Tomb raiding: Carrying a coffin during a funeral procession, rewarded with the Dragon Elephant Prajn

They spent the entire day yesterday inside Zhelong Mountain, experiencing the adventure of two sections of gourd-shaped caves.

Unexpectedly, after only one night, we were already back inside Zhelong Mountain.

The difference is that the gourd cave is located on the mountainside of Zhelong Mountain, while the pool leads to the foot of Zhelong Mountain.

Looking at the tomb passage before him, Ma Liang muttered, "Wu Xie, why doesn't this tomb have a door? I've seen many tombs with stone doors, or at the very least, some burial goods, right?"

Ma Liang isn't a tomb raider, so it's normal for him to ask this question.

Wu Xie had no choice but to patiently explain, "This is the tomb passage, we haven't reached the main tomb yet. You can think of this as the main road outside your house; would you put your burial goods on the main road?"

"Oh! I see."

Ma Liang suddenly realized.

While they were talking, Li Changsheng had already walked inside.

Seeing this, Wu Xie quickly followed.

After walking about a hundred meters, a rocky slope suddenly appeared in front of us.

The stone slope extends upwards, ending at a massive stone gate that is two or three zhang (approximately 6.6-7 meters) high.

When Ma Liang shone his flashlight over, the group discovered that there was actually a small bronze door at the top of the stone gate.

The door is small, only big enough for one person to pass through while bending over.

Next to the small bronze door are bronze eaves and corner brackets, engraved with cloud patterns and flying birds.

Seeing this, Sun Xiaomei looked slightly puzzled and asked Professor Sun in a low voice.

"Dad, there's a large stone gate on the slope ahead, and a small bronze gate at the top of that gate. Why did King Xian build two tomb entrances?"

After Professor Sun went blind, he became much more peaceful. Hearing his daughter's description, he smiled and explained, "This is called the Gate to Immortality, also known as the Heavenly Gate. Usually, only Taoists would set up a tomb like this. It signifies that the deceased ascended to immortality through this small Heavenly Gate."

Upon hearing this, Wu Xie nodded in agreement.

"I've also heard my third uncle say that the regulations for ancient tombs in China are unique to Taoists."

Li Changsheng looked at Professor Sun and thought to himself that this man hadn't lied. Judging from the various signs in the tomb of the Prince of Xian, the Prince of Xian had indeed studied under a Taoist master when he was young, which was why he was so proficient in the feng shui secrets of the Central Plains.

Judging from the time of Emperor Wu of Han, the most famous Taoist priest was none other than An Qisheng, who was known as the True Man of the North Pole and the True Immortal of Penglai.

Whether An Qisheng was a true immortal or not, Li Changsheng did not know, but judging from his ability to control the Muchen Pearl and to teach two disciples who were both masters of Taoism and Feng Shui, this person was definitely not simple.

Looking at the bronze door in front of him, Li Changsheng was too lazy to climb up and simply reached out to push the stone door.

The massive stone gate, nearly three zhang in length, weighed well over ten tons. Li Changsheng had to use thirty percent of his strength just to barely push open the gate of the Xianwang Tomb, which had been sealed for thousands of years!

Squeak!

With a grinding sound, the two huge stone doors were slowly pushed open.

Seeing this, Wu Xie couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "Brother Li's strength is incredible! Even the Overlord lifting the cauldron couldn't compare to this."

"You've got it backwards. I think even ten overlords combined couldn't push this stone door open."

When Ma Liang walked through the stone gate, he tried pushing it.

He discovered that the stone gate remained completely still, not even a speck of dust had fallen from it.

The group entered the stone gate and immediately saw a narrow passageway.

The term "intercalation passage" specifically refers to the distance between the tomb entrance and the burial chamber.

On both sides of the inlaid path, there are neat rows of bronze figures, bronze horses, and bronze chariots.

While it cannot compare to the Terracotta Army of the First Emperor's Mausoleum, which only managed to cast two rows with the combined resources of the entire nation, it is still remarkable considering that the ancient Dian Kingdom was located on the frontier, was small and sparsely populated. The fact that they were able to cast these bronze figures and chariots is truly astonishing.

The group followed the path forward, passing the bronze chariots and horses, and came to the niches where the burial goods were stored.

The niches in these tomb walls are filled with various bronzes, pottery, jades, and even a few gold ingots that are still dazzlingly bright after a thousand years.

Of all metals, gold is the most stable; it is almost as if it were the same ten thousand years ago as it is ten thousand years from now.

Li Changsheng casually picked out a few decent gold ingots and tossed them directly to Wu Xie.

"The money to buy a car."

Wu Xie hurriedly took the gold ingots and found them quite heavy. Although they weren't as pure as modern gold, the gold ingots weighed almost three or four pounds together.

The gold ingot also bears the seal of the Prince Xian. If sold as gold, it would be worth around 100,000 yuan at the current gold price.

However, if sold as antiques, the gold ingots of the ruler of a small border country would each be worth at least several hundred thousand.

After buying the car, Wu Xie didn't have much money left.

He nodded and accepted it, and the group continued along the tomb passage.

After walking a few dozen meters further, three short stone bridges appeared in front of the tomb passage.

The stone bridge, paved with white marble, spans a murky ditch.

The water in the ditch was yellowish and stagnant; it was a dead pool.

When Sun Xiaomei saw the stone bridge, she described the scene in front of her to Professor Sun, bit by bit, as he had instructed.

Upon hearing that three white marble bridges had appeared ahead, Professor Sun became excited.

"That's right, this is it! This is the Bridge of Three Lifetimes! It is recorded in the chapter on corpse liberation in the Taoist Canon that after death, in order to achieve immortality through corpse liberation, one must first cross the Bridge of Three Lifetimes, break free from the mortal world, and ascend to heaven to become a carefree immortal."

Upon hearing this, Ma Liang scoffed and said, "This Prince Xian is quite the schemer, with his Three-Life Bridge. If there were a god, he would have been sent to the eighteenth level of hell with his cruel nature."

Professor Sun did not refute Ma Liang's words, but only spoke to his daughter, Sun Xiaomei.

"After crossing the Three Generations Bridge, you'll reach the coffin of King Xian. You must help me check if King Xian's remains are still there."

"Dad, I understand."

Sun Xiaomei nodded solemnly in agreement.

After crossing the Three Lives Bridge, the scene before them suddenly opened up after walking a dozen meters forward.

A cave appeared before them, containing a Yin Palace, which was where the coffin of the tomb owner was stored.

Sun Xiaomei's face lit up with joy, and she quickly quickened her pace to arrive at the Yin Palace.

The wooden door in front of the Yin Palace was half rotten, clearly indicating that the mountain could not isolate the air.

There's a saying in the archaeological community: dry for a thousand years, wet for ten thousand years, and neither dry nor wet for half a year.

The same was true of most of the burial objects in the tomb. Apart from some bronzes and gold that were well preserved, much of the other wood and silk had long since rotted beyond recognition.

When Ma Liang saw the wooden door, he volunteered to go forward and open it.

He opened the door in a simple way: he took out a folding shovel from the backpack behind Wu Xie and used it to knock down the rotten wooden door.

After the rotten wooden door was knocked down, he picked up a flashlight with his other hand and shone it into the Yin Palace.

After just one glance, Wu Xie couldn't help but gasp and frown, saying, "Something's not right!"

"Something's not right?" Ma Liang asked instinctively, somewhat puzzled.

Wu Xie smiled wryly, pointing to the three coffins inside the Yin Palace, arranged in a triangular shape, each with completely different materials and specifications.

"There are three coffins here, all made of different materials and of different sizes, including the legendary coffin that sinks to the ground—doesn't something seem off?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Liang was startled and quickly shrank back.