The immortal is beside me

Chapter 31 Tang Dynasty, the Eighteen Tombs of Guanzhong
[Super beautiful glow appeared over Liangzhou City [hot]]

【Liangzhou astronomical phenomenon [hot]】

In a small restaurant across from the commercial street, Guo Youkai, who had just finished get off work, was chewing on Kuaidai noodles while browsing Douyin's electronic pickled mustard greens. Upon opening the city's trending apps, he saw several searches related to "astronomical phenomena" at the top of the list.

He glanced out of the hotel window. More than an hour had passed, and the sky over Liangzhou was still filled with rosy clouds. The red-gold light gave the steel jungle outside the window a brilliant outline. Several guests sitting by the window were taking pictures with their mobile phones.

If an ancient poet witnessed this scene, he would have composed a poem at this moment, but Guo Youkai is just an ordinary social animal who finds it troublesome to even take photos and post them on WeChat Moments. Facing this scenery, he just sighed in his heart that it was beautiful, then turned his gaze away and started browsing Douyin again.

After scrolling through the top trending searches for astronomical phenomena, and then scrolling through some celebrity updates and current affairs news, his gaze stopped at a line of words that appeared at the very bottom.

New Archaeological Findings from the Eighteen Tombs of Guanzhong

The Eighteen Tombs of Guanzhong, namely the imperial tombs of the Tang Dynasty, are distributed in the mountain ranges south of the Wei River.

From Emperor Gaozu of Tang Li Yuan to Emperor Xizong of Tang Li Xuan, the tombs of 19 out of the 21 emperors of the Tang Dynasty are included (Li Zhi and Empress Wu Zetian were buried together). Except for the last emperors Zhaozong and Aizong who were buried in other provinces due to the turbulent times, it can be said that these 18 tombs buried the entire history of the Tang Dynasty.

As a native of Liangzhou, he has heard many related historical stories since he was a child. This hot search has indeed aroused some interest in him, and he should be considered a qualified electronic pickled mustard greens.

He clicked on the trending search and a short news video popped up.

"A new tomb was recently discovered in the northern part of our city. Research has shown that the tomb was built during the Dazhong period of the Tang Dynasty and is of imperial standard. Archaeological work is currently progressing in an orderly manner."

The video begins with a scene of an archaeological site. A female reporter wearing a safety helmet stands in front of the camera, explaining with a sweet smile.

"Many viewers in front of the screen should know the history of the Eighteen Tombs of Guanzhong. It contains the tombs of 19 emperors of the Tang Dynasty. It is a famous cultural heritage in the Guanzhong region and an important reference for historians studying the history of the Tang Dynasty."

"The recent excavation of this tomb may bring us revolutionary discoveries. We have asked relevant experts to interpret them for us."

The camera turned and the microphone was handed to a middle-aged man in a suit. The subtitles next to it showed that his position was [Zhang Songming, Director of the Archaeological Office of Liangzhou Cultural Relics Bureau].

"Hello, Director Zhang. We've heard that this newly discovered Tang Dynasty tomb was built to imperial standards. However, the tombs of all 21 Tang Dynasty emperors, including the last two, were excavated and confirmed at the beginning of this century. Why has a new imperial tomb appeared now? Could there be a 22nd emperor of the Tang Dynasty who isn't recorded in historical records?"

"We had the same question before opening this tomb."

Zhang Songming nodded in front of the camera: "But now, as the excavation work deepens, we find that the structure of this tomb is indeed unusual."

"Judging from the height of the mound and the murals inside, it is indeed an imperial mausoleum. However, upon investigation, it contains no remains or typical burial objects. Instead, it contains many portraits and ritual vessels, making it more like a ceremonial site than a tomb."

The camera switched from the interviewer to a pile of artifacts covered in mud that were unearthed at the scene.

Guo Youkai had never dealt with antiques before, and he couldn't recognize the purpose of these artifacts. The only thing he could understand was a painting that appeared at the edge of the camera.

The painting was soaked in a special protective liquid. Due to its age, the painting itself had become blurred and damaged, and it could only be barely seen as a portrait of a person.

The image lasted only four or five seconds, and he didn't examine it closely. He could only make out what looked like the silhouette of a person. It seemed to be a man, dressed in a red and white robe, his long hair tied back. He stood beneath a bright moon, his figure ethereal and otherworldly. In the corner of the painting, inscribed in regular script, was the title: Moonlight Fairy.

"As you can see, most of these unearthed artifacts have ritual uses. It's speculated that the Tang royal family used them to pray for the gods' protection and to strengthen their royal power in the name of heaven's will. As to why all of this material ended up in the mausoleum, that's the direction of our next research."

"Okay, thank you very much, Director Zhang, for your introduction. I look forward to seeing more relevant research results in the future."

The video ends here, and even as an electronic pickled mustard greens, there is not much flavor to it.

This made Guo Youkai feel a little bored, so he habitually clicked on the comment section, hoping to find some fun from the silly netizens. However, as soon as he clicked on it, a prompt box popped up on the screen.

[The comment you are looking for does not exist]

This is a sign that the video has been deleted.

Guo Youkai was stunned for a moment, exited the video and refreshed it. Sure enough, the hot search was no longer on the city list, and he couldn't find any other related videos even if he searched specifically.

Was this forced to be removed from the shelves?

Guo Youkai was a bit confused. Although he had encountered similar situations several times before, what was the point of making such a topic a mere piece of archaeological news with little public opinion and little buzz?
He was wondering about this when his cell phone rang and two WeChat messages came in.

Director Xu: [August Project Progress Status of Each Department.xls]

Director Xu: Xiao Guo, please compile this report and submit it to me before tomorrow.

Hey! It's alive again!

Guo Youkai hurriedly swallowed the noodles in his mouth, picked up his phone and replied "received", then picked up the backpack and walked out, running quickly towards the bus stop.

In just a few minutes, he had forgotten the video he had just seen and was only thinking about how to ask the various departments for last month's data.

While astronomical phenomena, history, and immortals were certainly interesting, they were still too far away from him. Compared to these ethereal topics, he was more concerned about his performance and bonus this month.

At this time in Liangzhou City, there are millions of people like him.

People rush about in the hustle and bustle of the city, occasionally looking up at the red glow in the sky, marveling at the magnificence of the sky, and then jumping back into the ocean of people coming and going, drifting with the crowd.

On the way to and from get off work, they might pass by vehicles from the Environmental Sanitation Bureau, but no one would pay attention to who was in the car, no one would think about where the car was going, and no one knew that a secret war was brewing in the dark.

Night will soon fall, and the rosy glow covering the city will eventually fade away, replaced by the lights of thousands of homes on the ground.

Today is still an ordinary day.

(End of this chapter)