Chapter 158 Arrival of the Opponents

To be honest, Fang Nian truly admired the person who chose this place as a burial site. He had to admit that the planner possessed an exceptionally clear mind. The natural conditions of this cave were simply too magnificent. Had it been Fang Nian, once he mastered the art of Feng Shui, he likely would have selected such a setting for constructing a tomb as well.

Observing his surroundings, Fang Nian wanted to determine their current location. If the entire underground city and this vast natural karst cave were viewed as a tomb, the first crucial element was the light source. By observing the structure of the main burial chamber's dome, he could see that, aside from the area directly beneath the waterfall, eighty percent of the ceiling was covered by a type of dark rock.

From this, Fang Nian could ascertain one thing: he and Cai Wenji were currently underground rather than on the surface. Consequently, it could be deduced that sunlight did not reach this place. Yet, it was evident there was a sufficient light source illuminating the entire main burial chamber. This meant the light was emitted by a special material or some mysterious objects.

The second aspect was the scale. In a traditional burial, even the main chamber would have a very limited area. However, here, it was no exaggeration to call it an independent realm within a cave, with the entire chamber spanning nearly ten thousand square meters.

What was most terrifying was that there was actually an entire city nestled within it. To fit a whole city inside a tomb chamber—such a massive scale was something even Emperor Qin Shi Huang of yore would never have imagined. Yet, the exact reasons behind this remained unknown to Fang Nian.

After sitting on the ground for a while, Cai Wenji gradually recovered, and a healthy flush returned to her cheeks. Although she thoroughly disliked Fang Nian's pretentious attitude and always bickered with him, she acknowledged that he had carried her all the way here and had just saved her life during a moment of extreme crisis. He was, in every sense, her savior.

Pondering for a moment, Cai Wenji suddenly turned her head to look at Fang Nian, a hesitant expression lingering at the corners of her mouth.

"Just now... thank you."

Fang Nian was currently pondering their next course of action—whether to push forward or search the vicinity for Jia Xu and the others—when he suddenly heard Cai Wenji's words. He was slightly stunned for a moment, before offering a dry, awkward smile as he looked at her.

"Are you talking to me? What did you say? I didn't catch it; the sound of the water is too loud."

Knowing that Fang Nian had heard her clearly and was simply feigning ignorance, Cai Wenji could do nothing with him, so she had to repeat herself.

"I said, thank you for saving me just now."

Knowing that ancients were generally thin-skinned, Fang Nian stopped teasing her.

"What's to thank? Aren't we partners?"

Cai Wenji froze, her face full of suspicion.

"Partners? What partners?"

Left speechless for a moment, Fang Nian set out to explain.

"A partner means joining forces or closely associating with someone to form a pair and accomplish something together... Uh, in short, we are partners, associates..."

"Never mind, just pretend I didn't say anything. We better figure out what to do next."

After sorting through the preceding events and gathering their thoughts, Fang Nian and Cai Wenji arrived at a unanimous conclusion: they needed to enter the ancient city before them.

As for Jia Xu and the others, Fang Nian was not overly worried. Those individuals were prominent figures of this era and unlikely to perish so easily; they might have already entered the ancient city.

Nevertheless, Fang Nian had a lingering intuition that the dangers lurking within this ancient city far exceeded their comprehension. Therefore, he decided they must enter in peak physical condition. Ultimately, they resolved to rest by the river for the night and enter the ancient city at the break of dawn.

The next morning, as the sky began to brighten, Fang Nian and Cai Wenji packed all their equipment, exchanged a glance, and walked toward the ancient city—the very source of all these mysteries.

Shortly after setting off, however, they spotted a troop on the mountain, numbering around forty to fifty people, all dressed in military uniforms and carrying weapons. The man leading at the front was tall, and Fang Nian instantly recognized him as Bai Zhe, the one who had entered the hunting grounds alongside him.

Gazing at Bai Zhe, a flash of joy crossed Fang Nian's eyes. Initially, they had speculated that Bai Zhe might have brought a force of several hundred men into the Dragon-Nurturing Cave.

Yet now, looking at the troops behind him, aside from their disheveled armor and various injuries that clearly indicated they had suffered heavy losses, it was evident that the survivors were battered and weary. This was the best possible news for Fang Nian.

Even so, Fang Nian had not expected this fellow to have some genuine capability, actually managing to find this place as well. Since their rival had arrived, Fang Nian could not afford to dawdle any longer. After all, this was essentially a competition, and losing would look rather unappealing.

With that thought, Fang Nian took Cai Wenji by the hand and entered the city through the east gate, directly opposite the path Bai Zhe's group was taking.

Walking through the ancient city and observing the dilapidated buildings around them, Fang Nian remarked with a touch of emotion:

"Judging by the state of the city walls, this ancient city must have been built at least four to five hundred years ago. That era coincided with the Qin Dynasty's newly achieved unification of the country, a time of flourishing national power. Consequently, the ruler of that era, Emperor Qin Shi Huang, issued an order to construct the Great Wall to fend off foreign invaders."

"However, due to the limitations of natural and inherent conditions at the time, the materials used to build the Great Wall were quite varied, including earth, wood, and stone. In many places, materials were gathered locally—where there were mountains, they used stones; where the soil was deep, they used rammed earth. In remote desert regions, they even employed a method of layering sand with reeds or red willow branches."

"The section of the Great Wall north of Shuofang Commandery, where we are located, was built using this third method. Its construction technique is very particular: first, a layer of reeds or red willow branches is laid down, followed by a layer of gravel, and then another layer of reeds or red willow branches is placed on top of the gravel. This process is repeated. If one wanted to build a city wall about three zhang high, the thickness of the reeds would be less than half a chi, while the gravel layer would be more than half a chi, requiring roughly thirty alternating layers."

"This method was uniquely devised by the supreme ruler of Qin at the time, Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Afterward, it was widely implemented across various regions. However, because this technique consumed a vast amount of manpower and resources, and the resulting structures were not exceptionally durable, few people adopted it for construction thereafter, aside from building the Great Wall. Eventually, the method was even forgotten by posterity."