Daomu Biji

50 years ago, a group of Changsha grave robbers dug out manuscripts of the location of treasures from Warring states, but an encounter with an undead rendered almost the whole group dead. In the present, the young grandchild of the sole survivor, Wu Xie, discovers a secret within his grandfather's notes. Together with his third uncle, Wu Sanxing, and a few other experienced tomb robbers, to search for the treasure. But what no one expected to find the intriguing mysteries that accompanied their tomb robbing adventure - just who was the owner of that tomb? Will they be able to find the real coffin? And just where will these puzzle lead the group?[4]

Embarking on eight-volume's worth of adventures, as Wu Xie slowly unravels millennium-old mysteries, he sees the deterioration of his naive world as he discovers the people around him are not what they seem and that he could trust no one in this tomb robbing world of deceit and lies.

Wu Xie (Chinese: 吴邪): The point-of-view character and primary protagonist. He is from the Hangzhou Wu family, one of the Changsha Old Nine, a group of families who have been grave-robbing for centuries. At the beginning of the first book he joins his uncle Wu Sanxing to experience grave-robbing for the first time, setting off the series of events to come in later books. His name is a homophone with "innocent" (无邪, also pronounced "Wu Xie"), indicating his gullible nature.

Zhang Qiling (Chinese: 张起灵): A man with a mysterious past whose story leads the last few volumes of the chronicles. He is often hired as an assistant to many grave-robbing endeavors and is highly competent at it; very little is known about him, even his real name.

"Fatty" Wang (Chinese: 胖子): Nicknamed "Gold Getting Xiao Wei", he is a northern grave-robber (as opposed to Wu Xie, from the south) and teams up with both Wu Xie and Zhang Kylin throughout the books; together they are referred to as the "Iron Triangle."

Wu Sanxing (Chinese: 吴三省): Wu Xie's third uncle. An experienced grave-robber with a few well-kept secrets.

Pan Zi (Chinese: 潘子): Sansheng's right-hand man, who had served in the Sino-Vietnamese War prior to becoming a grave-robber.

A'ning (Chinese: 阿宁): A grave-robber and the first major female introduced in the series, her motives are unclear but she seems to be working against the protagonists.

Yun Cai: A Yao girl who helps Fat Wang and Wu Xie during their adventures in Yunnan.

In 2011, a serialized manhua, drawn by Dongdong and Yuelu, was published. After the fifth volume, the author of Daomu Biji had an argument with Dongdong and Yuelu. This, unfortunately ended the manhua series. There is also an American serialized graphic novel.[5] There are currently 8 novels.

In 2014, it was announced that the series would be made into eight seasons (though only three seasons have been made as of 2020), with the first season airing in 2015. It covered the events of the first book, and was titled The Lost Tomb in English.[6]

In 2016, the novel series was adapted into an action adventure movie titled Time Raiders. The movie made 1 billion yuan at the box office. The movie ranked the ninth largest box office in mainland China in 2016, and it placed fifth place in the Chinese movie box office ranking.[7]

In 2019, the second season of the 2015 adaptation, titled The Lost Tomb 2, began aired with an all-new cast. It covers the events of the second, third, and fourth books.

In December of 2020, the third season of the 2015 adaptation, titled Ultimate Note, aired with an all-new cast. It covers the events of the fifth, sixth, and seven books.

In 2018, the first sequel was adapted and titled Tomb of the Sea and was aired with an all-new cast. It covers the events of the sequel Sha Hai (Chinese: 沙海).

In July of 2020, the online drama Reunion: The Sound of the Providence aired, with a new cast headed by Zhu Yilong. Split into two seasons with 62 episodes total, it adapted the sequel novel Reboot: Thunder at the Distant Sea (重启之极海听雷).