The Unorthodox Tomb Raider

“Look closely, those white threads are the spider silk of the black spider. The front wall has countless holes, resembling a honeycomb... that should be the black spider's lair.”

Upon hearing Fang Yun's words, Partridge Whistle's eyes narrowed, and he took a step back.

In his haste, he forgot that a nest of enormous black cockroaches lived in these mountains.

Ahead lies the lair of the Black Cobra, so there's only one path left to take: the one behind us.

Just as the group ventured deeper into the dark passage, at the original entrance to the Black Cobra's lair, a dark shadow descended from the sky, completely blocking the passageway.

"Hiss... Roar!"

With a deep roar, the dark figure vanished again in an instant.

Click...click...

Then, a multitude of sparse sounds arose.

If Fang Yun and his companions had not left by then, they would have seen countless black worms, each as large as a car, emerging from the holes in the surrounding mountain walls, and then forming groups to burrow into the same large hole.

(I don't know if everyone will find it boring, but I will finish writing about the Labyrinth as soon as possible. I prefer large dungeons to small places like this.)

(Requesting flowers, ratings, and monthly passes.)

Chapter Fifty-Five: The Armillary Sphere, One of Life's Four Joys.

The passage was dark and long, but the construction of this tomb passage was stopped halfway through.

Less than two minutes later, the four of them emerged from the square, evenly shaped blue brick path and arrived at a stone cave tunnel.

Looking back, the intersection of the blue brick path and the stone cave path is clearly distinct, resembling a yin-yang symbol, with black and white each occupying one side and not interfering with each other.

On the rock walls on both sides of the stone cave passage, huge rock paintings of human faces are carved, and various inscriptions unique to the Western Zhou Dynasty are also scattered around.

Compared to the luxurious and exquisite Tang tombs, Western Zhou tombs were mostly decorated and built with huge stones and rocks, which made them appear more simple, calm and solemn, and exuded a strong sense of royalty.

At a glance, one can tell that the latter half of the stone path dates back to the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Partridge Whistle carefully examined the tomb passage for a moment, then spoke:

"Brother Fang, the layout and specifications of this passage undoubtedly indicate that it is a Western Zhou Dynasty tomb passage!"

"The tomb passage of the Tang Dynasty tomb stops here. It must have been because they discovered a Western Zhou Dynasty tomb nearby when they were building it, so they stopped halfway."

“Occupying someone else’s grave is a great disgrace to the royal family, so those unskilled craftsmen who built the tomb will surely be silenced.”

"In order to save their lives, the craftsmen secretly left a passage leading to the Western Zhou tomb. By following this passage, they might be able to cross the sealed front hall and reach the front section of the Tang tomb, which had already been completed."

Fang Yun nodded and said to Partridge Whistle, "Brother Dao is right, that's what I was thinking too."

Good heavens, I understand why he's the brother-in-law!

Fang Yun chuckled inwardly. Partridge Whistle was treating this place like Bottle Mountain, where the Pill Hall and the Yuan Tomb were connected as one.

But the situation here is actually quite different from that in Ping Mountain, and it's much more complicated.

When the Tang Dynasty tomb was halfway completed, they discovered that there was already a Western Zhou Dynasty tomb nearby that had been shattered by tectonic activity. This was definitely an ominous sign for the royal family.

How could the royal family use a feng shui burial site that someone else had already used?

Then the Tang Dynasty tomb was abandoned, so there were no mechanisms, no coffins, and no burial objects in the underworld.

What remained in the mountains were mostly destroyed Western Zhou tombs and Tang tombs that were only half-built.

Then, Li Chunfeng arrived. He opened up the unimportant areas of the two tombs and connected the remaining mechanisms with the mechanisms he had left behind.

At the end, he left behind a virtual tomb for himself.

Otherwise, given Li Chunfeng's official rank and wealth, he simply couldn't afford to build such a large tomb.

Moreover, as a feng shui master who knew the will of Heaven, Li Chunfeng would not do something as despicable as usurping someone else's place or using a grave as bait.

Li Chunfeng did this to lure the tomb raiders away from the Western Zhou and Tang tombs, and towards his unburied tomb.

Only those juniors who meet the standards in both character and ability can survive his machinations and receive his gifts.

That dragon bone book!

.............

After walking for about one or two minutes in the stone path, a cave entrance appeared at the end of the path.

The entrance to the cave was made of bluestone and bricks, with exquisite patterns of the sun, moon, and stars carved on the bricks.

Upon seeing the size of the cave entrance, Partridge Whistle exclaimed with delight:

"This is the standard size for a Tang Dynasty tomb!"

"There is no stone gate protecting the tomb wall, so it seems that this road is the path to the front of the Tang tomb."

Upon hearing this, Fang Yun's lips curled up, "We'll know soon enough."

After saying that, Fang Yun stepped directly into the cave entrance, followed by Partridge Whistle and the others.

"Something's not right here!"

As soon as they entered the underground palace, Hua, who had been following Fang Yun, exclaimed in surprise.

"Fang Yun, Senior Brother, look up there!"

"This main hall was also built according to the specifications of the Tang Dynasty's underworld palaces, with a square base and a round top, and sharp edges and corners, but it is a little smaller than the underworld palaces we saw before!"

"Why is there no coffin in the Underworld Palace? I guess the tomb owner was of high status, and every side hall is of a high standard?" the old foreigner asked, puzzled.

Although this main hall is also of the standard for the main tomb chamber of the Tang Dynasty, it is much smaller than the previous tomb hall.

Apart from a stone platform with an armillary sphere on it and murals and reliefs on the surrounding walls, there was nothing else in the main hall.

"I see!"

At this moment, Partridge Whistle looked enlightened and murmured something.

"This is the Underworld Palace, but it is neither the Western Zhou Underworld Palace nor the Tang Royal Family Underworld Palace; it is Li Chunfeng's own Underworld Palace."

"The armillary sphere used in the early Tang Dynasty was a double-layered one, which had many flaws. So Li Chunfeng spent several years improving the armillary sphere into a triple-layered one. The armillary sphere in front of us is a triple-layered one."

Partridge Whistle became more and more excited as he spoke, and laughed without regard for anyone else around him.

"The murals in this underworld palace... depict Li Chunfeng himself!"

"The tomb passage we walked through wasn't left by the craftsmen to escape, but rather by Li Chunfeng when he built the tomb!"

"Although we don't know why he left the tomb passage, there's no doubt that he built it!"

Watson, you've finally spotted the blind spot!

Fang Yun grinned and patted Partridge Whistle, saying:

"Indeed, judging from the official robes of the figures in the murals, this place must have been built by Li Chunfeng."

"Although there is no coffin here, there are several stone doors around. There must be some mystery behind those stone doors."

Is there a stone gate?

The three members of Partridge Whistle swept across the Underworld Palace and saw that there was a stone door standing between the two murals on the palace wall.

Upon seeing the mechanism, the three of them turned their attention to Fang Yun.

Fang Yun, who possesses the sixteen-character Yin-Yang Feng Shui secret technique, has a considerable understanding of the Five Elements numerology and the Eight Gates directions.

Seeing the expectant looks on the three men's faces, Fang Yun grinned and pulled out a book called "Records of Extraordinary People" from his pocket.

"This place is completely empty, so the mechanism could only exist on the armillary sphere, which I don't need to elaborate on."

"The triple armillary sphere can not only demonstrate celestial phenomena, but also mark the time. As you can see on the triple armillary sphere, the ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches are engraved."

"It's impossible to deduce celestial phenomena from within a tomb, so the key must lie in the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches used for timekeeping."

"The only times that could have stayed in the memory of the tomb's occupant could be related to the four joys of life."

Chapter 56 The Push Back Diagram

There are four great joys in a person's life: rain after a long drought, meeting an old friend in a foreign land, the wedding night, and passing the imperial examination.

"But only two things are important enough to be taken into the tomb!"

Upon hearing Fang Yun's words, Partridge Whistle added with certainty:

"The wedding night, the day of passing the imperial examination!"

“That’s right!” Fang Yun grinned, feeling a surge of emotion.

To put it nicely, it's about career and love; to put it bluntly, it's about money and women.

If the tomb owner had some ability and could afford to build a large tomb, the tomb would record the owner's life story and glorious experiences.

"The most important day..." Partridge Whistle looked thoughtfully at the 'Chronicle of Extraordinary People' in Fang Yun's hand and said:

"There is no record of Li Chunfeng's wife in official history, and there are few rumors about her even in unofficial history. Therefore, the wedding night cannot be considered the most important day."

"Li Chunfeng served as an official for a full forty years. Although his official position was not very high, he was highly valued by two generations of Tang emperors. His most important day should have been when he passed the imperial examination!"

"In the 22nd year of the Zhenguan era, he was appointed Grand Historian by Emperor Taizong of Tang!"

At this point, Partridge Whistle's eyes lit up, and he was about to move the armillary sphere.

However, just as he reached out his hand, he withdrew it and looked at Fang Yun tentatively, asking:

"Brother Fang, in terms of the Five Elements, Eight Gates, and the expansion of directions, I am inferior to you. Do you have any other insights?"