Big Grasshopper decided he was going to open the box, and Young Master Liu felt a mix of sorrow and joy, but he didn't stop him, as he had ultimately agreed to the opening.

Fan Debiao was still somewhat reluctant, launching into a barrage of what he considered sage advice for Big Grasshopper.

Big Grasshopper completely ignored Fan Debiao’s teasing and told him, “If you’re afraid of dying, then hide in the river. Come up after I’ve opened the box.”

Fan Debiao glanced at the waterway. “This water is colder than the South Pole. If I hide in there, I’ll freeze to death. Forget it; if we’re all going to die anyway, I’d rather go out quickly with a ‘Storm of Pear Blossoms’ attack.” With that, he lay down on the boat.

Young Master Liu said to Big Grasshopper, “Open it. At worst, we’ll be strapping young heroes again in twenty years!”

Big Grasshopper nodded, picked up the ‘Pure Yang Treasure Box,’ turning it over in his hands. Finally, he fixed on one side, pressed the box onto the boat, and gave the designated side a forceful twist, rotating it one hundred and eighty degrees.

Seeing this, Young Master Liu gasped in surprise. He wondered if the box’s complete seal could be bypassed by twisting, perhaps speaking to the high precision of the ‘Pure Yang Treasure Box,’ capable of making the seam invisible.

After Big Grasshopper twisted the ‘Pure Yang Iron Box,’ a sound of interlocking gears emanated from within. Suddenly, the side that had been rotated popped open.

Seeing that a face of the ‘Pure Yang Iron Box’ had sprung open, cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead, and his legs trembled uncontrollably, terrified that several needles might shoot out.

But after the box opened, there was no reaction, and a wave of relief washed over them. Everyone then crowded around the ‘Pure Yang Iron Box.’

Young Master Liu was the first to examine the box’s interior. The inside of the ‘Pure Yang Iron Box’ was incredibly intricate; every face contained numerous gears of varying sizes. He couldn't begin to understand the transmission principle; he doubted even a professional mechanic could decipher it—it was just too complex.

Except for the face that had sprung open, the other sides held several silver needles connected to various gears, suggesting Big Grasshopper had chosen the correct face.

These people from the Three Kingdoms era were already using gear mechanisms, and such complex ones at that—it was truly baffling. If modern mechanics were to see this box, they would surely be depressed. But now was not the time to study the mechanisms; they first needed to see what treasures lay inside the ‘Pure Yang Iron Box,’ so full of hidden ingenuity.

Young Master Liu turned his gaze to the bottom of the box, where a folded piece of material resembling Xuan paper lay flat.

Fan Debiao looked and grumbled, “All this trouble and risk for just this little thing!”

‘Xuan paper’? Even the best paper from the Eastern Han Dynasty was barely Cai Lun paper. How could such pristine Xuan paper appear in a Three Kingdoms tomb? It defied logic. Perhaps this ‘Xuan paper’ had been placed there by later generations? But that seemed unlikely too, as the box was clearly a product of the Three Kingdoms period. Thinking this, Young Master Liu’s mind became thoroughly muddled.

Since entering the tomb, they had encountered everything from the Mermaid Clan in the sea to artifacts from the ancient past, and now, a paper comparable to later-era Xuan paper found within a Three Kingdoms tomb. If the water temperature here weren't so low, Young Master Liu would have gladly plunged in to sober up.

Fan Debiao chimed in, “I told you we shouldn’t have opened it. What’s so great about this thing?”

No matter how fine the paper, it wasn’t inherently valuable, but the appearance of such high-quality paper in a Three Kingdoms tomb was inherently strange. Young Master Liu said to Fan Debiao, “You can’t say that. While the paper itself might not be valuable, whatever is written on it must hold immense research value. You spent so many years in Harbin; you should know better than me.” With that, Young Master Liu reached out to retrieve the paper from the box.

Before his hand made contact, Big Grasshopper stopped him. “Wait, don't touch it like that, or this boshu will turn to ash.”

“Whoa!” Fan Debiao shrieked. “This is a Three Kingdoms boshu! Oh my goodness, we’ve struck it rich this time!”

Hearing Fan Debiao’s exclamation, Young Master Liu finally understood. Boshu (silk manuscript) resembled later Xuan paper quite closely, except boshu was made from silk or similar material.

Not only were boshu precious cultural relics, but they also held significant historical value for the study of Chinese calligraphy.

The most famous boshu is perhaps the Chu Silk Manuscript. The Chu Silk Manuscript measures 38.5 cm high and 46.2 cm wide. At its center are two sections of text written inversely, one 13 lines long and the other 8 lines. Surrounding this are 12 sections of border text arranged in a rotational pattern, with three sections situated at each of the four cardinal directions. Each section is accompanied by an illustration of a mythical creature.

In terms of the calligraphy art on the boshu, the lines are generally orderly, and the spacing is mostly uniform. Amidst the pursuit of neatness and structure, the writing retains a natural spontaneity. The characters are flat and stable, balanced and symmetrical, upright and serious, situated between Seal and Clerical scripts. The brushwork is smooth and flowing, with curves that possess flourishes and straight lines that exhibit occasional sharp turns. Its elegance is revealed through variations in thickness, and its pure charm is displayed through the pausing and pressing of strokes, fully manifesting the author's deliberate pursuit of textual artistry.

However, boshu was not solely about the pursuit of artistic text; most contained documentation of major secrets.

Young Master Liu was beside himself with excitement. Perhaps the purpose of their entire expedition rested on this boshu. He quickly asked Big Grasshopper, “Big Grasshopper, what should I do now?”

Big Grasshopper replied, “That’s simple. You just need to put on gloves.”

Hearing Big Grasshopper mention gloves, Young Master Liu suddenly realized he had lost his gloves earlier when dealing with the female zombie using the black donkey hoof.

Big Grasshopper finished speaking, adjusted his gloves, and carefully lifted the boshu from the ‘Pure Yang Iron Box.’ He unfolded it, estimating by eye that the boshu was about 50 cm long and 40 cm wide, suggesting that the boshu across various states during the Three Kingdoms period might have been standardized.

It turned out there were eight boshu in total inside the box. The box wasn't large, yet it could accommodate eight such manuscripts, which indicated how exceedingly thin they must be.

Young Master Liu eagerly urged Big Grasshopper, “Big Grasshopper, what does this say?”

Big Grasshopper frowned, shook his head, and said, “That’s strange. These boshu are all drawings; there are no characters.” He paused, then exclaimed in surprise, “This is a narrative depiction. This shouldn't be called boshu anymore; it should be called buhua (silk painting). This is clearer and more explicit than a boshu. To my knowledge, no buhua like this has ever been excavated. This buhua is unique in the world—a groundbreaking discovery for archaeology!”

Seeing Big Grasshopper drifting back to archaeology, Fan Debiao interrupted him. “Calm down, let’s look at the content of this buhua first.”

Big Grasshopper snapped out of his intense excitement and neatly arranged the eight buhua on the boat.

The technique used in painting these buhua was highly stylized, but since Young Master Liu had studied Taoism for many years, deciphering the paintings was not difficult.

The first to the seventh buhua depicted the construction process of this mausoleum. The tomb was originally carved out from within a great mountain, and the ridge they had crossed was merely a small hill on that mountain. Only then did they understand why the cliff face was even taller than that ridge.

During construction, the river channel was originally the tomb passage. The passage was dug from a cave outside the mountain all the way to the stone door where they stood. Countless people were hauling stone materials inside the stone door, but the buhua did not depict the situation inside the stone door—the artist was still being secretive.

Young Master Liu closely examined the Yellow Turban laborers depicted building the mausoleum on the buhua. The figures were rendered with remarkable detail, yet they looked somewhat odd; something felt distinctly off.

At that moment, Green Worm pointed at the men building the tomb and said, “These people weren’t volunteers; they must be slaves.”

Fan Debiao started, quickly scrutinizing the builders on the buhua. His face was full of confusion; he looked as lost as a blind fly.

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