After emerging from the cold stone chamber, Xiao Lou and his group of six, along with Gui Yuanzhang and his group of six, continued deeper into the maze.
A chilly wind blew through the stone-paved corridor, raising goosebumps on everyone's skin. The only sounds in the quiet corridor were their breathing and footsteps.
Old Mo kept checking the compass to see which way to go. Their route was still heading east, but not due east; it was slightly off-center, about 10 degrees to the east.
After walking for a while, Old Mo stopped and looked around. He asked, "Just how big is this ancient tomb? We've been walking for ten minutes since we came out of the stone chamber, and we still haven't found anything."
Xiao Lou was also puzzled. He looked at the floor plan drawn by Lao Mo. Since leaving the Six Paths of Reincarnation chamber, they had been walking in a straight line. After walking about 500 meters, they found the first sarcophagus. Then it was another long straight line with no forks in the road.
He pressed the voice headset to inquire about the situation on the other end: "Senior Gui, have you found anything on your end?"
Gui Yuanzhang said, "No, it's a straight corridor with no murals or mechanisms on the surrounding walls."
Xiao Lou asked again, "What about the direction? Has it not changed?"
Gui Yuanzhang glanced down at the compass in his hand and said, "Yes, the same as before."
Xiao Lou said helplessly, "Let's keep going and stay in touch."
After walking for a few minutes, the group finally discovered that the colorful murals had reappeared on the wall.
Yu Hanjiang held up the luminous pearl as a light, and Xiao Lou walked over to examine it closely.
The murals still depict the period from infancy to adulthood, but this time there is no wedding scene. Judging from the clothing and hair, the protagonist of the story seems to be a man.
Having discovered clues about the mother tribe's totem in the murals earlier, Xiao Lou examined them even more closely this time. The man's black hair was tied in a bun on top of his head, adorned with an elegant wooden hairpin, and he wore a jade pendant at his waist, decorated with a crescent moon shape. The last mural seemed to depict a scene of military service? The man was wearing ancient military armor.
Xiao Lou was taken aback: "This time it's not a woman?"
Previous speculation suggested that the tomb owner married many young girls from various tribes and buried them alive in the ancient tomb for sacrificial purposes... Now that men have appeared in the murals, it shows that this speculation is wrong.
After viewing the murals, a stone gate indeed appeared ahead.
The stone door bears a simple yin-yang symbol; restoring the symbol will open the mechanism. As Xiao Lou had guessed, a stone coffin still sits inside, the blood seeping from its cracks long since congealed and turned black.
Will I fall into another hallucination and encounter another vengeful spirit this time?
The group took a step back warily, staring at the stone coffin with suspicion.
However, a minute passed and nothing happened.
Xiao Lou said, "Let's open the museum and take a look."
Yu Hanjiang pulled out his military knife and cleaved open the lid of the stone coffin with a single stroke.
Inside the coffin lay a skeleton dressed in armor. Due to its age, the metal armor had long since oxidized and turned black. In his hand, he held a jade pendant, just like the one in the mural, with a crescent-shaped mark engraved on it.
Xiao Lou bent down and examined the remains closely, speculating, "An adult male, probably around 25 years old. There were signs of a violent struggle before he died, with all his hand bones broken."
Yu Hanjiang frowned as he looked at the skeleton in the coffin: "The stone coffin we had just had contained a bride, but this one seems to be a soldier?"
Xiao Lou couldn't figure it out either, so he asked Gui Yuanzhang in a low voice, "Senior, have you made any discoveries over there?"
Gui Yuanzhang also entered the stone chamber. Chu Huaying deftly opened the coffin and found a skeleton lying quietly inside. A necklace hung around the skeleton's neck, with a pendant shaped like a wolf's tooth and strange totems painted on it.
Gui Yuanzhang said, "We found a skeleton and a totem necklace. The clothes look like coarse cloth."
Xiao Lou said, "Take a look at the pelvis of the skeleton. Is the upper part peach-shaped or oval? Is the angle at the bottom of the pelvis an acute angle of about 70 degrees or an obtuse angle greater than 90 degrees?"
Chu Huaying was right next to the coffin when she heard this and said, "Peach-shaped, with an acute angle between the two sides."
It seems to be a man again.
When a corpse has decomposed to the point of being reduced to bones, the most crucial factor in determining male or female sex is the pelvis. A woman's pelvis is oval-shaped, with an angle of over 100 degrees at the pubic symphysis, facilitating childbirth. Men, who do not need to reproduce, have a sharper, more pointed angle at the bottom of their pelvis.
Xiao Lou shared this conclusion with the other party: "The newly discovered remains in both secret chambers are male. The one on our side seems to be a soldier, while the one belonging to your side should be a scholar?"
Ye Qi said, "The mural we just saw looks like a scene of a top scholar being selected in the imperial examination?"
The group looked at each other in bewilderment.
This underground tomb is eerie in every way.
When the two brides' bodies were first discovered, everyone assumed the tomb's occupant had deliberately married young women and buried them alive. Given the tomb's owner was a general, perhaps he was a lecherous man who dragged women down with him to hell before his death, or maybe he had a desire to "enjoy blissful bliss" after death?
Now it seems that this is not the case.
Two more male corpses were found in the tomb. Judging from the jade pendants and necklaces left on their bodies, they still belonged to different tribes. The only thing they had in common was that the people who were buried alive were all very young.
Therefore, this priestly ceremony
What exactly does the formula represent?
Xiao Lou couldn't reach a conclusion yet, and said, "Let's keep looking, we need to find all the stone coffins."
After leaving the stone chamber, the group walked a short distance further. A corner appeared in the corridor ahead, forming an obtuse angle of approximately 135 degrees with the path.
Xiao Lou stopped at the corner and said, "Old Mo, check the directions."
Old Mo picked up the Compass and checked it carefully, saying, " The Compass pointer, this direction... should be due north."
Due north?
The sudden change of direction made everyone more cautious.
As we walked along, we saw more murals on the walls on both sides of the passage. This time, the main characters in the murals were two children, who were jumping and playing, looking very lively and cute.
There is only one mural, and a stone door appears next to it.
Xiao Lou gently pushed the stone door open, and it opened without any mechanism.
Inside the room was still a stone coffin. Without Xiao Lou's prompting, Yu Hanjiang directly used a military knife to split open the coffin lid.
The scene inside the coffin sent chills down everyone's spine—
Inside the coffin sat two adorable children, a boy and a girl, who looked to be only seven or eight years old. The girl wore a bright red dress and had two small braids in her hair; the boy wore white clothes and had his hair tied up on his head. The children's skin had not decomposed and they looked just like...living children!
Suddenly, two lifelike children appeared in the coffin in the tomb, and Lu Jiuchuan couldn't help but take a step back.
At the same time, Ye Qi's voice rang in Xiao Lou's ears. He was clearly startled, his voice trembling slightly: " Professor Xiao, this time there are two children in the coffin, a boy and a girl!"
The next moment, the boy and girl suddenly opened their eyes, with two lines of bloody tears in their eyes.
The two children were crying so hard it was heartbreaking. They stood up and stretched out their arms, seemingly asking Xiao Lou for a hug.
Yu Hanjiang cautiously drew his military knife and shielded Xiao Lou behind him.
As Lu Jiuchuan watched the two children approach them step by step, a chill ran down his spine: "This secret room is like something out of a horror movie! How can the children in the coffin be moving? Is this another hallucination?"
Xiao Lou took a deep breath: "Everyone, close your eyes, don't look, don't listen."
Everyone immediately did as instructed. A moment later, the strange children's cries disappeared. Xiao Lou opened his eyes and saw that the two children were still sitting quietly in the coffin, without moving an inch.
He whispered, "These are sacrificial boys and girls."
Upon hearing this, Ye Qi opened his eyes and looked around, saying, "I've heard a saying that many high-ranking officials and nobles in ancient times would have young boys and girls buried alive with them when they died, just like taking maids to serve them in the afterlife?"
Xiao Lou explained, "The ancients believed that even mortals possessed spiritual energy within their bodies. In particular, young boys and girls were believed to have spiritual roots, and their affinity for immortality and fortune were stronger than that of ordinary people. Therefore, the ancients liked to use young boys and girls as funerary offerings to assist them in ascending to immortality after death."
Looking at the two adorable children in front of him, he clenched his fists slightly and said in a low voice, "When a person dies, their body decomposes and their immortal energy leaks out. In order to prevent the immortal energy in the bodies of young boys and girls from leaking out, they will forcibly inject a large amount of mercury into the children's bodies while they are still alive, so that their corpses remain as if they are still alive."
"..." Lu Jiuchuan gasped. "So, you mean, capture live boys and girls and fill their bodies with mercury? How would you do that?"
"I've read some materials. Usually, mercury is poured into the child's mouth, and holes are made in the head, back, and soles of the feet to slowly pour in the mercury. After the mercury enters the body, these children don't die immediately, but rather the mercury flows throughout their bodies, causing them to die slowly and painfully. Mercury has a strong preservative effect, so the body will remain fresh for a long time." Xiao Lou's voice trembled. This was the first time he had witnessed such a cruel practice of funerary sacrifice.
"Damn it!" Lu Jiuchuan couldn't help but curse, "These beasts slowly tortured a child to death, and they still think about ascending to immortality? Such atrocities should be punished by the Eighteen Levels of Hell!"
"It seems that these two children also look like living people because mercury was injected into their bodies." Yu Hanjiang's worldview was also refreshed. Some of the funerary practices in feudal society were truly ignorant and cruel.
Xiao Lou's words were transmitted to the ears of Gui Yuanzhang and the other four through the voice headset.
Qu Wanyue stared at the two children in the coffin, clenching her fists tightly: "Was the owner of this tomb really trying to become an immortal? That's why so many people were forced to be buried alive with him?"
Gui Yuanzhang said, "There is another theory that if you have living people buried with you, it will not only help you ascend to immortality, but also allow these people to serve you as servants and maids in another world."
His gaze swept over the cold stone coffin, looking at the two children inside, and he said in a deep voice, "The coffins we have discovered so far contain two young and beautiful brides, two strong young men, and two pairs of children. According to this logic, after the tomb owner died, he had wives and concubines, servants, and children to help him cultivate immortality. It can be said to be a very perfect life."
Everyone: "......"
Such a person wants to become an immortal? He should go to hell and suffer 18 kinds of torture instead!
Gui Yuanzhang bent down and removed two talismans from the backs of the two children.
At the same time, Xiao Lou also discovered the talisman on the child.
He bent down and took the talisman, saying, "Legend has it that it was used for burial."
The boys and girls buried there must not only have their physical bodies preserved, but their souls must also be imprisoned in the tomb, loyal to the tomb's owner, and never be reincarnated. This talisman must be used to suppress the souls of these children.
Everyone: "..."
Were the children's painful cries just now from their sealed souls?
No one knew what to say.
Xiao Lou removed the talisman; I wonder if that was a relief for the children?
****