Chapter 2496: The Mural Across a Thousand Years! It Looks Like We Can't Leave!

This kind of fearless, nothing-scares-me personality suddenly wearing such an expression meant that the matter itself was genuinely steeped in something eerie.

Through the livestream camera, the audience also noticed the paint on Fatty's hand, and at this moment some people couldn't help but rebuke Fatty in other ways.

【Isn't Fatty usually pretty bold? What's gotten into him today?】

【It's just a mural, isn't it? He got this scared just because no result came out of the discussion?】

【Could it be that there's some kind of mind-controlling mechanism or trap on the mural?】

【Can you people think before you speak? Paint!】

【What paint? It's perfectly normal for a mural to have paint. Making a fuss over nothing.】

【You bunch of country bumpkins! How many years has it been since the Eastern Xia? And the paint still hasn't dried?】

【Oh, that's all? Maybe the hot spring's steam caused the paint to evaporate.】

【You lot of idiots, the hot spring here hasn't been around for just a year or two. If it could evaporate the paint, the paint would've flown off to who-knows-where long ago. But right now it's as vivid and bright as if it were brand new.】

Once these words were spoken, even the most dim-witted person understood exactly where Fatty's shock and fear had come from!

Although this fear lasted only an instant, in that state of the-more-you-think-the-more-frightening-it-gets, once the crowd figured it out, even through the livestream screen, they couldn't help but suck in a cold breath in front of their computers.

The current situation could probably only point to one thing: the mural itself had been newly made, and the timing was even much more recent than they had imagined.

This was what everyone called the-more-you-think-the-more-frightening-it-gets. Their first thought was to hurry and ask Mr. Zhang for an answer, because apart from Mr. Zhang, no one else could possibly explain such an eerie matter.

Looking back at the First Archaeology Team, even Wu Ya immediately came over; she didn't understand why Fatty had become like this.

At the same time, Fatty just stared at his own fingertips, so certain that this matter held some other eerie answer. So Wu Ya, wanting to sort out the pros and cons involved, hurried over, only to find that what she saw was exactly this kind of thing.

Wu Ya's reaction was extremely quick. Wu Tianzhen hadn't taken it seriously at first—if Fatty's fear had truly given rise to such a state, then something major must have happened.

When a person who has no fear nerves at all starts to feel afraid, then everyone should be on guard, and face whatever comes next with twelve parts caution.

But here, Wu Tianzhen considered himself the person who knew Fatty best. Under that premise, he knew Fatty was always pulling pranks of every kind.

So this act was very likely Fatty doing it on purpose, just to scare everyone. He hadn't expected that after Wu Ya went over, her expression would change again and again. At this moment, everyone's attention was focused on Fatty's two fingers.

Wu Tianzhen knew this matter definitely wasn't what he had thought. Fatty wasn't deliberately causing trouble; he had genuinely fallen into this kind of fear.

The next moment, Fatty took a deep breath, and then Wu Tianzhen also walked over. At this point Fatty didn't waste any words and showed his fingers to Wu Tianzhen—the paint that had stuck to them from up above.

At first they were still marveling at how vivid the paint here was, as if it had just been applied. The reason they hadn't suspected anything was also very simple.

Because with the steam from the hot spring nearby, the mural wouldn't gather too much dust. But now it was clearly not what they had imagined. At the very least, this mural itself had already become something else entirely. In fact, even Zhang Lin hadn't expected this from the start.

After all, there were many ways to explain why a mural remained bright and fresh. No one had ever thought to touch the mural, because that in itself went against logic—after all, it was a historical inheritance and record.

Even if they couldn't take it away, they shouldn't recklessly damage it.

Perhaps one day, when the technology was up to it, the very spot where they were standing could really be developed by the local tourism industry, thereby creating economic value.

Even if that weren't the case, its historical heritage lay hidden here, and might bring something to future generations.

But now, with Fatty's one action, everything changed!

It wasn't that Fatty was wrong. Just touching a mural with a hand—no matter if it was a thousand or ten thousand years—as long as the mural itself showed no signs of weathering, it wouldn't be completely eroded by such a tiny bit of color from human sweat.

But no matter what the situation, at the very least it shouldn't be like Fatty, directly peeling off the paint from back then. With the paint itself never evaporating, and so many years of moisture seeping in, at the very least it should have lost the appearance it was supposed to have. Yet somehow, this illogical thing had actually happened.

Fatty took a deep breath and looked at Wu Ya; the meaning was crystal clear.

He wanted Wu Ya to get in touch with Mr. Zhang and see what exactly was going on.

If Mr. Zhang still didn't give a clear answer at this point, then naturally they couldn't possibly keep going forward.

Even though Fatty hadn't understood at first why the mural itself was a map, after hearing what Wu Tianzhen said afterward, Fatty also understood what his good brother was about to do.

It was nothing more than traveling through the night, and then finding the next place to rest and reorganize—that was what needed to be done. Otherwise, this hot spring itself hadn't presented any dangerous or eerie situation.

But Wu Tianzhen instinctively still wasn't at ease. Besides, they had already discovered the intention to head in that direction. Even camping in the snowfield would be better than spending the night in this inexplicable place.

That was the choice Wu Tianzhen least wanted to make. If the others disagreed, Wu Tianzhen would certainly stand against the majority, even joining forces with Wu Ya and Zhang Tianshi to persuade everyone to follow him.

But now, even if Wu Tianzhen wanted to do that, it was no longer possible, because the eerie situation had just occurred. They needed to investigate it thoroughly. Even if they left now, at most they would spend tonight at the cave entrance above, and then wait until Zhang Lin went to the New Moon Restaurant to give them an answer.

If they were to continue exploring the mural itself, then the First Archaeology Team would naturally take the people back, sort out the issues, and see if there were any relevant clues inside. If there was no point, then they were overthinking it, and it would be fine to leave directly.

But no matter which outcome it was, at the very least they couldn't determine it on their own right now. Only Zhang Lin, up at the New Moon Restaurant, could give them the corresponding answer.

Unless Wu Ya or Zhang Tianshi could spot something off about the situation right now and give everyone an answer directly. But from their expressions, both Fatty and Wu Tianzhen had basically already realized that wasn't realistic.

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