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墨書 Inktalez
Although we were crossing paths with the Yin Soldiers, we were not to be underestimated. After all, I had fought against the Iron Corpse and battled the Jealous Woman Ghost. Not to mention, just a few moments ago, I had taken down the Sand Hammer, a formidable foe. That Zhengyang was even more enigmatic; even with the Yin Soldiers, it might not be impossible to hold our ground against them. With this thought, my mind settled a bit.
"Forget those damn Yin Soldiers for now; let's search this tomb thoroughly!"
Big Mouth Lee suddenly perked up and began to explore the tomb, saying, "That's right! If we don't check what's inside, we might end up being taken down by whatever's lurking here before we even deal with the outside threats!"
His words made sense to us.
As we examined the tomb more closely, it became increasingly apparent that it resembled a Buddha Hall rather than a typical burial chamber. We all knew that Buddhism in India split into Primitive Buddhism and New Buddhism, which later evolved into the Mahayana School led by Nagarjuna Bodhisattva and Kasyapa Ananda. The Mahayana Buddhism was introduced to mainland China through the White Horse Temple from the Yuezhi Kingdom in the Western Regions, and later Bodhidharma brought it to Shaolin Temple, marking the beginning of the Mahayana School of Buddhism, which eventually evolved into fully Sinicized Zen Buddhism.
This tomb did not seem to reflect Mahayana characteristics; instead, it bore features of earlier Buddhist traditions. Historical records indicate that in the 1st century BCE, Buddhism spread to Khotan, where the King of Khotan devoutly believed in and promoted Buddhist teachings. The region saw extensive construction of temples and statues adorned with colorful murals, establishing Khotan as a sacred site for Mahayana Buddhism. The accounts of Buddhist monks Faxian in "Record of the Buddhist Kingdom" and Xuanzang in "Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang," along with Tibetan texts on Khotan, provide numerous descriptions of this Buddhist kingdom.
Since Buddhism's introduction, Khotan has been a thriving center for religious activities in the Tarim Basin. As a birthplace of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, many eminent monks traveled westward to seek teachings there first; thus, Khotan became known as the "West" of Chinese Buddhism and a gathering place for Buddhist teachings.
The tomb measured approximately 30 meters long from north to south and 17 meters wide from east to west, with Buddha statues closely aligned against the northern wall and exquisite murals adorning its surfaces. Its scale and intricacy could only be rivaled by the ruins of the No. 1 Buddha Temple at Damagou Tuolukdun.
One could interpret this as a tomb belonging to an enlightened monk, with a Buddha chamber artificially sunk within it and covering an actual burial chamber beneath. This kind of tomb structure is similar to the sinking river burial principle used in ancient Chu during the Warring States period. Wu Zixu had his corpse whipped and sent people to intercept rivers and excavate graves before uncovering the tomb of the Chu king.
In this light, while this tomb appeared modest, its construction must have been monumental. The Mohe'er dynasty in India witnessed many instances where temples and monks were buried together. In 199 CE, Indian archaeologists discovered a similar tomb. So whose tomb could this be in Khotan?
"Damn it! Why does this mural style resemble Zhu Ran's Tomb?" Big Mouth Lee recalled hearing about Zhu Ran's Tomb from me; it had yielded many lacquer paintings, and he had searched for images of those murals on his phone, so he was somewhat familiar with them.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed that indeed this mural style was quite unique; most tombs around Khotan featured Kushan styles with some Han Dynasty line drawings mixed in. However, these murals looked less like paintings and more like brick carvings coated with abundant vermilion and black pigments in their raised areas—this was characteristic of Han Dynasty art.
The murals were remarkably simple yet detailed in their lines, reminiscent of early Dunhuang mural styles.
"Xia Ge, what story does this mural depict?"
"Wait a moment; let me take a closer look!"
The first mural depicted a Hu Monk sitting cross-legged with a high nose and curly hair, holding Buddhist Scriptures. Nearby, a Han person knelt on the ground, seemingly devoted to receiving teachings, while several monks stood by in attendance.
"This painting shows a Hu Monk imparting scriptures to a Han person receiving ordination!"
The second mural illustrated an endless desert, where a Wandering Monk trudged through the sands, carrying a backpack and holding a Dust Whisk, resembling a monk embarking on a journey westward.
"This is a monk traveling westward in search of teachings, traversing the desert with immense difficulty!"
The third mural featured an elderly monk, cradling a scroll and entrusting it to a disciple about to set off. He gazed longingly toward the east, his eyes revealing deep emotions for that direction—feelings that one who has transcended worldly attachments should not display.
After reading this mural, I pondered carefully: "If I’m not mistaken, the monk in this painting should be Zhu Bajie from the Three Kingdoms period?"
"Xia Ge, don’t joke with me. Zhu Bajie? Hahaha, what about Sun Wukong?"
"Foolishness!" Dong Tong shot a cold glance at Big Mouth Lee.
"Monk Zhu Shixing of the Three Kingdoms, Buddhist Name Bajie, was taught by Zhu Lixue Shamen Tanhe Jialuo. Zhu Shixing was the first Han monk in Chinese history to receive ordination and also the first monk to travel westward for scriptures. After becoming a monk and receiving ordination in Luoyang, he studied and explained the Prajnaparamita but felt that many meanings were lost in translation. The original translators had omitted much of the content they did not fully comprehend, making explanations unclear and disjointed. Hearing that there was a complete version of the Great Perfection Sutra in the Western Regions, he resolved to journey far to seek out the original text.
In 60 AD, he set off from Yongzhou (now northwest of Chang'an), crossed the Quicksand Desert to Khotan (in present-day Xinjiang Hotan), where he indeed obtained the Sanskrit text of the Great Perfection Sutra. He copied it there, transcribing 90 chapters totaling over 600,000 words. In 8 AD, Zhu Shixing sent his disciple Furu Tan and others to deliver the copied scriptures back to Luoyang while he remained in Khotan, where he later passed away at the age of 79."
"Could this be Zhu Shixing's burial site?"
"If the murals are accurate, it’s highly likely!"
The fourth mural was quite strange; it appeared as if a temple was buried underground. At its base was a deep pit filled with numerous figures of various kinds, resembling ancient Chinese tribute scenes. However, those figures had pale faces and slightly closed eyes, giving off an aura devoid of life. This mural seemed unrelated to the tomb owner and left me puzzled; these figures did not resemble burial goods.
"I can’t discern much from this mural for now; it might depict the funeral procession for the tomb owner!"
“Is this a Funeral procession? Where's the coffin?”
“Hmm! There’s something strange here. Without the assistance of Literature, I wouldn’t understand it either!” I stared at the mural, pondering deeply. Others were also looking at the mural, while some seemed lost in thought. Bald Qiang appeared to be just a brute; he was completely uninterested in these matters and barely listened to me finish my explanation.
Bald Qiang seemed to be getting dizzy from listening. He hunched over and was about to leave, striding forward as if he were in a hurry. Naturally, we had to stop such reckless behavior and asked, “Where are you going?”
“To an old monk’s grave. What could possibly be worth stealing there? The cold wind is howling outside; I’m just going out to grab a door panel to block it! Out of sight, out of mind…”
“Don’t go!”
“It’s fine, it’s fine…”
Perhaps due to our negligence, we let Bald Qiang go out to block the door. Who would have thought that the moment he blocked it, the “door” would be slammed against with a loud bang? Bald Qiang came rushing back in one breath, plopping down next to me on the ground. His round face was pale, and he kept mumbling, “Paper, Paper Man…”
“Paper Man?”
Big Mouth Lee frowned and said, “Bald Qiang, can you be any clearer? What do you mean by Paper Man? You look like you’ve been scared silly!”
“You don’t know anything! That thing is terrifying!”
Bald Qiang exclaimed dramatically: “When I was blocking the door, I happened to pick up a piece of jade. It felt cold on my backside. When I turned around, it turned out to be a Paper Man, and it was smiling at me! I nearly died from fright! In a moment of inspiration, I spat out some words and crashed through the door; that’s how I made it back in!”
“Looks like the Yin Soldiers have arrived!”
Zhengyang, carrying the Pure Jun Sword, flew out of the tomb without looking up, a gust of wind accompanied by a chill swept in.
After waiting for about ten minutes, Zhengyang finally returned. However, his hair was disheveled, and his clothes were torn in several places, looking quite disheveled. Without a word, he pulled out a stack of Yellow Talismans from his body, quickly took out two and slapped them onto the door. Then he hurried over to us, stuffing the Yellow Talismans into our hands and urging, "Stick these on all the doors and windows, hurry!!"
Big Mouth Lee's expression changed drastically upon seeing the talismans in his hand. "Zhengyang, what exactly is out there? Why did you even bring out these Talisman?"
A flicker of fear crossed Zhengyang's eyes as he gritted his teeth and pronounced each word slowly: "Yin! Soldiers! Borrowing! Path!"
As soon as Zhengyang finished speaking, everyone in the tomb turned pale… even the Furball in the backpack began to fidget anxiously.
Borrowing the path of Yin Soldiers, according to the records in Mausoleum Secrets, can happen under three circumstances…
The first situation occurs during large-scale wars throughout history where soldiers die in battle. Most of them are far from home, their grievances unresolved, and over time they become Yin Soldiers that dominate certain areas. They primarily attack when they encounter their enemies from life, leading to mutual destruction or a decisive victory.
The second situation involves Yin Soldiers from the Underworld coming to the mortal realm to capture wandering souls. Yin Soldiers and Yincha are two different concepts in the Underworld; Yincha holds a low status, akin to ancient laborers who serve ghost kings and generals by collecting souls of the deceased in the mortal realm. In contrast, Yin Soldiers are regular troops raised by ghost kings and generals!
When disasters such as earthquakes, floods, or famines occur in the mortal realm, causing mass casualties, the Underworld becomes overcrowded. When there aren’t enough Yincha to capture wandering souls, large numbers of Yin Soldiers will appear in the mortal realm to capture those who refuse to reincarnate!
The third situation involves wars in the Netherworld…
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