered, that large portion of roasted lamb chops—I checked the price earlier; it costs nearly five hundred."

Ye Chen glanced over and shook his head.

"People coming from a construction site wouldn't be this silent."

"Look at their hurried expressions and shifty eyes; they keep glancing around while eating..."

"Something is not right."

Yan Qingwu was taken aback and looked closely.

Sure enough.

Although those people were sitting there eating noodles, their eyes were constantly scanning the surroundings intentionally or unintentionally, as if they were observing something or perhaps on guard against something.

Moreover, there was very little communication between them. Occasionally, when they said a word or two, they would lean in close to each other's ears and lower their voices, terrified of being overheard.

Yan Qingwu's eyes flashed with curiosity: "Then what do these people do?"

Ye Chen didn't answer immediately, nor did he look at the men; instead, his perception quietly spread out.

Then, he raised an eyebrow slightly.

Wrapped around those people were wisps of faint, almost imperceptible Yin energy.

The Yin energy was extremely thin, so faint that an ordinary person would never notice it, but in his eyes, it was as clear as fireflies in the night.

More importantly, that Yin energy was clearly not their own; it had been picked up from somewhere else.

Therefore, the only possibility was...

Ye Chen narrowed his eyes slightly and whispered: "Grave robbers."

Yan Qingwu was stunned, then a flash of excitement crossed her eyes.

"Grave robbers?"

"Are you sure?"

Ye Chen nodded.

"They have very heavy Yin energy on them, which is picked up from spending years working underground."

"And look at their hands..."

Yan Qingwu followed his gaze.

As those men ate the lamb, the palms they revealed were rough and powerful, with thick knuckles, and some black soil remained in their fingernails.

The color of that soil was different from ordinary dirt; it had a grayish-black hue.

"That is..."

"Grave soil." Ye Chen said indifferently, "And it's from a very deep burial site, at least an ancient tomb over a thousand years old."

Yan Qingwu gasped.

An ancient tomb over a thousand years old?

These seemingly ordinary men were actually engaged in this kind of business?

She lowered her voice: "Should we call the police?"

Ye Chen couldn't help but laugh.

"Aren't you a police officer yourself?"

"Oh, right!"

Yan Qingwu's eyes lit up, and she was about to stand up...

However, Ye Chen interrupted her.

"No rush."

"Let's see what they are up to first."

"It's fate that we ran into them; I'd like to see which tomb they are robbing and what kind of good stuff they've unearthed."

There are indeed many valuable things in tombs.

Since they had encountered it, it was impossible to just turn a blind eye.

Upon hearing this, a strange smile flashed in Yan Qingwu's eyes: "You aren't planning to rob the robbers, are you?"

Ye Chen rolled his eyes at her.

"What do you mean, rob the robbers?"

"I am recovering artifacts that are about to be lost for the country!"

"Do you understand?"

Yan Qingwu burst into laughter: "Fine, fine, fine, you're the boss."

The two said no more and continued eating their skewers.

Those men were eating very hurriedly, as if they were in a rush.

In less than thirty minutes, nearly a thousand dollars worth of food on the table had been completely devoured.

The Middle-aged Man who led them put down his chopsticks, pulled a stack of bills from his pocket, slapped it on the table, and signaled to the others.

The men stood up at the same time and left quickly.

Ye Chen put down the lamb skewer in his hand and signaled to Yan Qingwu.

"Let's go."

The two stood up nonchalantly and followed from a distance.

Those men walked out of the stall and turned into a secluded alley.

The alley was deep and dark; the men walked very quickly, glancing back from time to time, with extremely high vigilance.

Unfortunately for them, they had encountered Ye Chen.

Let alone this level of counter-surveillance, even the top-tier agents wouldn't be able to hide from Ye Chen.

After winding through several turns, the men stopped in front of an abandoned ancestral temple.

The leading Middle-aged Man looked left and right, confirmed no one was following, then pulled a key from his bosom, unlocked the door, and slipped into the temple.

The others filed in, and the temple door quickly closed.

Yan Qingwu leaned into Ye Chen's ear and whispered: "What now?"

Ye Chen smiled slightly.

"Let's go in and take a look."

As his voice fell, the two leapt lightly, vaulting over the courtyard wall like ghosts, and landed silently inside the temple.

The ancestral temple was dilapidated and clearly had been abandoned for a long time.

The main hall was piled with miscellaneous items.

However, in the main hall, a dim yellow light was shining, and a sound of knocking and smashing could be heard.

The two approached quietly and peered in through the gaps in the dilapidated window lattice.

The blue brick floor in the center of the hall had been pried open to reveal a large hole, and the edge of the pit was piled with freshly dug soil.

Those men were already standing in the pit, sweating profusely as they dug for something.

The leading Middle-aged Man stood by the edge of the pit, clutching a flashlight, the beam scanning back and forth at the bottom of the pit.

"Dig faster! We must finish tonight!"

"Otherwise, if we stay any longer, the surrounding residents will start to get suspicious!"

He urged in a low voice, his tone laced with a hint of excitement.

A younger man at the bottom of the pit looked up, wiped the sweat from his face, and grinned.

"Brother Hu, don't worry, the brothers know what they are doing."

"We've had our eyes on what's buried under this temple for three years; we'll definitely get it out tonight!"

The Middle-aged Man called Brother Hu nodded, a complex glint flashing in his eyes.

"After this job, we'll wash our hands of this."

"The things inside are worth a fortune; it'll be enough for us to spend for several lifetimes."

Upon hearing this, the men at the bottom of the pit quickened their movements.

The iron picks were swung with vigor, and soil was continuously tossed onto the edge of the pit.

Outside, Ye Chen narrowed his eyes slightly, using Earth Vein Tracking to probe the bottom of the pit.

The next second, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"Good stuff!"

Yan Qingwu was taken aback by his words and was just about to ask...

Suddenly!

A cry of surprise came from the bottom of the pit.

"We found it!"

Everyone perked up, and the beams of the flashlights all shone towards the bottom of the pit in unison.

As it turned out, the iron pick in the young man's hand was pressed against a gray-blue stone slab.

On the edge of the stone slab, several rusted iron rings were vaguely visible.

Brother Hu was trembling with excitement, scrambling into the pit.

"Be gentle! Everyone, be gentle!"

"Pry it open! Hurry up and pry it open!"

The men hurriedly inserted their iron picks into the gaps of the stone slab and pried with all their might...

"Creak—"

A corner of the stone slab was lifted, revealing a deep, dark void underneath.

The flashlight shone inside, and several chests could be vaguely seen, along with a coffin.

Brother Hu's eyes were bloodshot; he jumped down himself, grabbed the iron ring of the topmost chest, and dragged it out with all his might.

The others also joined in, helping to drag those chests up from the bottom of the pit.

There were four chests in total, each about half a person's height, wrapped in iron, and covered in rust.

Brother Hu, with trembling hands, pulled an iron pry bar from his bosom and pried open the lock of the first chest.

"Click—"

The moment the lid was lifted, everyone gasped.

The golden light was almost blinding.

It was a whole chest of gold bars!

They were stacked neatly, shimmering with an alluring luster under the dim yellow light.

"We're rich! Brother Hu! We're rich!"

The young man was so excited he was incoherent, reaching out to grab the gold bars.

Brother Hu slapped his hand away.

"What's the rush!"

"Check the other chests first!"

The men hurriedly pulled out all the chests.

Then, they pried open the second and third chests.

They were also full of gold bars, gleaming and golden.

Everyone's breathing became heavy.

Three chests of gold bars—there had to be at least several hundred jin!

How much was this worth?

Brother Hu suppressed the wild joy in his heart, his gaze falling on the fourth chest.

That chest was slightly smaller than the other three and more heavily rusted, as if it had endured a much longer passage of time.

"Open it." Brother Hu ordered.

A man swung the iron pry bar and pried open the lock.

The lid was lifted.

This time, there was no golden brilliance.

Inside the chest were only a few antique porcelain pieces and a box the size of a palm.

The box was pitch black all over, exuding an ancient aura.

Brother Hu frowned and reached out to pick up the box.

The box felt heavy in his hand.

He looked it over again and again, his gaze falling on the small keyhole on the lid of the box.

"Where's the key?"

The men looked at each other and shook their heads.

"We didn't see a key."

"Could this box be empty?"

"Should we pry it open and see?"

Brother Hu hesitated for a moment and shook his head.

"Don't touch it yet."

"This box looks unusual; if we break it, the loss would be huge."

He put down the box, picked up the porcelain pieces, and looked at them, a trace of disappointment flashing in his eyes.

"Just these pieces of junk?"

"Compared to those three chests of gold bars, it's not even close."

The young man, however, stared at the black box, his eyes full of curiosity.

"Brother Hu, what do you think is inside this box?"

"To have it placed together with the gold bars, it must not be an ordinary item, right?"