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墨書 Inktalez
In ancient times, funerals were a very important matter, especially for those of status and rank. The Chinese believed that being buried was a way to find peace, and wealthy individuals thought that even in the Underworld, they should have burial items that represented their identity. It was this belief that gave rise to a unique profession—Tomb Raiding!
Tomb Raiders are also known as thieves, stealing from the deceased. At the same time, Tomb Raiders have many different names; insiders prefer to call themselves "Tomb Raiders" because most Chinese tombs resemble an inverted rice bin, and taking out the items inside is akin to pouring out the contents of a rice bin.
The person beside me is an expert in Tomb Raiding. Like other professions in China, there are many factions within Tomb Raiding. Generally, there are four recorded factions: Hill, Mogin, Moving Mountains, and Unloading the Ridge. However, our expert has no connection to these four factions; he serves Julius.
Julius may not be familiar to everyone, but he has a disciple named Earthwalker, who was appointed as the Earthly Star Lord in Investiture of the Gods. Earthwalker is exceptionally skilled in earth evasion techniques and is envied by all Tomb Raiders.
Our expert's real name is Sun Cheng, and his nickname is "Earthwalker." The faction he belongs to is called the Earthwalkers. Due to his high skill level and excellent business performance, he was "recruited" by the Execution Office—actually captured—and then retained for his usefulness.
Earthwalker doesn't possess many other skills; one is his keen eyesight, and the other is his proficiency in digging. Because he is familiar with various artifacts, he is also part of our team this time.
"Tomb Brick?" I pondered. Ritual Platforms sometimes use strange materials for construction, but this is the first time I've heard of using Tomb Bricks.
"Are you sure it's Tomb Brick?" I asked.
"Of course! After so many years away from digging, how could I mistake it?" Earthwalker affirmed. "If only I had my tools, I could check if there's a bin underneath."
Earthwalker's tool should be the Luoyang Shovel; Tomb Raiders can determine whether there’s a tomb beneath based on the soil layers underground.
"Alright, continue looking around and let me know if you find anything."
"Sure thing."
What kind of Ritual Platform requires Tomb Brick for construction? What is its true purpose? And why build such a strange Ritual Platform in this place? I pondered silently.
If this were a tomb, it wouldn't make sense—who would build a Ritual Platform on their own grave? Wouldn't that trap them inside? Are you keeping Evil Spirits down there? That doesn't seem reasonable either; I've never heard that Tomb Bricks can suppress Evil Spirits, although they can indeed attract ghosts.
Wait a minute; if it's not for suppression, could it be for nurturing? Is there something being nurtured beneath this Ritual Platform? Suddenly realizing something, I found an excuse and hurriedly left the crowd with Lin Zhao to go to the restroom.
Avoiding the crowd was necessary because my next move was not something I wanted to be seen. With a step on Wind Walk, I leaped between the branches of several large trees and landed directly on the treetop. However, I still felt that my view was not broad enough, so I looked around and found a high point.
Although I had not yet mastered Surveying Technique, I had some knowledge of feng shui.
As expected, the feng shui here was quite peculiar. The location of the Ritual Platform was the only flat area within a ten-mile radius, and compared to the surrounding environment, the Ritual Platform was slightly sunken, encircled by mountains. Once night fell, the Ritual Platform would be the only place nearby illuminated by moonlight.
However, it was strange that the location of the Ritual Platform also faced the direction of the rising sun. In feng shui, there is a principle of sitting north and facing south because north represents yin and south represents yang; mountains in the north and water in the south signify yin, while mountains in the south and water in the north signify yang.
This raised a question: although this Ritual Platform was not a "corpse-rearing ground," if my guess was correct, what exactly lay beneath it?
If I had known earlier to put more effort into studying feng shui, I wouldn't be regretting my lack of knowledge now.
Descending from the treetop, I quickly returned to the Ritual Platform to quietly share my suspicions with Lin Zhao. Meanwhile, the Archaeologist team was already preparing to begin excavating the Ritual Platform.
"What should we do now? They've already decided to start digging."
"It’s best not to let them dig," I said.
But Lin Zhao had more influence than I did; after all, he had a gun, right? I followed behind Lin Zhao as we went to stop the Archaeologist team.
"Professor Wu." Wu Zhixiang had already unearthed an Azure Stone Brick from the ground and was studying it intently.
"What’s wrong?" Wu Zhixiang asked without looking up, mesmerized by the Azure Stone Brick.
"Do you have any results yet?" Lin Zhao inquired.
"It can now be confirmed that this brick was previously used to construct a Tomb, which likely means this is a tomb from the Song Dynasty. However, based on the specifications and style of this Tomb, it does not appear to belong to someone of high status, so we are preparing to start excavating immediately."
"If it were confirmed to be the tomb of a king or a noble or some significant figure, we would definitely need approval before we could begin digging. However, Professor Wu and his team had already received permission in their previous application to excavate this type of Tomb independently."
"Um, Professor Wu, I think you shouldn't dig here," I said anxiously. "Who knows what might be inside? If a Zongzi pops out, who will take responsibility? And what if someone gets bitten? Just dragging out the body of someone who got bitten would be a troublesome matter."
Having been exposed to Underworld matters for a while now, I had gradually become indifferent to life; however, that didn't mean I was heartless.
"What do you mean?" Wu Zhixiang suddenly looked up at me, as if he wanted to pierce me with his gaze.
"Um, I hope I'm not disturbing your peaceful rest," I stammered, coming up with an excuse on the spot.
"Disturbing? So you think it's better to bury that precious knowledge beneath the soil?" Wu Zhixiang looked at me seriously. "What exactly is your mission? I have ample reason to doubt you now."
Great, he was more reasonable than I was; no wonder he was a professor.
Lin Zhao and I exchanged glances.
"From now on, we can't leave here," I instructed Lin Zhao. "You know this situation might get troublesome."
If these Archaeologists weren't here, we could do whatever we wanted without any concerns. But with them around, our hands were tied.
As the Archaeologist team became increasingly prepared for excavation, the sun slowly began to set as well. The Archaeologist team was getting ready to return to camp.
"Old Forest, set up a few Scouts here. If anything happens, let them use signal flares," I instructed Lin Zhao.
"Don't worry, I've already made arrangements. You should send someone from your team to be here."
"Okay."
They left a person near the Ritual Platform as a Scout, equipped with signal flares. In case of any situation, they could just pull the flare.
Previously, the Archaeologist team was as wary of us as if we were thieves, fearing we would damage their research results. So I deliberately separated from the group and quietly returned to the Ritual Platform while they were heading back to their camp.
After greeting the Scout I had set up earlier, I returned to the Ritual Platform alone.
The Archaeologist team was preparing to lift all the Azure Stone Bricks and excavate the final platform. It was evident that this Archaeologist team had many newcomers, which explained why they chose this Ritual Platform with little archaeological value for excavation.
I casually picked up a piece of Azure Stone Brick that had been uncovered by the Archaeologist team. On the surface, it looked like an ordinary Azure Stone Brick, just with a few more patterns. Of course, if I could discern what these patterns represented, then the Archaeologists wouldn't be worth much.
The Earthwalker told me that the traditional process of making blue bricks involves sealing the kiln during the later stages of high-temperature firing to limit oxygen supply. The iron ions within the brick body are reduced from red trivalent iron to azure low-valent iron, forming blue bricks. Blue bricks have strong resistance to oxidation, hydration, and atmospheric erosion. Ancient "Qin bricks and Han tiles" have remained intact for thousands of years. Therefore, this type of blue brick is extremely suitable as building material for Tombs. Moreover, the style of these bricks is different from those used for building houses; especially with their full-body patterns—if house bricks had patterns, wouldn’t that let in drafts? So it can be easily identified at a glance.
The Earthwalker is an expert in Tomb Raiding, so his words should be quite credible.
I examined the blue brick repeatedly but found no clues. I cast a Spell and activated my Spiritual Sight.
When the Archaeologist team was still around, I didn’t dare to use my Spiritual Sight on the Azure Stone Brick for fear of unexpected consequences. Now that they were gone, I finally felt safe enough to use my Wonderful Technique.
The Wonderful Technique relies on practice, so my Spiritual Sight could now begin to see through some thinner objects. However, it was limited; for instance, I could see through a brick but not through a mountain.
Of course, there’s no need to doubt my character; I would never use my x-ray vision on Sister—that would be too inappropriate.
With my Spiritual Sight activated, the patterns on the Azure Stone Brick became clearer. I also discovered that beneath these patterns were lines resembling passages that wound along the surface designs.
What is this? It seems like a passage for something to pass through. Could it be that it needs to be infused with magical power?
I felt the magical energy surging in my hands and directed it into the Azure Stone Brick. As soon as the magic entered the Azure Stone Brick, it seemed to be drawn by something, flowing along the patterns within the Azure Stone Brick. Indeed, something was amiss!
Once the magical energy filled the Azure Stone Brick, it solidified, as if preparing for something.
"What are you doing?" A clear female voice suddenly came from behind me.
Startled, I accidentally flung the Azure Stone Brick away, and it landed right around the stone platform. (Since I still had magical energy in my hands, it flew out directly.)
"Boom!" The moment the Azure Stone Brick hit the ground, it exploded like a grenade! A shockwave radiated outward from the platform.
When the smoke cleared, I found that only a corner of the platform had collapsed and was no longer there.
This is bad.
(To be honest, I have only a vague understanding of Archaeology, so there may be discrepancies between the descriptions in the book and reality. If there are any issues, please let me know, and I will correct them at any time. Thank you all!)
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