174: Chapter 174 The Legendary Ghost River Comes True

Upon hearing this, everyone could not help but feel a bit puzzled.

Miao Feng looked at Professor Zhou and could not help but ask, "How could these two side chambers... be burial chambers? That doesn't seem right, does it?"

To everyone's surprise, Professor Zhou nodded and continued, "Back then, there were indeed many countries in the desert with vastly different customs."

"In some of these countries, when a man died, his wife had to follow him into the afterlife. Only pregnant women were exempt from death!"

"However... if the child born to a pregnant woman was a stillborn, then both the stillborn infant and the wife would have to be buried with him as well!"

"The other burial chamber likely contains the Tomb Owner's wife, and these two little ones must be the stillborn infants!"

After he finished speaking, everyone fell silent.

Although the Great Xia had long abolished the custom of burying the living with the dead during the period of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

It was inevitable that some barbaric lands at the time still held such inhumane customs.

Professor Zhou put on his gloves, took out the two stillborn infants injected with mercury, and slowly shook his head, saying, "I hope they have been reincarnated into a better life!"

...

Pressing the mechanism at the bottom of the stone coffin, the stone slab at the base slowly slid out, revealing a long staircase leading downwards.

Ye Xiao and the others entered one after another.

The main burial chamber was still narrow. In the center sat a huge, square stone coffin, and the four walls were covered in paintings, along with some script that Ye Xiao could not understand.

"This... this is Uyghur Mongolian script! It seems that a chieftain of some Mongol tribe is buried here!"

"This chieftain is named Alhan, and he seems to have been a chieftain of a relatively large tribe!"

"But he died in battle while fighting against others!"

"There is a detailed record of that battle here..."

As he spoke, Professor Zhou moved his gaze to the next mural.

But as soon as he turned his gaze, his pupils constricted sharply, as if he had been struck by lightning!

"This... this is..."

For a moment, Professor Zhou couldn't even speak clearly, and could only stutter while pointing at the mural, his face full of excitement.

"What's wrong, Professor Zhou? What happened?"

Miao Feng was the first to notice Professor Zhou's abnormality and hurried forward to ask with concern.

But when his gaze met the mural in front, Miao Feng also widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief!

"Isn't this the mural from the Buddha Hall of the Aise Grottoes?"

At this moment, Professor Zhou felt his brain become chaotic, and his expression gradually became blank.

Ye Xiao, upon hearing this, also walked quickly to the mural and began to examine the painting in front of him.

This should be the second of the trapezoidal murals from the Buddha Hall of the Aise Grottoes.

On the mural was a river, and on both sides, troops were brandishing scimitars and spears, engaged in fierce battle.

Just from the lines outlined in the mural, everyone could feel the brutality of the battle, let alone the true situation of that fight back then!

After examining it for a while, Ye Xiao discovered that this mural was somewhat similar to the one in the Buddha Hall, but it was not exactly the same!

Therefore, Ye Xiao immediately said, "This is not the mural from the Buddha Hall; there are many differences!"

"However... the last battle of Genghis Khan's life must have been fought against the Tomb Owner here!"

"In that battle, Genghis Khan was also seriously injured, and coupled with the torment of his illness, he passed away soon after!"

Turning, Ye Xiao looked at Professor Zhou, who was still somewhat dazed, and asked, "Professor Zhou, is there any record of this river? What is it called?"

Hearing Ye Xiao call his name, Professor Zhou seemed to wake up from a dream and suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Oh, oh! Let me see... it seems to be called... the Nimute River?"

"What???"

When Professor Zhou said the three characters "Nimute", Tu Kun's terrified voice suddenly rang out from behind.

Everyone looked towards the sound and saw Tu Kun with a face full of terror, his breathing rapid.

"That is... that is the Ghost River! The river is buried with millions of wandering souls. Anyone who sees the Nimute River will die suddenly!"

"Legend has it... legend has it that their lives are claimed by those lonely wandering ghosts!"

"I didn't expect this to be... to be real!"

Needless to say, this must be a legend among the locals of Ordos.

After pondering for a moment, Professor Zhou suddenly asked, "Why is it said... that seeing this Ghost River will lead to one's life being claimed? Has anyone actually seen this Underground River?"

Tu Kun swallowed hard, his face full of terror.

He looked at Professor Zhou and said, "This Ghost River sometimes appears, but sometimes it disappears. It is impossible for people to track it!"

"Unless... unless this Ghost River wants to be seen by you!"

"When I was a child, there was an old man allied with us who once rode a camel into the desert and saw this Ghost River."

"After returning, the old man was always acting strange, saying he had seen the Ghost River and such, and not long after, he died!"

Finally, Tu Kun added, saying again, "You, you must not go looking for the Ghost River. If you anger it, our lives will be claimed too!"

After Tu Kun finished speaking, the burial chamber suddenly fell into silence.

Ye Xiao, Professor Zhou, and the others all fell into deep thought, beginning to ponder what Tu Kun had said.

As for the so-called "Ghost River" and the claim that seeing it would lead to one's life being claimed, they certainly did not believe it!

There must be a reason why the Ghost River appears and disappears, and the old man's death... was likely due to him seeing the legendary Ghost River, overthinking it, and living in constant fear.

Coupled with his old age and frailty, he could not withstand the pressure and eventually died.

These instances of people being scared to death by ghost legends had all been confirmed in the end.

This time was naturally no exception.

However, after thinking for a long while, Professor Zhou and the others did not have much of a clue.

After all, they had not seen this so-called Nimute River with their own eyes, and even the reality of its existence was open to question.

So in the end, everyone did not dwell on this matter too much.

Professor Zhou's gaze gradually returned to the stone wall in front of him.

"Wait!"

Suddenly, Professor Zhou's face lit up with surprise.

"This Tomb Owner... seems to be like Genghis Khan, both buried next to the Nimute River!"

Professor Zhou deciphered the words on the mural one by one, and upon finally obtaining the definitive answer, he suddenly became excited!

"That is to say! We are actually right next to the Nimute Underground River now!"

This time, it wasn't just Professor Zhou.

The rest of the archaeologists were also extremely excited, all casting their gazes onto the written records before them.

"It's true, it's true! We stumbled upon the Nimute River where the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan is located!"

Miao Feng was full of excitement, almost jumping up with joy.

Thinking back on the experiences of the past two days, they had been racing against death almost every moment.

Now that they had finally found the Nimute River where the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan was located, everyone could not help but embrace each other and weep with joy.

In the team, only three people seemed to be somewhat detached.

One was Ye Xiao, and another was Tu Kun!