Seeing me standing in front of the mechanism, lost in thought, the monkey blinked and asked, "Young Master Duan, do you think Third Master and I might also start hallucinating?"

Old Song shook his head and said, "I don't think that's the point! Regardless of whether we were hallucinating or not, we've already successfully crossed the ice bridge. Since we can't get rid of the hallucinations, the most important thing right now is to get what we want as soon as possible before things get even more chaotic!"

"That's right!"

Reminded by Song Laosan, I patted my face repeatedly and began to concentrate on observing the mechanism in front of me.

Because there are exactly eight trigrams in the Bagua and eight gates in Qimen Dunjia, many works involving Feng Shui confuse the two or combine them in their descriptions.

Actually, there is another method called the Nine Gates in Qimen Dunjia, which has one more central gate than the Eight Trigrams.

The nine-sectioned snake in the middle represents the Nine Gates Method of Qimen Dunjia.

Since there were no reference points at the scene, I made a bold assumption and took the "river" behind me as the water level of the Xun Gate.

One thing is a Tai Chi, one event is a universe. I use the nine-sectioned snake in the middle to define the Tai Chi, and the two snakes on the outside look much more relaxed.

The two Bagua (Eight Trigrams) sandwiching the Nine Qimen (Nine Gates) is the Dragon's Eight Killings in Feng Shui, also known as the Yao Sha Huang Quan (Yellow Spring Killings).

The Eight Killings Yellow Springs refers to water magic, and is divided into two types: the Yellow Springs for Saving the Poor and the Yellow Springs for Killing.

Once you understand the principle, the rest becomes much easier.

I changed the snake inside to the Yellow Springs of Salvation, and then changed the snake outside to the opposite Yellow Springs of Murder.

"Boom!"

Just as the location of the murderer was pinpointed, a crisp sound came from within the wall, followed by the sound of chains being turned.

"The door is open!"

When the monkey saw the temple gate open, it wanted to go over and check, but I grabbed its arm.

Only after both doors were fully open and no hidden weapons appeared in the courtyard did I walk over there.

Upon entering the temple gate, one is greeted by a massive screen wall, with a soaring dragon carved on each side and a sun pearl in the center.

Below the sun pearl, four striking Chinese characters are engraved.

"Tang people, halt!"

Song Laosan and I read the above text almost simultaneously, which means we saw the same words.

Song Laosan chuckled, "It seems this old bastard knew all along that someone from the country would come to rob his tomb, and he even had this trick up his sleeve!"

I was quite surprised to see the four characters in front of me, and speculated: "Perhaps it's just a precaution. The traps we've encountered along the way have all been extremely dangerous, and the Indians don't understand the Chinese Qimen Dunjia, so the Chinese are more likely to be able to open this tomb."

The monkey spat, "This bastard has been playing us for so long, and now that we've finally gotten here, he thinks he can block the Marquis's way with a broken rock? He's dreaming!"

Song Laosan and I shared the same thought. We had gone through countless hardships to get here, so naturally we wouldn't be scared by a few words.

Upon entering the courtyard, I noticed a table in front of the screen wall with a beautifully crafted gilded iron box on it.

Over the years, the iron box has become rusty, but the exquisite patterns on it are still clearly visible.

The monkey shone its flashlight on the iron box, looking eager: "After being in the Demon Monk's Tomb for so long, we've finally found something of value. Young Master Duan, would you like to open it and take a look?"

I walked over to the table and checked it. I confirmed that the iron box had no connecting mechanisms and the stone slab under the table was fine. I nodded and said, "We can open it and take a look, but be careful, there might be hidden weapons or poisonous smoke inside!"

Song Laosan took out his small dagger, first scraped off the rust between the lid and the box, and then gently pried open the lid.

Inside the box was a rusty, slightly bent iron plate, about 30 centimeters long and 15 centimeters wide, with what appeared to be writing on it.

The monkey stomped its feet in anger when it saw what was inside: "Damn it, what bad luck! I thought it was some gold and silver treasure, but it turns out it's just a piece of scrap iron!"

I recognized the item inside at a glance: "This is no ordinary piece of scrap metal! This is the famous Golden Book Iron Certificate!"

The "Dan Shu Tie Quan" was a certificate bestowed by ancient emperors upon meritorious officials, granting them hereditary privileges or exemption from punishment. The certificate was written in cinnabar on an iron plate, hence the name "Dan Shu Tie Quan" (meaning "Iron Certificate with Cinnabar Inscription").

Much of the writing on this iron certificate has rusted away, but the general meaning can still be discerned: In the spring of the twenty-second year of the Zhenguan era, Li Shimin bestowed an iron certificate upon the sorcerer Naluoer Suopomei, granting him the rank of a third-grade official and a fief of two thousand households. The certificate then praises Naluoer Suopomei for his extensive learning and knowledge, and for the exceptional treatment he received, including building him a house outside the Jinbiao Gate and preparing medicines that could prolong life.

One passage reads: "If you are pardoned for three deaths, or commit a common crime, the authorities shall not impose further punishment." This means that if Naropa committed a crime in the Tang Dynasty, as long as it was not a serious crime like treason, but a common crime, even if it involved the death penalty, he would not be prosecuted.

Finally, Li Shimin made a promise: "I solemnly swear this oath, and I will proceed with utmost reverence. This document should be submitted to the Imperial Archives and promulgated throughout the land."

No wonder the sorcerer monk could live for so long after Li Shimin's death; it turns out he relied on this.

After listening to my explanation, Song Laosan glanced at the Chinese characters on the screen wall again: "It seems that the evil monk carved these words here in the hopes of using this legendary 'golden token of immunity from death' to stop the tomb robbers from the Tang Dynasty. Unfortunately, the Tang Dynasty has long since perished, and the emperor's decree has become empty talk!"

The monkey's focus wasn't on that: "Third Master, is this thing valuable?"

"It's hard to say!"

Song Laosan pondered for a moment: "The only existing iron certificate from the Tang Dynasty in my country is treasured in the National Museum. It was bestowed by Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, Li Ye, as a reward for Prince Pengcheng, Qian Liu, for suppressing Dong Chang's rebellion and claiming the throne. Therefore, it is also called the Qian Liu Iron Certificate. However, the contents of the Qian Liu Iron Certificate seem to be richer. It pardons him nine times and his descendants three times, and he can also inherit wealth and honor. That iron certificate can be regarded as a model for later generations, much more impressive than the one in front of us, but it is not as old as this one!"

The monkey didn't care about any of that: "Get to the point, how much is this thing worth?"

"It's expensive but there's no market for it!"

Old Song tapped the iron certificate in the box with his dagger: "Once this thing comes out, it will definitely be a first-class cultural relic in the museum collection, but most likely no one will dare to buy it. If word gets out about a transaction of this level of cultural relic, the higher-ups will definitely investigate thoroughly, and then a whole bunch of people will be caught. Let me put it this way, it has historical value, but not much collection value. People in the domestic antique circle probably won't take this risk for an iron certificate bestowed upon a foreign monk. And if they really want to buy it, they won't offer us a very high price!"

When the monkey heard that the thing was worthless, it immediately lost interest.

I didn't want to waste time here, so I waved my hand and said, "Never mind that, let's go inside and take a look."

After passing the screen wall, there is a road leading to the main hall, and on both sides of the road, there are many monks who are frozen stiff.

Strangely, this time I didn't see these monks "come back to life," but rather their actual corpses.

I don't understand ancient Indian culture, but the monks' clothes look much more luxurious than those outside.

Song Laosan explained, "There are two types of sacrificial practices in ancient Indian Brahmanism. One is the blood sacrifice we see on the altar, and the other is asceticism through self-torture! It seems that the monks here and the monks in the square across the street are all voluntarily sacrificing their lives for asceticism and being buried with the deceased in this way."

"What a bunch of lunatics!"

I looked away from the corpses by the roadside and continued walking forward. As soon as I stepped onto the steps in front of the main hall, I saw a row of little children sitting neatly inside the open hall.