Chapter 166: A Talisman That Sparked Overseas Heated Discussion!

Under the continuous investigation of the British Museum, things finally made new progress; upon receiving the news, Haweite hurried over.

"Director, this is what we found outside the museum."

Yellow paper came into view; the characters on it looked like ghostly scribbles, yet no one could read them.

"What is this?"

"The characters look like those of Great Xia?"

"Or Haweite, well‑read and knowledgeable, pondered a moment and said: 'This seems to be a Daoist talisman from Great Xia, and it appears to have been used.'"

"But as for what this talisman specifically means, he does not know."

"Director, we already asked the cleaning staff earlier; there was no such talisman before, so I suspect this talisman is related to the thief."

"How could there be such a coincidence in the world?"

"The lost artifact happens to be from Great Xia, and outside the scene there also exists a mysterious talisman from Great Xia; although it's outside the museum, it's hard not to think there is some connection."

"Haweite's eyes flickered with deep doubt: 'Could the theft be related to Great Xia?'"

"'I think it's very likely; Great Xia has been negotiating with the director, hoping we would return the artifacts to them.'"

"'Director, why don't we ask the Great Xia side first to clarify the meaning of this talisman; if it is indeed related to them, they must give an explanation.'"

"Haweite shook his head: 'It's just a talisman; what use could it have, what could it explain? Our top priority is to keep things secret and not let the outside world know about the theft.'"

"Now there is no clear evidence pointing to Great Xia as the culprit, yet from these two points there are countless threads linking it to Great Xia."

"Or perhaps someone is just being mysterious?"

"If it were simply to frame Great Xia, there would be no need."

"Laolunsi and Haweite racked their brains but could not figure out the reason; they could only temporarily store the talisman away."

"At this moment, Zhao Jianhua, who had caused an uproar at the British Museum, had already boarded the latest flight back to Great Xia, bringing along that wine gourd jade pendant."

"Although the British Museum had suppressed the news of the theft, there is no impenetrable wall in the world; who knows who leaked the word?"

"These days many people have been calling the museum; the phones were almost blown up, countless emails flew in like snowflakes, leaving the director and others harried."

"'Wasn't it agreed to lock down the news and keep the outside world from knowing? What is going on now?'"

"Haweite flung the newspaper in his hand onto Laolunsi's face, his expression so dark it could drip water."

"'Laolunsi, you security captain, how did you manage this? You can't even catch a thief, yet you've made the whole affair public knowledge, and the museum's reputation is about to be ruined by you.'"

"Only see, in the central section of the newspaper, huge black characters catch the eye: 'Museum Theft,' looking shocking."

"'Director, director, something serious has happened!'"

"Another staff member came running over, looking flustered."

"Haweite rubbed his forehead: 'What else has happened?!'"

"'Outside, many reporters have come wanting to interview you, Director; it's noisy out there, basically chaos.'"

"By now the news cannot be suppressed; all Haweite can do is try to salvage the museum's reputation; after composing himself, he came to the entrance."

"Besides those reporters, there were also many onlookers who love a spectacle; upon seeing Haweite's arrival, the crowd stirred for a moment."

"'Director Haweite, may I ask your view on this museum theft incident? Is it due to improper management of the museum?'"

"'I've heard the museum still hasn't caught the culprit and has no clues; did you not take appropriate security measures when safeguarding the artifacts?'"

"'Is the museum really only missing one artifact? Could there be more lost items that you haven't disclosed to protect your reputation?'"

"The reporters' questions grew sharper; Haweite's polite smile gradually collapsed, he took a deep breath, then spoke:"

"'The museum's security measures are excellent; there's no need to worry. Currently only one artifact has been lost from the museum, just an accident; we will investigate thoroughly.'"

"As for Haweite's official statement, the reporters obviously weren't buying it."

"'But according to what we know, so far you haven't caught the thief and have no clues; if the thief strikes again, it would pose a great threat to the museum's other artifacts.'"

"Haweite's smile had vanished; seeing the situation turn bad, Laolunsi stepped forward and said."

"'Sorry, our director is feeling unwell; we will address everyone's questions, and we also hope you can give us a little time.'"

"Soon the British Museum posted an official Weibo, basically condemning the thief who stole the artifacts, and also offering a reward for clues, hoping to mobilize the masses to ferret out the thief."

"This incident caused quite a stir in Y Country; online it was a clamor, and Y Country's netizens angrily condemned."

"'Never imagined the British Museum would be robbed.'"

"'The British Museum is one of the world's four great museums; is its security system just for show? It can still be stolen from—does the director bear responsibility for negligence?'"

"'This matter must be taken seriously; now only one item is lost, but what if later ten or a hundred are lost?'"

"'Please, Director Haweite, be sure to give us an explanation, and you must catch the thief; otherwise we cannot rest easy.'"

"If it were a small museum, it might not attract so much attention; after all, it's the world‑renowned British Museum, not only domestically but even foreign networks are hotly discussing this."

"Because the lost artifact belongs to Great Xia, and this news is so fiery on foreign networks, it naturally spread back domestically; compared to international condemnation of the thief, domestic netizens cheered."

"'Well stolen! Which hero did this? I salute him as a fine fellow; no matter his nationality, he will henceforth be my sworn brother!'"

"'The British Museum still has the face to blame others—how did they acquire those artifacts? They have no clue, and they deserve to be robbed.'"

"'This is nothing but the thief shouting 'catch the thief!'—hilarious. Let me tell you a cold joke: a robber says he was visited by a pickpocket, and even tried to rally the crowd to help catch the pickpocket.'"

"'Heaven's way cycles; retribution is unpleasant—back when they looted other countries' artifacts, they never imagined this day would come.'"

"'That hero should steal more; taking just one item is too little—best to empty the museum, leaving not even scraps for these people.'"

"'Alas, although hope is slim, I still hope the government can negotiate with Y Country to get the artifacts back home.'"

"Across the ocean, as public opinion fermented, even the government put considerable pressure on the British Museum; Director Haweite can be said to be harried."

"'How can these people keep fixating on this matter! They're like a swarm of flies.'"

"As the museum's security guard and also his confidant, Laolunsi came up with an idea."

"'Nowadays everyone thinks our museum is at fault; if we could find a way to divert their attention—'"

"He changed the tone of his speech, hinting: 'Director, do you still remember that mysterious yellow talisman we found at the scene? Perhaps we can make use of it.'"

"Haweite is a smart person; he quickly grasped the meaning and promptly posted an official Weibo."

This time, the official Weibo account is somewhat special; besides the statement, there is also a picture, and they tagged the Great Xia authorities.

The lost cultural relics this time came from Great Xia, and we found a yellow talisman at the scene, which is very likely a mark left by the thieves! Therefore, we hope the Great Xia authorities can assist us in a joint investigation to recover the stolen items as soon as possible.

Although the words sound righteous, they stopped short of naming names, directly accusing Great Xia people of stealing the goods and throwing the blame onto them.

Upon seeing this statement, the Great Xia official almost fainted from the shameless audacity of Country Y, of course ignoring them, since this matter has nothing to do with them—it's like sitting at home and having a pot dropped from the sky.

Of course, considering international reputation, they couldn't just ignore it, so the Great Xia authorities quickly issued a statement, but they did not condemn the theft; instead, they gave it a thumbs‑up.

As for letting them lend a hand, that's absolutely impossible; after all, while they can't openly support this, they surely enjoy it behind the scenes!

Unless Country Y agrees to return all of Great Xia's cultural relics, Great Xia will consider helping.

But how could the British Museum possibly agree to that demand? Naturally, the two parties parted on bad terms, and they have no solid evidence—aside from posting a few innocuous official Weibo updates, they can do nothing to Great Xia.

For a while, the British Museum's statement stirred up quite a ripple domestically.

"When something happens they never think of us, but when trouble arises they come looking for us; just because they found a talisman at the scene they claim it was us Great Xia who did it—if they found bandages, could they still say it was the mummies?"

"Has the British Museum gone mad? They can come up with such excuses."

"Although it's likely they're just dodging responsibility, this talisman is indeed strange—does anyone knowledgeable know what kind of talisman this is?"

"With ten years of experience drawing talismans, I still can't tell what this is; I just feel the symbols on it look profoundly mysterious."

"Shouldn't we tag the Daoist Association here? Let them come take a look."

Many netizens tagged the Daoist Association's related websites, but no one could identify what kind of talisman paper this is.

The talisman paper's origin is odd and mysterious; although the British Museum may be trying to shift blame, it was indeed found at the crime scene, and it has aroused considerable interest.

Gradually, attention shifted from the British Museum to the talisman paper.

Kyoto Archaeological Research Center.

Regarding the British Museum's theft case, which caused quite a stir, as a cultural relics protection and research organization, they naturally paid attention to this industry news.

"Professor Song, those people from Country Y are truly shameless, still having the nerve to ask us for help."

"Exactly! We should steal them all back; they're all Great Xia's cultural relics!"

"But this talisman paper looks somewhat familiar, as if I've seen it somewhere before."

"Hey, Xiao Zhang, you specialize in Daoist culture, right? Come take a look—can you tell what type of talisman paper this is?"

"This talisman paper is a bit strange, different from ordinary yellow talismans; it seems like a style forged by blazing a new trail."

A few young people were chatting lively there; as Professor Song passed by, he overheard a bit and couldn't help but look at the picture on his phone.

"It really does feel familiar."

He couldn't help but narrow his eyes, not knowing what he had just thought of; his expression shifted slightly as he snatched his phone, enlarged the image, and examined it closely.

Professor Song pondered for a moment and said, "Do you still remember when we were at Xiguangsi before?"

Everyone was puzzled, "Out of the blue, Professor Song, why bring up Xiguangsi?"

Professor Song pointed at the talisman picture on his phone and said, word by word, "Don't you think this talisman looks exactly the same as the one we saw in the temple earlier?"

Upon hearing Professor Song say that, everyone froze, then realized it really was.

Although the content of the talisman differs, the handwriting on it is clearly from the same hand—obviously written by the same person.

In cultural relics appraisal, they pay the utmost attention to detail; even the slightest trace can be detected.

Therefore, whether the two talismans are the same or share a source cannot escape their eyes.

Moreover, back at Xiguangsi, the incident caused quite an uproar: the criminals kidnapped hostages, and later the so‑called 'talisman manifestation' appeared, with heavenly thunder striking down the criminals, leaving them with a particularly deep impression.

"Strange, Xiguangsi said this talisman was drawn by a master, so how did it end up overseas, appearing at the British Museum, and even get linked to the missing relics?"

"Could it just be a coincidence, merely similar? After all, we haven't seen it ourselves; maybe someone who knew about the Xiguangsi incident is trying to imitate it."

"We can't rule out imitation, but this is too much of a copy, and the whole affair is far too coincidental."

"Do you think this talisman might also have some miraculous power? Someone could have used its power to successfully steal the relics!"

Someone let their imagination run wild, and in doing so actually got close to the truth.

The people at the research center debated it extensively, though only in private, since speaking of it publicly would hardly find anyone believable.

Not only them, but the crowds who had previously experienced the Xiguangsi 'talisman manifestation' incident also took notice.

The picture released by the British Museum happens to have a remarkable resemblance to the talisman they once saw, stirring up a noticeable ripple in their hearts.

The experience at Xiguangsi can be described as unforgettable, etched into their bones, something they could never forget in a lifetime.

Many people witnessed it firsthand; the lightning seemed to have eyes, striking the criminals while the two hostages remained unharmed, leading many to believe in the talisman's miraculous power.

The original talisman could summon lightning to punish the criminals; so, does the talisman in the British Museum perhaps possess some miraculous power as well?

(End of chapter)