Wang Guan hadn't realized that, in Tang Qinghua's eyes, he had already been elevated to the status of a grand collector. At this very moment, after leaving the residential area with Yu Feibai, he immediately drove north towards Mount Mang.

Speaking of Mount Mang, it is truly a paramount cultural landscape of Luoyang. Not only is the scenery beautiful and the atmosphere pleasant, but it is also home to China's first ancient tomb museum. The sheer number of tombs on the mountain is attested to by the Tang Dynasty poet Wang Jian’s verse: “On Mount Mang’s slopes, no idle earth is found, / But only graves of Luoyang’s long-departed mound. / Old tombs house many who returned to rest, / Piling gold high, yet nowhere to invest.”

From this poem, one can see that today's sky-high cemetery prices are not an original invention but have certain historical roots. Back in the Tang Dynasty, the land on Mount Mang was certainly worth its weight in gold, sometimes being unobtainable even with gold. The tombs sprang up densely on the mountain, one generation after another, leaving scarcely room for a reclining ox.

This is absolutely no exaggeration; one only needs to think carefully to understand why. As an ancient capital for thirteen dynasties, Luoyang boasts an incredibly long history. Consequently, from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty right up to the Ming and Qing, countless marquises, generals, wise officials, and celebrated literati found their final resting places upon this mountain.

“Live in Suzhou or Hangzhou, but be buried on Mount Mang.”

This saying was widely circulated among the common folk, but it was only upon reaching Mangshan that Wang Guan truly grasped its meaning and weight.

Following Elder Hou’s instructions, the two arrived at Cuiyun Peak. From their vantage point, they surveyed the surroundings. Hundreds of towering, mound-shaped ancient tombs, resembling inverted square bushels, were scattered across the rolling hills of Mount Mang—some arranged with careful symmetry, others clustered together—presenting a magnificent spectacle.

Seeing this scene, Wang Guan couldn't help but exclaim, “Truly worthy of being called the greatest in China.”

Mangshan is the largest concentration of mausoleums in China and one of the nation's largest sites under key national cultural heritage protection. Its density, sheer quantity, and the long span of time it covers naturally deem it the greatest in China.

Historical records indicate that over a dozen emperors who once ruled the realm, such as Liu Xiu and Yuan Hong; thousands of distinguished generals and scholars like Zhang Yi, Fan Kuai, Ban Chao, and Di Renjie; kings from foreign lands such as King Fuyu and Quan Nansheng; and even deposed rulers like Liu Shan and Li Yu, all rest in peace on these few dozen li of hills north of Luoyang City. As for the tombs of ordinary wealthy families, their numbers are beyond counting.

From the Han Dynasty to the Qing, the area north of Luoyang near Mangshan was a highly desired final sleeping place. Officials, dignitaries, and wealthy merchants of all eras took pride in acquiring a plot of land for burial on Mount Mang. Generation after generation of Luoyang natives, along with countless people from other locales and foreign lands, regarded Mount Mang as the terminus of their lives.

The primary reason for this phenomenon lies in the magnificent terrain of Mount Mang. The earth is deep and rich, and the Yi and Luo Rivers flow from west to east through Luoyang City. Establishing a tomb here perfectly aligned with the ancient veneration of the fengshui principle of "resting against a mountain and facing a river."

Bluntly put, this area was considered a treasure trove of fengshui in the eyes of the world. In fengshui theory, a burial site requires the concentration of qi (vital energy), protection from the wind, and a boundary provided by flowing water to halt the dispersal of that qi—the principle being, "Qi carried by the wind dissipates; stopped by water, it settles." The Mount Mang area epitomizes this: backed by the mountain range to the north and facing the Luo River to the south. It is precisely this configuration of protective mountain and confronting water that creates an ideal, auspicious resting place that gathers wind and retains qi.

Coupled with humanity's innate tendency toward conformity, the fact that successive emperors and generals were buried here served, in a way, to directly confirm the belief that this was indeed a prime fengshui location.

This perception, accumulated over thousands of years, naturally forged a unique and deeply rooted culture. Under such circumstances, the concentration of so many imperial mausoleums and ancient tombs on Mount Mang becomes easy to understand.

Just as Wang Guan was marveling at the sight, a young man approached and politely inquired, “Excuse me, are you Mr. Wang Guan?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

At that moment, Wang Guan had no time for further contemplation. He quickly nodded, “Did Elder Hou send you to meet us?”

“Yes.”

The young man smiled and nodded. “Elder Hou is currently occupied and couldn't come himself, so he sent me to bring you to see him.”

As he explained, the young man gestured for them to get into the car and slowly drove off, winding through the roads of Mount Mang. It is worth noting that Mount Mang is not merely a single peak. In the geographical sense, its range is vast, stretching west to the Qinling Mountains and eastward along the southern bank of the Yellow River to Guangwu Mountain north of Zhengzhou City, covering over a hundred kilometers.

Even the narrowly defined Mount Mang is substantial—roughly spanning from Mengjin to Yanshi on the northern side of Luoyang City, centered around the confluence of the Yellow and Luo Rivers, extending about fifty kilometers east to west and twenty kilometers north to south. The area is certainly expansive; otherwise, it could never accommodate the tombs of the numerous princes, generals, and common people across several millennia.

However, as the car drove deeper into Mount Mang, the roads grew increasingly remote. If they hadn't been expecting someone, Wang Guan and Yu Feibai would have genuinely suspected the young man was planning an abduction.

Regardless, under the young man’s guidance, the car made many turns and twists. After about twenty minutes, they finally stopped at a temporary camp situated at the foot of a higher elevation.

“We’re here.”

The young man opened his door, stepped out, and smiled. “Elder Hou is inside the tent. I’ll lead the way…”

“Is this… an archaeological camp?”

The two naturally followed him out, looking around the surroundings with surprise. The camp was quite large, featuring ten or so canvas tents, along with several makeshift outdoor kitchens.

At that moment, many people in the camp were busy washing rice and sorting vegetables, clearly preparing for lunch. But a larger group was concentrated in the higher-ground area, digging with tools like hoes and shovels. Since Mount Mang is an area dense with tombs, anyone excavating in broad daylight would either be a farmer turning soil or part of an archaeological team.

“That’s right, it’s an archaeological team.” The young man seemed a bit surprised, as he assumed Elder Hou would have informed his guests about the situation, but it appeared they were unaware.

Despite the slight confusion, the young man said nothing more, directly leading the two toward a tent in the center of the camp.

“Elder Hou, I’ve brought the people.”

Approaching the tent, the young man did not rush inside but called out loudly first.

“…Come in,” Elder Hou’s voice sounded from within, and then someone inside lifted the tent flap.

“Huh!”

Seeing the person who lifted the flap, Wang Guan and Yu Feibai were greatly surprised: “Boss Fang, why are you here too?”

“Not only me, but Elder Zeng is here as well.” This person was none other than Fang Mingsheng. He greeted them with a wide smile, gesturing like a host, “Come in, we were just waiting for you.”

“Elder Zeng is here too,” Wang Guan and Yu Feibai exchanged a glance, which solidified their earlier conjecture: this matter must be inextricably linked to the contents of the puzzle box; otherwise, Elder Zeng wouldn't have traveled all the way from Chaozhou.

“Elder Hou, Elder Zeng…”

Of course, at this point, the two stopped overthinking. They knew they would find the answer shortly. They walked directly into the spacious tent and indeed saw the two elders sitting and drinking tea.

“You’ve arrived…” Elder Hou smiled and waved, showing no sign of urgency.

“Come, sit down and have some tea,” Elder Zeng added with a smile. “This is authentic Oolong tea I brought from Chaozhou. You both should try some.”

Seeing how calm the elders were, Wang Guan and Yu Feibai maintained their composure, walking over to sit down and accepting cups of Gongfu tea brewed with the Oolong leaves.

After a round of sipping the tea liquor, Wang Guan felt his spirits lift, calmly savoring the taste. Yu Feibai, however, was becoming slightly impatient and finally broke the silence, asking, “Elder Hou, is the grand tomb corresponding to the design map of the puzzle box’s underground palace located here?”

“You guessed it?”

It was an obvious matter. Elder Hou made no move to conceal it, nodding with a smile. “It is here. We estimate you probably figured out that the puzzle box contained two pieces of cloth: one was the design map for the underground palace, and the other was the precise location. Based on our research and calculations, this great tomb should be nearby.”

“Have you dug it out yet?” Yu Feibai inquired anxiously.

“Almost there,” Elder Hou smiled, not revealing specific details.

“Oh.” Yu Feibai felt a flicker of disappointment but was also very pleased. “It's best if it’s been excavated. After all, we hear that nine out of ten tombs on Mount Mang are empty. I was afraid this one would also be looted, leaving us with nothing but water in a basket.”

“It’s not just nine out of ten; there have even been instances of ten out of ten being empty.” When this topic arose, the smile faded from Elder Hou’s face, replaced by a deep sorrow.

The assertion of ten out of ten empty tombs was not hyperbole. After all, looting of princely and noble tombs became common practice starting from the Han Dynasty. It is rumored that Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han, Liu Xiu, upon visiting the mausoleums of the former Western Han emperors near Chang'an, witnessed the devastating state of widespread grave robbery among the heavily buried Western Han tombs. This prompted him to issue an edict across the realm mandating simpler burials. Even when Liu Xiu later secured his empire and began constructing his own tomb, he worried that an overly ostentatious imperial mausoleum would inevitably invite robbery in later generations. In fact, Liu Xiu’s foresight was not misplaced.

In the late Eastern Han period, before the Three Kingdoms era, Cao Cao, then a regional hegemon, directly turned his attention to the tombs of ancient royalty and nobility to secure military supplies. He was not alone; other warlords of the time, like Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao, as well as forces such as the Yellow Turbans and Black Mountain Bandits, had all engaged in such dishonorable acts to varying degrees.

Before Cao Cao became the dominant power in the north, the Luoyang area was controlled by the Xiliang warlords. These military men, having risen from the ranks, were far less concerned with appearances than Cao Cao was. They ordered their subordinates to act secretly and mind the image, as for the Xiliang faction, face and etiquette were secondary; tangible benefits were what mattered most.

When Dong Zhuo retreated west toward Chang'an, he burned Luoyang to the ground. Naturally, his subordinates sought compensation elsewhere, turning their focus to the tombs within Mount Mang. This was likely the first time the Mount Mang necropolis suffered severe destruction.

Yet history invariably repeats itself. After periods of chaos gave way to order, emperors and generals failed to learn the lesson, continuing to build mausoleums and establish graves on Mount Mang, only for them to be looted again in the next age of strife. This cycle repeated endlessly.

However, the tomb complex truly suffered severe damage from looting during modern times, triggered by the construction of the Bian-Luo Railway. In the early 20th century, the Qing government borrowed funds from a Belgian company to build the railway. As the tracks passed the southern slope of Mount Mang, soil excavation continually unearthed ancient tombs, sparking immense interest among the foreign technicians present, who collected vast quantities of antiquities and shipped them back to Europe and America.

Word spread that items from the tombs could fetch money. At that time, China’s economy was destitute and the nation was in turmoil, leading many individuals greedy for quick profits to begin scouring and excavating ancient graves everywhere. From that point on, the eternal tranquility of Mount Mang was shattered…