Companion

"An incomprehensible course of action," Thought Control commented. "Carving information into stone could indeed preserve it for a very long time, but using pictures to convey it was far too inefficient. They clearly could have recorded it in writing, yet chose a more backward method. It truly could not be called rational."

No... this has nothing to do with rationality. It is a tradition, Xia Fan murmured in his mind.

The murals before them were not merely narratives; they were also symbols of status. He noticed that every figure in the paintings was rendered lifelike, down to the fine folds in their clothing. Every scene depicted was grand and magnificent: fleets sailing across the sea, lavish ceremonies held in Eastern royal palaces. Judging by the technique and brushwork, calling them works of art would not be an exaggeration. In later generations, they would absolutely be superb material for studying history.

"This person... is the Matriarch," Hualin said as she gazed at a woman in one of the paintings. "She looks exactly like the image on the coins."

The woman was not dressed in Eastern attire, but in a Western Pole ceremonial robe and a wide-brimmed round hat. She stood at the center of every painting. Even without Princess Twilight saying so, Xia Fan could guess that she was Matriarch Stitch.

Yet what caught his attention even more was the man standing beside her.

Like the Matriarch, he appeared in nearly every mural. In the painting set in the royal court, the crown upon his head had already revealed his identity.

At that time, there had been only one person in all the East who could present himself in such a manner.

—the monarch of the Yong Empire.

That was why they had used murals to record their lives, rather than