The strangeness in the tomb made us all put in all our strength, and we finally managed to pry up two floor tiles.
Desperate to survive, Ma Zhenhong swung his shovel until it was almost smoking, while the others followed behind him, clearing away the loose soil on the ground.
Ma Zhenhong dug deeper into the stone beneath the Duan Gate, his face grim as he looked at me: "Mr. Duan, there are still stones buried under this Duan Gate, probably for the purpose of creating a security tunnel!"
I thought for a moment: "Tang tombs don't have such anti-theft measures. The stone slabs buried underground are probably to prevent the main gate from sinking! Keep digging. It's good that there are horizontal stones underneath, as this will make the stress on our tunnel more even!"
Our current strategy is to dig a "U"-shaped hole through the end gate. It doesn't require much skill. We sensed that Ma Zhenhong was running out of energy, so the Sharks quickly substituted him in.
Just as I was about to take over from the shark, his face lit up with joy: "We've dug to the bottom of the rock."
“Digging a horizontal tunnel is difficult, I’ll do it!” Ma Zhenhong perked up: “Someone stand behind me and be in charge of clearing the soil outwards!”
The monkey took the shark's shovel and jumped into the pit. Just as he was about to dig a little deeper, the shovel hit something, and a skull rolled out of the ground, startling him: "Holy crap! There's a dead man's head here!"
I stared at the skull, its interior filled with soil, and remained calm: "Nonsense! How could this be a living head? Keep digging!"
Shark looked at me with a stern expression: "Mr. Duan, first a dungeon appeared here, and then a dead body was unearthed under the Duan Gate. What exactly is going on?"
"I know nothing about this place except that it is a Tang Dynasty tomb. I should be the one asking you this question."
I turned my gaze to the shark: "Whose grave are we digging?"
“I don’t know either.” Shark met my gaze and said seriously, “When it comes to life and death, I won’t lie to you! The mission the group gave me is to open this tomb and find the relevant information.”
I frowned: "What information?"
The shark shook its head: "It's not clear yet. It could be bamboo slips, or it could be books!"
As the monkeys continued to dump soil from the tomb onto the ground, my gaze became more profound.
Beneath this gate, there are numerous skeletons, which do not appear to belong to a single person.
The practice of burying living people with the dead was common before the Qin and Han dynasties, but it was gradually abolished. By the Tang dynasty, the practice of burying living people with the dead had basically disappeared.
How should we explain these skeletons?
Could it be that there were civilian tombs underground before this underground palace was built, and they were just lucky not to have been excavated?
Just as I was pondering this, the monkey snapped his fingers: "Young Master Duan, the tunnel has been dug!"
"Put on your gas masks and enter the tomb!"
The space outside the gate was crumbling, and I didn't dare linger. I put on my gas mask and jumped into the tunnel.
Exiting from the other side, we finally entered the antechamber of the tomb.
Based on my previous analysis, this tomb should be a single-chamber brick tomb, but after seeing the main gate, I realized that it was not simple.
Unsurprisingly, this is a double-chambered brick tomb.
We are in the antechamber of the tomb.
Beyond the Duanmen Gate, on the left and right are two stone-carved tomb guardian beasts.
These two tomb guardian beasts have human heads and animal bodies, and their faces are extremely ferocious.
Ancient people believed that there were all kinds of wild ghosts and evil spirits in the underworld that would harm the souls of the dead. The role of the tomb guardian beasts was to ward off evil and protect the peace of the deceased's soul.
In addition to the tomb guardian beasts, there are also a large number of terracotta figurines in front.
These terracotta figurines are generally one meter tall and come in various shapes and sizes.
At the very center is a chariot figurine, next to which are six armored soldiers. Outside are singers, servants, and so on. On the wall of the tomb chamber, there are also twelve zodiac animal figurines.
Judging from the placement, I feel this should be a tomb from the early to mid-Tang Dynasty. The arrangement of the terracotta figurines is quite realistic, and they were arranged according to the ceremonial procession of the tomb owner during his lifetime.
Besides these terracotta figurines, the tomb also contained a large number of iron pig, iron ox, and kitchen figurines, all of which were badly rusted.
The more figurines in a tomb, the more wealth the tomb owner possessed during their lifetime.
The monkey walked up to a terracotta horse, shone a flashlight on it, and looked at me with surprise: "Young Master Duan, this tricolor glazed horse is a real gem that will open your eyes at first glance!"
I rolled my eyes: "This is a tomb, practically an antique manufacturing plant! Have you ever seen a manufacturer make fakes themselves?"
The monkey pouted and said, "But this tomb is so strange. There's nothing there except these figurines. Could it have been touched by someone?"
"This is just the front chamber of the underground palace. In the imperial mausoleum, it is also called the sleeping palace. It is just an auxiliary building, a place for the soul of the deceased to wander around. The burial goods are placed in the burial chamber behind."
After observing the terracotta figures, I said to the others, "There should be an epitaph in the antechamber recording the life of the tomb owner. Let's look for it!"
The shark looked at the wall and said, "Mr. Duan, there are murals on the walls here!"
Several beams of light shone on the wall, illuminating the walls on both sides.
Despite being over a thousand years old, the murals on the walls of this underground palace remain well-preserved.
Near the Duanmen Gate, there are rows of mansions, with armored soldiers guarding the gates and servants coming and going inside, clearly indicating that they are the homes of officials.
The murals that follow each other tell a separate story.
The first painting depicts a Tang Dynasty prince sitting upright in a chair, with a young girl standing beside him and three kneeling youths in front of him. Judging from the composition and etiquette, these three youths should be the prince's sons.
In the second painting, the prince is lying on his sickbed, looking very old. Only his son is left in the picture. The old man on the sickbed is skin and bones from hunger, while the son is sitting at a table to the side, eating heartily.
In the third painting, the young man is dressed as a prince, embracing the beautiful woman from the first painting, beaming with pride.
In the fourth painting, another son of the prince hands a letter to a eunuch dressed in official robes.
In the fifth painting, the new king kneels in the court, shackled.
The sixth painting appears to be set at the seaside, where the son delivering the letter stabs his brother, who has ascended the throne, to death with a knife.
The scene abruptly ended there, as the wall behind them collapsed. The monkey went over to inspect it, pointed to the broken stone tablet on the ground, and asked me, "Young Master Duan, is this the epitaph you were talking about?"
I walked over and lit the stone tablet. Much of the inscription had been damaged by the collapse, and I could only vaguely make out a few words: "Second year of Qianyuan... traitor... favored concubine Zhao... Mao wanted to take her... murdered his father... killed him... died in Huainan..."
Looking at the words on the epitaph and combining them with the content of the mural, I turned to the crowd and said, "I know whose tomb this is!"
Tap tap tap!
Ma Zhenhong stood opposite me, his teeth chattering, his pants soaked with sweat: "Mr. Duan! I saw that ghost again! This time I'm absolutely sure! He was standing right behind you, his tongue sticking out like crazy! When he saw me looking at him, he even smiled at me... But as soon as you turned around, he vanished!"
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