Ascending the barren mountain, they reached the Tomb of King Jie.
Fan Li had once visited the tomb of the First Emperor Qin. He had witnessed the grandeur of its underground palace, the imposing might of the Terracotta Army (the 12 Golden Men), the luxurious splendor of the Epang Palace, and the profound mystery of its simulated immortal realm.
He had also read about the Han emperors' tombs, plundered by Dong Zhuo, each a magnificent testament to imperial power.
Emperors, nourished by the world, lived in ultimate luxury. And in death, their tombs were a reflection of their earthly glory.
But the Tomb of King Jie was a completely different sight.
A barren mountain.
A solitary grave.
A dilapidated tomb.
A broken coffin.
Yes, even the Emperor's coffin was damaged, its grandeur long gone.
Fan Li's group hadn't excavated the tomb. They had simply approached it and noticed that it had never been properly sealed. There was no mound of earth covering the grave.
"Was… was this tomb robbed?" Bai Shijiu asked.
Outside of Go, her knowledge was no greater than that of an ordinary woman.
Before Fan Li could answer, Huang Longshi shook his head. "I don't think so. There are no signs of forced entry. It's more like… like…"
He trailed off, unable to find the right words.
The Tomb of King Jie looked as if it had never been properly completed.
The coffin lay exposed within the shallow grave, its lid slightly ajar, as if it had been hastily placed upon the Emperor's remains.
It was a bizarre sight.
The tomb itself was small, less than ten meters long, five meters wide, and only three meters deep.
If not for the tombstone, and its location within this desolate wasteland, even Fan Li wouldn't have believed it was the true resting place of an Emperor.
Such a simple, almost pathetic tomb was a far cry from the grandeur of other imperial mausoleums. And it hadn't even been properly sealed!
Jie. Regardless of his achievements in life, his death was truly pitiful, devoid of any imperial dignity.
As they examined the tomb, they noticed several skeletons lying scattered around the coffin.
Time had taken its toll.
Within an unsealed tomb, exposed to the elements for thousands, even tens of thousands of years, the bones of ordinary mortals would have long since turned to dust.
And yet, these skeletons remained mostly intact.
Fan Li deduced two things from this.
First, those buried here possessed considerable cultivation. Their bones, strengthened by spiritual energy, were more resistant to decay than those of ordinary mortals.
Second, Nanchao had been completely isolated for a long time. No outsiders, whether humans, animals, or even birds, had entered this place.
The animal bones Fan Li had encountered within the sea of fog…
Not a single beast had ever escaped that natural barrier.
"Perhaps…"
Bai Shijiu hesitated. She glanced at the tomb with disgust.
"Perhaps we should explore the surrounding area. This might be a decoy, a fake tomb, intended to mislead those seeking the true mausoleum.
Surely a King's tomb wouldn't be so… simple?"
But her suggestion failed to convince the two men beside her.
Fan Li carefully examined every detail of the grave for clues.
Seeing his silence, Bai Shijiu grew increasingly annoyed.
"Hey! What are you two doing? Are you deaf? I said I don't want to stay here any longer. Let's just…"
Before she could finish, Fan Li leaped into the grave.
She froze. She didn't want to leave alone, but she also didn't want to follow him.
Huang Longshi, however, didn't hesitate. He immediately followed Fan Li into the grave.
"Duke Jin, have you found something?" Huang Longshi asked softly.
"Look."
Fan Li pointed towards the coffin, then gestured towards the skeletons scattered around it.
"These skeletons were placed here first. They were carried here and arranged within the tomb. Then, the tomb owner's remains were placed inside the coffin."
Huang Longshi nodded. "That's correct. Regardless of the dynasty or the customs, tombs were always excavated first.
Then, the burial objects, sacrifices, and those who were to be buried alongside the deceased, were arranged within.
Finally, the tomb owner's remains were placed inside the coffin. And the tomb was sealed."
As Huang Longshi spoke, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
"Sealed?"
"Why wasn't it sealed?"
"The tomb was excavated, the burial objects and sacrifices were arranged, even the tomb owner's remains were placed inside the coffin… Why wasn't the final step completed? Why wasn't the tomb sealed?"
Bai Shijiu, standing above them, listening to their conversation, felt annoyed. This topic was pointless. There was nothing to discuss.
"What's so strange about that?" she interjected. "Perhaps Jie was a tyrant. His subjects hated him and refused to seal his tomb, leaving his corpse exposed to the elements?"
Bai Shijiu was confident in her deduction.
Since Nanchao was a prison kingdom, and Jie was buried in such a desolate location, surely he wasn't a good man?
Regardless of his glory in life, being despised in death was only fitting.
However, she noticed the look of utter disdain on Fan Li's face.
Even the thin scholar, Huang Longshi, twitched his lips slightly as if he couldn't believe her foolishness but didn't dare to voice his opinion.
"What's wrong? Am I mistaken?!"
Bai Shijiu was enraged. If Fan Li wasn't her heart demon, she would have slapped him.
"You are indeed mistaken," Fan Li said calmly.
"Alright! Then enlighten me! I'm eager to hear your brilliant deduction, Duke Jin!"
Bai Shijiu sneered. She couldn't believe that Fan Li, so young, with such low cultivation, could possibly possess greater wisdom than her.
"First," Fan Li began, "since we entered Nanchao, we've encountered countless remnants of this ancient kingdom.
Farmland, houses, even city walls. Although time has blurred their existence, we can still see evidence of order and stability."
Fan Li paused, but Bai Shijiu only snorted.
Order and stability?
So what? The kingdom still fell.
"Second, within this tomb, we see evidence of subjects being buried alongside their ruler.
Whether companions, officials, or ordinary citizens, they were all placed within this tomb after death.
Therefore, we can deduce that these individuals, during their lifetime, willingly chose to be buried with King Jie.
After all, even if they had feigned loyalty and obedience while he lived, they wouldn't have continued to serve him in death unless they had genuinely wished to do so."
Bai Shijiu couldn't argue. She remained silent. But inwardly, she scoffed.
All this talk about loyalty and devotion, what did it have to do with Jie's unsealed tomb?
"Ah! This humble… This junior… I understand now!"
Before Fan Li could continue, Huang Longshi suddenly exclaimed.
Fan Li glanced at him approvingly, encouraging him to explain.
"King Jie was imprisoned in Nanchao, and his subjects followed him.
During King Jie's final years, regardless of what transpired, he must have ensured the well-being of his people.
He provided them with peace and stability. Therefore, his subjects wouldn't have hated him. They were even willing to be buried with him."
Hearing this, Bai Shijiu realized that Fan Li was right.
She felt embarrassed, but what truly angered her wasn't that Jie had been loved by his subjects, but that Fan Li had outsmarted her, and even Huang Longshi seemed more intelligent than her.
How was this possible?!
She was the Sage Ruler of Chess of the Great Ci Dynasty!
These two men…
They were actually more capable than her?!
"Alright! Alright! Alright!"
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She had to win this argument, even if it meant resorting to pettiness.
"Then explain this! If King Jie was so loved by his people, why wasn't his tomb sealed? Where are his subjects? His officials? His concubines? Are they all dead? Not a single person was left to seal his tomb?!"
Bai Shijiu's question silenced Fan Li.
Seeing that he couldn't answer, she finally felt a sense of triumph.
So, Fan Li was only human after all!
"Sage Ruler, perhaps you are right," Fan Li finally said.
Bai Shijiu was baffled. "What? What do you mean? Explain yourself."
Fan Li sighed. "Perhaps… the reason King Jie's tomb wasn't sealed is because everyone was dead. There was no one left to do it."
"Hah!"
Bai Shijiu laughed out loud.
"This is getting ridiculous! Fan Li, listen to yourself! 'Because everyone was dead?' Then I ask you, if all of Nanchao's citizens were dead, who excavated this tomb? Who carried the burial objects and arranged them within? Who placed Jie's body inside the coffin?!"
After finishing her questions, Bai Shijiu laughed again with mocking delight.
But Fan Li remained calm. He wasn't angered by her insults. In fact, his gaze, as he looked at her, was filled with pity, a silent acknowledgment of her shallowness.
"Perhaps… King Jie did all of that himself. And then… he lay down in the coffin and died?"
Huang Longshi spoke softly, and Bai Shijiu's laughter ceased abruptly.
Silence descended upon them. The wind died down. Only the chilling coldness remained.
Bai Shijiu swallowed hard. She wanted to retort, but her intuition told her that Huang Longshi… No, that Fan Li was right.
But how could such a thing be possible?
There had never been such a bizarre event in history!
Jie, an ancient King, had fallen so low?
He had excavated his own tomb?
Arranged his own burial objects?
Placed his own body inside the coffin?!
"I… You… He…"
Bai Shijiu stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence. Her thoughts were in disarray.
Fan Li suddenly spoke up. "Sage Ruler, we've found King Jie's tomb. Now, how do we find the Go game? Surely that's your task?"
"I know."
Bai Shijiu's face was grim. She retrieved a small, white jade box, no larger than her palm. Opening the box, she revealed a white Go stone, smooth and polished.
"What is that?" Fan Li asked, although he already knew the answer.
Even with his Golden Core Realm cultivation, he could sense a faint spiritual energy emanating from the white stone.
Was it part of a set of Go stones? A spiritual treasure?
No!
Fan Li examined the stone more closely. Its surface, typically smooth and round, was marred by countless tiny pits and scratches.
Every learned scholar in this world was also an expert in appraising artifacts.
Fan Li, inheriting the original Fan Li's vast knowledge, instantly recognized that these imperfections weren't recent.
They were the marks of time, accumulated over countless years, a testament to the stone's ancient origins.
Fan Li couldn't help but ask, "Could this stone be from King Jie's…"
Bai Shijiu nodded. "This stone is undoubtedly from King Jie's Go game."
"How do we use it?" Fan Li asked eagerly.
Unfortunately, Bai Shijiu didn't know.
"I obtained this stone by chance. Stones and boards are naturally paired. This stone guided me to Nanchao. Therefore, I am certain that King Jie's Go board is here.
However, the closer I got to Nanchao, especially after entering the valley, the weaker the connection became. I could no longer sense the board's location."
Bai Shijiu was frustrated . She wasn't lying.
The stone had led her to Nanchao. During her first visit, she had been certain that she was about to obtain an ancient treasure.
But after entering the valley and passing through the sea of fog, the connection had vanished.
If not for this, she wouldn't have invited Fan Li to accompany her.
Bai Shijiu had a feeling, a strong intuition, that the ancient Go game, a legacy from a bygone era, would never reveal itself unless the world's greatest Go player was present.
Perhaps… she wasn't worthy of its secrets?
That thought filled her with resentment towards Fan Li. She should be the world's greatest Go player.
"Fan Li, what do you think is inside King Jie's coffin? Perhaps… the Go board and manual?" Bai Shijiu asked, hoping to learn more.
So, she didn't even know that?
Fan Li looked at her with an odd expression.
"Sage Ruler, with our status, to risk our lives for an unknown treasure… Isn't that reckless?"
Bai Shijiu's face hardened. She wanted to say, 'If not for you, my heart demon, I wouldn't be in this predicament!'
But who could truly resist the allure of an ancient Emperor's legacy?
"I believe it's necessary to open the coffin," she said, changing the subject.
Proud women were always concerned about appearances. She didn't wait for Fan Li's response. She walked towards the coffin with long, determined strides.
"Wait…"
Fan Li was startled. He was about to stop her. This woman's arrogance was truly astounding!
Did she possess no fear of the unknown?
But it was too late.
As Bai Shijiu approached the coffin, holding the stone in her hand, a strange phenomenon occurred.
The stone suddenly flew from her grasp, emitting a strange purple light. It shot towards the sky, towards the roiling thunderclouds above Nanchao!
"This… What's happening?" Bai Shijiu muttered.
No one answered her question.
As the stone disappeared into the clouds, an even more bizarre event unfolded. The thunderclouds vanished. And the entire sky… transformed into a giant Go board!
A blood-red Go board!
Nineteen lines crisscrossed the board, each line a raging river. The stones upon the board were transformed into towering mountains!
Fan Li watched in astonishment.
The stone that had flown from Bai Shijiu's hand was also growing with each passing moment.
Finally, it too became a massive mountain upon the board.
Rivers and mountains as Go pieces!
Fan Li was stunned. For the first time since his transmigration, he truly witnessed the mystical power of this world, its ability to transcend the boundaries of reality.
Beside him, he heard Bai Shijiu trembling with excitement.
"Can… Can I have this Go board?"
Fan Li turned to face her with disbelief. His expression was clearly saying, "You are not worthy."
Bai Shijiu instantly understood his meaning. She felt both embarrassed and furious. But she also knew, with absolute certainty, that if she possessed such a treasure, if she could comprehend its boundless secrets, her heart demon would be dispelled.
She would surpass her elder sister in cultivation and achieve immortality. Nothing would be impossible.