Chapter 419: The Authentic Relic of Cao cao! A Curse from 1800 Years Ago! (2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
There were also the bronze warhorses.
As well as many other priceless relics.
Without more manpower, the team would undoubtedly have a hard time safeguarding and transporting all these treasures.
Of course, Cao Cao himself probably did not foresee that, in comparison with the terracotta figures, other artifacts would not hold such high value.
While their worth was already substantial, considering the modern era’s fondness for the Three Kingdoms period, the terracotta figures stood out significantly in terms of their value.
Before long, Luo Feng arrived at the last location, where numerous stelae were standing.
Each stele was over two meters tall.
On these stelae were lines of text.
“Righteous men from the east, rise to eliminate the evildoers.”
“White bones exposed in the field, a thousand miles without the crow of a rooster.”
“Isn’t this a poem by Cao Cao?”
“Could this be an authentic work personally written by Boss Cao?”
My goodness!
Seeing this, Luo Feng was thrilled.
An authentic work of Boss Cao?
Did any such thing exist in the current market?
It seemed unlikely, didn’t it?
And yet here, before them, was Boss Cao’s calligraphy?
Regrettably, it was inscribed on a large stele. If only it had been on paper!
That would have been impressive.
The full text:
“March in Ao Li”
“Righteous men from the east, rise to eliminate the evildoers. The initial meeting was in Meng Jin, yet their hearts were in Xianyang. Their forces combined but lacked unity, hesitatingly moving forward like a flock of geese. Power and wealth cause strife, descendants continue to slaughter each other.
My younger brother in Huainan claims the title, seals carved in the north. Armors breed lice, the people die in droves. White bones exposed in the field, a thousand miles without the crow of a rooster. Only one in a hundred survives, the thought of it breaks one’s heart.”
“Is this a poem by Boss Cao? Which one is it again?”
“It’s March in Ao Li!”
“What a pity it’s only inscriptions. It would have been better if it was written on paper!”
“If it were on paper, I doubt it would have survived to this day!”
“Fool, this isn’t a mere inscription, it’s Boss Cao’s authentic work.”
Luo Feng clarified, “This is not an engraving, it’s called Shu Dan, written with a brush, not carved with a knife.”
Shu Dan involved using a brush, dipping it in cinnabar, and directly writing on the stele.
This calligraphy method not only facilitated preservation but also avoided distortion that could occur from engraving.
“So, this really is an authentic work of Boss Cao?”
“Holy cow! If it’s not carved with a knife, it must be worth a fortune!” “I bet even the stone that the text is written on is able to handle such an enormous value!”
“Yes, it can’t handle it at all. Old Luo, why don’t we raffle it off?”
Such a thing as Boss Cao’s authentic work.
Honestly, at this moment, Luo Feng could hardly keep from laughing from excitement.
Before long, Luo Feng arrived at another stone stele.
He quickly scanned the inscriptions upon it.
It was another one of Cao Cao’s works, “Shu Zhi Ling.”
In reflection, it made perfect sense for a great scholar like Cao Cao to leave behind his works as burial companions.
What came next?
The phrase “The turtle, though with longevity vast, faces its end at last?”
Following that?
It was “View of the Sea.”
“Sitting eastward to the jutting rocks, to watch the waves in their vastness.”
And after that?
It was perhaps the most impressive poem of Cao Cao’s.
Indeed.
It was “How to dispel worry? Only through immense wealth.” No, that was not correct.
It was “How to dispel worry? Only with Du Kang wine.”
“Zhou Gong spitting his swaddled clothes, the world returning to his embrace.” Many favored this poem; it was the most famous work of Master Cao.
Of course, upon closer examination by Luo Feng, all these were poems by Master Cao. However, there was one notable absence.
That was the “Meng De Xin Shu.”
Luo Feng had initially thought this work would undoubtedly be present.
After all, if it did emerge, it could overshadow all others.
Why was it so extraordinary?
The “Meng De Xin Shut‘ was a military theory derived by Cao Cao, summarizing his military career’s first half and based on the wisdom of predecessors.
Such a thing was a military tome in its entirety.
However, considering that ‘Meng De Xin Shut‘ comprised fourteen full-length articles, to inscribe all that text on the stele would be an impossible feat, even if one was willing to put in a hand-disabling amount of effort.
The multitude of poems and songs already represented an impressive collection.
Luo Feng once more surveyed the burial chamber; Master Cao’s burial items were merely that much.
At that moment, Luo Feng began to recollect and organize. He found that Master Cao’s burial items, in truth, were not particularly valuable.
Gold, silver, gems and such only amounted to a dozen or so chests. Compared to his status, they amounted to practically nothing.
Moreover, the burial chamber was devoid of any grand decoration.
It seemed like they were casually strewn across the floor.
It seemed that when Master Cao said he had robbed many graves during his lifetime and wished for simplicity in death, he was not joking. He truly was a man of his words.
But then…
Had he not set up seventy-two fake tombs?
Summing up all that…
Could this still be considered simple?
If everything were to be placed into a single tomb, wouldn’t that be a luxurious burial chamber?
Of course, while there was not much gold and jewels in Cao Cao’s tombs, their actual value lies in their imperial standards.
“Could there be more beneath the floor?” Luo Feng wondered.
After a while, Luo Feng found that there were indeed more treasure marks beneath the floor tiles.
The scattering gold light indicated many items hidden underneath.
Luo Feng walked over, tapped a floor tile, and found it solid.
Crouching down, he pulled out his Jungle Blade.
“What is the host going to do?” “Is he prying up the floor tiles again?” [ Ding! You have unearthed a burial tile! ] [ From the Three Kingdoms period! ]
[ Worth one million! ]
“What the heck? A single tile worth one million? What kind of joke is this?”
Luo Feng was speechless.
Were these tiles made of gold?
Why were they so expensive?
However, Luo Feng quickly turned the tile in his hands, examining it closely.
Only then did he see large characters engraved on the underside.
“The heavens might die, and the world shall punish Cao.”
“What!? What does that mean?” Luo Feng was momentarily stunned, unable to comprehend.
“There are characters under this floor tile?”
“Heavens might die? What does this mean?”
“I get the second half, though. It means ‘Kill the thief Cao Cao!’”
Luo Feng stabilized his emotions slightly. ‘The heavens might die’ and ‘the heavens have died,’ despite being only one word apart, bore vastly different implications.
‘The heavens have died’ signified that the heavens were already dead. However, ‘the heavens might die’ suggested that if the heavens were to change one day, then everyone under the heavens would punish Cao.
And this ‘Cao,’ perhaps it represented Cao Cao, perhaps the entire Cao lineage, or perhaps the Cao Wei government.
“But Luo Feng, this is Cao Cao’s tomb. Why would such words appear in his own grave?” Qin Rubing asked, puzzled.
“I suspect it was the work of the tomb builders!” Su Meiji analyzed, “After all, many people back then were still loyal to the Han dynasty!”
“That seems to be the case!” Luo Feng nodded in response, “But Meiji, you have overlooked one point. Most of these tomb builders were convicts who were dragged in. In that era, literate people were few and far between. To be able to inscribe such words on a floor tile, they must be extraordinary!”
Soon.
Luo Feng continued to pry up the floor tiles.
After the second tile was lifted.
He turned it over for a look.
There were more words.
“Li Ru, you are not human!”
Then he pried open another one.
“After death, you become a ghost, the Li family will have no peaceful days!”
“The Li family’s old and young will not have a peaceful end!” “Children buried with the thief Cao cannot fulfill filial piety!”
“The thief Cao deserves to die!” Many floor tiles were lifted.
Beneath them were words.
All were such curses.
Most of them were insults against a person named Li Ru.
With a clink.
When Luo Feng pried up the last tile.
It was located about five meters in front of the coffin.
Upon looking at the words, it seemed that the tomb builder was wronged by someone named Li Ru, and no one knew, so he came here to build a tomb.
All in all, this person had beautiful handwriting, and he held a great grudge during the tomb construction.
Gradually, he began to resent the Cao family.
Of course, such occurrences were commonplace throughout the dynasties.
But this time, someone had recorded it all.
“Damn! Who is this person? Couldn’t he leave his name while cursing Cao Cao and Li Ru?”
“Hahaha, would he dare? This is Boss Cao’s tomb!”
“It seems he was wronged, then punished to build the tomb, all the way till death!”
“I guess Boss Cao didn’t know that under his tomb, there were so many curses!”
As for the person’s identity, Luo Feng did not continue to probe, for it was all too ordinary. He dialed Gu Santong, asking, “Master Gu, have your people arrived?”
“They have. Leave the rest to us!” Gu San Tong replied, “But Little Luo, have you forgotten? You have not yet opened Cao Cao’s coffin!”
“Right, I almost forgot about that!”
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