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Moreover, Yelü Chucai, Genghis Khan's chief minister, was highly cultured and skilled in poetry and prose. Like the Taoist priest Qiu Chuji, both of them were well-versed in Taoist feng shui.

Yelü Chucai was a famous writer of the Jin and Yuan dynasties. He was a Khitan, born in 1190, and a descendant of the Liao imperial family. His father, Yelü Lü, was originally an official of the Jin dynasty. He had a son at the age of sixty and exclaimed, "I have this son at sixty. He is a thoroughbred in my family. He will surely become a great man in the future and serve a foreign country." Therefore, he named his son Yelü Chucai after the story in Zuo Zhuan, "Although Chu has talent, Jin has taken it."

Legend has it that Yelü Chucai was learned and talented from a young age, quick-witted, and able to write fluently and eloquently. After the Mongol army conquered Yanjing (the capital of the Jin Dynasty) in 1218, Yelü Chucai was highly valued by Genghis Khan and served in the military and government. He remained in high positions until the reigns of Ögedei Khan and Empress Naimajin, eventually rising to the position of Chancellor (Prime Minister).

Because Yelü Chucai was tall and had a full beard, Genghis Khan affectionately called him "my long-bearded man." Yelü Chucai had a distinguished life and was famous for his literary talent from an early age. His military travel notes, "Journey to the West," and his collection of poems and essays, "The Collected Works of the Hermit of Zhanran," have been passed down to later generations.

This person had a profound influence on Genghis Khan's political career and likely played a crucial role in the decision-making process regarding Genghis Khan's funeral arrangements. Considering the longevity teachings of Qiu Chuji, a Taoist master of the Quanzhen School in his early years, Genghis Khan may have used a secret burial method, so Marco Polo's account is quite credible.

Then, Shirley Yang was pleasantly surprised to find that Burkhan Khaldun Mountain mentioned in Marco Polo's Travels was actually Mount Khentii, the source of the Han-Nan-Qieluga River. Mount Khentii, located in northern Mongolia, was called Langjuxu Mountain during the Han Dynasty. In the fourth year of Emperor Wu of Han's Yuanshou era (119 BC), the famous general Huo Qubing led his troops to this mountain in pursuit of the Xiongnu, and then performed a sacrificial ceremony at Langjuxu Mountain, inscribing a poem on a stone before returning in triumph.

It seems that all signs now point to the Great Otog, on the shady side of the Altai Mountains and the Khentii Mountains, where Genghis Khan's secret burial should be located. This general direction has given us a boost of confidence, and I can't help but get excited. Shirley Yang murmured, "As long as we find out about Qilian Valley, that will be great."

Holding my wolf-eye flashlight, I was about to excitedly tell Fatty when I suddenly looked up and, damn it, the headlights illuminated not the jade-like highway, but a stretch of barren mountains and forests, rugged and precipitous. How could the car have continued driving so smoothly, as if treading on thin ice?

I was about to yell when I turned around and, where was the fat man? Instead, there was a gigantic skeleton general, baring its teeth and snarling as it drove. I nudged Shirley Yang behind me, intending to strike down this skeleton focused solely on driving.

Suddenly, Shirley Yang screamed, and the car jolted violently, crashing into a giant cypress tree as thick as a bowl. The windshield shattered, and the immense force threw Shirley Yang and me out of the window, slamming us against the trees and landing with a thud in the bushes and thorns, where we both lost consciousness.

Volume Two: The Four Kingdoms Campaign, Chapter Fifty-Six: Heavenly Wrath and Ghostly Injustice

I rolled into the damp bushes, and after being unconscious for an unknown amount of time, I was awakened by a torrential downpour, a chilling sensation washing over me. I found myself lying face down at the base of a tree, surrounded by complete silence, not even the sound of insects. My eyelids were badly scraped, burning with pain that made it almost impossible to open my eyes. I managed to rub my eyes with my wet clothes and then used the tree trunk to help me to my feet.

The car lights were still on not far away. With the help of the rain, I saw the front of the car was slammed against a tree trunk, a large dent in the driver's seat, the front end completely mangled. My heart skipped a beat. I wondered if that fat guy, or maybe the Bone General, was stuck in the driver's seat. If it was the fat guy, that would be terrible. Right, and Shirley Yang, where was she?

In my panic, I blurted out, "Xiao Yang, Xiao Yang!" But all I could hear was the sound of rain, and my voice couldn't carry far. I searched around me but couldn't find him. Ignoring the countless cuts the thorns had made on my body and the large, deep tear in my clothes, I rushed to the car, climbed onto it, and peered inside. The driver's seat was empty, the windshield was shattered, and both of them were nowhere to be seen.

Now is not the time to panic. I told myself this as I climbed into the car from the passenger side, packed everything up, turned off the lights, and got out to find Fatty and Shirley Yang.

I had just jumped out of the car and turned to close the door when someone patted me on the shoulder. I was so startled that my soul almost left my body. I turned around to throw a punch, but when I shone my wolf-eye flashlight on the person, it was Shirley Yang, who was covered in dirt. There was a bloody scratch on her right cheek, which showed that she had been thrown from the front of the car quite badly.

I excitedly helped her up and led her to the back of the van, where she sat down. I took out some alcohol swabs from my waterproof backpack, cleaned her wound, and applied a waterproof bandage. Then, I turned around and handed her a set of clean clothes for Shirley Yang to change into. I heard a rustling sound, and Shirley Yang coughed. I turned back and saw that a hint of color had just returned to her pale face. It turned out that Shirley Yang had been thrown from the front of the van and landed in a ditch under the bushes, hitting her head. She hadn't recovered for a while and hadn't even heard me calling her.

Shirley Yang put on her raincoat and said to me, "Hurry up and go find Fatty. I sense he's in danger."

We jumped off the train. I shone my wolf-eye flashlight around the front of the train and discovered that the fat man's footprints stretched from the driver's side all the way up into the dense forest on the hillside. His fat body had carved a crooked path through the forest.

I gestured to Shirley Yang and pulled her to chase after the fat man's departing footsteps. In the rain, the soil was thick with mud and fallen leaves, and every step left a deep dent, making it extremely difficult to walk, as we stumbled and staggered.

We chased after him and were astonished to find that the fat man was like a ferocious beast. He forcefully pushed over some small trees and carved a path through the dense thicket without hesitation. After passing through several such sections, Shirley Yang suddenly grabbed me and said, "Hu Bayi, is Wang Kaixuan possessed by a ghost? He's so incredibly strong."

Actually, I'd had a nagging feeling for a while, but I just hadn't wanted to admit it. Ever since I had that nightmare on the bus, I'd had a vague sense that something was wrong, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Now it seems most likely that the eight-foot-long saber is the culprit. The fat man's constant handling of it has somehow allowed the evil spirit hidden within to possess his body. I don't know where he's been taken as a puppet, or what the evil spirit's purpose is, or what it's manipulating the fat man into doing. We need to find him as soon as possible, otherwise, if the evil spirit keeps possessing his body, he'll inevitably become a corpse.

I grew increasingly anxious, ignoring the slippery mountain path, and pulled Shirley Yang along the trail. We circled around two mountain ridges and dense forests, and waded through a rushing stream. It was nearly five o'clock. Through the treetops, I could faintly see a sliver of gray-blue light filtering through; dawn would break in another half hour. However, the heavy rain continued to pour down relentlessly, so I estimated that it might be another half hour before daybreak.

As the wolf-eye flashlight shone, a dragon's ridge-like hillside faintly appeared in the dense woods ahead. This hillside was situated in a deep valley, with a stream winding around it, cutting it into a hemispherical shape, making it appear even more solemn and majestic in the night. I secretly rejoiced; this could very well be the legendary "Double Dragons Playing with a Pearl" feng shui formation.

We followed the footprints up the slope of Dragon's Back Mountain. As soon as we entered the woods, we were suddenly struck by the howling wind, the swirling sand and stones, and the ferocity of a hundred beasts transforming. Shirley Yang and I were trapped in the trees. We could clearly see an open area just a few steps behind us, yet we couldn't retreat. With each step, the scenery changed drastically; the trees shifted, and the open area remained several steps away. The wind howled, whipping up raindrops the size of copper coins that stung our faces with a cold, sharp pain.

We could barely speak; the wind and rain made it impossible to hear each other. I shouted to Shirley Yang, "What do we do? Let's keep moving forward! We're trapped in this 'Eight Trigrams Formation' that shifts with the wind; the formation is already activated, and there's no way out!"

This Eight Trigrams Formation, as described in the "Sixteen-Character Yin-Yang Feng Shui Secret Techniques," is a variation of the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Formation left by Zhuge Liang. It was developed by Li Chunfeng, a Tang Dynasty Taoist Feng Shui master, who observed the changing phenomena of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning at night. It was originally used around the tomb of Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, forming a natural barrier that deterred intruders. Legend has it that once inside the formation, the wind and clouds change color, thunder and rain rage, and trees and strange rocks become demonic, forbidding the living from approaching; those who trespass will die.

Moreover, the torrential rain that had been pouring down all night only amplified the power of the wind and rain formation. Shirley Yang and I walked hand in hand, the trees and rocks around us resembling monstrous beasts, the howling wind sending chills down our spines. I held Shirley Yang tightly with my left hand, and with a sharp German entrenching tool in my right, I cautiously probed ahead. Then the wind and rain intensified, and I turned on my powerful headlamp, but I couldn't find any trace of Fatty anywhere.

I inwardly groaned and was about to turn around when suddenly a huge black shadow swooped down from above, like a night hawk, its momentum soaring. Just as I was about to duck, I heard a muffled gunshot behind me. It turned out that Shirley Yang, always on high alert, had somehow drawn her pistol and fired a shot, striking the shadow squarely in the heart. The shadow fluttered down, reaching the light of the headlamp, only to land as a small poplar leaf, swirling and falling into the muddy water.

Before we could even register our surprise, a giant, muddy net suddenly appeared from the muddy water all around us, slithering like snakes and rabbits. The withered brown net tightened abruptly, lifting us into the air and suspending us upside down in the forest. All around us, strangely shaped rock monsters suddenly appeared, roaring and leaping on the forest floor beneath us, trying to tear us apart.

Amidst Shirley Yang's screams, I realized that what was trapping us was clearly living tree roots, with white sap oozing from the cuts made with the entrenching tool. The roots trembled and pulled back, revealing a tear beneath my feet. I thought, if I chopped a few more times, the net of roots might just throw Shirley Yang and me into the mouths of those numerous stone beasts below, so I decided to give up for now.

I stopped, gripped Shirley Yang's hand tightly, and said to her, "It's alright. The creator of this Wind and Rain Eight Trigrams Formation, Master Li Chunfeng, followed the Taoist philosophy of tranquility and non-action, refraining from killing. The greatest use of this formation is merely as an illusion, meant to intimidate the living. As long as we accept our fate and refrain from further threats, our lives will not be in danger. Let's rest for now and talk again at dawn."

We were suddenly filled with anxiety, but it was too late to follow the fat man. The strange stone beasts under the tree had yellow eyes the size of copper bells. They looked like guardian beasts carved by ancient craftsmen, including Pixiu, Taotie, strange lions, giant wolves, clouded leopards, and giant tigers. They were all covered in mud, as if they had just crawled out of the mud. They stirred up trouble, jumped and roared, and were extremely bizarre.

Good heavens, if Shirley Yang and I hadn't just been pulled into the air by the Root Net a little earlier, we would have been torn apart and eaten by these cold-blooded and ruthless guys.

Looking into the dense woods, one can almost hear the mournful cries of ten thousand ghosts. Suddenly, a multitude of phosphorescent will-o'-the-wisps, which even a torrential downpour cannot extinguish, appear and drift in the depths of the forest, like countless will-o'-the-wisps staring at us with infinite terror from afar.

Shirley Yang trembled involuntarily, burrowing desperately into my arms; she'd become increasingly timid lately. I held her reassuringly, took a deep breath, and said, "Don't worry. There might be a mass grave for the dead in this area. Those stone beasts are clearly the rugged, Yuan Dynasty-style guardian deities. It seems we've found the right place; this place is very likely not far from Genghis Khan's secret tomb. You should get some sleep. By dawn, these strange stone beasts will revert to their original forms, and we can break through the encirclement, find the secret tomb, rescue Fatty, dig out the treasure we need from the tomb, and rescue your father, Yang Xuanwei. Everything will go smoothly."

I don't even know what I said in the end. Anyway, my eyelids got heavier and heavier, and I drifted off to sleep, holding Shirley Yang upside down in the tree.

I don't know how much time passed, but in my dream I felt something land on me and peck at me. I woke up with a start, feeling terrible. Hanging upside down all night had almost given me a stroke, especially since I felt a throbbing pain in my facial capillaries, as if they were swollen and constricted. I jerked my legs, and the thing scurried away from my legs with a "quack," fluttering and landing on a nearby tree branch.

I rubbed my swollen eyelids and saw clearly that it was a large, black-billed crow. Damn it, I wondered if it mistook me for a giant, fat worm and wanted to swallow me whole.

Shirley Yang was also awakened by me. Looking at her watch, it was eight o'clock in the morning. The rain had gradually stopped, and it was quiet under the trees. Apart from the puddles of various sizes filled with water, the strange rocks had long since disappeared.

The morning after the rain was even fresher, the trees were lush and green, and round raindrops clung to the tips of the leaves, occasionally falling and stirring up a serene atmosphere. If it weren't for a nightmare last night, I would have truly thought I had entered a paradise, a secluded haven from the world.

The clear, round sunlight filtered through the branches, making the centuries-old moss on the trees appear even more poetic. This was truly an ancient, uninhabited primeval forest, though now I think it was probably planted after Genghis Khan's secret burial during the Yuan Dynasty.

The situation was looking very promising. I pulled out my entrenching tool, ready to chop through the network of tree roots surrounding me. Suddenly, Shirley Yang nudged me, pointed into the distance, and whispered, "Hu Bayi, look, over there."

I turned my head and saw a piece of clothing faintly visible through the bushes in the distance, probably the fat man's clothes. I was overjoyed and carefully examined it for a while. It was about seventeen or eighteen zhang away from here, and you really couldn't see it unless you were in mid-air.

"That's it," I yelled to Shirley Yang. "Watch out, I'm going to cut the net!" I swung my shovel with all my might and quickly cut a large gap. Shirley Yang and I fell into the net one after the other, splashing into the muddy water and fallen leaves under the tree, getting covered in mud.

I struggled to my feet, not even bothering to straighten my raincoat, and first pulled Shirley Yang up from the ground. I hurriedly asked her where the piece of clothing was.

Shirley Yang pointed to the hillside diagonally above and suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, where's that root network?" I looked up and sure enough, in the blink of an eye, the massive root network had vanished without a trace. I looked around, and all the ancient trees stood quietly, heads bowed, like shy village girls, desperately trying to bury their roots in the soil.

I slung my bag over my shoulder, grabbed Shirley Yang's hand, and started climbing the slope. In my heart, I couldn't help but say to these ancient trees, "Thank you, wisdom trees. Heaven has a benevolent heart; you will live long lives."

The top of the slope was completely invisible from below; the dense forest and thorny bushes blocked the way. I used my entrenching tool to clear a path and began climbing towards the top. I could hear the rushing water below the ridge, the chirping of birds, and the babbling brook flowing away into the distance.

After climbing for about ten minutes, we were pleasantly surprised to find the clothes in a grove of trees to our right. Holding an entrenching tool, I signaled to Shirley Yang to be careful, and then tiptoed over, bypassing the thorns, and there I saw Fatty lying on a small mound, covered in mud and pale-faced.

I looked around and saw nothing unusual, so I ran over and checked the fat man's breathing. His breathing was calm and his pulse was normal, so there was nothing wrong. I just couldn't wake him up.

Shirley Yang found a stimulant and injected it into his arm. Just as she removed the needle, a deep, rumbling sound, like a bear's roar, suddenly came from beside us, startling both Shirley Yang and me. I looked around with my shovel; it was completely silent.

Listening more closely, damn it, those muffled thuds were actually coming from the fat guy. That damn fat guy had actually started snoring, and the snoring sounded just like a fat pig panting. I was so angry I laughed, and I kicked him hard in the butt, yelling, "Get up, you pig!"

The fatso was kicked twice before I woke him up. He groggily said, "Ouch, that hurts so much! Where am I?" I pulled him up, and Shirley Yang pulled out the only set of dry clothes she had from her backpack and handed them to him to change into, but Shirley Yang turned away.

I feigned surprise and lied to Fatty, saying, "You don't know? Last night you were possessed by a ghost and ended up being violated by a fox spirit from this deep mountain forest. That's why Shirley Yang and I chased after you all night to find you."

The fat man laughed and cursed, "Pah, you old fool, you're spouting nonsense!" Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly looked at his upper body in horror and said, "It's true, I was scratched all over by that vixen!"

When I looked, I saw that this guy was shirtless, and his skin was covered with bluish-purple claw marks. These were clearly bruises left by a ghost possession, which would disappear in half a day. But this fatso didn't know that. He was terrified and grabbed me, asking repeatedly, "Really, Lao Hu, I've really been violated by that damned fox spirit!" He looked like he was in unbearable pain.

After getting dressed, the fat man asked me furtively, "Old Hu, tell me, is that vixen beautiful?"

I replied deliberately, "Beautiful, absolutely beautiful! Pointy snout and monkey cheeks, long tail, pointed ears, yellow fur all over its body, and its four hooves spread out, it can run very fast."

The fat man cursed at me with a bitter look on his face, "You motherfucker, why are you gloating? What's going on?"

I glanced at Shirley Yang as she walked over, feigning mystery, and whispered, "She's absolutely gorgeous! She's even more stunning than Maggie Cheung, and even more beautiful than the mermaid from the Tomb of Spartacus! You're a lucky guy."

The fat man nodded with a wide smile, drool practically dripping from his mouth. I chuckled inwardly, deliberately avoiding Shirley Yang's gaze, and called out to the fat man, "Watch out, don't tarnish my image in front of Shirley Yang, lest she say we're just a bunch of scoundrels, a den of snakes and rats."

Shirley Yang asked me what to do next. I stood on high ground and looked around. I found that the terrain was open and surrounded by mountains, shaped like a seat on a round chair. Water flowed at my feet. There was a green dragon on the left and a white tiger on the right. The geography was unique. The mountains were long and majestic. This dragon ridge was indeed a blessed place with two dragons playing with a pearl.

It seems that the ghostly skeleton possessing the fat man last night and leading us here had a deeper meaning.

Volume Two, Four Kingdoms Campaign, Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Battle of the Goblins Who Can Walk Through Walls

I suddenly asked Fatty, "Where's that saber?" Fatty's hands were empty; he must have lost it last night. I've always believed that saber, having killed countless people, probably contains the spirit of its owner and might even have a warding effect.

The fat man searched around for a while, then suddenly pointed to his feet and said, "Isn't this it?" Sure enough, kicking aside the layer of fallen leaves, the saber was deeply embedded in the mound of earth where the fat man had been lying, with only the five-finger-long gold wire hilt sticking out.

Shirley Yang asked the fat man in surprise, "How did you see that?"

Fat shook his head, staring strangely at the saber, and said, "I don't know, I just feel the saber here."

I understood; it was just the lingering thoughts of a possessed spirit at work, nothing surprising. But when my gaze fell upon the mound, I was greatly puzzled, sensing a secret within it. Why was this saber stuck in the mound? It must be the ghost that possessed me last night causing trouble.

I instructed the fat man not to draw the saber yet, but to dig open the small mound first.

Actually, it was just a mound of yellow earth, nothing more. The fat man, wielding an entrenching tool, quickly dug it open, revealing the head of a stone statue. The deeper he dug, the clearer the statue became. It wore a turban, wrapping its head tightly, a white hada (ceremonial scarf) draped over its chest, and a seashell rosary around its neck. Its eyes were closed, its hands clasped in front of its chest, its face gaunt and wrinkled, lifelike, resembling an old man silently chanting mantras. The entire statue was carved with bold strokes and simple lines, reminiscent of the realistic sculpture style of the Yuan Dynasty.

The tip of the eight-foot-long saber was inserted diagonally into the gap between the middle fingers of the statue's clasped hands, piercing something unknown.

Before I could give any instructions, the fat man swung his shovel and chopped off the old man's statue's hands. A round, fat figure covered in runes fell to the ground, gleaming with a soft, rounded yellow light.

I reached out and picked it up. The bead was about the size of an egg, resembling both stone and jade. It emitted a warm, soft yellow light from the engraved runes, making it a very rare object.

The saber fell to the ground with a thud, and my heart skipped a beat. I faintly heard a mournful cry coming from deep underground, disturbing my peace of mind and giving me a vague sense of unease. It seemed that the saber, deeply embedded in the ground, was pointing at this stone bead.

Shirley Yang carefully examined the stone statue and suddenly said, "This is a Mongolian 'Bieqi' from Shamanism." "Bieqi" is the religious leader, a position created by Genghis Khan to specifically manage Mongolian Shamanistic affairs. The entire Mongol dynasty practiced Shamanism, a religion that revered nature and treated it with utmost respect. This is a shared esoteric religion of ancient Chinese nomadic and hunting peoples, without fixed deities. It worships "Heavenly Father and Earthly Mother," offering sacrifices to heaven, earth, fire, mountains, lakes, thunder, lightning, tigers, eagles, deer gods, and ovoos (ovoos are common altars on the grasslands, topped with willow branches and pillars, considered divine, and representing mountain gods, earth gods, and the protectors of nomadic peoples).

After listening to Shirley Yang's explanation, I was overjoyed and said, "Genghis Khan's tomb is nearby. Everyone, look around and see if there are any special signs. We have already found the 'Bieqi' stone statue. This bead should be a magic treasure to prevent evil spirits from entering the secret tomb. That's why the ghost wanted to use Fatty's body to resist it last night. We should pay special attention to the stone lions, stone beasts and other guardian animal sculptures."

The fat man asked, looking confused, "What ghost used my hand to resist the stone beads? Old Hu, didn't you say I was possessed by a fox—"

Seeing my smirk, he glared at me and muttered, "Go to hell, Lao Hu, you're messing with me again."

Soon, after walking straight up fifteen steps from the stone statue, Shirley Yang spotted a patch of green grass. This patch of grass stood out exceptionally bright and verdant amidst the mixed grove of trees, a truly delightful sight.

We dug through the grass and found some small, white, decayed bone fragments, about the size of a fingernail, hidden in the soil. They crumbled easily when pressed, and we couldn't tell if they were human or animal remains.

Shirley Yang looked at me with surprise and said, "These are the remains of a young camel, used to guide the Mongolian royal family in their sacrificial rites, right?"

We continued digging and, sure enough, unearthed some scattered camel molars in the soil. These teeth were extremely sturdy, practically fossils, having survived for millions of years.

I called to Shirley Yang and Fatty, saying, "This must be the location of Genghis Khan's secret tomb, or at the very least, the tomb of a Mongol noble from the Yuan Dynasty. Only by digging down can we find the exact information about Genghis Khan's secret tomb. Let's have some breakfast and get ready to dig down."

The fat man was probably starving. He hurriedly ran to his backpack, took out cream cakes and mare's milk wine, and shared them with us. He eagerly stuffed them into his mouth and began to wolf them down.

After quickly finishing my meal, I assessed the situation and decided to start digging from the middle of the straight line connecting the "Bieqi" stone statue excavation site and the camel bone burial site. This location had a larger slope, making it easier to dig a tunnel, and it would also allow me to avoid the hardest stone layer of the mausoleum's dome, thus saving my efforts.

The three of us worked together, taking advantage of the wet ground from the rain to make digging easier, and quickly dug a hole about a meter in diameter. The next step required me to do the work myself, while Fatty carried the soil out of the hole, and Shirley Yang piled the soil a little further outside. Everything went relatively smoothly, except for some extremely thick tree roots, which I had to painstakingly cut down with a German entrenching tool before Fatty could carry them out of the hole.

Unfortunately, we haven't been digging tunnels lately. After descending about thirty meters, we still encountered trouble and came across a solid rammed stone wall. I tried tapping it, and it seemed to be two or three feet thick. When I tried to dig down with an entrenching tool, all I got was a white dot. I couldn't dig any further, so it seems I miscalculated.

I crawled out of the hole, covered in dust, and said to Shirley Yang, "I miscalculated. We hit a layer of rammed stone, making it difficult to continue digging."

Shirley Yang jumped down, looked around, and said, "Use an iron rod to dig a little, then blast it open with gunpowder. It seems that's the only way."

I jumped into the cave and used an iron rod to make a ring of small holes around the stone wall. I also dug a few holes in the center and filled them with gunpowder. After blasting it twice, I finally managed to blast open a dark cave.

The fat man lit a candle and carefully lowered it into the cave. The candle went out quickly, indicating that the tomb had been sealed for too long and they could only go down after the mold had dissipated.

We waited idly for a long time until we were sure the air quality had improved before putting on our gas masks and sliding into the cave. Shirley Yang tied two climbing ropes together, attaching one end to a thick tree branch next to the cave. Shirley Yang, Fatty, and I then climbed down the rope one by one.

Because two cold fireworks had been thrown in beforehand, it was clear that we slid in from one side of the dome-shaped tomb. Even so, we still had to descend more than ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) into the cave before reaching the bottom. When I stood on the ground, I discovered that the cave floor, like the walls and the dome, was made of a solid, thick layer of granite slabs.

I raised my wolf-eye flashlight and shone it onto the dome. I felt that this yurt-shaped mausoleum was over thirty feet tall and over fifty feet long inside. It was so spacious that it could almost be used as a racetrack. This was at least the tomb of a noble or high-ranking person.

However, the yurt-style construction of this mausoleum is quite unique. There are no supporting pillars in the entire hall. It is all built up by tightly fitting together granite blocks one by one. The construction techniques are truly ingenious.

We shone our three wolf-eye flashlights together and saw that the main hall was empty except for a row of tiger-skin stone couches at the far end of the hall, which were piled with cow and sheep hides and other items.

The fat man ran over first, used his saber to cut open the cow and sheep hides, and underneath were piles of glittering gold jewelry, jade and other items, all exposed and piled up, showing no regard for collecting them.

I rummaged through the pile of jewels with my entrenching tool, but found nothing else—no books, manuals, or anything like that. It was just a collection of colorful jewels and bronze bottles, quite unique in appearance, but also commonplace. As usual, the fat man picked up a large bronze bottle and began stuffing it full of jewels and jade, as if afraid he wouldn't have enough.