Chapter 149 You're Going Too?

Zhang Liao was indeed a fierce warrior, and the kind with both courage and strategy—someone who fought using his brains.

Thinking of this, Fang Nian suddenly looked at the mysterious woman. Who on earth was she, and why could she make such a formidable warrior like Zhang Liao obey her every whim? Could she perhaps be Cao Cao’s...

The woman was momentarily startled by Fang Nian’s gaze, but she quickly recovered, bowed to Fang Nian, and said, "Benefactor, please accept a bow from Cai Yan."

Fang Nian’s brain buzzed again, almost causing him to faint. Could this be any more of a coincidence? How did so many familiar book characters from his knowledge suddenly appear here, and all of them legendary figures at that?

Take this Cai Yan, for instance. Wasn’t she the illustrious Cai Wenji from history? As for Cai Wenji’s gear... wait, no, this Cai Wenji was truly one of the rare legendary women in history.

Cai Yan, courtesy name Zhaoji, was later referred to as Wenji to avoid the naming taboo of Sima Zhao during the Jin Dynasty. She was a native of Yu County in Chenliu Commandery, a female writer of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the daughter of the great scholar Cai Yong.

Cai Wenji was exceptionally learned and versatile, excelling in literature, music, and calligraphy. She was first married to Wei Zhongdao, but returned home after her husband’s death. During the great turmoil and separatist wars in the Central Plains towards the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Southern Xiongnu, who had originally surrendered to the Han, took the opportunity to rebel. Cai Wenji was captured by the Left Wise King of the Xiongnu and bore him two children.

After Cao Cao unified the north, he spent a large sum of gold to ransom her back and married her to Dong Si. The story of Wenji’s return to the Han Dynasty has been widely circulated ever since.

This historical account was relatively close to reality. Although it contained legendary elements, it basically fit the social situation of that era.

Of course, there were other versions in history, the most popular being the stories surrounding Cao Cao and Cai Wenji. But what the ultimate truth was, probably only those involved truly knew, and Fang Nian did not care much about it.

After his mood calmed down, Fang Nian learned about their experiences through casual conversation, as well as why their fates had become intertwined.

It turned out that Jia Xu had already been serving under Cao Cao’s command for some time. At that time, Cai Wenji’s father, Cai Yong, had offended Prime Minister Cao for some reason, and Cao Cao had ordered his execution.

It was precisely at this moment that Cai Wenji sought out Jia Xu. Under Jia Xu’s lobbying, Cai Yong’s life was spared, and his entire family was exiled to the remote border town of Shuofang.

As for Jia Xu, he too had offended Cao Cao over a certain matter, which was why he left Xuchang and fled to this place with his wife, where he was settled down by the arrangements of Cai Wenji.

Cai Wenji was a woman who knew how to repay gratitude. When Jia Xu arrived at Galuo City, she intended to arrange a grand estate for him. However, Jia Xu flatly refused with the phrase, "Unearned rewards are not to be accepted."

Thus, all these subsequent events came to pass.

Fang Nian’s idea was very simple: to recruit these people into his faction. If he could gather all of them together, it would probably increase the probability of finding the burial site. After all, he had not received any news from Bai Zhe by this time, and progress on his side probably wasn't very fast either. Since this was ancient times, assembling a team was no easy task.

Listening to their stories, Fang Nian gradually fell into deep thought.

Jia Xu noticed the change in Fang Nian at a glance and asked with a smile, "Benefactor must have something on your mind coming here today, right? Why not share it? Perhaps I can still help you brainstorm a solution."

Fang Nian was stunned, then smiled broadly, marveling inwardly that Jia Xu truly lived up to his reputation—he could detect even such a subtle change in Fang Nian.

"Mr. Wenhe, please stop calling me benefactor from now on. It sounds really awkward. After all, you are an elder. If you treat me as a friend, just call me Fang Nian."

This time it was Jia Xu’s turn to be stunned. One had to know that in ancient times, no one would ever speak like this. Hearing Fang Nian talk this way now, Jia Xu felt somewhat unaccustomed to it.

"Very well."

Seeing Jia Xu nod, Fang Nian then spoke, "Actually, I came here this time to look for something."

"Something? What thing?"

Hearing Fang Nian’s words, the others asked almost in unison.

Fang Nian was taken aback, but still explained, "Actually, it’s an ancient tomb, or rather, something buried by ancients, because I don't even know what it actually is."

Hearing Fang Nian’s words, Jia Xu fell into silence. After a moment, he asked, "Have you seen something, which is why you came here to look for it?"

Fang Nian did not hide it either. He picked up the writing brush from Jia Xu’s study and roughly sketched the murals he had previously seen in the secret chamber.

Seeing the figures drawn, Jia Xu asked, "Who are these people?"

Knowing he couldn't draw them too vividly, Fang Nian explained, "To be honest with you all, I once saw this mural in the secret chamber of a high-ranking court official. This mural was clearly transported from somewhere else, and it also conceals certain secrets."

With that, Fang Nian told them all about his suspicions: how Qin soldiers escorted Xiongnu captives, and why Qin Shi Huang sent Meng Tian and Crown Prince Fusu to build the Great Wall.

After listening to Fang Nian, the few of them froze in place. Zhang Liao looked at Fang Nian with a mixture of disbelief, opening his mouth to speak but unable to get the words out.

Meanwhile, an expression of utter disbelief surfaced on Cai Wenji’s delicate and beautiful face.

"Where did you see this mural? And does anyone else know about this?"

Fang Nian was momentarily startled, but immediately understood—they all knew about this matter as well.

"You guys too..."

Seeing this, Jia Xu nodded and said, "Yes, we also know of this tomb's existence, and coming here is largely for this purpose as well."

Fang Nian was rendered speechless for a moment. He really hadn't expected these people to share the exact same purpose as him.

However, this was also a good thing. Even if he hadn't tried to recruit them, they would probably have joined in anyway, though their motives might differ. Fang Nian was here to complete his mission, while they...

"What could their motives be? Why would a group of NPCs be assigned such a task?"

Fang Nian thought about it for a long time without figuring it out, so he simply stopped thinking. What Qin Shi Huang buried was ultimately unimportant, because it was all constructed by the game designers and had no real value.

Fang Nian only needed to focus on completing his own mission.

At this point in the conversation, Jia Xu walked out to look at the sky, then turned to Fang Nian and the others and said, "There might be a severe storm here in five days. If we are going to enter the mountains, we must do so before the storm arrives, otherwise it could be dangerous."

Upon hearing this, Cai Wenji decisively said, "Then let’s set off tomorrow morning. I will take care of arranging the carriages."

Jia Xu shook his head. "Setting off tomorrow is fine, but we cannot use carriages. The terrain here is extremely complex. We can only travel on foot, and we must travel light with as little burden as possible."

Fang Nian had also studied the terrain here; it was indeed dominated by mountains. He nodded and said, "Let's follow Mr. Jia Xu's advice then. We'll set off tomorrow morning."

Cai Wenji nodded and then gestured for Zhang Liao to leave.

It was precisely at this moment that Fang Nian snapped back to reality. Looking at Cai Wenji, he asked in confusion, "You're going too?"

Cai Wenji replied with a completely calm expression, "Of course."