Chapter 513 - 513: An Unprecedented scale! A Densely Packed Terracotta Army of the Living! (2)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Indeed, it was a human figure.
Luo Feng was surprised. This human effigy was exquisitely lifelike, a testament to the undeniable skills of the craftsmen. However, such skills would find no use in the modern world, where crafting human effigies was forbidden. It was a disrespect to life.
Of course, using corpses was also not acceptable.
“Is this a human effigy? This is my first time seeing a real one; I’ve only seen them in tomb-robbing TV shows before!”
“This is undoubtedly the most terrifying effigy I’ve ever seen!” “Sima Yi, you old demon, are you trying to scare us to death?” Luo Feng moved forward, examining the figure closely once again.
“Damn, it really is a human effigy!”
“And it’s one made from a living person!”
Luo Feng immediately discerned that it was made from real human skin and started when the person was still alive. In other words, it was made by turning living people into effigies.
Looking at the facial features and skin surface, one could deduce they were living effigies, as only a living person could have such expressions. A dead person could never achieve this; human expressions are complex to replicate. “I have a feeling they look like some kind of mummies, not made of stone!”
“Nonsense, we can see the exposed human bones! They’re definitely living effigies!”
“Was Sima Yi really that cruel? Even Emperor Qin Shihuang replaced live human effigies with clay figures. Why did he still do this?”
Using living humans to make effigies was simply too cruel.
Truth be told, this was even crueler than burying people alive to accompany the dead.
Luo Feng looked down, and next to the effigy, there was a rectangular stone with a name on it, presumably the name of the effigy. It read ‘Wu Yuan’.
“Wu Yuan, Luo Feng, do you know who this is? Have you ever heard this name?” asked Qin Rubing.
“I do not know,” Luo Feng shook his head. He continued to use his flashlight, casting its beam around him.
The place he stood in was a five-meter-wide passage. stretching a hundred
meters long.
And like the effigy he had just examined, there were hundreds more. All standing along the passage.
“Why are there so many effigies!” “All lined up neatly along both sides of the passage!” “This scale seems a bit grand!”
“Were they all made from living people? Not clay?”
“Certainly! The ones made from living people look very realistic. The ones made from clay have a distinct heavy look to them!”
Luo Feng approached one of the effigies.
There was a hole in this effigy, likely caused by a rat. From the hole, one could clearly see the human sternum.
As he moved forward, Luo Feng used a hoe to poke the ground at each step, fearing hidden traps.
Soon, he had led everyone to the middle of the passage, about fifty meters in.
Half an hour later, they reached the end of the passage, where Luo Feng saw many bones of dead rats.
At the end, there was another passage filled with effigies.
This passage was at the back of the tomb chamber.
Luo Feng did not go there but instead headed towards another passage.
Half an hour later, he reached the end of this passage.
The end was a large stone door.
If it were a regular ancient tomb, Luo Feng would have just forced it open.
However, this was the tomb of Sima Yi, and Luo Feng had to exercise caution. After ensuring there were no apparent dangers, he carefully opened the stone door. “It’s the tomb passage!” he exclaimed upon opening the door.
Luo Feng glanced at the walls, confirming his location. The tomb passage was approximately fifty meters long and five meters wide. As for the murals on the walls, Luo Feng did not bother to scrutinize them; he headed straight towards the main tomb chamber.
After a short walk, he saw another stone door standing at the entrance of the passage. Sima Yi’s tomb was entirely encased in stone bricks, with quicksand in the middle. In other aspects, it had the standard layout of an ancient tomb.
Upon opening the stone door, Luo Feng entered the corridor. Here, a stone monument stood, surrounded by a large number of densely packed epitaphs. This was Sima Yi’s epitaph.
After briefly examining it, Luo Feng turned his flashlight towards the main tomb chamber. At the center was an extraordinarily large coffin. Within five meters around the coffin, there was nothing. Beyond the five-meter radius, stone platforms were neatly arranged. The layout was layered, creating a sense of depth.
Each stone platform held various items. Directly in front of the coffin was another stone platform, on which something else was placed. Compared to the chaotic state of Cao Cao’s tomb, Sima Yi’s tomb was more like a young lady’s room – incredibly tidy. It was so well-arranged that it made one feel refreshed just by looking at it.
Luo Feng decided not to enter just yet and instead dialed Gu Santong’s number. He knew that Gu Santong must have been eager to join him by now. After all, they had been discussing the tomb of Sima Yi for a long time. By Luo Feng’s reckoning, they had spent quite a lot of time in the northeastern part of the country.
Finally, they had reached this point. Could Gu Santong not be excited?
It was like anticipating a long-awaited television series. Finally, the show was airing, and everyone was looking forward to watching it. Such was the mood.
“Hello, Master Gu, you can bring some people down now. First, take a look at the human effigies in the corridor; there’s no danger there. For the time being, don’t let too many people into the main tomb chamber. I’ll explore it with my girlfriends first, and when we ascertain that there’s no danger, you can join us,” Luo Feng said.
After Luo Feng finished speaking, Gu Santong was ecstatic on the other side of the phone. Finally, they could witness something different in archaeology. For the human effigies, archaeologists hadn’t had much contact, unlike with relics such as ceramics, pottery jars, and bronzeware.
But they had hardly ever come across human effigies, let alone ones made from living people.
“Alright, I understand. We’ll come over right away to take a look,” Gu Santong suppressed his excitement and, with a dozen handy disciples, began descending into the tomb.
Luo Feng hung up the phone and started moving forward again. Although he wasn’t far from the large coffin, he couldn’t afford to be careless. With each step, he tapped the floor tiles with his Swallowtail Hoe. Though no traps had appeared since he entered, there could still be some hidden.
Yet, according to Sima Yi’s way of thinking, if the exterior of the tomb was sealed with quicksand, there would be no need for such devices inside. Actually, they all understood that even the most ingenious traps couldn’t prevent powerful entities like the reigning royal family or military forces from entering the tomb. What they could possibly deter were only minor factions and grave robbers..
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