Chapter 139: The Mural

Fang Nian was a history enthusiast, and at this moment, his mind was racing as he searched for the name Wei Kai. After a rapid mental search, he finally located the historical figure named Wei Kai from the late Eastern Han Dynasty in his memory.

"Wei Kai, a calligrapher of the State of Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, courtesy name Boru, a native of Anyi in Hedong. In the twilight of the Han Dynasty, he served as a subordinate official to the Minister of Works. Following the establishment of the State of Wei, he was appointed as a Palace Attendant, later transferred to the Secretariat, and posthumously honored with the title of Marquis Hui. This is a brief summary of his life. However, what somewhat confused Fang Nian was that in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, this person seemed to have been named Wei Jing rather than Wei Kai."

Yet, this was of no great consequence. Fang Nian was not one to quibble over minor details, nor was there any need to nitpick the minor historical inaccuracies of the realm's creator. Wei Kai it was, then.

Having identified the owner of this secret chamber, Fang Nian's mind began to race once more. Why had the creator led him to such a secret room? What was the objective? Was it to force Fang Nian to find a way to escape from here, or was it to have him search for clues within this space?

The primary objective of this mission was tomb raiding; what Fang Nian needed to find was a certain tomb deep within the mountains. If Fang Nian had been imprisoned in this secret chamber, his hands and feet would undoubtedly have been bound in chains.

Instead, he was completely free at present, able to move about at will. This indicated that placing him here was not intended to trap him, but rather that this secret chamber must conceal some vital clue.

With these thoughts in mind, Fang Nian began rummaging through the items in the room and searching the walls for hidden mechanisms.

After searching for a while, however, Fang Nian realized that the mechanisms here were far from simple. No matter how he searched, not a single clue turned up.

Yet, in the midst of his search, Fang Nian sensed a faint oddness. Prompted by his sixth sense, this strange feeling slowly began to clarify.

Fang Nian pondered for a moment; the sixth sense he had awakened was called "Magnetic Perception," so he must have sensed a magnetic field, which explained the intense reaction.

Even after thinking for a long time, however, Fang Nian had no idea where to begin. This secret chamber was vastly different from the ones he had encountered previously; they were simply not in the same league.

He had to admit that a D-plus difficulty hunting ground and an E-plus difficulty hunting ground were worlds apart, entirely incomparable.

After pondering for a long time without figuring out where the mechanism was hidden, nor being able to pinpoint the source of that unsettling feeling, Fang Nian simply dropped heavily onto the stool against the northern wall.

However, the very instant Fang Nian sat down on that stool, that awkward feeling intensified severalfold. Raising his head, he intended to re-examine the surrounding environment.

Yet, that single glance instantly made Fang Nian jump, his scalp tingling as an inexplicable terror swept through his entire body. For he happened to gaze upon a most terrifying scene: the southern wall of the secret chamber right opposite him.

The Wei family's secret chamber was a closed, square structure with no passages linking it to the outside world.

Aside from this, the furnishings inside the chamber included a pearwood folding screen, a pearwood square table and chairs, bookshelves, and calligraphy scrolls. These were distributed against the eastern, southern, and northern walls—with the sole exception of the southern wall, which was completely bare.

Fang Nian was filled with confusion. Why leave such a wall completely empty? And why would he happen to see this wall when sitting here?

Suddenly, Fang Nian thought of the detail that had given him the creeps and felt somewhat wrong: the logic of it. Why would anyone sit against the northern wall facing the southern wall?

In modern times, everyday home decoration usually involves a television feature wall, which is generally positioned opposite the sofa in the living room because people naturally look straight ahead when watching TV.

Unless the layout of a house is unreasonable or the living room is too small to accommodate a feature wall, people rarely choose to sit sideways or forego installing a television altogether.

In ancient times, however, the decoration of a main hall differed somewhat from modern practices. Given that there were no televisions or sofas in those days, the master's chair in the main hall was usually placed facing the entrance. In other words, if this secret chamber served as a main hall, the opposite of the northern wall should have been the main door leading into the chamber.

Fang Nian had already realized that his goal was to uncover the secret of this secret chamber, not to find an escape route, and thus he felt that the northern wall held the key to the problem.

Why would the owner of this secret chamber sit here admiring an empty wall? Could he be admiring the bamboo slips on the eastern wall? Or the calligraphy and paintings on the western wall? Clearly, neither was the case; it defied logic.

Could it be a design error, where the calligraphy on the western wall was originally meant to be hung on the southern wall, but the workers mistakenly hung it on the western wall instead? That seemed even more absurd.

At this thought, Fang Nian suddenly recalled a movie he had watched previously, a crime film of sorts. The protagonist was investigating a case but could not find a breakthrough no matter where he looked. Having no other choice, he decided to retrace the criminal's path, attempting to act entirely according to the criminal's mindset, and ultimately succeeded in finding the criminal while experiencing the suspect's state of mind at the time.

With this realization, Fang Nian began to reenact the mindset of the secret chamber's owner. He slowly walked into the chamber, lit the oil lamp, then perused the bamboo slips, began brewing tea, placed the cup on the table, sat down in the chair, gazed toward the northern wall to appreciate the scenery, while rhythmically tapping his fingers on the table surface.

The moment Fang Nian picked up the teacup once again, with a muffled rumble, the southern wall directly opposite him suddenly began to revolve. The scene that subsequently unfolded before his eyes left Fang Nian utterly dumbfounded.

For upon the southern wall before him, a giant mural had appeared. This mural spanned the entire southern wall, carved with exquisite detail and precise knife-work, practically devoid of flaws. Even the facial expressions of minor figures were carved with remarkable spirit and charm. Such master craftsmanship truly caused Fang Nian's jaw to drop.

Judging by the degree to which the mural had been eroded by the passage of time, however, it dated back at least three hundred years. If Fang Nian guessed correctly and the historical backdrop was the late Eastern Han Dynasty, this mural must have originated at least during the Western Han Dynasty, if not even earlier.

There was another detail that concerned Fang Nian deeply: the cut edges of the mural. It was evident that this was not the mural's original location; rather, it had been excised from a mountain cliff and embedded here.

If this truly was the late Eastern Han Dynasty, orchestrating such a massive undertaking required immense capability; otherwise, it would have been utterly impossible.

Yet Wei Kai of the Three Kingdoms era possessed precisely that capability. As an official with troops under his command, he was naturally capable of executing such a large-scale relocation.

At this thought, Fang Nian knew that the contents depicted within the mural must hold the clues to the tomb's location. He immediately examined the mural closely, and instantly froze in place.