"How so?" Rui asked.

"This involves a period of Eastern Han history," Professor Chen said. "At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a peasant uprising army. Because the rebels wore yellow scarves on their heads, they were called the Yellow Turban Army. The Yellow Turban Army launched an uprising in 184 AD in the Jiazi year. This Yellow Turban Rebellion was one of the largest peasant uprisings in Chinese history. The uprising was suppressed by the Eastern Han Dynasty in less than a year. Due to its significant historical impact, the Yellow Turban Uprising is historically regarded as the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period."

"The leaders of the Yellow Turban Army were the Zhang brothers, who founded the 'Taiping Dao' (Way of Peace). The eldest brother, Zhang Jiao, called himself 'Tiangong Jiangjun' (General of Heaven), the second brother, Zhang Bao, called himself 'Digong Jiangjun' (General of Earth), and the third brother, Zhang Liang, called himself 'Rengong Jiangjun' (General of People). Zhang Jiao regarded Huangtian (Yellow Heaven) as the supreme god, believing that the Yellow God created the world and humankind. He also revered the Yellow Emperor and Lao Tzu, believing that the world during the Yellow Emperor's time was a world of peace, the most beautiful thing for humankind. In this peaceful world, there was no exploitation, oppression, hunger, disease, fraud, or theft; everyone was free and happy. Based on this, Zhang Jiao proposed the ideal of 'Zhi Taiping' (achieving great peace), which is also the basic doctrine and religious ideal of the Taiping Dao. The teachings of the Taiping Dao proclaimed that there were ghosts and gods in the sky monitoring people's behavior, increasing or decreasing their lifespan based on the goodness or evil of their actions, requiring people to do more good deeds and fewer bad deeds."

Professor Chen pointed to the Taoist temple in front of him and continued, "How could a religion founded in the Central Plains, which disappeared in less than a year, spread to the Western Regions? Moreover, the people here specially built a Taoist temple for the Taiping Dao. It's really unbelievable."

Professor Chen's words were thought-provoking. His students were racking their brains, trying to recall the history of the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

The group stood in front of the hall door for a while, but couldn't come to any conclusions. So, Professor Chen said, "Let's go in and take a look."

Led by Professor Chen, everyone entered the main hall of the Taoist temple.

Inside the main hall was an life-size statue. The statue was made of clay, painted in eight colors. The statue was wearing a yellow Taoist robe, holding a nine-section staff by its side, sitting cross-legged on an earthen base with a contented and immortal-like appearance. Although some of the paint on the statue had weathered and peeled off due to the erosion of time, it still looked vivid.

Above the statue hung a plaque. Although dilapidated, the four characters in official script could still be recognized: "Da Xian Liang Shi" (Great Virtuous Teacher).

Duan Pengfei said excitedly, "The Taoist priest being worshiped is really Zhang Jiao!"

Professor Chen waved his hand, disagreeing with Duan Pengfei's view: "Since Zhang Jiao founded the Taiping Dao, he has always been in the Central Plains. Neither official nor unofficial history mentions that Zhang Jiao ever set foot in the Western Regions."

Professor Chen and Duan Pengfei and several other members of the archaeological team were fiercely discussing the relationship between Zhang Jiao and the Western Regions. They quoted classics and spoke too professionally, so Fatty and Rui couldn't get a word in.

Inside the main hall, besides the statue of Zhang Jiao, there was a rotted offering table. Besides "Da Xian Liang Shi," there were no other Chinese characters in the entire hall.

Rui and Fatty looked around the main hall. Rui hoped to find an exit and was looking around to see if there were any mechanisms or passages, while Fatty was looking to see if there was anything valuable in the hall that he could swipe when the old professor wasn't looking.

When she walked to the wall, Rui noticed that there seemed to be something on the wall. She quickly told Professor Chen and the others about her discovery.

Hearing that Rui had made a discovery, Professor Chen and the others immediately stopped their discussion and came to the wall where Rui was standing.

Professor Chen took a closer look. There was something similar to a mural on the wall, but it was covered with a layer of dust, making it difficult to see clearly.

Wang Tienen asked Professor Chen if they should brush away the dust. Professor Chen was hesitant. They didn't have any professional tools on hand, and this place was over a thousand years old. If they acted rashly, they might wipe off the paint on the mural.

Fatty couldn't stand seeing other people dilly-dallying. They were in such a situation, and Professor Chen was still thinking about protecting cultural relics. It was really a headache.

Fatty took a deep breath and blew on the wall. The original dense structure of the dust was disrupted, and large pieces of dust fell from the wall. Dust rose instantly, and for a moment, the main hall was filled with dust. The crowd choked and couldn't speak, coughing and covering their mouths and noses to avoid continuous inhalation of dust.

Seeing Fatty's actions, Professor Chen was angry but didn't dare to speak. He thought to himself that there wasn't a single good thing about these Americans. They were so rude to cultural relics and historical sites. The Eight-Nation Alliance was the same way back then, and now that they'd been replaced by a Chinese American, they were still the same.

Fortunately, Fatty's behavior didn't cause any damage to the mural itself. After a large amount of dust fell, the original appearance of the mural gradually emerged.

This was a narrative mural with Zhang Jiao as the main figure. The picture was presented in a cluster-like composition. The spatial order of the images was consistent with the objective chronological order of the story. Each cluster also had Tocharian B annotations on one side.

Although Professor Chen and the others couldn't understand Tocharian B, it didn't affect their analysis and interpretation of the mural.

The mural was divided into four clusters.

The content of the first cluster recorded Zhang Jiao's appearance when he first entered the Western Regions alone. Zhang Jiao was dressed in ordinary clothes and didn't have the demeanor of a Taoist master at all.

The content of the second cluster recorded Zhang Jiao and two other strangely dressed people obtaining three treasures from the sky. Zhang Jiao obtained a nine-section staff, shaped like the nine-section staff on the Taoist statue, while one of the other two people obtained an iron mask, and the other obtained a fluorescent crystal skull.

The content of the second cluster shocked Professor Chen and the others. They had just witnessed the power of the fluorescent skull. Not only could the fluorescent skull burn and wither the palms of those who touched it, but it could also awaken an army of dried corpses. It was truly bizarre and terrifying.

From the fluorescent skull, it was not difficult to infer the power of the nine-section staff held by Zhang Jiao. Legend has it that Zhang Jiao could summon wind and rain, use charmed water to cure plagues, and summon the God of Thunder to help him kill enemies. Perhaps Zhang Jiao really used the power of the nine-section staff to do these things.

But the crowd didn't know what the iron mask on the mural was capable of.