496: Chapter 496: Excavated by Invaders

“A stone tablet.”

“What kind of stone tablet?” Oriental Chen asked.

“It had six characters written on it: ‘Those who trespass into the Imperial Mausoleum shall die.’” Old Qin replied.

“Where is that stone tablet?” Oriental Chen asked.

“It’s gone.” Old Qin answered, spreading his hands.

“Gone? No, Old Qin, you didn’t come all this way just to tell me a story, did you? Besides, even if there really was such a stone tablet, it’s just a threat; why take it seriously?” Oriental Chen laughed.

“Don’t dismiss it, many Experts who studied the Qin Emperors Mausoleum have sacrificed their lives over the years,” Old Qin said.

“Old Qin, don’t worry, I won’t go down. As you can see, I just put some detectors down; nothing will happen. You should go back first. We’ll contact you if there’s any news.” Oriental Chen was about to open the door to leave.

He wasn’t interested in discussing such mysterious things here.

“Xiao Chen!” Old Qin’s expression changed, and he stopped him with a shout.

Seeing that Old Qin was angry, Oriental Chen quickly softened his tone.

He was already old; he shouldn’t get upset and fall ill.

“Old Qin, why are you still angry? Didn’t I tell you I wouldn’t go down, just use equipment to scan it?” Oriental Chen walked over to Old Qin and helped him sit down.

“Sigh! You don’t need to test; actually, this place was opened long ago,” Old Qin said, his tone softening.

“Ah?” Oriental Chen was stunned.

“In fact, this place was already plundered by intruders two hundred years ago,” Old Qin dropped a bombshell.

“But… if it was plundered, then why has it always been said that it was never opened?” Oriental Chen couldn’t understand.

Moreover, Old Qin had just said that those who tried to plunder the Imperial Mausoleum had died. Now he was saying it had already been plundered, which was a complete contradiction.

“After the founding of the nation, our Experts carried out emergency repairs on the Qin Emperors Mausoleum. In the First Emperor’s sarcophagus, a bundle of jade slips woven with gold thread was discovered, and the content on them shocked everyone,” Old Qin said.

“What was written on it?” Oriental Chen felt this was the information he was looking for.

“It described a scene where a sect called the Huo Xian Sect widely spread the art of immortality within the Great Qin territory. At that time, plagues were rampant, and corpses littered the fields. The Huo Xian Sect took advantage of the situation to grow, widely recruiting believers. The First Emperor personally led expeditions six times; on one hand, he widely promoted education, and on the other hand, he carried out purges against those cultists. Over more than a decade, countless missionaries and believers were massacred. All confiscated cult scriptures were burned, and those who privately hid scriptures were implicated. Persistence paid off; eventually, all the remaining members of the Huo Xian Sect were eliminated on the coast of the East Sea,” Old Qin said.

This description basically matched the information provided by the Mayans, but Old Qin’s description was more comprehensive.

“So, the historical belief that Qin Emperor’s six tours were only to search for the elixir of immortality is incorrect?” Oriental Chen said.

“Exactly. After several Experts saw the content on the jade slips, they all sighed at the enormous gap between history and fact,” Old Qin replied.

“Perhaps this Huo Xian Sect and the current Red Coat Sect are cults of the same nature,” Oriental Chen guessed.

“Perhaps.” Old Qin took a deep breath, looking very melancholic.

Oriental Chen felt that Old Qin’s expression was off.

What did Qin Emperor’s suppression of the Huo Xian Sect have to do with him?

Why was he so melancholic?

“Old Qin, what’s wrong?” Oriental Chen asked.

“Nothing, I just feel regret for this emperor of a thousand ages!” Old Qin sighed.

“Yes. It is very regrettable.” Oriental Chen nodded.

Historical records indicate that Qin Emperor began his first tour even before unifying the six states.

Now it has been confirmed that the purpose of his tours was to eliminate the Huo Xian Sect.

That is to say, basically, the latter half of his life was spent in endless struggle against the Huo Xian Sect, until his sixth tour, when he died in Shaqiu.

Was this an emperor?

This looked more like an endless working machine.

No wonder even the former High Priest of the Mayans praised this Chinese leader so much.

However, Old Qin’s narration lacked a crucial detail: the Terracotta Warriors.

The Mayan High Priest had mentioned the phrase “digging earth to make soldiers.”

“Old Qin, did the jade slips mention how the Huo Xian Sect was eliminated?” Oriental Chen asked.

“No, it didn’t.” Old Qin shook his head.

“Alright then!” Oriental Chen nodded.

“Alright, Xiao Chen, since the situation is clear, let’s leave now!” Old Qin said.

“Oh, right, Old Qin, besides the jade slips found in Qin Emperor’s tomb, were there any other things discovered?” Oriental Chen asked.

“Sigh! The First Emperor’s mausoleum was completely plundered; not even a few floor tiles were left. What valuable things could there be? Besides some broken pottery figurines, there was nothing else.” Old Qin sighed and shook his head, looking very distressed.

However, why did Oriental Chen vaguely feel that it was untrustworthy?

He always felt that Old Qin was misleading him.

“Old Qin, I heard that Qin Emperor’s mausoleum is very magnificent, with the sun, moon, stars, mountains, and rivers all represented. Since you know the situation inside, could you tell me about it?” Oriental Chen asked tentatively.