Chapter 106
After turning the corner and walking a little further, Shen Jiao arrived at a fork in the road.
There are five roads here, running in different directions.
Written on the door are five big bright red characters: Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom and Trustworthiness.
But what does this mean?
Could it be that the tomb owner thought he possessed all five virtues and wanted to show off to future generations?
If there is a mechanism, it would be related to these five virtues, right?
A kind person loves others.
Seeing and thinking.
Ritual is the order of heaven and earth.
A wise man knows everything.
The word "faith" comes from people's words.
Either one is annoying. Shen Jiao frowned and thought for a moment, then walked towards the word Yi.
Her hand rested on the door, and before she could exert any force, it opened inwards by itself. The heavy stone door rumbled, and dust flew in her face, as if carrying the beginning of an old story, just waiting for her to enter and slowly unfold before her eyes.
Quite enthusiastic.
Shen Jiao put his hands in front of the candlestick, protecting his body with his spiritual power, and took a tentative step forward.
Nothing happened.
She walked in slowly and quietly, and after taking six or seven steps there was no other movement.
This seemed to be just an ordinary corridor, with no signs of danger at all. It just had more murals than the path we had just walked.
But the painting does not depict a touching or admirable life story, but rather how the tomb was built.
A group of men and women with sage-like appearance, holding tortoise shells, yarrow, copper coins and compasses, traveled to many places and finally chose a mountain surrounded by clouds and mist.
This place was used as a burial site.
He ordered people to dig a road that went straight underground. There was nothing much to say about the mountain and rock chiseling. In the end, it was done.
The tomb is for the dead to live in. After it is completed, it is natural to welcome its owner.
In a dark night, seventeen bodies were brought into the tomb.
The mural ends here.
But there is something weird about it.
One is the people who chose the site. They looked very young when they set out, but the children had grown up when they arrived here. Some had gray hair, and some had stubble. So it must have taken them many years to choose this place. The strange thing is that they spent so much effort to choose the place, but the tomb they built was extremely simple. They were too lazy to even add some decorations, and used some ordinary slate and blue bricks. The people who painted the murals probably thought it was not good-looking, so they focused on depicting the gilded exotic animal lamp and bronze coffin that Shen Jiao saw.
This is the second strange thing. The coffin was placed in the tomb before the person was buried.
What do you do when someone dies? Run here and then carry the coffin back?
If it was a multi-layered coffin, Shen Jiao could barely understand it. They might just want to put the heaviest outer coffin away first to avoid trouble. Then they could just carry the inner coffin and make another set. It seemed quite considerate of the coffin bearers.
But judging from the last mural, that is not the case at all.
This is the third strange thing. Why were they buried in secret?
The dead body was covered with a white cloth and carried over.
I also chose a pitch-black night where you couldn't see your hand in front of you.
Only a few people were employed, with torches lit, and there was no funeral ceremony or music.
They couldn't even tell who the owner of the tomb was. Could it be that their family had fallen on hard times at the time, so they had to keep things simple?
This is not impossible.
But this is too simple.
Shen Jiao looked back and saw that the door was still open, which made her feel more at ease.
Walk further and you will enter the tomb chamber.
It was not much different from the previous one, except that there were fewer lamps and candles. On top of the high stone platform, there was a bronze coffin and an altar, nothing valuable.
What’s interesting is that there are two skeletons kneeling under the stone platform.
Judging from his attire, he looks like a craftsman of that time.
There was a knife stuck between the ribs of both men, which should be the cause of their death.
Shen Jiao leaned over to take a look. There seemed to be something engraved on the ground. After brushing away the dust, he saw only two words:
An ungrateful gentleman is harming my benefactor.
Just like the words on the door, it was bloody, carved with a knife, and then painted over, as if for fear that people couldn't see clearly.
What's the meaning?
I have no idea at all.
But... it's a good thing that there is no mechanism.
Shen Jiao straightened up and looked around again, but didn't see anything useful, so he stepped back and prepared to go into another door to take a look.
At this moment, something unexpected happened. The sound of footsteps was heard in the dim corridor.
Someone is coming in!
Shen Jiao looked left and right but couldn't find a good place to hide, so he had to run up to the stone platform.
Hiding behind the coffin.
The footsteps were getting closer, and someone was saying, "Wow, it's really cold down there."
"You're wearing too little."
"He's got a lot of clothes on. I'm afraid he's shivering from fear."
A group of people burst into laughter.
The one who spoke first was unhappy: "Why are you just talking about me? Aren't you afraid? They refused to come in. What are they thinking? Have you forgotten that a few years ago, those people from East Village went to repair the tomb of an adult and never came back."
"That bastard official wasn't a good person to begin with. How can he be compared to the head of the Xue family? He's a true gentleman. My family had no rice to eat last winter, and we only survived thanks to the Xue family's help. Isn't your family the same? How could such a person scheme against you and me? If you really want my life, just take it. I won't even blink."
"That's true... maybe I'm overthinking it? But this is still a bit... no, don't you think it's strange? Even if you don't want to make a big deal about it, it's still the head of the family's son who died. Just asking us to carry him in like that is a bit too casual, isn't it?"
"this……"
"perhaps……"
"Ah, who knows? Anyway, let's just do it. What father doesn't love his son? He's probably too sad to care."
"That's true. There were quite a few deaths this time. There aren't even enough graves to bury them all."
"Every family is like that. It's all caused by that kid from Southern Wei."
"Young Master, you don't have to go..."
"well……"
"Old Three, Old Four, why aren't you talking?"
"Brother Shi..."
"What's wrong? Why do you look so grim?"
"We, we watched it."
"Look, what did you look at?"
"The one who put the cloth down...is not the son of the Xue family."
"Ah? How could that be? Who else could it be but the young master of the Xue family?"
The noise suddenly quieted down, and then someone exclaimed:
"This, isn't this Master Lian Qing from the Yu family? How could it be him! Didn't he disappear three years ago?!"
"Brother Shi! It's bad, it's bad! They, they closed the tomb door!"
This shout was followed by a deafening roar and several screams.
Maybe there was an earthquake at that time.
Shen Jiao heard the sound of something heavy falling to the ground, followed by a cry of pain: "My benefactor! My benefactor!"
But these voices eventually fell silent.
Shen Jiao waited for a long time before he looked out. There was no one there, only two kneeling skeletons under the stone platform.
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