Chapter 3074

The next moment Wu Tianzhen asked without thinking, "Then why is this paint brand-new and yet can be washed away? Is someone playing tricks here, getting here before us and turning the place into this state?"

This was exactly what Wu Ya had suspected earlier. Hearing the question, she sighed, not knowing how to answer—these things could probably only be asked of Mr. Zhang.

But since the other party had hung up the phone earlier, it meant they didn't want to discuss this matter now, and certainly hadn't failed to see it.

Of this, Wu Ya was more certain than anyone.

Wu Ya had originally wanted to speak her mind and share her conjecture, but since Wu Tianzhen was the leader of the First Archaeology Team, she didn't want to overstep her bounds at this point.

So after thinking for a long while, Wu Ya smiled faintly and only said one sentence: "Captain Wu, the choice is still in your hands!"

This was the answer Wu Ya gave—not shirking responsibility, but using this shift of topic to tell Wu Tianzhen not to keep dwelling on the matter.

Wu Tianzhen was stunned when he heard this. He nodded instinctively, while Fatty's eyes were full of bewilderment.

During this period, Fatty had noticed that no matter what he said, Wu Tianzhen's first reaction was either to argue back or to give him a sour look. Fatty belatedly realized he had asked questions he shouldn't have.

So this time, even though he was curious about the conversation between the two, Fatty didn't say much. The next moment he leaned in close to Zhang Tianshi, lowered his voice, and asked, "What kind of riddle are those two playing at?"

Hearing this, Zhang Tianshi patted Fatty on the shoulder and shook his head, likewise saying nothing. This left Fatty even more at a loss. Fortunately, his temperament was fairly easygoing, so in the end he just curled his lip and didn't press further.

From Fatty's perspective, no matter what happened later, as long as there was a corresponding order—and one he deeply believed in—he could carry it out without needing to know all the whys and wherefores. Relatively speaking, he was more worried about there being no guidance at all.

For example, the ambiguous answer Mr. Zhang had given earlier at the New Moon Restaurant—even Fatty instinctively questioned it, though in the end he reined in those feelings. And even earlier, at the New Moon Restaurant, Mr. Zhang had refused to give the First Archaeology Team any guidance at all.

He had only spoken about the Second Archaeology Team's situation, which left Fatty somewhat baffled and even made him feel Mr. Zhang was playing favorites. Of course, in the end all these subjective negative feelings were suppressed.

Looking at the current situation, Wu Tianzhen took a deep breath, then said nothing more, knowing that at this moment Wu Ya was right.

Rather than getting hung up on useless things, they might as well follow Mr. Zhang's instructions—use the hot spring water to wash away the fresh paint on the surface of the mural and see what was hidden underneath.

Meanwhile, Wang Wang Canghai's eyes went wide. Watching the livestream, he shook his head unconsciously, his gaze full of incomprehension.

He had actually become the most shocked person. Wang Wang Canghai truly couldn't accept this. Following his established logic, he was certain that even if the paint on the mural was fresh, at most it had something to do with the hot spring's vapor, or the eerie atmosphere here had formed naturally over a thousand years.

In other words, the Dongxia had merely found this hot spring later and recorded some things on it, while the mural itself was simply layered and superimposed—so this paint wasn't important at all. But the answer Zhang Lin gave wasn't like that, and Wang Wang Canghai reacted very quickly.

Whatever Wu Tianzhen and Wu Ya could think of, Wang Wang Canghai could naturally think of too. Before this, at most he had adjusted his thinking down to the level of microorganisms.

Perhaps it was something like eye jet or coal essence—he even wanted to call Wang Cang to share some of his conjectures, as a way of making friendly overtures in advance.

So that Wang Cang could continue to stand on his side afterward.

But now there was actually another layer beneath the paint—something he had never anticipated at the start. He was also afraid: if that thing directly revealed the secrets of that time, what should he do?

This was the outcome Wang Wang Canghai least wanted to see. He couldn't be blamed for letting his imagination run wild—anyone looking at it would see that as long as one knew the details of the matter, this possibility certainly existed.

In fact, even Zhang Lin himself wasn't sure what was hidden behind the mural, or who had covered it. From Zhang Lin's perspective, it might not even be a person.

It could just be some inexplicable existence, whose purpose was not only to conceal those truths but also to prove its own existence.

This was easy to reason out, and Wang Wang Canghai saw through it clearly at once. If this person had truly seen those things and didn't want the archaeology team to know, he wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to cover that layer of paint—it would have been completely unnecessary and a waste of time.

He was simply telling everyone that he existed. Under this premise, Wang Wang Canghai felt that if this person truly existed, they were destined not to be on the same side.

And Wang Wang Canghai hadn't suspected the Wan Nu King either, because the creature was surely still behind the Qingtong Sect and hadn't come out—unless Zhang Lin got the First Archaeology Team to Tiangong.

Only by using his own methods could he let Warmth walk out of that place. Of course, if when that moment arrived, Zhang Lin did nothing,

then the Wan Nu King could walk out just the same. This was what Wang Wang Canghai was guarding against now. Earlier he had chosen to focus all his energy on the Second Archaeology Team, but now, inexplicably, his attention had swung back to the First Archaeology Team. This time, Wang Wang Canghai realized that perhaps all of this was Zhang Lin's arrangement.

Zhang Lin's earlier arrangements weren't wrong, but what was happening now truly wasn't something he had planned—he hadn't anticipated the mural situation either. It had all happened suddenly.

Still, Wang Wang Canghai couldn't be blamed for thinking things were so complicated—after all, similar things had happened many times before.

Wang Wang Canghai truly didn't want to fall into that kind of impossible-choice situation again because of some mistake of his own. It was simply too agonizing—like a butcher's knife at his neck, drawing closer and closer. That kind of pressure was something an ordinary person simply couldn't bear, and even Wang Wang Canghai was no exception.

So all these scattered thoughts of Wang Wang Canghai's were paving the way for the future.

……………………………………………….