Qiu Wanlan sat by the pool, looking at the waterfall in front of her.

The waterfall is called Water Curtain Cave. She didn't really understand the meaning of the name, but it was given by the Tang Emperor and has been used ever since.

Wife cakes don't necessarily contain a wife, and it's not incomprehensible that a waterfall is called a Water Curtain Cave.

The scenery here is beautiful, but because of the Tang Emperor's dying words and the legend of the Yaksha demon, it has not become a tourist destination, and not many people usually come here.

Pfft—

Zhang Fan emerged from underwater and spat out the water in his mouth.

"Throw the bag to me. There's a cave behind the waterfall. Follow me."

"I... I can't swim." Qiu Wanlan stood blankly on the shore.

"Can't swim?" Zhang Fan was also taken aback. "Why don't you wait for me here, Auntie? Or should we go back first?"

"No!" Qiu Wanlan shook her head. She dared not stay here alone, and having come all this way, she was unwilling to go back to the Qiu family alone.

“Then hold on tight to me, just bear with it and we’ll get in,” Zhang Fan said. “Once we get through, the rest will be easy.”

Upon hearing this, Qiu Wanlan carefully walked down to the edge of the pool and immediately clung to Zhang Fan's neck. The water was so deep that her feet couldn't touch the bottom, so she put all her strength on Zhang Fan.

"Second Aunt, I can't exert any strength if you do this." Zhang Fan was somewhat speechless.

The water won't drown her, but she might strangle her.

"I'll catch you. All you have to do is hold your breath, relax your body, and go with the flow, understand?"

"I'll count to three: one, two, three, inhale!"

Zhang Fan placed a few stones on his backpack, pulled the backpack with one hand, and dragged Qiu Wanlan down into the deep pool with the other.

The waterfall's cascading waters are turbulent and powerful, like a stampede of horses, but diving more than twenty meters underwater reveals a completely different world.

The pool beneath the waterfall is bottomless.

A few beams of sunlight shone through the water, revealing a flawless expanse of dark green, so green it seemed to suck one's very soul in.

The silence amplified the sounds, and Qiu Wanlan could clearly hear her heart pounding in her chest, causing her a dull ache.

Qiu Wanlan felt a little panicked. She had a feeling that a big fish might suddenly emerge from the deep, dark green pool and swallow her whole.

Qiu Wanlan gripped Zhang Fan's hand tightly.

Zhang Fan glanced at Qiu Wanlan and realized that she might be starting to lack oxygen. People with insufficient lung capacity would feel chest discomfort due to water pressure.

Zhang Fan looked up again and saw that the two of them had already passed through the waterfall, which resembled a wall of water.

Water cascades down from a height of over 70 meters, its force no different from falling rocks, so one must pass under the waterfall.

Zhang Fan loosened the stones from his backpack, and without their weight, the backpack carried the two of them upwards.

Splash—

The two surfaced, the roar of the waterfall echoing in their ears. Behind them was a surging wall of water, and in front of them was an underground cave, with stalactites like bamboo shoots piercing the air from the ground.

"Cough cough—"

After Qiu Wanlan climbed ashore, she coughed for a while. Although she had held her breath beforehand, she still couldn't help but swallow a few mouthfuls of water. As soon as she got ashore, water was coughing up from her nose.

"Why bother?" Zhang Fan patted Qiu Wanlan on the back. "Wouldn't it be better to stay outside? Why do you have to come here and suffer?"

"I'm fine." Qiu Wanlan took a few deep breaths to calm her rapid breathing. "Since I have the opportunity to see the Tang King, I will not give it up."

"Is the Tang Emperor so charismatic that you'd risk your life for him?" Zhang Fan asked curiously.

"King Tang is the most unique emperor in the history of Western Liang. This uniqueness is not only because he is the only male emperor." Qiu Wanlan's eyes were full of longing. "King Tang has too many secrets about him, which are attractive to people who want to know more."

"Oh? For example? What secrets?"

“For example…” Qiu Wanlan smiled, “It is said that the Tang Emperor’s Mausoleum contains a secret that can grant immortality.”

"Is it about eating the flesh of the Tang Emperor?" Zhang Fan asked, his eyes wide.

“Hehehe…” Qiu Wanlan laughed, “There is indeed such a saying.”

The secret to immortality became increasingly mysterious and widely circulated among the people of Xiliang, with various versions emerging, but without exception, they all ultimately pointed to the Tang Dynasty imperial tombs.

The allure of immortality has always been immense among the upper classes, which explains the rampant tomb raiding at the Tang Dynasty imperial tombs. But to suggest eating the flesh of the Tang emperors now would be tantamount to eating their corpses.

It's terrifying to even think about.

But given the obsession with immortality, it wouldn't be surprising if many people not only dared to bite into the Tang emperor's corpse, but even boil his bones into soup.

Under these circumstances, the Qiu family still followed their ancestral teachings and did not arrange any tomb guardians near the Tang Dynasty Mausoleum, making it a place that anyone could freely enter and exit. It is hard to say whether they were bold or daring.

After drying his body on the shore, Zhang Fan lit a torch to illuminate the cave. In the firelight, a cave entrance covered with green vines was clearly visible at the back.

"Let's go, this should be the entrance."

"Who would have thought that the entrance to the Tang Dynasty Mausoleum wouldn't be near the mausoleum itself, but rather behind a waterfall several miles away?" Qiu Wanlan remarked with some emotion.

If Zhang Fan hadn't been there to guide her, even if she had discovered the cave behind the waterfall, she wouldn't have connected the cave entrance with the Tang Dynasty Mausoleum a few miles away; she would have just considered it an ordinary cave.

"Left Azure Dragon" and "Right White Tiger".

Tiger Crouching Stone is actually a manifestation of the exposed limestone mountain in Lingshan, which together with the water flow of Qinglongjian has formed the karst landform here.

There are many caves like this in Lingshan. Ordinary people might take a look and leave, and no one would casually venture into the caves in the wilderness.

After pulling aside the vines, the cave entrance was not large, only allowing one person to pass at a time. After walking a few dozen steps, two people could walk side by side. After another dozen or so steps, the cave widened enough for a two-wheeled carriage to move forward.

The cave walls began to show signs of human excavation, and patterns of flowers, birds, fish, insects, people, livestock, and houses covered them.

"The carvings on it depict the local customs and culture of Xiliang City during the Tang Dynasty." Qiu Wanlan pointed to the patterns on the rock wall as she walked. "That's Qiandeng Lake. You've been there, so I don't need to explain further."

"Qiandeng Lake is an artificial lake that was dug during the Tang Dynasty by introducing water from the city moat. It was expanded by several emperors over the years to reach its current size."

The two suddenly stopped in their tracks; a stone gate blocked their way at the end of the passage.

The two tried to push, but the stone door didn't budge. Zhang Fan tapped the stone door a few times with his dagger. Judging from the sound, the stone door was probably half a meter thick and couldn't be opened by brute force.

"What should we do?" Qiu Wanlan asked Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan closely examined the stone door and discovered a narrow, rectangular hole in the center. He tried inserting his dagger into the hole, and the tip went in more than an inch, but the stone door made no sound.

"Does the Qiu family have any keys or similar items passed down from their ancestors?" Zhang Fan asked Qiu Wanlan, pointing to the small hole. "The shape may not be that of a key; it could be something else, something that can be inserted into this hole."

“The Qiu family has passed down quite a few things from their ancestors.” Qiu Wanlan frowned as she looked at the small hole. “But I don’t recall ever seeing one this tiny.”

Qiu Wanlan is the next head of the family. She said there is no future head of the family, so there probably isn't.

"What do you think it looks like?" Zhang Fan touched his chin and stared at the small hole in the door.

“It looks like a keyhole.” Qiu Wanlan also reached out and touched the small hole. “It’s strange, keyholes are usually horizontal, but this hole is vertical.”

"Hmm?" Zhang Fan suddenly remembered something. "Do you have any money on you?"

"Yes, what do you want?" Qiu Wanlan took out a handful of coins from her money bag and handed them to Zhang Fan.

Zhang Fan picked up a coin and dropped it into the small hole.

The stone gate did not respond.

Zhang Fan tried various denominations of coins, but the stone gate still did not respond.

“No, that’s not it.” Zhang Fan shook his head and muttered to himself, “If it’s a coin-based door, then anyone could just walk in and open the stone door. It shouldn’t be like that.”

"Why don't we go back first?" Qiu Wanlan said, seeing that Zhang Fan was also at a loss. "Perhaps there are some ancestral heirlooms that the Qiu family has forgotten. Let's go back and look for them?"

If 'he' wanted me to come in, the method of opening the door wouldn't be so complicated; the 'key' should be placed in a very obvious place.

As Zhang Fan pondered, he looked around, his gaze finally settling on Qiu Wanlan's chest.

"What are you doing?" Zhang Fan kept staring at her chest, making Qiu Wanlan feel very uncomfortable.

"Let me borrow it for a moment." Zhang Fan said, reaching out to grab Qiu Wanlan's chest.

Is this something I can borrow?

Before Qiu Wanlan could react, Zhang Fan ripped off the Qiu family crest from her chest.

Zhang Fan threw the family crest into the small hole.

Click click click click—

With a whirring sound of gears turning, the stone door slowly opened to both sides...