King Lu Shang

**King Lu Shang (鲁殇王)** also known as **The Ruler of Dead Soldiers (冥公殇王)**, is a character from *Daomu Biji*. He first appears in *Cavern of the Blood Zombies* and is interred in the Seven Star Palace.

He was betrayed by Mr. Iron-Face.

## History

### The Book of the Ruler of Dead Soldiers

The Book of the Ruler of Dead Soldiers was a scroll of yellow silk brocade with gold trimming. It depicted the life of the Ruler. He had inherited his father's official general status when he was twenty-five years old. He worked on the tomb excavation team for the State of Lu and found one particular tomb that had a serpent lying next to the coffin. He chopped the snake in half and disemboweled it. Inside of the snake was a purple-enameled gold box. Later, the Ruler dreamt of an old man that asked "why did you kill me?" The old man turned into a serpent and attacked the Ruler but the Ruler defeated him. The serpent begged for mercy and promised to give the Ruler two treasures and a government ministry position. The serpent told him how to open the box and how to use the treasures inside. After listening to all of the serpent's secrets, the Ruler cut off its head. The scroll did not depict what was in the box and the Ruler wanted to keep it secret. So, he killed everyone in his entourage including their families. Because of the two treasures, the Ruler became invincible in wars and state affairs. But he in his later years, because of frequent contact with dead bodies, he became ill. The Emperor stripped him of his military power and he yet again became a grave-robber. Soon he also became afraid of death and had nightmares that he would meet the people he wronged. He asked for advice from his military advisor, Mr. Iron-Face. He suggested the Jade Burial Armor to the Ruler and searched endlessly for. It was in a Western Zhou dynasty imperial tomb. In the tomb was a Hydra-Cypress Tree and the jade burial armor which was worn by a young corpse sat under it in a meditative position. Mr. Iron-Face used a special method to remove the corpse from the armor. He then sealed the corpse inside a stone coffin and placed it in a nearby tomb of secondary importance. The Ruler swallowed a harmless pill to fake his death to the Emperor. He built his tomb on top of the Western Zhou dynasty tomb. Before he entered his coffin he killed everyone who worked on the tomb and had his two loyal assistants who helped him into the armor. They then committed suicide. After he was in the jade burial armor, Mr. Iron-Face dragged him out of it to wear it himself.

### Legend

On the deceptive coffins in the Seven Star Palace tomb, it depicts the Ruler of Dead Soldiers as a marquis who served under the emperor (duke) of the State of Lu (鲁国公). He was born with a ghost seal which could be used to borrow soldiers from the underworld. He used the soldiers to win wars for the State of Lu. However, later there was a war in the underworld that the Ruler needed to attend to. He asked the emperor for permission to leave which the emperor granted. The Ruler then knelt down, placed his two hands on the ground and died. The emperor believed he would return one day and set up an underground palace for him so that he could safely return.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cavern of the Blood Zombies, Chapter 26
2. ↑ Cavern of the Blood Zombies, Chapter 27
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Cavern of the Blood Zombies, Chapter 10