Cao Cao called me to rob a tomb

Chapter 546 The Severed Claw (4200)

After blocking the hole dug out by something unknown, Wu Liang and the others continued to explore further.

As expected, several horse-drawn carriages and several terracotta warriors were placed in the side room facing the side room, which is not much different from the Han tombs visited by Wu Liang before. This should be the general etiquette standard for Han tombs.

Like the later generations, once a certain standard is formed for funerals and weddings, people in the same period will definitely follow the rules. Even if some people will play with their personalities in some small details, the mainstream standard cannot be changed. Otherwise, it will be considered impolite and unlucky.

Wu Liang and the others didn't feel any surprise about this. They had already entered many Han tombs, but they were all about the same.

So safe and sound through these two opposite ear chambers.

The crowd only walked a distance of about twenty meters, and they had already arrived at a rectangular hall.

The area of ​​this hall is roughly equivalent to a basketball court. There are two row of cylinder-thick stone pillars in the middle for support. The stone pillars are carved with some cloud patterns that are not exquisite but not rough. Some black and red paint for embellishment.

Probably influenced by some horror movies in later generations, Wu Liang was very reluctant to see red in the mausoleum, which gave people a very unlucky feeling.

However, he also knows that, having inherited some of the court culture of the Qin Dynasty, the princes and nobles of the Han Dynasty have always used red and black as the most precious colors. Most of the furniture at home and formal clothing are dominated by these two colors. It is not surprising to see such a color in the tomb.

And on the northwest, east and three sides of this hall.

Then some side rooms and side rooms began to be distributed in a concentrated manner. The layout is somewhat similar to the courtyards that are more common in the folk.

This comparison is also reasonable.

In addition to advocating thick burials to reflect filial piety in the Han Dynasty, the second notable feature is "death is like life".

To put it bluntly, in terms of the shape and structure of the construction of the yin house, try to imitate the state of the tomb owner when he was alive. Not only should the coffin and daily necessities be placed in the front room, middle room, back room, side room, and ear room, but also guards and The carriage for travel must also have a kitchen and toilet that a living person absolutely cannot do without.

This has been reflected in some Han tombs previously excavated by Wu Liang. The toilets in the tomb of King Liang Xiao are comparable to the flush toilets of later generations, and there is even an ice cellar specially used to store ice cubes to cool off the heat.

In addition, the burial objects should be as comprehensive as possible, including almost all aspects of clothing, food, housing, transportation, and use of the stranger.

Such as food, there are wine, grain, fruit, poultry, fish, livestock, etc., which are mostly made into cakes, rice and various dishes. , steamer, tripod, case, ear cup, wine bottle, stirrup and so on.

It can be said that even if a living person is sealed in the mausoleum, as long as the air conditions permit, they can survive for a year or so by relying on these funerary objects as if entering a doomsday safe room.

It's just a tomb robber like Wu Liang who came in after hundreds of years.

Under normal circumstances, the burial food is invisible. Ordinary things have long been turned into dust, and only the bones of some burial animals can be left.

of course.

Sometimes you can also see fine wines that have been stored in good condition for hundreds or even thousands of years.

The senior tomb thief who was robbed by Wu Liang before——Guangchuan Wang Liuqu, besides his hobby of the female corpse in the tomb of XX, he also likes to drink the fine wine stored in the ancient tomb. According to historical records, he often When I was drunk, I was very drunk, and my whole life was called a drunken dream.

I have to say that this person is indeed a warrior.

Wu Liang had also found sealed wine in the tomb before, but he never dared to touch it, let alone drink it directly. God knows whether the fine wine that has been used for hundreds or even thousands of years has undergone a qualitative change and has become a poison that seals the throat with blood.

"It seems that the scale of this mausoleum is not very large..."

Judging from the common pattern of Han tombs, this hall should be the middle room of the mausoleum, and the back room where the coffins are stored, or the main tomb room, is usually directly connected with the middle room, just like the main room in the courtyard. Also located due north of this hall.

If so, this tomb is indeed the smallest Han tomb ever excavated by Wu Liang.

The entire tomb passage in front does not exceed 50 meters in total, and then directly enters the main part of the mausoleum.

But after thinking about it again, according to Liu Bei, this mausoleum was actually built secretly by Zhao Wang Liu Pengzu in order to ensure that he would not be disturbed in the future, and even Liu Pengzu's own family kept it from the past. After all, in order to keep it as confidential as possible, it is necessary to minimize movement and manpower in order to achieve maximum deception.

only……

People are buried in mausoleums after they die. Even if Liu Pengzu has the ability to reach the sky, it is absolutely impossible for him to close the door of the tomb and fill it with soil.

So he has to entrust this matter to others anyway.

And even in order to hide this secret forever, he can only kill all the craftsmen who built the tomb at the beginning, but he can't kill the person who entrusted him. This may be the reason why Liu Bei finally learned of the whereabouts of the tomb.

Maybe even Liu Bei's ancestors or the ancestors of someone he knew had a direct relationship with this matter...

"Fourth brother, what did you discover?"

Seeing that Wu Liang looked thoughtful when he came here, Guan Yu couldn't help asking.

"I was just thinking, now that we have entered the middle room, if nothing happened to my big rooster, where could it go? Why haven't we seen it yet?"

Wu Liang came back to his senses and said.

"Could it be that he hid in some tomb?"

Guan Yu looked around at the tombs on three sides of the middle room, "Don't worry, fourth brother, we haven't seen a trace of fresh blood so far, which means that your big rooster was probably not injured and killed."

"Second brother is right."

Wu Liang nodded, then turned to look at Bai Jingjing again.

"..."

Bai Jingjing didn't speak, but shook her head slightly, indicating that she didn't hear anything for the time being.

"In this case, please trouble the second brother and the third brother to wait for me. I will go into these tombs one by one to investigate, and while looking for my big rooster, I will also try my best to help my elder brother find the treasure that Liu Pengzu brought into the mausoleum. "

Wu Liang then solemnly warned Guan Yu again, "During this process, the second and third elder brothers must restrain their subordinates, absolutely not to move around, let alone make claims, so as not to violate taboos and harm others and oneself."

"Fourth brother, don't worry, a real man is trustworthy. Since Guan has agreed to the conditions of the fourth brother, he can guarantee this matter with his head!"

Guan Yu said seriously.

"That's right, fourth brother, even if you tell them to mess around in this kind of place, they will definitely not dare to mess around."

Zhang Fei chimed in and said.

"It's just to prevent it from happening. Don't blame the second brother and the third brother."

Wu Liang nodded slightly.

If there is no special purpose, Wu Liang usually does not like to deliberately pretend to be a ghost to scare people, just like this time, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and the soldiers who entered the mausoleum together were very honest and obedient, which is what Wu Liang hoped Yes, so there is no need to continue scaring them at all.

……

Next, Wu Liang did not go directly to the main tomb, but started to investigate from the ear chambers and side chambers located on the east and west sides of the inquiry.

And the result of the investigation did make him slightly disappointed.

There are indeed many common funerary objects in these ear chambers and side chambers. It can be said that none of the things that should have been left behind, and a few gold objects were also found. The most valuable one should be one that weighs at least a dozen catties. Jinjian, the workmanship is relatively fine.

Wu Liang knew that these gold wares were exactly what Liu Bei wanted, so he took them out early and handed them over to Guan Yu and others for safekeeping.

This excited Guan Yu and the others, especially the soldier who was holding the golden mirror in person. He had never seen such a large piece of gold in his life, and he just stared at the heavy golden mirror in his arms. His every gesture was very stiff, and he was even trembling slightly in excitement, for fear that he would accidentally fall.

Seeing this scene, everyone in the Liren Army felt a little funny in their hearts.

If it were them, they would definitely not be so cautious. They would have thrown it on the ground and stomped it into a ball and put it in a sack. Anyway, no one would recognize what it was outside, only the weight of the gold artifact.

But Wu Liang was not disappointed that he only found such a few pieces of gold, he was disappointed that he had searched all the ear chambers and side chambers on the east and west sides so far, but he did not find the tomb representing the study, nor did he find it in the tomb. Even a scroll of bamboo slips that can pass on knowledge and information was found in this tomb.

Then only the main tomb, which is just north of the hall, remains.

Wu Liang had already smelled a unique smell of cypress wood from a long distance away. It is not difficult to guess that even if Liu Pengzu was buried in secret, he should have also used the Huangchang tiguo form specially used for the princes and nobles of the Han Dynasty. The only thing that can't be done is the golden jade clothes that are well known to the later generations.

Of course, Liu Pengzu's identity is only the king of Zhao. If there is no emperor's permission, he may also use the silver thread jade clothes according to the Han system.

And Wu Liang's tomb robbery experience has already reached a conclusion:
In the time when Liu Pengzu lived, most of the ancient books in the ancient tombs could only be bamboo slips, or inscriptions carved on metal vessels. It appears in a certain ear chamber, side chamber or niche near the main tomb, and it will not and should not appear in the main tomb where the coffin of the owner of the tomb is placed.

That is to say.

His unplanned tomb robbery trip this time is very likely to be nothing for him personally.

And Liu Bei still has a little chance.

After all, some tomb owners regard wealth as their destiny and like to keep all their treasures by their side. According to historical records and combined with Liu Bei's statement, Liu Pengzu is likely to be such a person.

"Everyone, you need to be careful with the candles next, and don't ignite anything, otherwise it will lead to a big mistake."

Before entering the main tomb, Wu Liang gave another special instruction.

Most of the materials that make up the structure of Huangchang Tigou are yellow-heart cypress wood, which is oily and flammable. If so many cypress woods are placed together, only one fire source is needed to ignite a fire that is enough to burn the entire mausoleum.

"Did you hear me! Be careful, if something goes wrong, I'll just ask!"

Zhang Fei immediately shouted to several soldiers.

Just like the historical records, he was indeed not very polite to his soldiers, even though Wu Liang had mentioned it to him before, but this habit would definitely not be changed so easily.

In this regard, Wu Liang did not comment too much.

Then, under the guard of Dian Wei and Guan Yu, he walked carefully through the doorway to the dark main tomb.

As a result, just a few steps in, he suddenly stopped.

There was a strange smell in the tomb room that I couldn't tell whether it smelled good or bad. It didn't look like some kind of medicinal material, nor like some kind of spice, and of course it wasn't a poisonous mercury smell.

Besides.

He also saw a large guillotine that cut into the wooden ground from top to bottom. This guillotine looked like it weighed about ten kilograms. There was no handle, but a round hole was left on the back of the knife. There is a thick hemp rope tied on it, which is a bit similar to the guillotine knife used to behead prisoners in the West...

"Wait, put on the mask first!"

Not sure about the composition of this weird smell, Wu Liang chose to be careful.

Yang Wanli also took the initiative to step forward, handed a few spare gas masks to Guan Yu and the others, and taught them to put them on their faces with Guan Yu and the others' unclear eyes.

After finishing all this, Wu Liang continued to go deep into the tomb, and approached the big guillotine carefully for inspection.

Given that there was a round hole on the back of the guillotine, and there was a rope tied to the hole, Wu Liang had reason to suspect that the guillotine should have been hung above his head before, and it was most likely a simple anti-theft trap.

Looking up like this, he really found some clues immediately.

There is a small metal collar on the top of the tomb directly above the guillotine, which should be used to hang the guillotine...Because apart from this small collar, it continues to extend to the depths of the tomb, every about one meter distance, there is another small collar.

And on the small collar, a large guillotine of the same specification is hanging by a rope at the moment.

If you look along the rope, you will find that the other end of the rope is finally connected to the wooden board laid on the ground and directly under the guillotine.

If the guess is correct, that piece of wood must be the organ that triggers the guillotine. If someone accidentally steps on it, they may not escape the fate of being guillotined...

So what happened to the fallen guillotine in front of him?
Did the rope fall of its own accord due to decay and aging, or did something trigger the mechanism?

Think so.

Wu Liang took two more steps forward, came to the side of the guillotine, and immediately found three rather strange little things behind the guillotine!
First of all, there are two things that can be sure that it should be two claws?

These two claws are already in a shriveled state, as if they have been here for some time.

There is no fur on the claws, it seems to be covered with some scales, and there are some two-inch long nails on the top of the claws, the nails look very strong and thick, it must be very convenient for digging... and the incision on the back of the claws is very smooth , it seems that it was severed from the wrist by this guillotine.

The remaining thing is a bit weird, shaped like an irregular cone...

(End of this chapter)