The ancient city's history, as depicted in the murals, begins with Fu Jiezi of the Western Han Dynasty.

Fu Jiezi was from the Beidi commandery. He rose through the ranks of the military through meritorious service.

After Emperor Wu of Han passed away, Emperor Zhao of Han ascended the throne. The kingdoms of Qiuci and Loulan in the Western Regions began to collude with the Xiongnu, killing Han officials.

Because of Loulan and Qiuci's repeated betrayals, Fu Jiezi volunteered to General Huo Guang to go to Loulan and Qiuci, assassinate their kings to establish authority and deter the other kingdoms of the Western Regions.

General Huo Guang agreed to Fu Jiezi's proposal and petitioned Emperor Zhao of Han to dispatch Fu Jiezi to carry out this mission.

Fu Jiezi and his soldiers, carrying gold, silver, and coins, went to Loulan, claiming that they would reward the king of Loulan with these things. Angui, the king of Loulan, was initially unwilling to get close to Fu Jiezi. Fu Jiezi used silver and money to lure him in every possible way, finally gaining Angui's trust. Later, during a drinking session, he successfully assassinated the king of Loulan.

After assassinating King Angui of Loulan, Fu Jiezi installed Weituqi as the new king, moved the capital from the west bank of Lop Nur to Yixun City on the south bank, and renamed the kingdom of Loulan to Shanshan.

After the death of King Angui of Loulan, the people of Loulan were divided into two factions. The pro-Han faction completely obeyed the orders and arrangements of the Western Han Dynasty, becoming a dominion of the Western Han Dynasty. The resistance faction was composed of the old subordinates of the assassinated King Angui. They believed that the Western Han Dynasty's assassination of their king without explanation was a complete trampling of Loulan's dignity, and they were very resistant to the rule of the Western Han.

The resistance faction of the kingdom of Loulan did not dare to take any action against the Western Han on the surface, but secretly cultivated their own power. A hidden undercurrent surged within Loulan.

This struggle lasted for more than a hundred years. Later, due to the change of river courses, Lop Nur gradually dried up, and the ancient city of Loulan was no longer suitable for survival. The pro-Han faction gradually moved north, while the resistance faction stubbornly guarded the old royal city, unwilling to leave.

The choices facing the resistance faction were very limited. Only by finding a water source could the ancient city have a chance of survival; otherwise, they would either be trapped and die in the city or be forced to migrate.

At this difficult moment, a man passed through Loulan City, bringing important information that could save the ancient city. This person was Zhang Jiao from Julu in the Central Plains.

An epidemic broke out in Zhang Jiao's hometown, so he traveled all over the mountains, seeking immortals and asking for medicine, praying to obtain the immortals' elixir to save the people in his hometown infected with the epidemic.

It is unknown from whom Zhang Jiao received the news, claiming that on an immortal mountain in the Western Regions, there were immortals living in seclusion. The immortals possessed rare magical artifacts and elixirs. The magical artifacts could summon wind and rain, change the topography, and divert waterways, while the elixirs could regenerate flesh, heal the dying, and bring the dead back to life.

Although he knew that the road ahead would be difficult, Zhang Jiao resolutely embarked on the journey to find the immortal mountain in the Western Regions. On the way, he encountered the people of Loulan, who were facing extreme difficulties.

Zhang Jiao unreservedly informed Fu Xiumo Na, the leader of the resistance faction who remained in Loulan, of the news of the immortal mountain. Fu Xiumo Na deeply believed in the information provided by Zhang Jiao. Fu Xiumo Na ordered the people who remained in the ancient city to continue searching for water sources, to guard the ancient kingdom at all costs. After arranging everything for the people, the two of them set off soon after.

Zhang Jiao and Fu Xiumo Na traveled all over the mountains and finally found the immortal mountain in the mountains of the Western Regions. There really were immortals on the mountain. They obtained three magical artifacts from the immortals: a skull, a nine-section staff, and an iron mask. They also sought the elixir to treat the plague.

The skull was controlled by Fu Xiumo Na, the nine-section staff was held by Zhang Jiao, and the bizarre iron mask was worn on the face of a stranger. From the moment the stranger appeared on the mural, the stranger had always worn the iron mask on his face. The mural never showed the stranger taking off the mask. The mural did not mention the origin of the iron-masked man. Professor Chen and others speculated that the iron-masked man might have been a foreigner who had strayed into the immortal mountain.

It was two years later when Fu Xiumo Na, Zhang Jiao, and the iron-masked man returned to the ancient city of Loulan. By that time, the ancient kingdom of Loulan had been abandoned, eroded by wind and sand. Many of the buildings in the ancient city had collapsed, and all the people who had stayed to guard the ancient kingdom had died of thirst, buried in the sand sea along with the ancient kingdom of Loulan.

Under the command of the iron-masked man, Fu Xiumo Na and Zhang Jiao transferred the intact part of the ancient city to the quicksand through magical artifacts. The quicksand buried the ancient city under the yellow sand, and the three of them drew an underground river from the ground, reviving the dead people of the old kingdom.

After the people of the ancient kingdom were resurrected, they slowly adapted to living under the yellow sand and built temples to enshrine Fu Xiumo Na, the iron-masked man, and Zhang Jiao.

Zhang Jiao was concerned about his fellow villagers in his hometown who were suffering from the plague. Seeing that the lives of the people in the ancient kingdom of Loulan were improving, he also wanted to return to the Central Plains to treat the sick and save people. The iron-masked man told Zhang Jiao that perhaps it was not just the people who were sick, but also the decaying Han Dynasty. If he wanted to return to the Central Plains, he would inevitably have to consider confronting the Han Dynasty court. The resistance faction of the ancient kingdom of Loulan itself harbored deep hatred for the Han Dynasty. Zhang Jiao's return to the Central Plains had a greater goal: to overthrow the Han Dynasty and unify the Central Plains.

Soon after, Zhang Jiao bid farewell to the people of the ancient kingdom of Loulan and returned to the Central Plains with the nine-section staff.

The content of the mural ends here, and what happened after that is completely unknown.

After listening to Rouyi and Professor Chen's narration of the history of the underground ancient kingdom on the murals, Liu Xiaojuan couldn't help but ask a question: "Why did they transfer the ancient city underground, going to so much trouble? What benefits did they get from isolating themselves in the ancient city?"

Professor Chen gave an answer: "Perhaps, they were accumulating strength. Imagine, if you had the power to change mountains and rivers and to resurrect the dead, but there were only a few hundred people around you, and the surrounding countries were eyeing you covetously, would you dare to reveal your true strength at this time?"

Liu Xiaojuan nodded thoughtfully.

Professor Chen continued: "After the iron-masked man followed Fu Xiumo Na and Zhang Jiao back from the immortal mountain, the position where he appeared on the mural was always the most central part, so I conclude that the actual person in power in this ancient city was not Fu Xiumo Na, but the iron-masked man. Perhaps the iron-masked man's permission for Zhang Jiao to return to the Central Plains was his first attempt to seize control of the Central Plains, but I don't know why Zhang Jiao died suddenly and the uprising failed. At the same time, the underground ancient city also seemed to have suffered some kind of disaster, turning into what it is now. We strayed into the ancient city this time, and I don't know what mechanism we triggered, causing some kind of power in the ancient city to awaken..."

Professor Chen gave an explanation that was extremely close to the truth of history based on the records of the murals. Duan Pengfei and others strongly agreed with Professor Chen's explanation.

Fatty and Rouyi exchanged glances. Only the two of them understood that Zhang Jiao's sudden death and the annihilation of the ancient city must be related to the immortal mountain. Something might have happened on the immortal mountain.

At the same time, Fatty and Rouyi came to a conclusion that the meteorite was not in this ancient city, but was very likely hidden in the immortal mountain mentioned in the murals, and the "immortal" in the immortal mountain was unknown.

Just as everyone was thinking about the history of the ancient city, a subtle sound suddenly came from the main hall. Following the source of the sound, everyone determined that the subtle sound came from the stone platform where the statue of the god was placed.