All along, Zhou Huan's mind was occupied with one question: the remains of Old Cripple Huang. Where exactly were his bones? Given the location where the female corpse's tomb had been discovered, it should be in the same general area as where the original event took place. Furthermore, the current excavation depth matched the depth he reached when descending via the vine. Therefore, Cripple Huang’s remains ought to be nearby. After this line of reasoning, Zhou Huan decided to look for Cripple Huang's bones first. The female corpse's burial chamber could wait, as he sensed that the ring was the most critical clue in this entire affair.

The most valuable item in the entire tomb chamber was that ring—a five-colored jewel, symbolizing royal nobility, its golden brilliance supporting life’s splendor.

Zhou Huan drove his vehicle directly to the site of the female corpse’s tomb. The area surrounding the chamber was a chaotic mess of debris from demolished houses on the construction site—broken tiles, toppled shanties—not a trace of any phantom image from Zhou Huan’s vision remained. The vines and stone caves from his illusion had vanished without a trace. Zhou Huan had nowhere to start and nothing left to investigate regarding these matters.

Everything seemed to have reached an impasse. Zhou Huan, dazed, stepped out of his car and stood at the sealed excavation site. Numerous archaeologists were searching within a two-li radius, layer by layer, wielding shovels and pickaxes. When they saw Zhou Huan exit his car and walk toward the site, someone moved to stop him. But the person who approached Zhou Huan immediately made him gasp in sharp intake of breath. He couldn't believe his eyes. Was this real?

“Master Zhou, what brings you here today? Uh… the female corpse has already been lifted and secured. I suggest you go to our institute to examine the findings instead.” The way the speaker talked, even the sound of his voice, was exactly the same as Little Si in Zhou Huan’s vision. Hadn't Little Si died? How could this be… Reincarnated?

Zhou Huan stared, his eyes wooden, sizing up the young archaeologist. Seeing the young man continuously looking at him, he felt compelled to respond, “Oh, I came here precisely to see the current situation.” After speaking, Zhou Huan started to leave, but as he turned, he added an extra question about the young man’s name: “What should I call you, young man?”

“Master Zhou, you forgot. My name was on the list of archaeological personnel I gave you yesterday.” As he said this, the young archaeologist realized he misspoke, then quickly added, “Right, you didn’t call out every name, either. My name is Gu Yong, fourth oldest in my family, so just call me Little Si.” As he finished speaking, a layer of smile spread across Little Si’s face.

Hearing this, Zhou Huan’s mind immediately filled with scenes from his illusion. He reviewed the memory of Little Si's appearance, his eyes constantly fixed on the Little Si before him. After a long pause, Zhou Huan finally calmed down. He called out to Gu Yong, who was about to turn away, “Little Si—no, Researcher Gu—I wanted to ask if you have an older brother, a third brother?”

“Heh heh, what’s gotten into Master Zhou today, taking such an interest in me? I am the fourth born in my family, so of course, I have an elder brother.” This time, Little Si’s eyes twinkled, and he chuckled, his expression shifting to extreme politeness. “Master Zhou, I wonder what impression I’ve made on you. I wish to formally become your disciple, to learn properly from you about matters concerning the deceased.”

Zhou Huan smiled faintly. “Mr. Gu, please don't jest. If you have anything you don't understand and wish to ask, feel free to come find me at Fushou Hall anytime. Besides, you all handle ancient corpses and artifacts day in and day out. Tomorrow, I’ll have someone give you all a talisman to wear that will keep you safe. You are excavators of ancient culture after all, heh heh. There’s no need to formally apprentice to me. I… truly possess nothing!”

Little Si’s sudden excitement vanished entirely. With a conflicted expression, he looked at Zhou Huan, then could only manage a smile and bid Zhou Huan farewell.

Zhou Huan turned and walked alone toward the entrance of the burial chamber. When he reached the doorway, two police officers were guarding it. They certainly recognized Zhou Huan. “Master Zhou, you’ve come today. It’s quite messy inside, sir. Do you still wish to enter?”

Zhou Huan looked troubled. He craned his neck to peer inside, then looked back at the two officers by the door. “What’s happening today?”

“Oh, Master Zhou, we can’t hide it from you. Several experts are inside right now tracing the Persian murals on the ceiling. They said they don't want to be disturbed by anyone. You see…” The two officers seemed extremely apologetic.

Zhou Huan plastered on a smile. “I see, then I won't disturb them.” He then asked the two officers, “Do you happen to know if Mr. Long Sheng, from the archaeology team, is around?” As he spoke, his eyes scanned the surroundings.

The two police officers casually pointed behind Zhou Huan. “Go look for him near the excavator. He’s cleaning a tombstone over there.”

“A tombstone?” Zhou Huan suddenly felt a surge of excitement, because finding a tombstone meant that much of the earlier material here should have remained undamaged. He then immediately followed up with another question: “Do you know what kind of tombstone it is?”

“Master Zhou, look at you asking such a question. How would I know what kind of tombstone it is? You can just go over and see for yourself!”

Zhou Huan figured that was the only way. He immediately turned in the direction the officers had pointed, stepping quickly over the rubble, his gait uneven.

“Long Sheng, Long Sheng!” Zhou Huan started calling out before he even reached him, because what he sought was hope, a glimpse of scenes he had witnessed in his visions.

A dozen steps away from Zhou Huan, Long Sheng was crouched on the ground, vigorously brushing debris from a tombstone with a small brush. The tombstone appeared to be only half-present. The characters on it were thickly covered in yellow mud, and the bluestone had changed color. Long Sheng seemed to be cleaning the stone with some kind of special agent.

Hearing Zhou Huan call his name, Long Sheng turned, immediately dropped what he was doing, and stood up respectfully. “Master Zhou is here! Haha, I was just thinking of you. What can I do for you?”

Zhou Huan’s eyes were fixed on the tombstone. He cautiously approached it, completely ignoring Long Sheng. When Long Sheng asked him what he needed, Zhou Huan casually asked Long Sheng, “Is the tombstone only half of what it should be?”

“Isn’t it? I was actually planning to ask you about it. Whose tombstone would only use half its size? And back in the day, families wealthy enough to erect a tombstone would certainly care deeply about its quality and the manner of its setting. Who would choose to use only half a tombstone?” Long Sheng said, moving aside to let Zhou Huan look.

Zhou Huan looked down. The inscription on the tombstone read “Liang Men Shijia” (The Esteemed Family of the Liang Gate). And indeed, the stone was clearly just one half, showing no signs of being cut off or deliberately broken. It was evident that the stone had been intentionally set this way when erected, bearing only the family name and not the final inscription.

“In ancient times, such a stele did exist. Those who erected this type of marker belonged to major clans, using a sectional stele instead of a complete one to symbolize the clan’s imperishability and the continuity of generations—the 'half' meaning that those who died were only a small part of the larger family. This practice was common in ancient China near the Western Regions. Some say this method of setting monuments was introduced to China from Persia and later adopted and refined by the Chinese into the stone tablet we see today.” Zhou Huan explained in detail, yet even as he spoke, he was frantically replaying scenes in his mind. He had definitely not seen such a stone tablet in his visions. So, what was the story behind this particular stone?

Listening to Zhou Huan’s explanation, Long Sheng seemed to have a sudden enlightenment. His respect for Zhou Huan was no longer limited to the matter of the Funeral Master; his new realization was that Zhou Huan was undoubtedly a man of immense erudition, grasping even complex archaeological issues with such clarity.

“Master Zhou, so how should we handle this tombstone? I estimate its age to be from the Late Tang period, belonging either to the royalty of the Liang Kingdom at that time or a noble clan within the royal lineage. To erect a stone like this required a very wealthy family. Furthermore, the Han Dynasty female corpse we saw yesterday should also belong to their Liang clan. However, based on my preliminary analysis, this tombstone was likely erected by later generations for their ancestors.” Long Sheng spoke fluently, sounding quite professional when discussing archaeology.

Zhou Huan smiled faintly. “Then, Mr. Long Sheng, how about this: when you have time, I would like to look at your family genealogy, if you don't mind.”