Chapter 36: His Remains Are in the Coffin

Early morning in Qingshan Village.

The mist is fresh.

At the foot of Daqingshan outside the village, several vehicles are parked, including a bus.

Over a dozen people stand in the open space, pointing at the excavation site halfway up the mountain.

Bai Wei parks the Recreational Vehicle to the side and jumps down from it.

"Xiao Wei, come over here!"

Standing in the crowd, Professor Ye greets her enthusiastically the moment he sees her.

Zhou Yuchuan stands beside him, wearing a formal black suit today with a white lab coat over it, and an Archaeology Team ID badge hanging on his chest; his temperament is cold and outstanding.

He looks up, sees Bai Wei, and nods slightly at her.

Bai Wei greets the two of them as well and walks forward with a smile.

She sees four people standing opposite Professor Ye, who must be the Goryeo inspection team.

One of the men, wearing sunglasses and a floral shirt, has a "Director" badge hanging around his neck.

"Come, come." Professor Ye lifts his chin slightly and introduces her, "They are the Goryeo inspection team. This time, besides visiting the tomb, they also want to examine the cultural relics and history to film a documentary about ancient artifacts after returning to their country."

After finishing, he smiles at the group and says, "Her name is Bai Wei, a member of our Archaeology Team."

Just as Bai Wei wonders if the other party can understand,

Zhou Yuchuan steps forward, speaking fluent Goryeo language.

After he finishes, the few inspectors nod repeatedly.

Bai Wei turns her head in surprise to look at him, muttering to herself.

She really didn't expect him to be able to act as an interpreter.

The few members of the inspection team gesture excitedly, clearly impatient to enter the Zhenbei King Tomb.

Professor Ye waves his hand, beckoning everyone to walk toward the Zhenbei King Tomb.

The Zhenbei King Tomb is halfway up the mountain, a massive cave; construction workers have already excavated a portion and are busy clearing away rubble and soil.

"The Zhenbei King Tomb has three burial chambers in total; the first chamber has already been excavated," Zhou Yuchuan introduces. "Many precious items have also been unearthed, all of which are artifacts that have rarely or even never appeared in history, holding immense scientific research significance."

Bai Wei steps into the tomb, and a cool breeze carrying the scent of soil rushes toward her.

She looks up, gazing at the massive cave.

Is the skeletal remains of Xiao Moting after his death buried here?

A subtle feeling wells up in her heart.

The crossing of time and space is truly wondrous; she had clearly been chatting with Xiao Moting just yesterday, and today she has arrived at his tomb.

She wonders what Xiao Moting would feel if he saw his own mausoleum.

At the thought of seeing Xiao Moting's remains, Bai Wei feels both expectant and somewhat uneasy.

"Professor Zhou, where is the coffin of the Zhenbei King? Can I take a look at him?"

"Over there." Zhou Yuchuan points with his hand.

Following the direction he points, Bai Wei is shocked to see a massive stone coffin, half-excavated, with the other half embedded in the soil, while workers are using small brushes to carefully clear away the dirt.

"Xiao Moting!"

She cannot help but rush forward, reaching out to touch the coffin.

The moment her fingers touch the cold stone coffin, Bai Wei's heart trembles, and she feels an indescribable sense of distress.

Xiao Moting is dead, and his remains have been sleeping in this coffin for over a thousand years.

Clearly, in her heart, he is a living, breathing person.

At this moment, several workers carefully carry out something covered in rust.

Bai Wei's pupils shrink instantly.

She recognizes it; this is Xiao Moting's Long Sword!

She has seen it with her own eyes, and she has seen his heroic figure holding the Long Sword, piercing an enemy's chest with a single strike!

But the sword before her is now covered in rust and caked in mud, its original sharpness almost unrecognizable!

Behind her comes Zhou Yuchuan's cold voice.

"When Xiao Moting died, he was only twenty-two."

"This mausoleum was built for him after his death by his soldiers and the local commoners who spontaneously raised funds."

"He betrayed the country and was notorious; the Daliang Imperial Court would never have built a tomb for him."

"That's not true!" Bai Wei blurts out, "Xiao Moting would never betray Daliang!"

"How do you know?"

"I..." Bai Wei is momentarily speechless; she cannot tell Zhou Yuchuan that she has not only met Xiao Moting but also spoken with him.

Suddenly, her gaze drifts to the cave wall, and she is instantly stunned!

It is so magnificent!

On the cave wall, three massive murals are painted!

The scenes in the murals are actually of Daliang!

The first mural depicts the scene of Xiao Moting leading the Imperial Court Army to fight against one hundred thousand Barbarians.

Bai Wei holds her breath.

So that battle in history—if not for her, Xiao Moting would have failed, Xuancheng would have been breached, countless commoners would have died, and he himself would have been severely wounded, with his thirty thousand personal soldiers nearly wiped out.

That was close!

The second mural shows Xiao Moting leading his troops to repel the invasion of Daye.

The third shows hundreds of thousands of Imperial Court Army troops besieging Fengsha Pass.

Countless Beijiang Army soldiers lay on the ground, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

Xiao Moting was covered in blood, standing alone at the gate of Fengsha Pass, raising his Long Sword to slit his own throat, exceptionally tragic and heroic.

Behind him, the common people knelt before him one after another, weeping and begging him to stay.

Further away, a plague ran rampant in the city, with corpses scattered everywhere.

So, this was the cause of his death.

Bai Wei widened her eyes in shock.

"What on earth happened here?"

Zhou Yuchuan walked over.

"... After the war with the barbarians, a large number of refugees fled to Xiao Moting, bringing with them a terrifying plague."

"In order to treat the refugees, Xiao Moting purchased medicinal herbs from Daye, but unexpectedly, he fell into a trap."

"Traitorous officials in the Imperial Court colluded with Daye, seizing the opportunity to frame him for treason and colluding with the enemy."

"The Imperial Court believed the slander and dispatched four hundred thousand elite troops to arrest Xiao Moting and bring him back to Shengjing for trial. He ordered his troops to stand by, but the Beijiang Army and all the people in the city refused to obey and resisted spontaneously."

"To avoid casualties, Xiao Moting slit his own throat on the city wall to end the war with his death."

After hearing this, Bai Wei was speechless for a long time, her heart incomparably shaken.

So!

He did not commit treason; it was a trumped-up charge!

So!

His troops did not betray him; they were ordered to stand by.

Bai Wei's heart felt as if it were blocked by a water-soaked sponge.

It was so painful she could not speak!

Xiao Moting was a peerless hero who loved his country and his people.

He should not have died like this, and even more so, he should not have to bear eternal infamy after his death.

Even... his tomb could only be hidden secretly deep in the mountains.

He could not be worshipped by the masses in an upright and honorable manner like other heroes!

No!

She would not allow it!

Bai Wei took a deep breath and clenched her fists slightly.

Aren't they just refugees?

Isn't it just a plague?

She would never watch Xiao Moting die like this!

She would change all of this!

Just as Bai Wei made up her mind, a burst of gibberish arguing suddenly came from the side.

She turned her head to look and was surprised to discover.

Professor Ye was actually arguing with several Goryeo researchers, his face flushed red.

Bai Wei immediately ran over, "Professor Ye, what happened?"

Professor Ye looked indignant and pointed at the mural, "The things painted on this Daliang mural are clearly Huaxia antiques, but this director in the floral shirt insists that most of them were passed down from Goryeo, and he even wants to film them in a documentary to promote Goryeo's ancient culture!"