Tomb Raider: I Am Hu Bayi's Cousin

Chapter 72

Hu Ming drew his peach wood sword and looked at the fat man and Huba beside him, saying, "This bottle contains Corpse Beetle Pills. If a living person eats it, they will turn into a monster and lose all sense of reason. Prince Gu Mo knew about this kind of pill, so he offered it to Queen Jingjue. But I guess there are more than just one or two Corpse Beetle Pills. I don't know if the Queen has eaten them or not?"

After saying that, Hu Ming threw the jade bottle to the fat man, "Take good care of it. After you get outside, find a place to dump the contents and destroy them. If you want to eat it, you can, but once you turn into a monster, I will kill you with a single stroke."

"How could I dare to eat this!"

The fat man shook his head. "Don't joke around. Who would dare eat this dark, gooey thing?"

"How much is this bottle worth?" The fat man examined the bottle closely. It was about the size of a cigarette box and had beautiful patterns carved on it. Seeing that Hu Bayi and Hu Ming were ignoring him, he grinned at Yang Xueli.

"Miss Yang, how about I sell it to you for one million US dollars?"

Yang Xueli rolled her eyes at him, pointed to the coffin, and said, "This is a cultural relic of your country. Whether you put it in or take it out is none of my business, but I still hope that the cultural relic is not touched."

Yang Xueli had no interest in these burial items at all, or perhaps she had too much money and could never spend it all in her lifetime. She also didn't like collecting burial items, so they were really useless to her.

Put it in? No way, stop being ridiculous.

The fat man was speechless at Yang Shirley. He stuffed the bottle into his pocket, checked it to make sure it wouldn't fall out, and then chuckled, "I'm telling you, you're an American, so don't meddle in our country's affairs."

Yang Xueli frowned slightly, feeling disgusted by the fat man's greed.

Perhaps it's because she never experienced hardship growing up, and therefore doesn't understand the suffering of the poor.

Hu Ming looked at the murals inside the large hat-shaped stone lid and said, "The four of us went down into the tomb together, which can be considered tomb raiding. The treasures inside are for everyone who finds them. The bottle is worth eight thousand US dollars."

"We'll split it among the four of us, two thousand US dollars each. But when we get back, Yang Shirley can reduce our payment by two thousand US dollars!"

Yang Xueli was both amused and exasperated, and sighed helplessly.

The fat man nodded happily, "Okay, I agree."

"I agree too."

Hu Bayi looked at Hu Ming. Since Hu Ming had already said that, what else could he say? Besides, he needed the money more than anyone else.

"Do whatever you want. I already said before I came down here that the treasure is yours, I don't want it, I just want to find clues." After saying that, Yang Xueli stared at the mural inside the large hat-shaped stone lid.

“The meanings of the murals here are somewhat different from those in the tomb. The first picture shows that the Kingdom of Gumo and the Western Regions were vassal states of the Kingdom of Jingjue, and were greatly oppressed. Every year, they had to offer a large amount of treasure, cattle, sheep and slaves to the Queen of Jingjue,” Yang Xueli said, staring at the first picture in the large hat-shaped stone cover.

This picture is carved with many treasures and cattle and sheep, and the carving is very lifelike. However, because the picture is not large, the carving lines are very small, almost like a painting.

Every image exudes magnificence and vividness, revealing the artist's exceptional skill in bringing the mural to life. The artist can directly understand the story by looking at the image.

Yang Xueli can tell the events and figures in the painting at a glance.

But Fatty and Huba couldn't understand it, and even Hu Ming couldn't quite grasp the meaning behind it.

He wasn't particularly knowledgeable about painting; Yang Xueli was an expert in that field. The second painting, with its vivid figures kneeling outside a magnificent hall, was just a simple picture—who knows what it depicted?
But Yang Xueli really noticed. She glanced at Hu Ming and the others and saw that the fat man was only staring at the coffin, as if he had just found some treasures in the ashes. He had no interest in listening to her story, while Hu Bayi and Hu Ming were looking at the murals.

"This is Prince Gumo requesting an audience with Queen Jingjue to reduce taxes for his subjects, but Queen Jingjue refused to see him."

After a pause, Yang Xueli noticed that the third painting only depicted a sun. "Prince Gu Mo is the incarnation of the Sun God of War..."

"Isn't this nonsense?" The fat man came to his senses at this moment.

Yang Xueli glanced at the fat man who had interrupted her, her eyes showing some displeasure. She was searching for clues based on the figures and events in the portraits, trying to understand the past one by one.

"If he is the incarnation of the God of War, how could he be no match for the Queen of Jingjue? I think he's gone mad."

The fat man was talking with great interest and wanted to say something more, but Hu Bay glared at him and said, "Don't interrupt, listen to what Shirley has to say!"

"Okay," the fat man nodded.

Yang Xueli stared at the fourth painting. It depicted a grand hall where a man hid behind a curtain, peeking out slightly to reveal a dagger in his hand. On the magnificent golden throne sat the Queen of Jingjue.

It was only a profile view, but one of her hands lifted her veil, and a figure resembling a slave became blurred on the other side.

"This fourth painting tells the story of Prince Gumo sneaking into the palace to assassinate Queen Jingjue, but he discovers her secret. He realizes that Queen Jingjue can see people disappear at a glance, and he knows that his assassination attempt will definitely fail."

At this point, Yang Xueli looked at the tomb wall in the tomb chamber and said, “Look at this picture. We have seen it before. This picture shows Prince Gumo asking to see Queen Jingjue. There is a palace maid beside him. The palace maid is holding a jade plate and a jade bottle. There is a milky white pill in the bottle. You can see this by combining this picture in the tomb chamber with the picture inside the big hat stone cover.”

“Prince Gu Mo failed to assassinate Queen Jingjue, but he discovered her secret. Knowing that he was no match for her eyes, he poisoned her by offering her a treasure.” She continued, looking at Hu Ming, “You just said that the bottle contained Corpse Beetle Pills, so Prince Gu Mo offered them to Queen Jingjue to tempt her into taking them.”

"The Queen of Jingjue wouldn't have actually eaten it, would she?" Hu Bayi wondered. That Corpse Beetle Pill emitted a milky-white luster; if the Queen of Jingjue didn't know this, perhaps she would have eaten it?
Hu Ming frowned. What exactly was going on? He didn't know either.

"Don't look at the murals in the tomb yet, Miss Yang. Look at the fifth picture inside the stone lid of the coffin and the paintings behind it." The fat man became interested at this moment, pointed to the fifth picture inside the stone lid of the coffin, and then looked at Yang Xueli.

"The following paintings clearly depict that after Prince Gu Mo's assassination attempt failed, he returned to his country. However, he did not give up on plotting to assassinate Queen Jingjue. At this time, he met a diviner from a distant country. The diviner gave the prince a pill and asked him to present it to the queen, saying it was a youth pill that would allow him to stay young forever."

"Not long after, the Jingjue Kingdom sent a large army to destroy the Gumo Kingdom, but the Gumo prince escaped under the guidance of a diviner and went to the Central Plains to study under a master."

As Yang Xueli spoke, she connected the murals in the tomb chamber with the small murals inside the large cap-shaped stone lid, explaining it clearly. She sighed slightly, "The murals in the tomb chamber were incomplete. No wonder we couldn't understand them before. Now that we see the small murals inside the coffin lid, we finally understand."

"The murals in the tomb only tell of Prince Gumo's disappearance for a period of time, but we don't know where he went. However, the coffin lid tells of his journey to the Central Plains to study under a master."

"Even more detailed. Later, after Prince Gumo had mastered his skills, he united with other countries to attack Jingjue Kingdom. Just then, news came that the Queen of Jingjue had died suddenly. Not long after, the allied forces attacked the ancient city of Jingjue, preparing to destroy the Queen's tomb."

"But then a hurricane struck, and a sandstorm engulfed the ancient city of Jingjue. Although Prince Gumo escaped, he died from his severe injuries."

"The diviner then killed Prince Gumo's beloved wife and buried them under the sacrificial chamber, which Prince Gumo had prepared and built for the diviner."

After Yang Xueli finished speaking, she paused and then said, "I once read a book called 'The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions,' which recorded the story of an underground tribe called the Ghost Cave Tribe. They conquered the surrounding tribes and enslaved them. The Ghost Cave Tribe built the Jingjue Kingdom. Legend has it that their queen's eyes could reach the underworld, and a single glance could make someone disappear."

(End of this chapter)