Chapter 214

214. Chapter 212 Modern bewilderment, has the First Qin Emperor returned?

The historical wheels rolled on, seemingly unchanged in direction, yet everything had already changed in the unseen; but these were not within Ye Qin's considerations.

The river of time surged forward, huge waves crashing onto him; he seemed both a passerby and a participant, watching the river's rise and fall, letting the ages shift, yet he never changed.

Back in reality, Ye Qin used his divine sense to observe the scene inside the Shangqing Temple.

Longling's remains were on the main seat, followed by Zuo Ci and then Qin Shi Huang; although three divine statues had already taken residence, it still seemed somewhat empty.

Incense smoke curled upward, surrounding them, filling the air with endless mystery and majesty; aside from Longling's remains, the other two's bodies emitted a halo, their expressions vividly lifelike, as if they might come alive any second.

At this moment Ye Qin was still unaware that, at the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor on Mount Li, due to a ripple in the ages, some strange events had occurred……

Mountains stretched endlessly, layer upon layer, seeming to touch the sky; only mist wound about, like a long dragon descending from heaven, valleys deep, seas of clouds vast.

Gazing far across the vast eight-hundred-li banks of the Qin River, the Wei River floated like a jade belt among the mountains and forests, adding boundless mystery.

The Qin King swept the six directions, how mighty his tiger-like gaze! Seven hundred thousand convicts, he raised the earth at Mount Li.

This is Mount Li, also the location of the First Qin Emperor's Mausoleum; to this day the mausoleum remains unopened, only a small portion has been excavated, while much remains deeply buried underground, and for various reasons it cannot see the light of day.

Staff on duty during closing made their usual rounds, checking everything inside; compared to the daytime hustle and bustle, the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum near evening was especially quiet.

The setting sun, like blood, fell above the mausoleum; surrounding tree shadows swayed, fluttering endlessly, making it seem even more eerie.

A breeze brushed past, sounding like weeping and lamenting; I don't know if it was the staff's illusion, but I felt the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum was somehow strange today, though I couldn't pinpoint exactly what.

He quickened his patrol steps; there was nothing abnormal around.

"Could it be that I'm overthinking?"

The staff member smoothed his clothes, feeling goosebumps rise all over his body; this feeling peaked as he approached the pit of the terracotta warriors.

Countless life-sized terracotta warriors stood in the pit below; each had a different expression, wearing armor, greaves on their shins, hats on their heads, left hands holding spears, halberds, polearms and other long weapons, appearing lifelike, as if the mighty Qin soldiers of a thousand years ago had returned to the world.

If viewed by day, one would surely marvel at the terracotta warriors' superb craftsmanship, but at this time, with no one around, it is truly eerie.

"Boom—"

Just as the staff member was about to leave, a sudden loud roar frightened him to the core.

"Who's there?"

He abruptly looked around, but saw no one besides the terracotta warriors; listening closely, the sound resembled clashing metal and iron horses, or like ten thousand steeds galloping, its vigor like a rainbow, inspiring dread.

Neighing horses continued nonstop, and the clinking of swords and blades never ceased.

The staff member couldn't help swallowing, walking toward the source of the noise, only to discover it was emanating from deep within the mausoleum; the closer he got, the louder the sound became.

It seemed as if tens of thousands of troops were truly coming, wanting to burst out of this mausoleum!

"It can't be that spooky, can it?"

The matter was quickly reported, but since the mausoleum has never been excavated, no one knows what the cause is inside.

Moreover, the mausoleum had always been peaceful before, never having experienced such strange occurrences.

And this strange disturbance spread widely, even radiating to nearby towns; at first everyone thought it was an earthquake, but the ground felt no tremor.

For a while, nearby residents were puzzled; the eerie noise continued until the early morning hours before barely stopping, and they had originally thought that reaching this place would end the matter.

Who would have thought that on that night, everyone had the same dream.

In the dream, tens of thousands of horses galloped; a majestic figure stood among them, his black robe embroidered with gold and silver threads forming a black bird, the crown on his head filled with imperial authority, he looked down from above, gazing over all directions, receiving the homage of the four quarters.

It was none other than the emperor of all ages, Qin Shi Huang!

Everyone lay low beneath Qin Shi Huang's dignity, as if crossing the distance of time and space, once again catching a glimpse of imperial might; this wondrous sight excited and stirred the crowd.

The next day, upon going out, I couldn't help but find a neighbor to share this with.

"Let me tell you, I had a particularly strange dream last night; guess who I dreamed of?!"

"You wouldn't have dreamed of Qin Shi Huang, would you?"

"Could it be that you also dreamed of him?"

The two exchanged a glance, their expressions utterly strange; upon checking, they found their dreams were exactly identical, not just theirs but also those of the people around them.

That day, everyone discussed the content of the dream.

What coincidence in the world could there be, that everyone had the same dream and even dreamed of Qin Shi Huang!

This matter quickly spread locally.

At the same time, the Qin mausoleum again experienced strange occurrences.

Because of the strange noise heard the previous night, staff hurried to the mausoleum early in the morning, hoping such disturbance would not appear again.

Originally everything was normal, but when passing the terracotta warriors, he instinctively glanced into the pit, his eyes suddenly widening, his expression as if he had seen a ghost.

"Ah!"

A scream echoed through the exhibition hall, and soon others were drawn over.

What they saw was the staff member sitting collapsed on the ground, one hand pointing at the trembling scene in the pit, "Soldiers, the terracotta warriors"

He stammered, unable to utter a complete sentence.

After seeing the scene clearly, everyone's faces turned deathly pale; the manager's eyes went black, and he nearly fainted.

For better visitor viewing, the terracotta warriors at the pit bottom originally faced northeast, but now they all turned south, their positions having been swapped.

If that were all, it would not be enough to make the mausoleum's manager show such an expression; see, these terracotta warriors, for unknown reasons, had their knees broken in unison, their upper bodies crawling on the ground, as if kneeling in worship!

Seeing this scene, everyone hardly dared to breathe; although everything had been normal the day before, after the strange sounds came from deep within the mausoleum, such strange events occurred early the next morning.

"Investigate! Hurry up and find out who did this."

The excavated terracotta warriors number over 8,000; never mind who turned each one around and then produced this sight.

Under these circumstances, not being able to alarm others is truly unbelievable.

Normal people wouldn't be this bored, and moreover damaging cultural relics, especially priceless terracotta warriors, this would entail Criminal Sentence liability.

They retrieved the surveillance footage, but oddly it showed no abnormality; until midnight, when the screen flickered, seemingly due to electromagnetic interference, and once the picture returned to normal, the terracotta warriors had already been turned.

And all of this happened in just a few seconds!

The next moment, they heard several booming sounds; the terracotta warriors, all facing one direction, oddly snapped and collapsed in unison, as if paying homage!

Checking the surveillance turned up nothing, and questioning the night‑shift guards also revealed that, aside from the strange sounds, they had seen no one unusual.

Moreover, after they closed the museum, it could be confirmed that no one could have sneaked in.

The strange sound that suddenly appeared deep in the mausoleum, the lost footage, and these terracotta warriors—all of it hints at something uncanny.

Given the magnitude of the incident, the administrators could only report it to the police immediately and order the museum closed; many visitors left disappointed, still unaware of the various oddities that had occurred at the mausoleum.

Green hills beautiful, mist cleared, revealing undulating peaks; the mountain road wound like a ribbon drifting downward, visitors like tiny white dots scattered sparsely along it, slowly moving toward the exit.

"What a buzzkill—I had planned to see the terracotta warriors during the holiday, but the museum ended up closed."

"Who would disagree? It closed suddenly with no warning; had I known, I would have canceled my trip today."

"Never mind; let's go stroll around the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or the Hibiscus Garden later."

The disappointed visitors were chatting when a piercing siren sounded in the distance; several blue‑and‑white police cars drove toward them and soon entered the park.

"What are the police doing here? Could some relics have been stolen?"

"All we have here are terracotta warriors—who would bother stealing something you can't even move?"

Although the visitors didn't know exactly what had happened, the sudden closure and arrival of police cars gave them a sense that something unusual was afoot.

The police arrived at the scene immediately; upon seeing the pit's condition, they were stunned.

Whenever the person in charge saw the broken terracotta warriors, he had to take a heart‑rescue pill to keep from fainting from rage, and he shouted furiously:

"Officer, you must find the culprit—destroying so many relics is utterly heinous!"

Just repairing that many terracotta warriors is a huge project, requiring considerable manpower and material resources; the museum will likely have to stay closed for at least several months.

The police checked the surrounding surveillance, but still found nothing.

They also took soil samples from the pit's bottom, detecting no footprints or fingerprints, giving the impression that the warriors had broken on their own.

However, the terracotta warriors have been peaceful for years, and the museum regularly assigns specialists to maintain them; it's impossible for all of them to develop such a problem.

Logically, damaging that many terracotta warriors couldn't be done by one person alone; it must have been a group effort, yet the scene left no trace at all—truly seamless.

But what could be the motive of such a group?

Apart from the terracotta warriors being damaged, all other relics remain unharmed.

Even the police of West Market have never encountered such a thorny case; they have no leads, cannot identify a suspect, and it's utterly baffling—after coming up empty, they can only shelve it for now.

With such a commotion at the mausoleum—strange noises, police, and then the sudden closure—word quickly spread among the local residents.

You're ugly to me: {【Strange, why did the terracotta warriors' side suddenly close? I came to West Market this time just to see the terracotta warriors.】}

Mo Na Shu Mouse Pointing at Me: {【My older brother works inside the museum; he told me something big happened with the terracotta warriors!】}

Village's Most Handsome: {【Explain what's going on upstairs.】}

Mo Na Shu Mouse Pointing at Me: {【The terracotta warriors were damaged by an unknown force, their lower halves completely broken, as if they were kneeling before something; moreover, according to on‑site staff, the warriors' orientations were all switched, now all facing toward the mausoleum!】}

Chrysanthemum Shatters Big Stone: {【Just hearing you say that gives me goosebumps—could it really be that spooky?】}

Rich and Willful, Poor and Resigned: {【Damn! My family lives nearby; that night I heard the strange sound, like warhorses neighing, as if it came from the mausoleum, and everyone around had the same dream, dreaming of Qin Shi Huang!】}

Museum Night of Wonders: {【Secretly telling you, the evening patrol staff also heard the strange sound; it can be confirmed to emanate from deep within the mausoleum.】}

Farmer's Three Punches Ache a Bit: {【Buddy, you're not bragging, are you? Hearing the strange sound is understandable, but everyone having the same dream is a bit too mystical.】}

Rich and Willful, Poor and Resigned: {【Chinese don't deceive Chinese!】}

Rich and Willful, Poor and Resigned: {【Do you still remember the mirage scene at Mount Tai earlier, concerning Qin Shi Huang's immortality and the mystery of the fairy immortals?】}

Selling off underwear to go online: 【So they say Qin Shi Huang is coming back, hurry up and send money, if you believe I am Qin Shi Huang, you send money!】

Thinking about it: I am Qin Shi Huang, I want to restore the glory of the Great Qin Empire; if you give me 50, I will tell you my grand plan.

Lightness skill floating on water: 【I'll just quietly watch you brag.】

More and more people nearby spoke up, saying they had indeed had the same strange dream; for a while, netizens were astonished to the extreme, and combined with the strange events happening at the Terracotta Warriors site, they all felt that this matter revealed something uncanny.

Moreover, some people started playing the meme, all saying this was a sign of Qin Shi Huang's return; however, playing the meme is just playing the meme, and no one expected Qin Shi Huang to truly come back to life, after all, he's been dead for a thousand years.

As the situation kept escalating, more and more people joined the discussion, causing related topics to keep rising; several hot searches on Weibo were all about this—either discussing Qin Shi Huang or discussing the mausoleum at Lishan.

#Three major strange events before Qin Shi Huang's death! Let's explore this emperor of all ages#

#The mystery of why Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum has not been opened#

#Are the Terracotta Warriors kneeling to worship Qin Shi Huang? #

#Strange sounds are coming from deep within the mausoleum—are they man-made or supernatural? #

……

Capital, National Secrets Bureau, 749 Bureau.

Whether it was Yao Ruotong or Xu Tiancheng, everyone had dark circles under their eyes, obviously they hadn't slept well for several days, and the documents on the table could pile up into a small hill.

Xu Tiancheng frowned at the documents in his hand, his eyes also bloodshot from staying up, 'Currently, based on the clues we have obtained...'

He lifted his head, his expression somewhat complex, 'It's possible that a special kind of creature truly exists in the world, very mysterious, possibly beyond our cognition.'

However, without solid evidence, even if reported, it would be hard to draw attention from above.

But all the clues already indicate that this mysterious existence may not be a fantasy, yet it is so mysterious that no trace of it can be found.

"Continue to verify the data, check all strange events within the past thirty years; I just don't believe there isn't a single clue."

Just then, Wang Xuehao walked in carrying a large bag of coffee from the entrance, 'Everyone has been working hard lately; have a cup of coffee to refresh yourselves.'

Xu Tiancheng casually picked up a cup: 'Captain Wang, how did you suddenly become so generous? Could it be that there's a new case you're going to assign to us?'

Wang Xuehao nodded, 'You kid actually hit the nail on the head.'

Xu Tiancheng almost spat out his coffee, 'No way, are you still letting people live?'

Seeing his listless expression, Wang Xuehao laughed, 'Don't worry, although it's a new case, it's not our responsibility.'

Only then did Xu Tiancheng revive with full vigor, showing a curious expression, 'What case is it?'

"Something has happened at the Lishan Mausoleum; just check the hot searches and you'll know." (End of chapter)