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墨書 Inktalez
"Hey, it's you!" I exclaimed in surprise. That phrase was truly well said; as the saying goes, 'after searching high and low, one finds what they seek without effort.' Just moments ago, I had been desperately looking for this girl but couldn't find her. Yet here we were, running into each other while I was wandering around.
"Hmph, what a coincidence that you would be here. But I’m quite curious—are you here looking for me?" Long Xia pouted slightly.
The couple nearby turned to look at us upon hearing the commotion. The boy's face was filled with anger; he was likely upset that we interrupted his date. The girl shyly slipped out of his embrace and curiously glanced our way. After assessing the situation, the boy realized we didn’t seem like passersby and, with a disgruntled expression, muttered, "Why are there still people here? This is so disappointing. Let's go somewhere else." With that, he stood up and wrapped his arm around the girl's waist as they walked away from us.
As I watched them leave, I turned my gaze back to Long Xia and awkwardly said, "Uh, you, I..."
"I told you that you would come back to find me. Hmph, I didn't expect it to be so soon. So, what brings the People's Liberation Army to see me?" Long Xia sneered a few times.
Recalling the rather absolute words I had said earlier, I found myself at a loss for words, and the atmosphere became awkward.
After a moment of silence, in an attempt to ease the tension, I spoke up. "So, you've been at school for quite some time now. Was what that guy said about the Ghost Story true?"
Long Xia took a couple of steps toward me before standing by the lake's edge. She looked up at several buildings across from us and slowly said, "Not everything is true; many stories have been exaggerated over time. However, when it comes to Terror... the truth probably isn't too far off."
Following her gaze, I looked over at the Old Building bathed in sunlight. It wasn't very clear from this distance, but under the sun, it seemed somewhat dark and out of place compared to its surroundings.
As I observed Long Xia's silhouette, it suddenly dawned on me that if she didn't intend to help me, there was no need for her to stand here talking for so long. In fact, I felt that her spirit of exploration was quite similar to mine. Clearly, Long Xia was more enthusiastic about investigating this matter than anyone else.
Since I couldn't discern Long Xia's exact intentions, I decided to remain silent again as another wave of quiet settled between us.
After a while, Long Xia spoke up again without turning around. "I told you before that there was a girl at this school who went out with an Archaeology team a few years ago to excavate an ancient tomb."
"Yes, I remember; it was from the Western Jin period, right?" My memory served me well as I replied casually.
"Correct. However, I suspect that something is hidden within that tomb." Long Xia turned to face me with intense eyes. "Someone from the Archaeology team must have brought something out."
"What do you mean?" I found myself unable to grasp her point immediately.
"Someone in the Archaeology team must have encountered something and brought it out with them, which led to trouble at school," Long Xia explained slowly.
It finally clicked for me as I furrowed my brow and asked in return, "Are you saying that the first student who jumped off had gone with the Archaeology team for an internship? During the excavation of the Western Jin Tomb, they encountered a ghost and brought it back with them? That's what caused all these incidents?"
"I don't know either. I never said it was a ghost; in fact, anything is possible," Long Xia said to me with a meaningful look.
Not a ghost—could it be an immortal? I suddenly recalled a few words Fu Yuehua had said before jumping. The idea of immortals in the tomb was absurd.
However, thinking carefully about Long Xia's words, the logic was quite clear and consistent, with no contradictions. Only this could explain everything that had happened on campus. The first girl who jumped died, and the next student moved into the Old Building, where another girl fell victim, forcing the school to close it down. For a year or two, it was safe until Fu Yuehua ran into the Old Building, and then trouble arose.
In this light, Long Xia did have a point. But knowing all this didn’t help much; the priority now was to save Fu Yuehua.
"Putting everything else aside, I just want to know how to wake that girl who jumped," I said anxiously.
"Honestly, I don't know," Long Xia suddenly smiled at me. I was taken aback; she had never smiled since we met. "But I do know that if we can find everything that was unearthed from that ancient tomb back then, there might be some clues that could help wake Fu Yuehua."
"I see." I paused for a moment. "But we have no idea what Fu Yuehua's situation is. What’s the point of investigating the cultural relics unearthed from that tomb?"
Long Xia pouted slightly. "If we don’t go, there’s no hope at all. If we do go, there’s still some hope. You came back here out of necessity; I don’t know if you came specifically to find me, but I can tell you really want to save that girl. So, speaking of which, do you want to give it a try?"
"It sounds easy when you say it, but the problem is that after all these years, how do we find out about those events? There’s not a single clue. Even if you find the archaeology team, who would help you?" I felt deflated after saying this. "And why do you always want to drag me along to find answers? Can't you go by yourself?"
Long Xia replied, "I know someone who is an industry insider, quite famous, and participated in the excavation back then. He should be familiar with the situation at that time and have some impression of everything that was unearthed. We should have no problem finding him."
"As for your second question," she continued, "I need a helper to assist me with some things that I can't handle alone. You seem capable and are from the country; you should be relatively upright—an ideal candidate. Besides, don’t you have some connection to this matter?"
"Who is this person you're talking about?" I asked.
"My former internship mentor—a very famous professor."
"How are we supposed to find your mentor? Is he even in this city?"
Long Xia slightly curled her lips and slowly pulled out a photo from a small bag she had been carrying.
"This is a picture of my mentor and me; look, we can find him."
I took the photo and looked closely—ah, so it's him!
This person turned out to be Professor Zhang from Hidden Dragon Abyss.
"I know this old man! Isn’t he working in the Department of Transportation? When did he become an archaeology expert?" I exclaimed in surprise.
"Hey, you know him?" This time it was her turn to be surprised.
"I've met him once. He seems like a nice guy, quite a friendly old man." I recalled the last time I encountered him on the Liuyang River; he was helping the Department of Transportation with some fieldwork. Coincidentally, we ran into the Hidden Dragon Abyss, and a few team members ended up going in. Ah Huang's girlfriend, Xiao Mo Ya, is his student. I never expected to have dealings with him again; what a small world.
Long Xia's eyes nearly popped out. "You have no idea how strict he was during our internship."
"Uh, by the way, what exactly is your major?"
"Archaeology. What we often do is help him clean and excavate cultural relics. Over long periods of underground burial, cultural relics can suffer from corrosion, with some even deteriorating completely. Therefore, in archaeology, the discovery of relics that have survived becomes precious and rare. This requires us to collect them scientifically and extract them correctly to ensure their preservation. Cultural relics undergo environmental changes during the excavation process, transitioning from underground to above ground, which can lead to varying degrees of damage. Currently, we lack the ability to change the original underground environment of these relics; all we can do—and must do—is control the excavation site environment to minimize the differences before and after excavation, thereby reducing the harm caused by environmental changes to the cultural relics." When she spoke about her field, she was incredibly fluent. I mentally labeled her as a good teacher.
"Sigh, he really put us through a lot back then. But he's quite impressive; he's a well-known expert in history and cultural relics in the Hubei and Hunan regions. As the saying goes, history and geography are inseparable. The Department of Transportation and the Cultural Affairs Bureau have hired him multiple times for field investigations and cultural relic assessments. He participated in and led the excavation of that Western Jin Tomb. He was also my teacher during my internship; our next step is to find him." The girl seemed to admire the old man quite a bit, rambling on without considering my feelings.
To be continued; tomorrow will be even more exciting.
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