Heroine

With the guidance of the female ghost named Xueru, we encountered no obstacles entering this ancient tomb. There was no need for Fatty to use his skeleton keys to pick locks. We made our way smoothly through the tomb's corridor. The tens of thousands of souls that had been chasing us did not follow, and our group finally saw light at the end of the tunnel. The feeling of being relentlessly pursued was truly unbearable.

Without the worry of losing our lives, I felt much more relaxed. Realizing that this Happy Ghost named Xueru seemed to harbor no ill will towards me, my fear subsided. Of course, this was only true for me. Fatty and Zhang Jinya probably didn't feel the same; they were almost too scared to breathe. Clearly, after the previous incident, they were somewhat wary of Xueru.

Perhaps because of the change in my mindset, I even started chatting with Xueru. Naturally, I asked about what I cared about most — whether the person who sent me the wedding letter and had been helping me was the mysterious woman named Hua Mulan, and whether the ancient tomb we were in was one of the Ten Deadly Tombs.

Unfortunately, Xueru didn't give me many answers. She only said that her master would tell me everything. However, she did confirm one thing — the mysterious woman who saved me in front of the ancient temple and sent me the wedding letter was indeed her master.

Not getting many answers was definitely disappointing, but it seemed that Xueru might not have the best temper, and the only reason she was willing to talk to me was probably because of the mysterious woman named Hua Mulan. Therefore, I didn't dare to press her too much. After all, the old folks in the village often say that the nature of ghosts is unpredictable. This means that the injustices suffered in life can greatly amplify negative emotions after death, forming resentment. Thus, ghosts are unpredictable in their moods — one moment they may bear no malice towards you, and the next they might tear you to pieces. Of course, this doesn't apply to ghosts with deep spiritual power, such as the White Impermanence, Bai Er Ye, who almost tormented me to death but was very humanized.

As we spoke, we had already walked through a section of the corridor and, under Xueru's lead, entered the antechamber of the ancient tomb. The layout of this antechamber was similar to the living room of ancient houses. In fact, in ancient times, aside from commoners who could not afford lavish burials and were simply wrapped in a thin coffin or a straw mat and hastily buried, most tombs of the nobility were built in this style, imitating the architectural style of the time. The antechamber was generally similar to a living room, followed by the side chambers where the wives and concubines resided, also known as the ear chambers in tomb raiders' slang. The central chamber was the main tomb where the tomb owner rested.

The antechamber of this ancient tomb was no different, with some ancient living room artifacts placed around. However, most of them were damaged. The tables buried during the funeral had long turned into debris, so the antechamber looked empty. But the stone walls on all four sides were painted with murals, presumably depicting the life story of the tomb owner.

"Alright, take a look around here first."

Xueru stopped in the antechamber and looked at me: "This is the master's order. She wants you to see these murals before meeting her."

Actually, I was already looking at the murals without her prompting because I was truly too interested in that mysterious woman. I wanted to know what kind of person she was in life and what she had experienced! The first mural depicted a woman wearing a unique dress that combined the styles of the Hu people and the Han people during the Northern Wei period, sitting in a room doing needlework. The woman in the painting was pretty, and even through the painting, I could feel her youthful charm.

Since the Northern Wei period was after the integration of the Han and Hu ethnicities following the chaos of the Five Barbarians, the clothing of that era was quite distinctive. I could almost immediately identify the era the woman in the painting belonged to.

The first mural didn't provide much information, so after observing the woman for a while, I turned to the second painting.

In the second painting, an old man with a hunched back and white hair was kneeling on the ground, with two soldiers appearing to read something to him.

At this point, my heart stirred. Based on my understanding of history, I had many guesses and patiently continued to look. Fortunately, the murals were clearly layered, so after viewing them, I had a rough idea of the story they told:

The old man in the mural was actually the father of the woman doing needlework. He seemed to have been summoned by the army to serve, and the woman, worried about her father's health, simply stole his armor and weapons, took his documents, bought a horse, and joined the army in his place, transforming from a delicate woman into a Northern Wei warrior.

The following scenes were mostly about the woman's life in the military camp. To avoid exposure, she held back from bathing with her comrades and dared not undress while sleeping. Being physically weaker due to her stature, she was often beaten when she first joined the camp. However, she was resilient and never gave up in the harsh environment, training intensely, even practicing archery late into the night.

The artist who painted the murals was quite skilled, capturing the situation of the time in full detail. Even I, as a viewer, couldn't help but feel pity for the woman.

After depicting the military camp life, the scene jumped to the battlefield. Judging by the enemy's appearance in the mural, it seemed to be about the war between the Xianbei Tuoba clan and the Rouran people during the reign of Emperor Tuoba Tao of the Northern Wei.

On the battlefield, although the woman was of the fairer sex, she fought with exceptional bravery, especially her archery skills, which were incredibly accurate. She often nailed enemy leaders with a single arrow from a hundred steps away, earning her promotions through her military achievements.

In these war-related murals, I noticed that the artist emphasized two men. One was a Rouran, with a golden-topped tent in the painting. According to the customs of the Rouran people at the time, non-royal members were not allowed to use such tents, so I guessed that this Rouran might be a member of the royal family, even the Great Khan of the Rouran! According to the artist's depiction, it seemed that the Rouran discovered the woman's secret of being female and shamelessly pursued her, nearly getting shot dead by her on the battlefield.

The other man appeared to be from the Northern Wei, at least judging by the official robes he wore. However, the artist did not detail the man's robes, so I couldn't determine his rank in the Northern Wei court. However, he was likely related to logistics, as he was responsible for transporting supplies to the woman's army. This man also seemed to have discovered the woman's true identity!!! But this man was much luckier than the Rouran royal; the woman ended up with him in the end. Many scenes in the murals depicted the two of them together, and the man often gave the woman various gifts, one of which was a knife — the same Hundred-Defiance Knife that I now carried!

Seeing these scenes, I felt an inexplicable sourness in my heart and a sense of hostility towards that man.

The final murals recorded the cause of the woman's death. After returning home from the military, her identity was exposed, and she was summoned by Emperor Tuoba Tao, who seemed to have taken a fancy to her, leading to a drama of seizing love by force. He ordered the man the woman loved to do something, and then the scene jumped to an ancient tomb where the man died. Eventually, the woman committed suicide out of love for the man, and Tuoba Tao, regretting his actions, built a grand mausoleum for her.

This was probably all the content recorded in the murals. After viewing them, I was silent for a long time, and my certainty about the identity of the woman in the paintings solidified.

She was Hua Mulan from history!!

The time, the deeds...

Everything matched perfectly!

The person who sent me the wedding letter was indeed the historical Hua Mulan, not just someone with the same name!!!

As for the man, I had my suspicions. From the part where the emperor ordered him to excavate ancient tombs, it was very likely that this man was a tomb raider, an official one, similar to the "Touching Gold Captain" and "General of the Hills" set up by Cao Cao to loot tombs for the royal treasury to support wartime needs. That's why there was a part about him transporting supplies to the army because the supplies he transported were probably bought with the money he obtained from tomb raiding!

However, I was a bit puzzled. From the paintings, it seemed that Hua Mulan had an unwavering affection for the tomb raider before her death; otherwise, she wouldn't have committed suicide out of love for him after Tuoba Tao plotted to kill the man. So... what did it mean for her to send me a wedding letter now?

My thoughts were in disarray as I stood in front of the last mural of Hua Mulan committing suicide by poison, silent for a long time.

"Alright, now that you've seen it, follow me."

Xueru appeared silently in front of me: "Come with me to meet the master!"