Chapter 105: The Secret of the Mural

"Heh, stunned, aren't you? It’s alright, it’s not every day you see something like this. To be honest, I was just as shocked when I first saw it."

As I listened to Dark Sunglasses, I stared at the scene before me. The only way to describe it was a mountain of gold and silver. It was literally a small mound piled high with gold, silver, and precious jewels. Even if the gold and silver from ancient times weren't perfectly pure and the market value lower, the sheer quantity of treasure here was an immense fortune. Add to that the scattered jade beads and ornate vessels—each one a priceless relic—and even though I’ve never been obsessed with wealth nor particularly strapped for cash, the sheer scale of it triggered a fleeting, greedy impulse to swallow it all up. To have such staggering wealth within reach is a temptation few could resist.

However, I quickly snapped out of it. My time is running short; that wretched curse is upon me, and I don't know when it might flare up and strike me dead without warning. All this wealth is nothing more than fleeting smoke, destined to vanish into thin air at any moment. Besides, I couldn't possibly move a mountain of gold like this. Even if I could, the government would be on our tails before I even made a dent. None of this truly belongs to me.

I turned to look at Dark Sunglasses. He seemed remarkably composed. I know my own situation, but the fact that he could remain so indifferent was truly strange and baffling.

"I’ve figured out the secret of this place."

I looked at him, puzzled, not quite grasping his meaning. But soon, it hit me. He was right: this wasn't a tomb at all. The entire hall, or rather, the underground palace, was nothing but a treasury. It bore no resemblance to a burial chamber; there were no coffins, no funerary objects, nothing but the gold, silver, and the remains of those who had been buried alongside it.

Dark Sunglasses explained that he had been studying the murals. They were quite detailed, and he had managed to decipher the narrative they told. Essentially, this was the treasury of the King of Loufan, filled with the spoils of his many years of conquest. I knew that in those days, border tribes frequently raided the Central Plains. During the Han Dynasty, wars were constant; nomadic tribes would breach the borders every autumn to plunder. The people of the Central Plains endured truly miserable times in those pages of history, and the wealth those nomads amassed was staggering.

The mountain of treasure before us was proof of just how much the ancient King of Loufan had seized. And this, presumably, was only the wealth he had plundered during his own reign. Dark Sunglasses further explained that, based on the geography, the massive earthquake we experienced while in the King of Loufan’s actual tomb—the one triggered by the traps—was the root cause of the collapse here.

This place was located directly beneath the "Dragon’s Head" of the King of Loufan’s tomb. Dark Sunglasses couldn't pinpoint the exact coordinates, but it was clear that when we triggered the mechanisms back at the main tomb—or rather, when Old Ghost and his crew did—the resulting tremors had caused this hidden treasury to cave in. While the architecture was sturdy and well-constructed, thousands of years of erosion had taken their toll, making the collapse inevitable.

But for us, the true significance of this place wasn't the treasure; it was the murals on either side. They recorded the life and secrets of this particular King of Loufan. The more we looked, the more unsettled we became. We never imagined the King of Loufan had been such an enigmatic figure.

The murals were remarkably well-preserved and undamaged, carved with such high craftsmanship that they were clear and easy to interpret.

They chronicled the king’s life. His early years were unremarkable, much like any other prince: practicing archery, raiding the south, and earning military honors. However, after he ascended the throne, he became exceptionally cruel, not only to the Han people but to his own kin as well.

Yet, this king seemed to possess powerful sorcery that kept the entire Loufan nation in awe; no one dared challenge his authority. In one mural, the king stood at the highest point, holding something in his right hand that defied identification—it seemed to radiate light. Anyone who disobeyed his will would drop dead instantly. It was terrifying.

The murals also depicted the Loufan nation maintaining a friendship with another kingdom. The king often met with an envoy from this land—a mysterious figure draped entirely in robes, whose true appearance was impossible to discern. This envoy seemed to bestow a mysterious power upon the king, allowing him to control everyone around him. I felt a chill; the method he used felt disturbingly familiar.

I kept reading. The narrative became even clearer: the King of Loufan used this power to cement his absolute authority, forcing everyone to obey. He unified neighboring tribes, and with his strength bolstered, he grew arrogant and began attacking the Central Plains. The Central Plains at that time were under the Han Dynasty, a formidable power, and the Loufan nation was naturally defeated. I deduced this part myself, but the mural included an illustration of the mysterious envoy advising the king against attacking the Central Plains. The king, blinded by his own arrogance, refused to listen, and after he insisted on war, the envoy vanished.

Following their defeat, the Loufan nation began its decline. The king, having learned a hard lesson, grew more subdued, but he spent the rest of his life fruitlessly searching for the mysterious envoy. It was as if that strange kingdom had simply vanished from the face of the earth, leaving no trace behind.

A sudden thought occurred to me: could that mysterious kingdom have been the ancient Li Kingdom? Was the envoy sent by them? And was the power the king used actually the black magic of the Li? It would explain everything. But why on earth would the King of Li have all of this carved here?