Another mural, unlike the previous one depicting well-digging, resembled a family portrait. A group of people were carved onto it, similar to the Hokage Rock in Naruto, with figures sculpted one after another.
Among them.
The most striking was the figure that Lu Lianxue and Qiu Xiaolin were currently looking at. It was a man of elegant demeanor, who, in ancient times, would undoubtedly be considered a handsome young gentleman, worthy of being called a scholar and a beauty. However, Lu Lianxue and Qiu Xiaolin's attention was not on his handsome face.
To be precise, they were focused on his face, but not its handsomeness.
That face.
Was too familiar.
This was the appearance of the Fengmen Zombie! Although the Fengmen Zombie's cold, dead skin tone was vastly different from the smiling, handsome young man on the mural, their appearances were almost identical.
"Fengmen Zombie, this is the Fengmen Zombie."
Lu Lianxue lowered her voice, pulling on Zhang Wei's sleeve in surprise.
Qiu Xiaolin was similarly astonished and quietly asked:
"Little Wei Zi, how come the murals in your house feature a Fengmen Zombie? Is the Fengmen Zombie related to your family?"
They were too curious to wait for Zhang Wei to respond. They turned to Zhang Ping beside them and began to question him:
"Uncle, my heavens, I now understand that all of you in your family are handsome. This is hereditary! This man on the mural is also very handsome. Is this one of your ancestors? Or someone else?"
"Uncle, who are all these people on the mural? Everyone seems to have such great charisma, especially this man. His charisma is not only good, but he's also handsome. In ancient times, even Wu Zetian would have wanted to take him into the palace!"
No one would be unhappy to have their ancestors praised, and Zhang Ping was quite pleased. He proudly said:
"Ah, you two girls are very smart. You guessed correctly. The people on this mural are all our family's ancestors. Don't you remember? There are many graves in our ancestral graveyard."
"Every grave and every person on those ancestral graves is depicted on the mural. This is why we say the mural is a family honor. First, the well-digging mural proves our family's well-digging skills, and second, this mural."
"It's to encourage and symbolize the family's honor by carving those ancestors who were outstanding or made significant contributions to the family. The family's glory is due to these people."
Zhang Ping, in his talkative mood, continued enthusiastically:
"Every one of these people is buried in the graves. As for who they are specifically, my father told me, but I didn't remember. There are too many of them. But it's not a problem to forget them, as the people on the mural have their names carved behind the corresponding figures."
"But I haven't forgotten everything. You're lucky. The only one I remember is this handsome man you mentioned, because he was the ancestor who made the greatest contribution to our family, so I can remember him."
Zhang Ping smiled and looked at Lu Lianxue:
"Lianxue, you still remember what you said before, right? Our family's ancestral graveyard is arranged in a feng shui formation, and the most prominent grave is at the 'death gate' of the 'life and death gate.' This person is the one buried in the death gate grave. His name is Zhang Zhan."
"Ancestor Zhang Zhan was the most formidable of our ancestors. It is said that he was exceptionally talented from a young age, proficient in everything from chess, calligraphy, painting, and music. Many daughters of high officials and noble families were infatuated with him, as if their souls were captured, and some even actively pursued Ancestor Zhang Zhan."
"He was that amazing? Then, Uncle, this Ancestor Zhang Zhan isn't the one who dug that well, is he?"
Qiu Xiaolin, listening to Zhang Ping's account, couldn't help but glance at the mural on the opposite wall and asked her biggest question.
Lu Lianxue also looked over, her gaze the same as Qiu Xiaolin's. Even Zhang Wei cast his eyes over. Although he knew from his conversations with the Fengmen Zombie that the zombie was likely not the creator of the Dragon-Locking Well, he was eager to learn more about the Fengmen Zombie.
Zhang Ping noticed their curiosity and grinned:
"No, Ancestor Zhang Zhan was not the one who dug that well. You're like me. When I first saw the mural and my father introduced these figures, I also asked if the one who made the greatest contribution was the one who dug the well on the mural."
"My father said no."
"That well predates Ancestor Zhang Zhan. As for what specific great contribution was made, well, if it were my grandfather's grandfather's generation, they would probably know. There are records in books."
"But as you know, my father's generation was during a time of war, and a lot was lost. It's a great fortune that we could preserve the ancestral home. Antiques and books were basically sold off, leaving only one book. Please wait a moment, I'll go get it."
Zhang Ping remembered that he had promised Zhang Wei at the ancestral graveyard that there was an ancient book left in the family, detailing their ancestors.
He asked Zhang Wei and the others to wait in the hall and then jogged towards a study on the side.
Not long after.
Zhang Ping returned with a very old book and handed it to Zhang Wei:
"Most of what we had was sold. Only one book remains. My son, don't blame the family for selling things. It's because in the previous generations, our family had few descendants and encountered wars and other troubles."
"How could I blame you? I'm too proud right now. Dad, our family was this amazing."
"Of course, we were amazing."
Zhang Ping grinned and laughed.
Zhang Wei nodded and took the book to look at it.
The book was very old, made of some unknown material, with a rough texture like parchment. Due to its age, the entire cover was tattered, and the pages were curled. Upon opening it, ancient script of the Great Xia Dynasty was visible. As the pages were turned, the script changed, indicating it was not written in a single era.
This book had clearly been written over generations.
"Little Mantou, Little Xue, can you understand this ancient script?"
Zhang Wei asked Qiu Xiaolin and the other two girls who had come to look at the ancient book. From the appearance of the characters, he could roughly identify the dynasties from which they originated, but he was not an archaeologist and couldn't fully decipher these ancient characters.
"Let me see."
Lu Lianxue took the book and flipped through it.
Longhu Mountain was also a place of long history. Lu Lianxue, being from Longhu Mountain, had a better understanding of ancient script than Zhang Wei, as some of the formation diagrams and talismans of Longhu Mountain were written in ancient characters.
Soon.
Lu Lianxue turned to a page:
"I can't understand the earlier characters, but I can recognize the ones here."
At this moment.
Zhang Ping and his wife also curiously leaned in. They had kept the book, but since it was all in ancient script, they were too lazy to look it up and would rather travel. Seeing that Lu Lianxue could understand it, they became curious:
"Lianxue, what do these characters say? Tell us."
Zhang Ping said.
…