Just as Chen Xi turned away, Yu Jin's voice reached him, "Strategist, if you give these people gold ingots, they might end up dead. You can use gold beads, gold leaves, gold ingots, or gold bars, but these guys can't handle gold ingots."
Chen Xi was speechless. He always carried gold beads on him, and while he had some copper coins, he didn't have more than twenty. How was he supposed to know if using gold ingots would get them killed? But thinking about the situation in this era, it wasn't entirely out of the question.
"Who among you is the best at digging?" Chen Xi decided to drop the gold vs. copper issue. As long as they were willing to work for money, that's all that mattered.
Immediately, the group scattered, leaving one hunched-over, forty-something-year-old man standing in the middle, shaking so badly it looked like he might spit blood.
"Alright, you're the one. Here, take half the money. Zijian, take this expert and let him assess the terrain. Figure out how we should proceed." Seeing that everyone had agreed this old man was the best, Chen Xi was delighted. Every profession has its leaders, and this was exactly the kind of person he needed.
The rest of the group nearly choked. The guy hadn't moved because he was stuck in the middle, but when everyone else stepped aside, he was left standing there like a sore thumb. Not a single person had actually acknowledged that the old man was better than them.
Yu Jin felt a bit embarrassed and turned away. Chen Xi could be a bit oblivious at times—like right now, where it should've been obvious that the old man wasn't volunteering. Yet Chen Xi had just made him the leader.
"Clatter!" Hua Xiong used a large bucket to fill a bucket with money. After seeing that the bucket was overflowing, he casually took out two gold ingots from his bodyguard's pouch and tossed them into the bucket. "Take this money and stick with me from now on. I need people with your kind of professional skills!"
Hua Xiong didn't quite understand why Chen Xi called it "professional skills," but he thought it sounded impressive. Who knew when a person like this might come in handy? Best to keep him around.
Clearly, Hua Xiong's understanding of social interactions was a step behind Yu Jin's. What Hua Xiong had just done was pretty much poaching, but Chen Xi typically turned a blind eye to such things.
After Hua Xiong took the old man away, the remaining group looked at Chen Xi with teary eyes. If they had known, they would have stayed in the middle.
"Do you need anything else dug out, sir?" It was true that a large forest contains all kinds of birds, and among them, there's always one smart one. Here it was—a smart bird finally stepped up.
"You, yes, you! The one who spoke, step forward!" Chen Xi called out. He didn't know who had spoken, but someone volunteering meant they had initiative and guts—qualities worth rewarding.
The man hesitated for a moment but eventually stepped forward and cupped his fists in a salute to Chen Xi.
Chen Xi looked the man over. He seemed to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with a muscular build, dressed in simple hemp clothing. Compared to the others, he was completely out of place. What was going on here? Never mind. Maybe he was an archaeology enthusiast. Who's to say? It wasn't like archaeology was unheard of in ancient times.
"Give him half the money. He's the foreman now," Chen Xi instructed Yu Jin. It didn't really matter who took the lead; be it a tomb robber or an archaeologist, even if Hua Xiong had caught the wrong guy, it wasn't a big deal. Chen Xi just needed someone to lead the way.
Meanwhile, Hua Xiong took the "professional" up to the hillside to start the assessment.
"What's your name?" "They call me Pouch," the old man replied.
"Pouch, stand here and figure out where to dig a tunnel that will safely reach Pingyu City," Hua Xiong instructed, pointing toward Pingyu. In the background, the trebuchets kept launching stones every so often, just to lower the enemy's morale. They weren't aiming to kill—just to disgust them.
The old man was stunned for a moment, then squinted at the layout of Pingyu City. He wasn't the best tomb robber out there, but he had the basics down.
"General, there are many places where we could dig, but the moat will be difficult to cross. It would be best to dig the tunnel deep, but the water veins in Runan are plentiful, so digging deep might cause flooding," Pouch said cautiously.
Just by looking at the small pond under the mound, Hua Xiong knew the water in this area wasn't something to be taken lightly.
"How long would it take to dig through to the inside of the city?" Hua Xiong asked.
"With this soil and if everyone works around the clock, we could dig a tunnel wide enough for two people to walk side by side in about twenty days," Pouch replied cautiously, noting that this task was simple for any tomb robber.
"It needs to be discreet," Hua Xiong warned.
Hearing this, Pouch breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed this general didn't really understand their line of work. If tomb robbers weren't discreet, they'd have died out a long time ago.
"General, rest assured. I can connect the tunnel to a well inside the city without disrupting its structure," Pouch said confidently, now that he was certain Hua Xiong was an outsider. This was a piece of cake for them.
"Alright, then do it. If you get this done, I won't be stingy with the rewards," Hua Xiong said, patting Pouch on the shoulder. He was satisfied. Once the tunnel was finished, money wouldn't be an issue.
With a designer in place—though perhaps not the best—and a foreman in charge, they were ready to start. Hua Xiong, like a ruthless coal mine boss, didn't care about cave-ins or the labor force.
They worked eighteen hours a day, embodying the very definition of a heartless businessman. As for why the workday was so long, Hua Xiong had heard that tomb robbers were more efficient at night, but he didn't want to waste daylight either…
Anyway, in Hua Xiong's view, this group deserved to die, and digging a tunnel was their way of atoning. If they managed to dig through, all would be forgiven. If the tunnel collapsed while they were working, it would be a sign from the heavens, reclaiming those it couldn't tolerate any longer—nothing to do with him. If they died of exhaustion, well, they just weren't strong enough. After all, in this era, tomb robbers deserved to be drowned once caught…
For these reasons, Hua Xiong considered himself merciful and generous. Instead of tying these tomb robbers to stones and sinking them in the Yangtze River, he was letting them atone by digging a tunnel. Truly, the heavens have the virtue of cherishing life.
Meanwhile, a new mound had been built near Pingyu City's walls. This one was closer to the city but much higher. With over ten thousand men working for five days, it was quite the construction. Once it was done, Chen Xi sent people up every day to shoot arrows down at the enemy—not to wound them, just to annoy them. Every day, Chen Xi stood on the mound and watched Qiao Rui curse. The man must be fuming.
But those things didn't matter as much as the fact that the tunnel Hua Xiong was overseeing had already passed under the moat. It had to be said—these tomb robbers were skilled. Although the twenty-some-meter-long section under the moat was damp, they managed to prevent a cave-in by using wooden planks and supports.
However, Pouch had warned that this makeshift structure would only last for a month. After that, water would start seeping in more and more, eventually flooding the entire tunnel.