Tang Dynasty: Taking the Empress Dowager to a brothel, Father Emperor, what a coincidence!

"Chu Mo, what do you think of the quality of this jade thumb ring I'm wearing?"

Changsun Chong, mounted on his horse, showed off his right thumb to Cheng Chumo.

Cheng Chumo patted the two large cloth bags on his saddle with disdain, and the sound of gold and silver clinking came from them.

"What's the use of a broken thumb ring? My solid gold is the real currency. Yesterday, when we raided that Goguryeo noble family surnamed Zheng, if it weren't for you stopping me, I would have taken his concubine with me."

Fang Yi'ai said with a smile from the side:

"His Highness the Crown Prince's strategy of sustaining the war through war is still the most reliable. As we've fought our way here, our supplies haven't dwindled; in fact, they've increased. My brothers in the camp are now eagerly anticipating the siege."

The morale of the Tang army has now reached the heavens.

Even ordinary soldiers are now worth at least ten times more than they were before they went to war.

What was originally a tedious and arduous expedition was transformed by Li Chengqian into a large-scale armed raid and team building activity.

Those powerful and domineering noble families in Goguryeo were truly unlucky.

The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty took the list and began to search house to house, and those who dared to resist were allowed to reunite with their entire families.

The soldiers of the Tang Dynasty now wish they could fly to Pyongyang immediately.

After you've finished fighting, go home, get married, and warm your bed.

When the army reached noon, a desolate wilderness appeared ahead.

You can vaguely see that this was once the site of a city, with the dilapidated rammed earth walls eroded by wind and sand to the point that only half of them remain.

"Your Highness, ahead lies the ruins of a city from the Former Han Dynasty, which has been abandoned for several hundred years."

Li Jing rode up to Li Chengqian's side and said.

Li Chengqian nodded, and just as he was about to order the army to pass through the ruins, the troops in front suddenly stopped.

"What happened?"

Li Chengqian spurred his horse forward to check the situation.

Cheng Chumo, Fang Yi'ai, and several other spoiled young men were pointing and gesturing around several huge mounds of earth.

These mounds of earth were ridiculously large, resembling small hills.

The surface was covered with withered yellow weeds and was severely weathered.

"Yiai, I bet you this is definitely the ancestral tomb of the Goguryeo royal family."

Cheng Chumo pointed excitedly at the mound of earth and said,

"Such a large burial mound must contain a lot of treasures buried inside."

Fang Yi'ai pulled a shovel from his horse and said eagerly:

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's start digging. We're in the middle of nowhere, so we'll split whatever we find."

Changsun Chong hesitated for a moment and said:

"Isn't this a bit inappropriate? Digging up someone's ancestral graves is considered bad karma."

"You don't know anything."

Cheng Chumo glared at him.

"These are the graves of the Goguryeo people. Our Tang soldiers are digging up the graves of our enemies; this is called displaying our national power. Quickly grab your weapons and get to work!"

Several spoiled brats immediately called their personal guards, who grabbed shovels and pickaxes and prepared to climb onto the mound.

"Stop! You mustn't! You absolutely mustn't!"

The old Goguryeo guide recruited by the army rushed out from the crowd, grabbed Cheng Chumo's leg, and cried out.

"Grandpas, you mustn't dig this up! This is a tomb from the previous dynasty, filled with vengeful spirits. Digging it up will bring divine retribution."

Cheng Chumo shook it twice in disgust but couldn't shake it off, and angrily said:

"Go to hell with your evil spirits. The weapon I have isn't afraid of the living, why would I be afraid of the dead? Get out of my way, don't stop me from making money."

The old guide held on tightly and wouldn't let go:

"Don't dig. You really can't dig."

Even we locals dare not approach it; anyone who touches this mound of earth dies, bleeding from all seven orifices. This is a cursed place.

When Li Chengqian walked over and saw the appearance of Cheng Chumo and his group, his eyes started to twitch.

Are these bastards so desperate for money that they're crazy?

"What's all the noise about?"

Li Jing asked angrily.

When Cheng Chumo saw Li Chengqian arrive, he quickly put away his shovel and pointed to the mound of earth, saying:

"Your Highness, we thought there might be treasure down there and wanted to dig it up to see, but this old man insisted on stopping us, saying there was a ghost."

Li Chengqian glanced at the old guide, then looked up and examined the huge mound of earth.

The shape of this mound is indeed rather strange; it doesn't resemble a naturally formed hill, nor does it look like a typical tomb.

He dismounted and walked to the mound.

When the old guide saw the prince arrive, he was so frightened that he retreated repeatedly.

Li Chengqian squatted down, drew the horizontal sword from his waist, and lightly scraped the edge of the mound of earth where it had been eroded and peeled away by wind and rain.

After the soil fell away, what was exposed was neither stone nor rammed earth.

Instead, it is a grayish-white hard lump.

The surface of this hard lump is pitted and uneven, which is very unpleasant to look at.

Li Chengqian stared at the hard lump for a while, then stood up with a gloomy expression.

Li Jing stepped forward, about to ask a question, when Li Chengqian sheathed his sword and said:

"Stop digging."

Cheng Chumo became anxious:

"Your Highness, are you really not going to dig anymore? What if there's a mountain of gold and silver inside?"

"I said we won't dig, so we won't. Order the entire army to go around these mounds of earth, and no one is to disturb them. Continue advancing."

Li Chengqian spoke with unusual seriousness.

Cheng Chumo could only reluctantly put away his shovel and lead his men back to the group.

The army bypassed the mound and continued its southward advance.

As they ventured deeper into the interior, the climate became increasingly harsh.

The cold wind cut like a knife on people's faces.

The surrounding scenery became increasingly desolate.

The endless, withered forest looked like a menacing monster.

The sky was overcast, making it feel rather gloomy.

After walking for a while, the fog ahead suddenly thickened.

A thick white fog enveloped the entire plain, reducing visibility to less than ten steps.

The old tour guide suddenly stopped, clung tightly to a dead tree by the roadside, and collapsed to the ground.

"I'm not leaving. I'd rather die than leave."

The old director shouted with a face full of despair.

Cheng Chumo walked over and kicked him:

"Old man, stop pretending to be dead! Lead the way!"

The old guide pointed to the desolate wilderness swallowed by thick fog ahead and shouted sternly:

"That's the Plains of Bones. It's a forbidden zone for the living. No one has ever come out of that forbidden zone alive. Don't drag me down with you as you go to your deaths."

Li Chengqian rode on his horse, looking at the thick fog rolling ahead.

"White Bone Plains?"

Li Chengqian looked at the old guide and asked.

The old director said, trembling:

"That place...that place is haunted. Every night you can hear thousands of people crying. Anyone who goes in will lose their way and eventually be eaten by ghosts."

The king has decreed that no one is allowed to approach that area.

Li Jing frowned and said:

"Your Highness, this fog is indeed quite strange. Do not enter forests, and be wary of fog."

Although the old man was exaggerating, this place did indeed have a strange air about it.

Your subject suggests that the army set up camp on the spot and wait for the fog to dissipate before probing the enemy's strength.

Looking at the thick fog, Li Chengqian suddenly connected the grayish-white hard lump he had just seen with this Plain of Bones.

A terrible thought began to surface in his mind.

"I can't wait for the fog to clear."

Li Chengqian turned to look at Xiao Shunzi.

"Find a few clever guards, dress them properly, and go in to investigate. Remember, don't go too deep, and if you find anything amiss, come back immediately."

Li Jing said with some concern:

"Your Highness, this is too risky."

"I must know what lies hidden in this fog."

Li Chengqian waved his hand, interrupting Li Jing's attempt to dissuade him.

Several Shadow Guards cautiously entered the thick fog.

The army stopped at the edge of the fog, and everyone looked at the thick fog ahead.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the howling of the wind.

Time passed second by second.

Half an hour later.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the thick fog.

"alert!"

Cheng Chumo roared.

The soldiers immediately raised their crossbows.

Several dark figures stumbled out of the fog.

When everyone saw the Shadow Guards clearly, they all gasped in shock.

The men were now deathly pale, and their helmets were nowhere to be seen.

Two of them rushed out and immediately knelt on the ground, vomiting violently.

The lead Shadow Guard arrived before Li Chengqian and reported:

"Your Highness...Your Highness..."

Li Chengqian looked at him and asked:

"What's inside?"

The Shadow Guard pointed tremblingly into the depths of the thick fog and said:

"Mountain...Mountain of the Dead...It's full of dead people..."