The mural before them clearly depicted everything that King Xian had done in the past.
The mural told a story.
In those years of widespread war, King Xian's tribe was also forced to migrate.
From this, it could be seen that the war back then was no ordinary conflict.
King Xian was not only proficient in dark arts but also in Feng Shui. For such a person to be affected by war and forced to move his tribe, it showed how terrifying the conflict must have been.
King Xian led his tribe, numbering tens of thousands, to the area of the Insect Valley before them.
And the mural showed that upon arriving at the Insect Valley, King Xian encountered several youths dressed in peculiar clothing.
These youths roamed the forests and mountains, not only capable of concocting unique potions but also of raising all sorts of poisonous insects.
King Xian, newly arrived, did not rush to claim his territory but observed in secret.
Then, one day, a village within the valley contracted a mysterious plague, and at the same time, outsiders invaded.
On this very day, the people in strange attire who were gathering herbs entered the village on a large scale.
They trained the villagers and also taught many of them how to use poisonous insects.
Hearing this, Zhang Tian recalled the information he had learned from Granny.
Their village's use of Gu insects was taught by the Medicine King back then.
It was meant to ward off foreign invaders.
But he never expected this scene to reappear in this temple.
With the addition of the Gu insects, the invaders were repelled.
And the deeds of the Medicine King began to spread throughout the land of Shenzhou.
Thus, later, the First Emperor learned of a unique elixir of immortality and ordered Xu Fu to search for it.
And Xu Fu, after returning from the country of Fuji, must have come here to seek the Medicine King.
In this way, Zhang Tian felt that everything finally made sense.
Coupled with the current story of the Insect Valley, this Medicine King had almost been involved in the entire event of the First Emperor's search for the elixir.
"So that's how it is. The Medicine King might not be a single person, but possibly a sect."
Zhang Tian thought to himself, a sense of clarity washing over him.
He looked further down.
After the events in the village concluded, those people vanished into the valley, never to be seen again.
It was because of this that King Xian decided to live in seclusion in this valley, waiting for those people to reappear.
Later, as time passed, those strange people did not reappear, but King Xian's lifespan was dwindling.
King Xian began a frenzied search for ways to extend his life.
By chance, he discovered a bead.
This bead was commonly known as the embodiment of the Earth Mother, the Phoenix's Gall.
That is to say, the Muchen Bead.
He thought he could achieve eternal life with this Muchen Bead, but the truth proved him wrong. The bead not only failed to grant him immortality but also witnessed his death.
Later, realizing his lifespan was nearing its end, King Xian began to frantically gather nearby villagers and started constructing his tomb.
King Xian's methods were extremely cruel.
He first forced poison into the villagers' bodies and then compelled them to build the tomb.
After the tomb was completed, those who had drunk the poison were turned into funerary figurines, thus creating a natural container for poisonous insects.
This was precisely why Zhang Tian had seen so many hanging effigies when he came before.
And the mural depicted that the tomb was located beneath this temple, and to find or enter the mausoleum, one must open "the door."
"This King Xian is truly wicked, and his methods are very strange," Hu Bayi commented from the side.
"There's no hint here on how to open the tomb door."
"However, one thing is clear: King Xian's thinking was definitely different from ordinary people."
"Therefore, we must do the opposite with these stone monkeys," Zhang Tian said, his gaze returning to the stone monkey statues on the ground.
These stone monkeys were arranged in a circle on the ground. If they followed the path of life, it would be rather risky.
"Boss, quick! Fatty found something again!"
Suddenly, Fatty's voice rang out again.
Zhang Tian and Hu Bayi exchanged glances.
This Fatty was truly blessed.
How could he always find the mechanisms?
Zhang Tian looked over and, sure enough, in a pile of grass, Fatty had found a stone statue.
And on the statue were carvings of toads.
These were toads with many pustules on their bodies, commonly known as common toads.
And on the toad statue, there were many strange patterns.
Fatty then pressed down hard on the statue.
Immediately, the surrounding stone monkey statues began to sink downwards, and then, one by one, toad statues appeared before their eyes.
"Boss, these stone monkeys are a diversion. The toads are the real mechanism!" Hu Bayi said solemnly.
They had almost gotten sidetracked studying the stone monkeys.
"These toad statues should be the final mechanism to enter the ancient Dian Kingdom," Zhang Tian stated grimly.
He hadn't expected there to be another layer of mechanism within.
Two nested mechanisms, it was indeed very difficult to discover.
Hu Bayi's gaze swept over the toads, and he took out his compass again.
He spoke slowly.
"Following the layout of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, these toad statues perfectly represent the technique of Nine Bends and Eighteen Turns."
"This means we must break the mechanism in a specific order. If we fail three times, the mechanism will be rendered useless, and the one attempting to break it will suffer severe injury."
Hu Bayi looked around, his voice carrying.
Zhang Tian's gaze fell upon the stone statues before him.
"The left is the gate of life, and the right is the gate of death, but I don't recommend directly pushing the gate of life."
"King Xian acted strangely, setting up a mechanism here, and hiding it in the grass. Such an obvious placement surely means he didn't want anyone to leave alive."
Zhang Tian said, his eyes fixed on the gate of death.
"You mean?" Hu Bayi looked at Zhang Tian.
"Perhaps we can do the opposite. Push the gate of death, and simultaneously arrange the toads around us according to the constellations."
Zhang Tian spoke.
Hu Bayi looked at the compass.
"Boss, I understand."
He said, and his hands began to move.
Hu Bayi was intelligent and understood Zhang Tian's meaning almost instantly.
Earlier, when they were on their way, Zhang Tian and the others had passed a region with ox-head statues.
Zhang Tian had said back then that it was likely a totem.
This meant that the ancient Dian Kingdom might have revered the golden bull.
Therefore, all they needed to do was to open the gate of death and push the corresponding toad statues to the golden bull star among the twenty-eight constellations to break the mechanism.
With this thought, Hu Bayi did not hesitate and began to push, holding the compass.
As the toad statues continued to move.
A constellation formation appeared in Zhang Tian's gaze.
"As expected, King Xian's mastery of Feng Shui is indeed considerable," Zhang Tian exclaimed inwardly. Then, he saw Hu Bayi push the last toad.
The next moment, the stones where the toads had been began to rotate.
The stone statues also began to sink.
There was no doubt that the mechanism had been broken.
The tomb door was likely just ahead!
Seeing a sunken path appear on the ground, Fatty became somewhat excited.
"Heh heh, Boss, how is it? In critical moments, you still have to count on Fatty!"
"Fatty's little hands are definitely blessed."
Fatty patted his hand, saying smugly.
Shirley Yang stood up and looked at the passage before them.
"Shall we go in now?" Shirley Yang asked.
Zhang Tian glanced at the body of Shirley Yang's father lying on the ground. "You decide, whether to take him with us or go in directly."
Zhang Tian said. Shirley Yang looked at the body on the ground, hesitating.