At this moment, the boy felt a slight repulsion and disgust towards the genius. Why?
"Xiao Yuan, what if they come up here to check?"
"Brother Runsheng, there’s always a chance in anything we do."
The local rooftops are purely rooftops, not places for people to hang out, hence normally, except for when the houses are leaking, no one comes up.
Most of the rooftop area is covered with steeply laid red tiles, surrounded by small cement walls, which are too short even for someone to crouch behind, so Li Zhiyuan and Run Sheng could only choose to lie down.
Run Sheng was very close to the hatch, holding the Yellow River Shovel in his hand.
His shovel had been modified by Li Zhiyuan, made bigger, heavier, and the blade was longer.
It would be fine if the Submerged Monkey didn’t come to check the rooftop, if it dared to open the hatch and poke its head out, what awaited it was a slicing scoop from Run Sheng.
With his right hand gently covering his chest, Li Zhiyuan felt his pounding heartbeat; he was a bit nervous, but more excited.
Brother Binbin, I didn’t lie to you, this really is fun.
The reason I didn’t bring you is that I don’t want to increase the risk of accidents, I want to keep having fun in the future.
Occasionally, Li Zhiyuan would also gently lift his head; his position directly faced the fish pond, and the opera stage was right next to the pond, offering an excellent view.
Gradually, the second act ended, and people began to leave.
Li Zhiyuan heard Li Sanjiang’s voice; he was drunk, holding onto Ding Dalin’s hand and mumbling incessantly: "Good brother, for life!"
It was evident that Ding Dalin was just humoring him, barely managing to finally persuade Li Sanjiang to leave.
Originally, it should have been the cooks and helpers who ate the last seating, but they all received red envelopes and were allowed to take the leftover food, so everyone happily left.
The noisy and lively feast quickly quieted down.
The loudspeakers and sound systems on the opera stage had their volume turned up, still banging and singing.
The opera troupe members had all come down; they didn’t help clean up the dishes and furniture but started checking the house yard and surroundings.
Secretary Jin picked up a flashlight, turned it on, and swung it around in circles.
Soon, responses of flashlight flickers appeared at six high points in the perimeter.
One of these spots was atop a pile of grass by the river.
Li Zhiyuan thought to himself, that was close; originally, their plan was to sneak ashore from underwater and hide in this stack of grass. That would truly have been like a mouse voluntarily jumping into a mousetrap.
Footsteps could also be heard from the balcony on the second floor below; someone was checking each room.
Li Zhiyuan turned his head towards Run Sheng, who was pressing his ear against the ground, Yellow River Shovel ready at all times.
After a while, the footsteps moved away; Li Zhiyuan, peering through the drainage hole on the small cement wall in front of him, saw that they had gathered on the levee.
It seemed they had finished their inspection and had missed the rooftop. Being in the shadows under the light really did work.
Ding Dalin changed into a bright yellow Daoist robe and held the Peach Wood Sword.
A ritual table was placed in front of him, equipped with candles and offerings.
Ding Dalin began the rituals, unlike Li Sanjiang, Ding Dalin’s movements were swift.
After all, he was only performing the pre-tomb-opening procedures for the Submerged Monkey, while the Grandmaster sometimes had to cater to the main family’s emotions, extending the performance a bit to make the main family feel the spending was worthwhile.
Undeniably though, Ding Dalin’s actions and posture were much more standard and professional than the Grandmaster’s.
It felt somewhat like the gap between Secretary Jin and Little Huang Ying when they sang during the day.
Li Zhiyuan blinked, rubbing the center of his forehead, what was he randomly associating himself?
The ritual completed, Ding Dalin didn’t remove his Daoist robe, but swapped the Peach Wood Sword for a Compass and started spinning it in place.
This Compass was purple, quite large, and was elaborately carved and embellished, and like the clocks in foreign-related hotels, it had a big circle with a row of smaller circles around it, each indicating the time of a different region.
Li Zhiyuan pursed his lips; compared to this purple Compass, his specially made one was far inferior, requiring him to calculate corrections mentally every time he used it.
At that moment, Secretary Jin led the total of ten Submerged Monkeys, all kneeling on one knee before Ding Dalin.
Ding Dalin stared at the Compass and slowly raised his hand:
"The auspicious time has come, let’s start working!"
Everyone raised one hand, chanting something in unison sotto voce; after finishing, they stood up and dispersed to get busy.
The advantage of water tombs over traditional earth tombs is their low air content.
But water tombs are harder to raid than earth tombs and carry a higher risk. In such industries, complex rituals and customs are derived, not only to respect the ghosts and gods but also to strengthen one’s psychological fortification.
Several items were moved out from under the opera stage, visibly including two water pumps and one diesel generator.
Additionally, there were things similar to winch loops, and two people were methodically setting up frameworks.
Times are evolving, and the methods of the Submerged Monkeys for tomb raiding have naturally progressed as well.
The noise from the water pumps was covered by the sound of the speakers; water hoses extended into the nearby river, rapidly lowering the water level of the pond visibly.
Right then, Run Sheng also moved over, as the hatch no longer posed a risk.
"Xiao Yuan, just let me know when it’s time for me to go down and plant the flag."
"Hmm, it’s still early."
The opportunity to plant the flag would come when Little Huang Ying and the Submerged Monkeys confronted each other; only when they became chaotic could he and Run Sheng seize the chance to set up arrangements in the periphery.
The pond was beginning нto expose the rotting mud at the bottom, along with a lot of dead rotten fish and crabs.