We have different purposes for coming to the Miao Jiangxian Palace.
There are all sorts of rumors circulating about this legendary tomb.
The most prevalent theory is that the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden is buried here, possessing countless treasures.
Based on my analysis of the murals I have seen so far, the legendary Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady is very likely the woman in the murals who saved the primitive tribe from crisis.
I had assumed that since this woman was the one who was deified by the ancient tribes as the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden, the following content should record her great achievements.
Unexpectedly, the next scene showed the woman dead.
In the scene, countless people kneel before her body, and another woman takes her place.
Perhaps to commemorate the woman's great achievements, the people of this tribe dug up a mountain, piled countless foods and fruits inside into a small hill, and buried it together with the woman's body.
Upon seeing the scene, Jiang Man's expression became extremely complicated: "Legend has it that the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace possesses countless treasures, but I never imagined that these so-called treasures would be nothing more than wild fruits and wild animals! But then again, it makes sense; for these primitive people who have little ambition, food is the most precious thing!"
"Impossible. If there are any treasures in the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace, they definitely won't be these things."
Seeing Jiang Man looking at me curiously, I pointed to the main hall beside me, as well as the stone pillars and gems, and explained to her, "As you can see, the tribe in the picture has only just entered the slash-and-burn agriculture period. With their capabilities, it would be difficult for them to build the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace! Although this underground palace is mostly built according to the mountain's terrain, there are also many traces of artificial construction. With their productivity, they couldn't have done that! Also, if the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace was really built during this period, this legend could not have been passed down for so long!"
Jiang Man nodded and shone her flashlight on the wallpaper to one side: "Hopefully, this will give us the answer."
I turned my gaze to the area illuminated by Jiang Man and continued to examine the content of the mural.
In this mural, the woman who inherited the position of tribal chief gave birth to many children, and under her leadership, the tribe grew stronger day by day.
The following murals depict the generational reproduction of the chieftain's clan, while the background patterns gradually change, showing that the tribespeople have learned techniques such as irrigation and drainage, composting green manure, and cultivating large tracts of fertile land.
These murals mostly depict praise and admiration, describing how, under the leadership of the chief, the lives of the tribespeople improved and their scale expanded, with the number of huts in the murals increasing from three or four to dozens.
It's impossible for a tribe back then to have only a few dozen huts. Judging from this number, the tribe had become quite powerful, attracting other tribes to join them.
Jiang Man looked at the murals and suddenly shone her flashlight on one of the figures in the murals: "Duan Shenxing, look at this person."
I looked at the spot where Jiang Man was shining her light and was immediately stunned.
The background of this scene is a thatched hut where many people are sharing a deer.
Because this scene is a close-up, it is no longer a simple stick figure, but rather the faces of these people are drawn.
Although the lines are still simple, the people sitting in the main positions are all the same as the statues we saw before, with ugly images of triangular eyes and hooked mouths.
If all these people were like this, it would be fine.
Aside from those in the main positions, everyone else has a normal art style, but those in the main positions have unusual appearances.
This means that the statues we saw before were not abstract, but real people who actually looked like that, which completely surprised me.
Jiang Man frowned as she looked at the ugly figures in the mural and then turned to me: "Judging from this mural, these ugly-faced people should be the ones who lead the tribe! And their appearance is completely different from normal people. Could it be that they haven't evolved properly? Or are they actually from another race? If the statues we saw before were real, then... are they really human?"
"No, they are not aliens."
I stood there silently for more than ten seconds, then, after gathering my thoughts, I took the flashlight from Jiang Man and began to examine the murals I had seen earlier: "Look closely at the contents of these pictures. Do you notice anything?"
Jiang Man shook her head: "Did you discover anything?"
"Their hair is different! In these murals, all the tribespeople have straight hair, while the leader of the tribe, from the moment he taught them how to use fire, is always depicted with curly hair!"
I observed the details on the murals and focused my flashlight again on those ugly faces: "These people, in order to maintain their rule, did not truly integrate into the tribe; instead, they maintained their dominant position! And in order to maintain their rule, they could only keep their bloodline within the group, so..."
"So they all practiced inbreeding!"
Jiang Man, being so intelligent, instantly guessed my intention: "The reason these people are so ugly is because they have engaged in long-term inbreeding, resulting in a large number of deformities! And the tribespeople, unable to understand their exceptionally ugly appearance, regard them as gods, and this has developed into a totem!"
"That's right! The ugliness of these guys is due to inbreeding!"
I nodded: "The statues we saw earlier were not gods, but the former royalty of this tribe!"
"Could this be the royal tomb of this perverted clan?"
A hint of disgust flashed in Jiang Man's eyes: "These guys are inbreeding, yet they haven't been wiped out and are even able to build this imperial mausoleum. That's truly amazing!"
"Judging from the scale of the murals, they should be able to live for a long time."
I nodded and continued looking at the content of the mural.
The rest of this wall contains records of the scale and development of this tribe, as well as the succession of its leaders.
And almost all the murals depicting facial features feature those with ugly faces.
In the previous murals, other tribesmen were all gathered around these ugly creatures, but now they have begun to kneel and worship these ugly things, which shows that their etiquette and system have gradually been perfected.
Jiang Man couldn't help but marvel as she saw that the thatched huts where the people in the murals lived had been replaced by square houses: "I thought these murals only recorded a few years, but judging from the changes in the background, it seems that we have entered a new era!"
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