I am Shen Qian, son of the old beggar.
The old beggar told me that the Khitan people killed my birth parents, and I was rescued from a pile of corpses. He took me to live in an abandoned temple, begging for food as we traveled from Yunzhou City all the way back to Yanmen Pass.
When I was fourteen, the old beggar died. I traded my copper begging bowl for a straw mat to bury him, then joined the Eighteen Shadow Forts, where I've been for thirteen years now. In the forts, I learned the art of tomb excavation. I've dug up about twenty large tombs, acquired countless treasures, and became the second camp leader of the Yanmen branch.
When I arrived at the Jingbian Temple in Wu'an Village, I found graves covering the mountains, with many worshippers burning incense. Though I happily went into the tombs, I came out empty-handed.
The tombs here are poor. So poor that I barely found any remains, just tattered clothes and rusted armor. Looking at the tombstones, I saw both old and young, but most were unfortunate souls about my age: young men who went to the battlefield and pointlessly lost their lives. No children, no wealth, no life just empty graves of packed yellow earth, which I, this wretched fool, have now desecrated. Truly unfortunate.
I, Shen Qian, am the son of refugees from beyond the border. I cherish life and fear death. Money turns my head, but there's one thing I cannot do betray kindness.
All the wealth I've plundered is hidden in this cave. If someday someone breaks the mechanism and takes the treasure, remember it must only be used for good purposes, never for evil.
Also, there are twelve amber beads that were once offerings to Buddha, now inlaid in the tomb guardian statue to ward off evil and pacify souls. If you see the beads glowing, it's as if their eyes are moving, watching over the peaceful world on their behalf.