He then turned to Big Katydid and said, “Everyone wearing these Money-Seeking Medallions must be an expert grave robber. Could it be that these people have already looted this tomb? But if they succeeded, why would they die here?”
Big Katydid shook his head and replied, “This is called a Jia Jade Money-Seeking Medallion. It is made by soaking an armadillo’s claw in jade solution for forty-nine days, then consecrated through secret rituals practiced exclusively by the Money-Seeking Officers. These Jia Jade Medallions were most commonly used during the Three Kingdoms era. By the Tang Dynasty, the incantations for consecrating them had already been largely lost. There’s no doubt these people were grave robbers, but how they ended up dead here is something only they themselves could know.”
Fan Debiao, half excited and half angry, said, “Damn it! So this tomb was already looted a thousand years ago by these Money-Seeking Officers. Luckily they were eliminated here, otherwise the cultural relics would have been lost again. Everyone, let’s tidy up and call the archaeological team.”
After saying this, Fan Debiao approached Liu Dashao and whispered, “Young Master, later on, pick a couple small items and hide them. This mission could be considered life-threatening, so we should get something out of it.”
“No, these aren’t funerary objects from this tomb!” suddenly interrupted the Green Caterpillar.
Upon hearing this, Big Katydid quickly picked up a piece of jade and a bronze sword from the ground, examined them carefully, and frowned, “This jade should be from the Qin Dynasty, and this bronze sword is from the Shang Dynasty. How could these appear in a Han Dynasty tomb?”
Green Caterpillar said, “These grave goods must have been looted from other tombs and then brought into this one.”
Upon hearing this, Big Katydid exclaimed in astonishment, “Could these people be ‘official grave robbers’ from the Three Kingdoms era? But if they were official robbers, this group seems a bit too small.”
Fan Debiao, puzzled, asked, “Official grave robbers? What the heck are those?”
Liu Dashao actually knew a little about them and explained to Fan Debiao, “The Three Kingdoms era was a time of warlord chaos, and also the most rampant period for grave robbing. The largest-scale grave robbers were the ‘official grave robbers.’ They didn’t just rob graves—they practically dug up entire cemeteries, purely to fund their military operations. Every tomb they looted was completely stripped bare. The most famous ‘official grave robbers’ were the units under Cao Cao.”
After listening to Liu Dashao’s explanation, Fan Debiao nodded, though he still looked confused.
Fan Debiao whispered to Liu Dashao, “Since these people were ‘official grave robbers,’ this means the treasures are ill-gotten gains. We should definitely take some for ourselves!”
Liu Dashao was so exasperated he nearly lost his breath. He shot Fan Debiao a glare and ignored him. Seeing Liu Dashao’s silence, Fan Debiao didn’t press further and instead went off to admire the treasures himself.
Seeing Big Katydid still frowning, Liu Dashao asked him, “Big Katydid, do you feel something is off?”
Big Katydid rubbed his chin and said, “All five of them carried Jia Jade Money-Seeking Medallions, which suggests they were professional Money-Seeking Officers. But official grave robbers wouldn’t bother with such things. However, these five couldn’t possibly have carried away so many grave goods by themselves. There must have been others. But where did those others go? Could they have died elsewhere?”
After Big Katydid spoke, Liu Dashao was also puzzled. Just as he was about to think more deeply, Fan Debiao suddenly ran over with a bamboo scroll and shouted, “Quick, look! I found a martial arts manual!”
A martial arts manual… Liu Dashao almost burst out laughing if the situation weren’t so serious. He turned around, picked up the so-called “martial arts manual” from Fan Debiao’s hand, and examined it carefully for a while, frowning.
The text was completely unintelligible. Since these five Money-Seeking Officers were from the Three Kingdoms era, the writing should also be from that time. Helplessly, Liu Dashao handed the bamboo scroll back to Fan Debiao and said, “Brother Biao, I can’t read it. Can you explain it?”
Upon hearing this, Fan Debiao was delighted. Usually, Liu Dashao was the cultured one, but now he had to ask for Fan Debiao’s help.
Fan Debiao proudly took the scroll and said, “Young Master, this is what they call a tiger in decline being bullied by a dog, hahaha…”
Liu Dashao inwardly cursed, “What the hell! He even messed up the metaphor, comparing himself to a dog. You really are cultured!”
Big Katydid interrupted, “Hurry up and tell us what’s written on the scroll!”
Fan Debiao gave Liu Dashao a smug look and began reading the scroll carefully. He frowned and stared for quite a while but hadn’t spoken yet. Big Katydid became impatient, “Come on, what are you dragging your feet for?”
Fan Debiao closed the scroll helplessly and said, “Damn it, I can’t read it either.”
“Hmph!” Big Katydid grunted and quickly snatched the scroll from Fan Debiao, examined it carefully, and said, “No wonder. This is written in grave robbers’ jargon. It’s normal that you can’t read it.”
Fan Debiao muttered beside him, “These Money-Seeking Officers are really cunning, even using their own secret language!”
Liu Dashao gave Fan Debiao a cold stare and said, “Stop talking nonsense. this is what’s called being cultured!” Then he turned to Big Katydid and asked, “Big Katydid, what does it say on the scroll?”
Big Katydid took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and focused before saying, “This scroll records the number of tombs these five Money-Seeking Officers have looted along their journey, as well as some strange incidents.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Dashao’s curiosity was piqued. This was more interesting than any novel!
Big Katydid explained the scroll’s content, “These five Money-Seeking Officers were part of Cao Cao’s official grave robbers. Along with over a hundred subordinates, they were directly under the command of Xu Chu, the Tiger General. After Cao Cao fell ill with a persistent headache, he heard rumors of an elixir of immortality and dispatched his Money-Seeking Officers to plunder large tombs across the land. These five Money-Seeking Officers crossed mountains and rivers, looting one Shang Dynasty royal tomb and two Warring States period noble tombs, but they never found any clues about the elixir of immortality. Just as the five were feeling frustrated, Zhang Yan, a former Yellow Turban rebel general who had surrendered to Cao Cao, presented a map claiming it contained clues to the elixir. Cao Cao examined the map and saw it was a tomb-seeking chart, so he ordered the Money-Seeking Officers to take their subordinates and the looted treasures to find the location indicated on the map.”
Big Katydid continued, “The five Money-Seeking Officers immediately recognized the map’s hidden meaning. They dug through the earth and entered an unfinished ancient tomb of unknown origin. Later, beneath this uncompleted tomb, they discovered the cave tomb of Zhang Jiao.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Dashao said, “Wow! If it weren’t for Yinglong accidentally breaking through the tomb wall, we might still be wandering cluelessly in that unfinished, unknown ancient tomb like headless flies!”
Fan Debiao cursed, “Who the hell built a tomb on top to lure us in? That person was truly despicable.”
Big Katydid paused and continued, “When they reached the coffin, they realized this Eastern Han tomb was indeed the resting place of the Great Sage Zhang Jiao. Legend has it that this Great Sage could summon strange insects capable of battling armies. These insects should be the Chus. Just as they were about to open the coffin to retrieve the elixir, something suddenly appeared…” Big Katydid stopped here.
As soon as Big Katydid stopped, Liu Dashao was so anxious he almost couldn’t stand it and quickly asked, “What did they encounter?!”
Big Katydid shook his head and said, “That’s it. The scroll ends right here.”
Liu Dashao thought there might be a second volume of the scroll and immediately told Fan Debiao to look for it. Fan Debiao replied, “There’s no second volume. There’s only this one here.”
After hearing Fan Debiao’s words, Liu Dashao was deeply disappointed. He turned and asked Big Katydid, “Big Katydid, do you have any idea what they encountered in the end?”
Big Katydid shook his head, “No idea!”
Hearing this, Liu Dashao couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss. Just when the mystery was about to be solved, there was a twist. Liu Dashao paused and asked, “Big Katydid, you just said this was Zhang Jiao’s tomb. How powerful could Zhang Jiao really be?”
Big Katydid rolled up the bamboo scroll and said, “Zhang Jiao was from Pingxiang, Hebei. He was the leader of the Yellow Turban Rebellion at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the founder of the Taiping Dao. He received the ‘Taiping Qingling Shu’ (i.e., ‘Taiping Jing’) from a Taoist named Yu Ji, and took it upon himself to save the world through religion. He used certain religious concepts and socio-political ideas from the text to organize the masses, beginning his teachings around the early years of Emperor Ling’s reign. In the first year of Zhongping, Zhang Jiao launched an uprising with the slogan ‘The Blue Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise. The year is Ji Zi; all under heaven shall prosper!’ He called himself ‘General of Heaven’ and led the masses in rebellion, known as the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Unfortunately, Zhang Jiao suddenly died shortly afterward, and the rebellion was quickly suppressed by the Han Dynasty.”
After listening to Big Katydid’s explanation, Liu Dashao nodded in understanding. Suddenly, he thought of the scroll’s mention of a sorcerer who could summon Chu insects. A thought struck him, and he said, “Fan Debiao, you once learned in a bathroom about an ancient sorcerer who could summon Chu insects. It looks like the person lying in that coffin must be him.”
Fan Debiao nodded and said, “That must be him indeed. I was wondering why Cao Cao would think this short-lived Zhang Jiao would have the elixir of immortality. If that were true, why didn’t he himself achieve immortality?”
Upon hearing this, Liu Dashao countered, “The ways of sorcery are profound and vast. There are many secrets we do not yet understand. Perhaps Zhang Jiao didn’t die suddenly—he might have ascended to immortality!”
Fan Debiao said不服气地, “Ascend to immortality? You actually believe such nonsense!”
With so many mysteries still unsolved, Liu Dashao had no mood to argue with Fan Debiao and went off to search among the grave goods for more clues.
After searching for a while and finding nothing but treasures, he was feeling frustrated when suddenly a voice from the other side of the cave called out from Big Katydid, “Damn it! How could there be such a thing here!”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage