Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 174 Drilling into the Grave
Enduring the stench of decay around him, Lin Ge carefully crawled into the tomb.

The tomb-raiding hole is slightly wider than a person's shoulder. Its original purpose was to allow tomb raiders to crawl in and steal valuable treasures.

Therefore, Lin Ge didn't find the space particularly cramped. On the contrary, the safety rope he was holding onto always required him to pull hard so that he could move forward quickly and steadily, little by little.

"Mimi, stop for a moment, point the camera at the left cave wall."

Nie Guoqiang's voice came through the communication device on his waist.

It's essentially a regular walkie-talkie, except the button-operated call function has been modified to allow for continuous, anytime, anywhere communication. Without knowing the signal strength within the tunnel, a walkie-talkie offers more stable communication quality than a mobile phone.

Lin Ge stopped and turned to look to his left.

Sure enough, there were some dark red marks there, some of which had even seeped into the soil. Lingo twitched his nose and smelled a strange odor, probably from the decaying remains of a corpse.

"vomit……"

As his mind raced with this thought, Lin Ge rolled his eyes and almost vomited.

"Calm down, you can take a short rest."

It was impossible to tell whether Nie Guoqiang's voice on the walkie-talkie was concerned or indifferent. Lin Ge shook his head to calm himself down.

After resting for a while, he pulled the safety rope forward a little more and continued walking into the tunnel diagonally downwards.

I could vaguely sense that the air ahead had become more humid, and the ground had become much softer. The digging marks from the tomb had become rougher, and there was even a simple, handcrafted dagger that had probably been accidentally left behind, but it was already covered in rust.

As instructed by Nie Guoqiang, Lin Ge photographed the dagger and would take it with him on the return trip.

After walking a while longer, the tunnel came to an end, and Lin Ge saw a dark grave pit, a narrow space propped up by the decay of a coffin. There were signs of collapse on both sides, and wood chips and grotesque bones could be seen on the ground.

Lin Ge paused, feeling somewhat timid and hesitant to continue.

Even though he had already seen his target this time, the mutilated corpse covered in filth and swarming insects, he didn't have the courage to crawl into the coffin for the time being.

This isn't fear, it's a taboo!

Lin Ge convinced himself of this.

The police officers above remained silent, simply watching the scene displayed on the camera. Meanwhile, the faint sound of an old professor instructing his students could be heard from the side, as he analyzed and questioned the pristine tomb as if he were right there in the scene.

This scene, the interior of a tomb that has never been excavated or exposed, is something that 99% of archaeologists have never seen before.

Lin Ge chuckled to himself.

"Wang!"

Beibei's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

Lin Ge paused for a moment and didn't pay much attention, but before he could walk any further, a more peculiar cry rang out, "Woo-wah, woo-wah," as two stupid things had once again recklessly run over to the crowd.

"How can such stupid wild animals possibly survive in the wilderness?"

Lin Ge grumbled, feeling annoyed that the two lynx cubs were incredibly lucky to have encountered him. Otherwise, given their foolish behavior, they would never have survived to adulthood in a world where they wouldn't have run into him.

For the sake of the little lynx, he took a deep breath, lowered his head, and walked into the tomb.

Holding his breath, Lin Ge pulled out the body bag and roughly pried it open. He turned his head to look at the remaining frame of the coffin on the other side, and kicked the remains of the corpse into the body bag lying on the ground with his hind legs.

No one has the right to criticize his actions as rude! Anyone who dares to utter a word will be met with a fight! Lin Ge thought to himself as he worked.

A hideous head, long legs, and some other random, incomprehensible thing—Ling Ge shoved them all into the bag, then quickly tied the bag shut to keep the strange-smelling objects inside.

"it is good!"

The police officers' excited voices came through the walkie-talkie. They hadn't expected the cat to actually do such a thing, perfectly and precisely shoving the designated target. Few people, let alone a cat, would dare to do something so boldly and flawlessly. In other words, this cat truly deserved to be called a capable lieutenant of the Zhanghe Police Station, an elite subordinate of Chief Nie—its abilities were indeed exaggeratedly remarkable.

Director Lu's invitation to Director Nie and his team from afar was absolutely the right thing to do! In just two days, they not only found crucial clues on an incredible scale, but also located and collected all the remaining remains. Based on all the current clues and analysis, infighting among the tomb raiders is the most likely explanation. As long as they follow this lead and confirm the victim's identity, the rest is just a matter of time and a bit of legwork.

Ninety percent of the difficult work has already been solved by this police cat. The remaining layer falls under the forensic doctor's task. As for the Yexian police... they're just tools!

Everyone wants to be a tool, it's so worry-free.

After cleaning up the remains and thoroughly filming the entire coffin, Lingo decided to return. Staying in this awful place any longer would only give him nightmares.

"Wait a moment!"

The old professor's voice suddenly came through the walkie-talkie.

This was followed by a buzzing sound and a jumble of electrical currents, as if people were fighting over the walkie-talkie. Lin Ge also heard Xuan Ye shouting.

This girl is really something else.

Lin Ge was deeply impressed; it was the first time he had ever seen a girl who dared to confront the police head-on.

Communication was quickly restored, and the old professor coughed and continued, "Mimi, right? Look at the camera to the right. In the bottom right corner, get a little closer. Is there something metal or hard buried in the shallow soil?"

"What?"

Lin Ge paused for a moment, then looked in the direction the professor had pointed out, only to see a few pieces of wood of varying sizes. These pieces of wood were probably made of Phoebe zhennan wood, which explained why they hadn't completely rotted even after hundreds of years, preserving the sturdy framework.

Very close to the wood shards lay the remains of the coffin's occupant. Their stark whiteness made them less frightening.

Lin Ge carefully walked to the location indicated by the professor, then pushed aside one of the pieces of wood about the length of a person's arm, and sure enough, he found different traces in the soil below.

That's a stone slab!
It was a large, thick stone slab, like a tombstone, with very obvious signs of human intervention. It was buried under the coffin, but over time, the soil shifted, and it was quietly lifted up a bit, protruding a sharp corner from under the coffin.

"It really is a case of stealing luck. It seems the real ancient tomb is right under this coffin."

The old professor sighed, his voice becoming much more relaxed, and even had time to joke with Lin Ge, saying, "Okay, Mimi, you can come up now. You've really worked hard today. Let these policemen buy you some big fish and meat to reward you properly."

"Is that all?"

Lin Ge was still somewhat unsatisfied. The unknown stone slab and the old professor's words made him feel itchy, like he was being scratched by a cat. He wanted to continue exploring to see if there would be any other discoveries.

"Leave the rest to the professionals. Anyway, your darling cat has already brought up what you needed, so don't worry about anything else."

When Lingo was returning, the old professor was speaking on the walkie-talkie.

Facing the curious gazes of the police officers, he calmly said, "The ancients were superstitious and believed that people could be reincarnated. Especially those who were rich but heartless, they were even more afraid of being punished by the King of Hell, and who knows whether they would be a beggar or a cat or dog in their next life."

Upon hearing the word "cat," Lingo paused for a moment.

Why was I turned into a cat? Was it because I was a bad person in my past life and my fate was sinful? But that can't be right. I was just an ordinary person! I was honest and didn't do anything wrong, so why was I thrown into the animal realm and turned into a cat?

Superstition, it's definitely superstition!

Lin Ge shook his head, listening intently as he slowly climbed up. As for the body bag, it had already been lowered up by another rope; it couldn't possibly be carried by a cat.

"So, someone came up with an idea. If they themselves have bad luck, then surely those emperors, generals, wealthy gentry, and magnates must have good luck, right? If they could borrow or steal some of their luck, wouldn't they be able to continue enjoying good fortune in their next life?"

The old professor was still explaining when Xuan Ye chimed in, "So they placed their own graves on top of the graves of ancient high-ranking officials and important figures that they had secretly discovered. Firstly, to suppress them; secondly, to benefit from their good fortune so they could have a good reincarnation, and perhaps even protect their descendants and allow them to enjoy the remaining blessings. After all, descendants always have to burn incense and offer sacrifices at their graves, right? If the deceased manage to taste even a little of that incense, how could they not give back?"

"This is because of the borrowed fortune, and it's also the reason for the two graves, one above the other."

The old professor gave his final summary, and everyone around him fell silent.

(End of this chapter)