A comprehensive overview of tombs: starting with the Yellow Weasel's Tomb

Perhaps everyone was really tired from traveling these past few days, because they all fell asleep quickly after lying down.

Of course, the night watch still needs to be kept.

Who knows what might happen at night in the desert? In case of a sandstorm or wild animal attack, there's always someone who can wake everyone up in time.

And so, time quickly passed to the morning of the next day.

After everyone had breakfast, they packed up the supplies and waited for everyone to go down into the tomb to take a look.

Bai Jing went down into the well first, while Chu Jian stayed above to watch the rope, and An Liman stayed behind to watch the camels.

The last one to come down was Sadipeng. Sadipeng clearly had no experience in this area, and his movements looked clumsy.

Seeing this, the fat man couldn't help but complain, "Slow down, look at you, so clumsy. What will you do if the imperialists invade?"

After Sadi Peng came down, everyone else who was supposed to come down did so, and then everyone headed towards the stone gate.

Chapter 158 Entering the Tomb Chamber

At this moment, everyone present could clearly see the animal hides on the stone gate.

After looking around, Shirley Yang said, "I checked just now and didn't find any traps."

Upon hearing this, Hu Bayi raised his head and said with a proud expression, "Hmph, a tomb like this, placed in such a hidden place, is only found by those who know what they're doing. The traps are no match for it."

Upon hearing Hu Bayi's words, Shirley Yang immediately looked at him with a strange expression.

Seemingly realizing he had let something slip, Hu Bayi quickly added, "Of course, those places where you can't even find the entrance don't need any traps or mechanisms. We just happened to stumble upon them."

Upon hearing Hu Bayi's words, Bai Jing couldn't help but glance at Hu Bayi.

Then, glancing at Shirley Yang out of the corner of his eye, he sighed.

Hu Bayi has been easily subdued.

In fact, she was the only woman Bai Jing knew of who could control Hu Bayi among all the women he had ever met.

No wonder Hu Bayi ended up with Shirley Yang.

What if Hu Bayi just likes that kind of being manipulated?

Bai Jing looked again at the stone gate covered with animal hide.

Professor Hao had heard from Bai Jing yesterday that the stone gate was wrapped in an animal skin, presumably to keep out moisture. So Professor Hao brought his tools with him when he came down.

Professor Hao was, after all, a senior archaeologist, far superior to ordinary people. With swift and skillful movements, he quickly peeled the entire animal hide off the stone door.

After Professor Hao peeled off the animal skin, he handed it to Bai Jing, who was standing behind him.

Bai Jing took the animal hide and placed it in a place where it wouldn't get in the way. At the same time, he said, "Xiao Sa, Xiao Ye, you should both remember this in the future. When you encounter a tomb temporarily like this, if some things need to be taken down temporarily and then restored later, you must place them in a place where they won't get in the way or cause unnecessary damage."

Upon hearing this, Sadi Peng and Ye Yixin quickly replied, "Understood, Professor Bai."

Bai Jing nodded, then walked to the stone door and looked at it, saying, "The stone door isn't locked. It's just that the animal hide is blocking the way. You can imagine that there's hardly any oxygen left in the tomb right now, so don't go in after the stone door opens."

Wait about ten seconds, until the indoor and outdoor air exchange airflow, before going in. This also helps prevent the possibility of toxic gases in the indoor air.

Upon hearing Bai Jing's words, everyone present naturally nodded in agreement, as this was based on their own experience.

Then, the others stepped back, and Bai Jing called Hu Bayi over. The two of them stepped forward and slowly pushed open the stone door.

The moment the stone door opened, the candles inside the tomb chamber, which had been devoid of oxygen, lit up one by one as air rushed in.

Although no one else was there, they all saw the moment the door opened, and the previously dimly lit room suddenly brightened up.

This situation is quite perplexing for Sadi Peng and Ye Yixin, two young people who have just entered the field of archaeology.

I was slightly startled.

To be honest, even the fat man was startled; he had never seen anything like it before.

Then the fat man quietly approached Bai Jing and Hu Bayi and whispered, "Old Hu, Old Bai, isn't this all about Ghost Blows Out the Light? How come it's become Ghost Lighting the Lamp now?"

Professor Chen noticed the confusion of the young people and immediately stepped forward to explain, "Don't be afraid, everyone. This is because of white phosphorus. White phosphorus has an extremely low ignition point and will spontaneously combust even when it comes into contact with air. Then, the spontaneously combusting white phosphorus will ignite the oil lamp. This is a very common method."

After a while, when it was almost time, everyone finally entered the tomb chamber.

At this moment, the fat man also saw what was in the tomb and couldn't help but say, "I'm not afraid, I just find it a bit cruel."

Upon hearing this, Hu Bayi couldn't help but look at the fat man and tease him, "Still not afraid? Your voice has changed."

Bai Jing smiled upon hearing this, then took his flashlight and walked forward. The scene inside the tomb was, to put it mildly, extremely cruel.

Corpses of various appearances were chained to stone pillars. Judging from the scene, these people must have been treated extremely cruelly before they died, and everyone who saw this scene could hardly bear to look at it.

Bai Jing didn't feel much; he had seen far more cruel scenes than this.

To say nothing of the distant past, just take the Liao Dynasty Empress Dowager's tomb in Heishantou. There are dozens of mercury-enriched corpses of young boys and girls in the side hall alone.

Bai Jing had previously visited the tombs of some feudal lords, where hundreds of people were often buried alive with the dead.

Compared to those tombs, this place is nothing.

The tomb chamber wasn't very large, and in no time, everyone had already circled it. At this moment, Shirley Yang finally asked the question that had been on everyone's mind: "Is this a tomb? Why don't we see any coffins?"

Professor Chen looked around again after hearing this, then shook his head and said, "These people look like they were slaves or prisoners who were buried alive with us. It seems that this is not a tomb after all, but probably a place where sacrificial activities were held."

Bai Jing squatted down, then touched the ground with his palm. Immediately afterwards, he pulled on an iron ring.

Upon seeing this, everyone immediately gathered around.

Then, everyone discovered that it seemed to be a movable stone slab, and there were four iron rings connecting the stone slab.

Clearly, there should be another space beneath this stone slab.

The most likely explanation is that the space below is where the tomb is located.

Seeing this, Bai Jing grabbed an iron ring with each hand, and with a slow pull, he lifted the entire stone slab.

When the stone slab was completely lifted off the ground, some people might not have noticed, but Shirley Yang was secretly amazed.

This stone slab is very large, roughly estimated to weigh around 200 kilograms, which is not something one person could lift.

But Bai Jing actually moved the stone slab all by himself, which shocked Shirley Yang.

As the stone slab was removed, the space beneath was revealed.

Upon seeing this, everyone immediately shone their flashlights downwards, and sure enough, they discovered a huge space below. Looking down from above, they could see a coffin placed there.

Upon seeing this, everyone present couldn't help but get excited.

Chapter 159 The Tomb of Prince Gumo

Professor Chen laughed when he saw the coffin below, "Haha, so the real tomb is here. The tomb owner was quite resourceful."

Upon hearing this, Bai Jing couldn't help but laugh.

But then Bai Jing said, "Wait a minute, I'll go down first. After I go down, I'll check if there are any traps or mechanisms. You can go down after I'm sure there are no problems."

Upon hearing Bai Jing's words, the others naturally agreed.

They all knew Bai Jing's skills.

Immediately, Bai Jing took the ladder, assembled it, and then slowly lowered it down.

Once the ladder reached the bottom, Bai Jing estimated that the burial chamber below should be about 2.3 meters deep.

For a tomb chamber, this is already considered quite high.

Then, Bai Jing descended into the tomb chamber via a ladder.

In this tomb, apart from the coffin placed in the middle, there were no other burial objects, and the four walls were covered with murals.

This is actually a normal situation; not all civilizations have the custom of placing burial objects other than those in the coffin.

After walking around the tomb, I didn't feel any palpitations, so I was certain that there were no traps or mechanisms in the tomb.

That makes sense, since the tomb is located at the bottom of the well, and even if one enters the upper room used for sacrifices, it would generally be difficult to discover the tomb below.

Even under these circumstances, they were able to enter the tomb chamber. As I said before, even with traps, it's useless.

After confirming that there were no traps, Bai Jing called for the people above to come down.

Professor Chen and Professor Hao were already impatient and were the first to come down after receiving Bai Jing's instructions.

Professor Hao, being younger, moved more quickly and nimbly down into the tomb chamber. He excitedly pointed to the coffin inside and said, "Teacher, look! This tomb looks strange. It seems to be a long-lost burial style of ancient Western Region peoples."

Following that, Professor Hao looked around the tomb chamber from left to right.

After the fat man came down, he saw Professor Hao's appearance and immediately asked Bai Jing with a strange expression, "Why does this guy look like a lunatic?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Jing smiled and explained, "Fatty, don't talk nonsense. Senior Brother Hao is just passionate about archaeology. If you don't understand, don't spout nonsense."

Professor Hao, having heard Bai Jing's words, laughed but didn't seem to care. Instead, he continued pointing at the coffin in the tomb and said, "Look at this coffin. It seems real, yet it's neither fish nor fowl."

Bai Jing smiled and said, "Judging from the cultural relics unearthed in the Western Regions, the Western Regions were already deeply influenced by Han culture more than two thousand years ago. This coffin also seems to be influenced by Han Dynasty coffins and has certain Han Dynasty cultural elements."

As he spoke, Bai Jing pointed to some decorative patterns on the coffin and continued, "Senior brother, look, these are cloud patterns and border designs that were popular during the Eastern Han Dynasty."

However, upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that this coffin, in addition to Han Chinese elements, also incorporates local ethnic elements, such as symbols of ancient local tribes.

That's why it looks somewhat incongruous.

Furthermore, this tomb should be a joint burial of a husband and wife; there should be two bodies inside the coffin, which is why the coffin appears wider than a typical one.