A comprehensive overview of tombs: starting with the Yellow Weasel's Tomb

After listening to Bai Jing's words, Professor Hao nodded in agreement and said, "Junior brother has a good point. I think that's right."

At this moment, Ye Yixin and Sadi Peng were practically ready to start taking notes.

This is packed with useful information.

At that moment, Professor Chen's somewhat excited voice came over.

"Come and see, these murals are absolutely magnificent!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's attention was drawn to it.

Just then, Hu Bayi noticed that Fatty was secretly glancing at the coffin. Hu Bayi quickly tugged at Fatty's hand and said, "Don't get any funny ideas."

We're here to broaden our horizons. If we encounter any danger, we must ensure our safety. We're not here to rob tombs, so please be careful not to reveal our identities.

Upon hearing this, the fat man could only reluctantly say, "Fine, fine, I understand. We're here to broaden our horizons. I'll remember that."

As they spoke, Hu Bayi and Fatty followed the crowd to the mural.

Professor Chen pointed to the mural on the wall and said excitedly, "This mural contains records of the ancient city of Jingjue, and this tomb is the tomb of Prince Gumo."

Bai Jing glanced at the murals and quickly found the beginning of the content, the first mural. He nodded and said, "That's right. Gu Mo Kingdom was one of the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty. Its inhabitants were mainly engaged in agriculture, with some animal husbandry. The territory produced copper and iron. During the Han Dynasty, it was successively under the administration of the Protectorate General of the Western Regions and the Chief Administrator of the Western Regions."

The Book of Han, Chapter on the Western Regions, states: "The kingdom of Gumo was ruled by the king in the southern city. It was 8,150 li from Chang'an, with 3,500 households, a population of 24,500, and 4,500 soldiers."

One Marquis of Gumo, one Marquis of Fuguo, one Commandant, one General on the left and one General on the right, one Cavalry Lord on the left and one General on the right, and two Interpreters.

It extends 1,210 li east to the Protectorate General's seat, 15 days' journey south to Khotan, and borders Wusun to the north.

According to historical records, Gumo was a small country, but its capital was in the south, which is likely the ruins we are currently in.

Professor Chen nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this and said, "Xiao Bai is quite good. As an archaeologist, one must be well-read so that one can quickly draw useful conclusions about anything discovered during the archaeological process."

As he spoke, Professor Chen looked at the first mural and explained, "The content of this mural is roughly about how Gumo was a small country among the thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions, and also a vassal state of Jingjue."

They were oppressed by the Jingjue Kingdom and had to offer a large amount of gold and silver treasures, as well as other cattle, sheep and slaves, to the Jingjue Queen every year.

Therefore, it seems that the Kingdom of Gumo was simultaneously under the jurisdiction of both the Kingdom of Jingjue and the Protectorate of the Western Regions of the Han Dynasty.

This is actually normal. The Han Dynasty was more powerful, ruling over the entire Western Regions, but there were bound to be some larger countries among them, such as the Jingjue Kingdom. Gumo couldn't afford to offend them, so they could only pay tribute every year.

After explaining the content of the first mural, Professor Chen exclaimed, "The artists who painted these murals are truly highly skilled. Every part of them is magnificent and lifelike. Even without written records, the content of the murals is clear and vivid."

Chapter 160 Deciphering the Murals

Bai Jing nodded and smiled when he heard Professor Chen's comments: "Yes, the craftsmanship displayed on this mural is quite excellent, even among all the ancient murals I have seen. It allows us to clearly understand the figures and events in the painting, even just based on the mural itself."

As he spoke, Bai Jing stepped forward and sniffed the air, then continued, "This place is located in the desert, and the climate is extremely arid. Even though this tomb is by the water, the animal hide at the entrance stone door, combined with the isolation of the upper chamber, makes this tomb exceptionally dry, which is why these murals are so well preserved."

Upon hearing this, Professor Chen laughed heartily and said, "Yes, that's right. But this is also beneficial to our archaeological research and discoveries, so it's a good thing."

Then, the group went to the second mural, and Professor Chen continued to interpret it: "This mural tells the story of Prince Gumo asking to see Queen Jingjue in order to reduce taxes for his subjects, but Queen Jingjue refused his request and did not receive him."

Prince Gu Mo was actually the incarnation of the Sun God of War. Undeterred by the rejection, he infiltrated the Kingdom of Jingjue alone, intending to assassinate the Queen. In doing so, he uncovered a shocking secret.

Upon reaching this point, Professor Chen couldn't help but show a puzzled expression. Seeing this, Professor Hao asked, "What's wrong, teacher? Is there something wrong with the mural?"

Professor Chen waved his hand and then said, "No, it's just that this painting is too strange. In the previous murals, the Queen of Jingjue was always wearing a veil when she appeared, but this painting is different. The Queen of Jingjue is only showing her profile, but she is not wearing a veil."

Look, in this mural, the Queen of Jingjue is lifting her veil with one hand, and opposite her is another person, who looks like a slave or something similar. As the mural continues, this person becomes blurry and eventually disappears.

Clearly, Professor Chen was somewhat baffled by this interpretation, wondering what kind of power it was and how it was accomplished.

Upon hearing Professor Chen's interpretation, Shirley Yang suddenly said, "I think this queen should be a banshee."

Professor Chen was not an atheist, but upon hearing Shirley Yang's words, he became interested and immediately asked, "Tell me your thoughts."

Upon hearing this, Shirley Yang did not hide her thoughts and said directly, "Of course, this is just a guess, but my guess is not unfounded. My father used to like reading a book called 'The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions,' which was written by the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang."

I've read this book several times, and it contains many legends about the ancient Western Regions. One of them, the legend of the Desert Queen, left a deep impression on me.

Upon hearing Shirley Yang's words, Bai Jing seemed to have thought of something and asked, "Miss Yang, are you referring to a city deep in the desert, inhabited by an underground people who rule over..."

All the surrounding small countries.

Centuries later, the throne passed to the last queen. According to the book, this queen's eyes could open a passage to the underworld, and she could even make her enemies disappear with just a glance.

As for where the missing people went, no one has ever known.

Upon hearing Bai Jing's words, Shirley Yang looked at him and asked, "Mr. Bai, have you also read this book?"

Bai Jing nodded and smiled, "We archaeologists often verify or debunk legends, so we often read a lot of legends and stories from different places."

Shirley Yang understood, saying it was normal, but then she asked, "So, Mr. Bai, where do you think these missing people went?"

Upon hearing Shirley Yang's question, the fat man immediately replied without hesitation, "Where else could she have gone? She must be dead."

Upon hearing this, Shirley Yang turned around, looked at the fat man, and said, "If someone dies, there should still be bones, but if they disappear, then there's nothing left."

Ye Yixin and Sadi Peng were curious about what happened next, so they asked, "And then? And then?"

Upon hearing this, Shirley Yang looked at Bai Jing, who then gestured for her to take over. Shirley Yang didn't hesitate and continued, "The Queen adopted a high-pressure rule. She wanted all the people of the neighboring countries to worship her as a true god, and anyone who dared to resist her was executed. Perhaps because her actions angered the gods, the Queen died of a strange illness after only a few years of her reign."

Although she died, the slaves and several neighboring countries that had been oppressed by the queen formed an alliance. The alliance massacred and destroyed the queen's capital. Later, the alliance wanted to destroy the queen's tomb, but at this moment, the sky and earth suddenly changed color, and a terrible sandstorm swallowed up the capital and the alliance together. The queen's tomb and the treasures she had plundered were also buried under the yellow sand.

From then on, whenever a passing traveler took any valuable item from this place, a sandstorm would erupt, preventing that person from ever leaving the desert. However, this book makes no mention of the queen's or the allied forces' location or the era in which this story took place.

After listening to Shirley Yang's words, Sadipeng couldn't help but look at the mural and say, "The murals in this ancient tomb have many similarities to the legends that Professor Bai and Miss Yang told. I think there must be some connection between them."

Sadi Peng's words also reflected the words of everyone present.

In fact, based on the timeline, it is impossible for Xuanzang to have met the Queen of Jingjue. Therefore, the contents of this Great Tang Records on the Western Regions are very likely what Xuanzang heard from the locals when he passed through the area.

Bai Jing, on the other hand, recalled some stories that An Liman had told him.

The black sandstorm will engulf anyone who tries to take the treasure, or anyone who takes even a single gold coin from here, and they will never be able to leave the area affected by the black sandstorm.

Isn't there a similarity in these two approaches?

The group then looked at the mural, which described how the prince's assassination attempt failed, and he returned home to continue plotting to get rid of the queen. He then encountered a diviner from a distant land who instructed the prince to hide a specially prepared poison inside the meat of a golden lamb and present it to the queen.

Chapter 161 Imaginary Space Conjecture

Clearly, the content of the mural shows that this time, with the help of the diviner, Prince Gumo succeeded.

Judging from the content of the mural, the queen died suddenly, but the prince also died soon after due to overwork caused by the assassination attempt on the queen of Jingjue.

Upon seeing this scene, Bai Jing's heart suddenly stirred, and he unconsciously glanced at Shirley Yang.

If he's not mistaken, this so-called diviner is actually a member of the Mountain Moving Clan.

However, this has little to do with what they are supposed to do.

After the content of the murals was deciphered, everyone started discussing it.

First, Hu Bayi raised a question: "If this Queen Jingjue is really a female demon, then if we go to find her now, no, we should say go to her capital, isn't that just courting death? Besides, the Queen Jingjue can make people disappear as soon as she looks at them. This doesn't make any sense."

Hu Bayi's questions were reasonable and well-founded, which everyone agreed with. However, after listening to Hu Bayi's words, Shirley Yang told everyone about something that had happened in the United States.

“In the United States, there is a research center that specializes in studying special phenomena and pathologies. There once appeared a peculiar patient there, a twelve-year-old boy. This boy had a special ability since he was a child. If he stared at an object with a diameter of less than 5 centimeters for a long time, the object would disappear, as if it suddenly evaporated into the air.”

After hearing Shirley Yang's words, Sadi Peng became excited. Sadi Peng was very interested in studying extraterrestrials.

At this moment, Sadi Peng excitedly said, "See? I told you there were aliens! Professor, aliens are in the US!"

But before Sadi Peng could finish speaking, Professor Hao interrupted him, saying, "Listen to Miss Yang first, don't interrupt."

Upon hearing this, Shirley Yang continued, "No one says that this little boy is an alien, but his neighbors all treat him as an oddity and therefore ostracize him, which greatly troubles his parents."

Later, scientists discovered through research that the little boy's brainwaves were abnormal. His brain nerves and optic nerves could generate a kind of transporting energy, and this special ability is said to occur in only one in three billion humans, making it extremely rare.

Hearing this, Hu Bayi roughly understood what Shirley Yang meant, and hesitated for a moment before saying, "You mean that the Queen of Jingjue might also have this kind of special ability?"

Shirley Yang nodded in affirmation, and Hu Bayi, seeing this, stopped talking.

Bai Jing knew that such an ability did exist, and immediately said, "If that's what you're saying, I think it's very likely. I've encountered many strange people and events before. For example, as far as I know, there's a reclusive family in the Lancang River who have made a living by building tombs for high-ranking officials and nobles in the water for generations."

Members of this family can even hold their breath underwater for extremely long periods of time, with the most outstanding members able to live underwater for more than a day without needing to come out.

This kind of thing sounds a bit absurd, but the fact is, it is...

It really exists.

Besides that, I've also met a group of people who are exceptionally long-lived and have an exceptionally long growth cycle. While most of us reach adulthood at eighteen, our bodies are generally fully developed by the time we reach twenty-two or twenty-three.

However, this group is different. They may take 30 to 40 years to reach adulthood. Most importantly, during these 30 to 40 years, their physical development rate is similar to our normal growth rate of 22 to 23 years.

In other words, their body size grows at half the rate of ours, but their strength and speed grow at a similar rate. Thus, every member of this group possesses strength and speed that surpasses that of ordinary humans.

And I won't go into those things that only I've seen; let's just talk about white skin. Do you think it's scientifically sound?

Upon hearing this, Hu Bayi, Fatty Wang, and the rest of the archaeological team fell silent.

Yes, it's also not scientifically accurate to say that people with white skin are fair-skinned.

Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang knew more than the others.

The white-skinned creature is very likely the same white-skinned creature they found in the bronze box before. If that's the case, how many years must this guy have lived?

A normal weasel's lifespan is only a dozen years or so, but how many years has the white weasel lived?

Moreover, the methods used by white people are simply unscientific.

Whether it's the ability to pull people into an illusion or the ability to summon little white worms.