Around the text are 12 strange divine images, and at the four corners of the silk manuscript are trees painted in blue, red, white, and black.

In terms of the calligraphic art of the silk manuscript, the lines are generally neat, with basically equal spacing. While striving for regularity and order, there is also a sense of natural freedom. The characters are flat and stable, balanced and symmetrical, upright and solemn, somewhere between seal script and clerical script. The brushwork is smooth and rounded, with straight strokes showing twists and turns, and curved strokes displaying a flicking momentum. Amidst the variations in thickness, its elegance is revealed; in the pauses and transitions of the dots and strokes, its refined charm is displayed, fully demonstrating the author's deliberate pursuit of the artistic transformation of writing.

The illustrations on the silk manuscript are arranged around the text. First, fine lines are used to outline, then colors are applied evenly. Though they appear to be drawn casually and at random, the twelve deities are depicted in various postures, vivid and lifelike. Some are standing, some lying down, some running, some leaping—each one is portrayed with remarkable realism.

At the same time, the images of the deities show a strong sense of realism. For example, the stripes on some of the figures are depicted with meticulous detail, as if taken directly from tigers or leopards. Especially the trees painted around the four sides of the silk manuscript, shaped according to their nature, with lush branches swaying, their forms matching the illustrations, luxuriant and graceful. The brushwork is exquisite, and the depiction is so fine that not a single detail is missed. The Chu silk manuscript is not only a treasure of ancient Chinese art, but also a gem and rarity in the history of world art.

——From Baidu Baike

002 Jade Coffin Cover

At the time, no photos were taken underground, so there are no pictures; these are just some similar items found on Google, more or less like this, but covered in dirt.

(Attached is an illustration from the news of an excavated jade coffin cover)

There are a total of 230 jade pieces of various colors, connected with gold wire, with a total weight of about 40 jin (20 kg). The quality of these jades is not very high, and their intrinsic value is average; the main value lies in their historical and cultural significance. The starting price is over one million. Sell it nearby and withdraw safely.

003 The Underworld Palace: The Book of King King Henry

I transcribed the parts of King Henry's book that I could understand. Some characters are unclear, and some are so archaic that the computer cannot display them, so I have converted everything into modern Chinese. King Henry, surname (family name), given name (personal name), at the age of twenty-five, after his father's death, succeeded as Grand Marshal, led the army to open tombs, and all the gold, silver, and treasures obtained were used as military provisions to aid in campaigns, making significant contributions to the state. At first, Taylor opened an ancient tomb, the era of which was unknown. Upon opening the coffin, a giant snake was coiled inside, raising its head to bite Taylor. Taylor was always courageous, drew his sword and slew the snake. Thinking that a giant snake lying in a coffin must be a demon, he cut open the snake's belly and found a purple-gold box, which could not be opened by any means.

That night, a white-bearded spirit appeared in a dream, angrily asking Taylor: Why did you kill me? Taylor was violent by nature and often killed, so he rebuked the white-bearded spirit: If I want to kill, I kill! Why ask! The white-bearded spirit was furious, turned into the giant snake from the day, and opened its mouth to swallow Taylor. Taylor drew his sword and wounded the snake, stepped on its head, and said: If you did not die when your belly was cut open, can you still live if I cut off your head now? The snake spoke in human language, begging for mercy: I am willing to offer two treasures in exchange for my life. Taylor agreed, so the snake told him the method to open the purple-gold box and explained the use of the treasures inside. Taylor memorized it, thinking this matter should be kept secret, known only to himself, and thus beheaded the snake. When Taylor awoke, he was lying in a pool of blood, realizing the dream was not false. Following the method from the dream, the purple-gold box opened easily, and the treasures inside were just as described. Not wanting anyone else to know, Taylor killed all his attendants and their families, sparing not even infants.

After obtaining the two treasures, Taylor turned misfortune into blessing, was invincible everywhere, and all the power of the state was concentrated in his hands. The emperor relied on him deeply. Later, as Taylor grew old, he became seriously ill. Many doctors were summoned, but all said it was incurable. One day, Taylor dreamed again of the giant snake, which said: Your time of death has come. Those who followed the snake were all the people Taylor had killed in his life, countless in number. Taylor awoke in fear.

Taylor had an advisor, known as Mr. King, a master of fate and geomancy, unmatched in his time. He said to Taylor: I have heard that in ancient times there were jade figurines; if one could wear them, one could attain immortality. Unfortunately, they have long since disappeared from the world, and only in ancient tombs underground might they still exist. Taylor chose to believe, searched through ancient texts, and indeed found in a fragmentary record mention of a giant tomb, an old imperial mausoleum from a previous dynasty, which seemed to contain traces of jade figurines. He dispatched three thousand men, excavated the mountain for half a year, and finally located the imperial tomb. Inside the tomb was a giant tree called the Nine-Headed Serpent Nanmu. Beneath the tree was a jade bed, upon which sat a male corpse in meditation, dressed in a black gold-threaded jade suit, skin and bones, looking like a skeleton. Mr. King rejoiced: This is the jade figurine! The corpse seemed dead yet not dead—a blood corpse. In life, he must have been a withered old man. Since burial, every hundred years, he would shed his dead skin and grow new skin, and the corpse would become ten years younger each time.

Mr. King used strange arts to subdue the blood corpse, removed it from the jade figurine, and sealed it in a secondary stone coffin. Taylor, following Mr. King's plan, took a fake death pill and reported his death to the emperor. The emperor had long heard of Taylor's supernatural abilities, able to travel freely between the worlds of yin and yang, and was secretly very fearful. He issued a special edict, posthumously naming him King Henry, and the burial rites exceeded those of feudal lords, comparable to the emperor himself. Thus, a mausoleum was built above the imperial tomb, filled with traps and mechanisms, and seven false coffins were made, while Taylor's real body was hidden inside the thousand-year-old tree within the imperial tomb. On the day the tomb was completed, all the craftsmen were executed and buried in the river. Taylor's attendants in life were all ordered to take poison and be buried with him, leaving only two trusted aides, one male and one female, who, after finishing the burial, also took poison and died.

The other parts are very difficult to read, or almost impossible to understand, because after Qin Shi Huang's burning of books and burying of scholars, much from the Shang, Zhou, and Spring and Autumn periods was lost. Especially many rare characters—even if sent to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it might take decades to fully decipher them.