The Unorthodox Tomb Raider

For ordinary tombs, the methods used by the "Moving Mountains" technique would involve large-scale, forceful breaches, and breaking through mechanisms.

But this place was built by the feng shui master Li Chunfeng, and he didn't think he could deal with the methods left behind by Li Chunfeng.

Upon hearing this, Fang Yun shook his head and tossed the 'Chronicle of Extraordinary People,' which recorded the extraordinary people and events of past generations, to Partridge Whistle.

"Li Chunfeng's highest official position in his life was Grand Historian, there's no mistake about that."

"I had already read this book when I bought it with the old foreigner."

Partridge Whistle put away his book and smirked.

No wonder Fang Yun asked the old foreigner to collect some information about Li Chunfeng back then; he never expected it would actually come in handy now.

"The Zhenguan era lasted for twenty-three years. Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi, ascended the throne in the first year of the Yonghui era, which was the Gengxu year. The 22nd year of Zhenguan... Two years before the Gengxu year was the Wushen year!"

After calculating in his mind, Partridge Whistle began to rotate the celestial globe, combining the three heavenly stems and earthly branches of the Six Harmonies Instrument, the Three Stars Instrument, and the Four Wandering Instrument, and cross-selecting the year of Wushen.

Click...

When the year of Wushen was marked on the armillary sphere, the armillary sphere began to rotate slowly and make a soft sound.

As the armillary sphere began to rotate, unexpected changes occurred inside the hall.

Mercury spread out from the roof of the palace, but it was not poured directly into the palace. Instead, it flowed slowly from the roof, turning it into a mercury painting.

At the center of the roof is a painting of the cosmos, surrounded by a diagram of the Twenty-Eight Mansions.

"The Twenty-Eight Mansions!"

The four of them were all experienced; they didn't even need to count the number of stars on the chart to recognize it as the Twenty-Eight Mansions.

Since there are no openings around, this star chart must be the next mechanism.

"The Twenty-Eight Mansions..."

Partridge Whistle pondered for a moment, then said to the crowd, "There is a bronze pillar in the middle of this armillary sphere that can move as the armillary sphere rotates. We should select a group of constellations."

"Brother Fang, do you have any insights into constellations?"

He cultivates the Dao, so he naturally has some understanding of the celestial constellations.

However, he had never encountered a mechanism based on constellations and positions before, so he dared not act rashly. For now, he could only ask Fang Yun for advice.

Fang Yun possesses secret Feng Shui techniques and has a far greater understanding of the celestial positions than he does.

Upon hearing this, Fang Yun nodded, pondered for a moment, and then said:

"The Southern Dipper governs life, while the Northern Dipper governs death. The six stars of the Southern Dipper are the head of the Northern Black Tortoise, and are also called the Dipper Constellation!"

As he spoke, Fang Yun pointed to a star map on the northeast side of the palace roof.

"It should be this one, the Dipper constellation in the northeast, signifying the beginning of a new cycle and the renewal of all things!"

Upon hearing Fang Yun's words, Partridge Whistle's face relaxed.

Fang Yun's thoughts coincided with his own, and it seemed that Dou Su was the correct answer.

Thinking of this, Partridge Whistle did not hesitate and directly turned the armillary sphere, moving the main axis of the armillary sphere to point directly at the constellation of the Dipper.

Click...click...

About a second or two later, a clicking sound rang out.

The four looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the stone door between the two murals in the northeast corner of the main hall shook and then slowly rose upwards.

Upon seeing this, all four of them smiled.

"This Li Chunfeng is really amazing; he actually used his armillary sphere as the core of the formation."

Hua Mei smiled and tugged at Fang Yun's hand, saying, "If we answer incorrectly, those mercury beads on our heads might be poured down."

"Yes."

Fang Yun pinched the flower-covered face, looked up at the palace ceiling, and laughed.

The mechanisms left behind by Li Chunfeng were naturally incredibly ingenious.

Speaking of mercury mechanisms... there are rumors that there is a mercury river in the First Emperor's mausoleum that supports the First Emperor's underworld palace and constantly changes its position, but it is unknown whether this is true or not.

If one day I can explore the First Emperor's Mausoleum, that would be the pinnacle of my profession, and I would have no regrets about my path of robbing.

However, this idea is just something to think about for now; it's better to forget about actually exploring it.

Even the Qinling Terracotta Army, a world wonder, is only a corner of the First Emperor's Mausoleum... This shows how terrifying the First Emperor's Mausoleum is.

Then, Fang Yun looked at a mural in the Underworld Palace and sighed inwardly.

"The Tui Bei Tu..."

As soon as he entered the Underworld Palace, he noticed the Tui Bei Tu (a prophetic text) on the mural.

However, the Tui Bei Tu was the answer left by Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang for Emperor Taizong of Tang, and it did not contain the process of solving the mystery.

Li Chunfeng was unwilling to tell Emperor Taizong the true information in the Dragon Bone Heavenly Book, so he probably wouldn't have spread the Tui Bei Tu either, lest it cause bloodshed.

Even if the Sixty-Four Hexagrams of the Tui Bei Tu really still exists, it would probably only be found in the tombs of Li Chunfeng or Yuan Tiangang.

Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Infinite Suspended Soul Staircase

After a short rest, the group entered the opened stone door.

Inside the stone gate is a steep, downward-sloping stone staircase. Each step is a foot and a half long, but the height difference is only half an inch. Walking on it feels almost the same as walking on flat ground, and you even have to take big steps.

After passing through a passageway and turning a corner, the walls on both sides of the passageway disappeared.

Before me lay a dark space, within which countless mists rose, obscuring what lay in the distance.

Shining the phosphorescent tube around, the light dimmed instantly upon entering the mist, as if swallowed by the dark, misty space.

Looking ahead, all you can see is the stone steps stretching out into the mist, with visibility reduced to just a few meters.

"This is so dark, could it be a trap?"

The old foreigner held up a phosphorescent tube, looked around, and then spoke up helplessly.

"The stone steps are surrounded by bottomless pits, so be careful when walking on them. There might be hidden traps on these steps!"

Partridge Whistle felt a chill run down his spine, also finding the stone steps extremely eerie.

He could understand the mechanisms in the previous tomb, but he really couldn't figure out why these stone steps were left there.

If it's for theft prevention, wouldn't it be a simple matter to just remove the exit route?

If it were intended as a road for future generations to use for ancestral worship, it would be impossible to build this road in this fog.

"The Suspended Staircase..."

At this moment, looking at this misty space, Fang Yun murmured to himself and took out the Golden Compass.

Seeing this, both Partridge Whistle, the old foreigner, and Hua turned their gazes to Fang Yun's hand, staring intently at Fang Yun's golden compass.

This golden compass was used by the tomb raiders to determine the location of celestial bodies. Since Fang Yun took it out, it means that Fang Yun noticed the strangeness of this place.

So Partridge Whistle asked in a low voice, "Brother Fang, have you noticed the problem with this place?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Yun nodded and pointed to the stone steps beneath his feet, saying:

“Look at these stone steps. Their color is dark and dull, and the light shining on them is weaker. It must be because the stone steps are coated with a special light-absorbing material that absorbs light without reflecting it.”

"This light-absorbing ingredient, combined with the surrounding darkness and the fog in the cave, shrouds the entire space in darkness. The phosphorescent tube can only illuminate up to five meters in front of you at most."

"Each of these stone steps is a foot and a half wide, but only half an inch high. Such a small difference in elevation makes it impossible to tell whether the steps are going up or down in the dark."

"So I guess this place is a maze. Let's take a few steps and see."

"Brother Dao, give me the notebook."

After receiving the paper and pen from Partridge Whistle, Fang Yun carried the golden compass and slowly walked up the stone steps, with the three people behind him following slowly.

Fang Yun kept his eyes fixed on the stone steps, stopping every few steps to glance at the golden compass before making a mark on the paper.

Although the three people behind him were puzzled, seeing Fang Yun's calm and composed demeanor, they suppressed their anxiety and questions.

We've been gone for about a quarter of an hour, and nothing has happened. It seems this place is just a simple maze, and there's not much danger.

After walking for about two quarters of an hour, Fang Yun stopped and looked at the notebook, then smiled.

"All right!"

Seeing Fang Yun stop, Hua, who was walking behind him, lit up and moved closer to Fang Yun, looking at the notebook where Fang Yun had previously drawn.

"Is this... gossip and a butterfly?"

Upon hearing Hua's words, Partridge Whistle and Old Foreigner also peeked out.

Fang Yun had filled the paper with a drawing.

The painting was divided into two parts. The outer circle was the Eight Trigrams, but there were only two trigrams: the upper four were all Dui (兑) and the lower four were all Kan (坎).

In the center of this Bagua (Eight Trigrams) area, there is a painting that resembles a butterfly.

Upon closer inspection, the butterfly was actually made up of several horizontally arranged number 8s, with a complete body and wings.

Fang Yun also pointed out a large black dot in the center of the butterfly's body, with the words "Li Jiu" written next to it.

"Fang Yun, what does this painting mean?"

Hua looked completely bewildered, so she directly asked Fang Yun.