Chapter 14: A Busy Holiday

Ning Qing's little motorcycle handles very well.

Chen Shu rode along the Lakeside Road, leaned into a beautiful turn, and quickly straightened the bike after exiting the curve.

The evening breeze rushed into his clothes from under the helmet; summer had truly arrived, and it was swelteringly hot, making such refreshment all the more rare.

The wind cooled Chen Shu down quite a bit, and with the comfort he had received from Secretary Ning today, the messy thoughts from earlier in the day were temporarily set aside.

After some thought, it must be the Crystal's fault.

The Square Body detected the Crystal, which is why it reacted; he had never spent so much time in the Square Body while carrying the Crystal before, nor had he spent the night outside the Square Body with it.

This suggests that the functionality of the Square Body is still not strong enough.

It cannot even accurately identify the carrier of the Crystal, otherwise it wouldn't have made everyone nearby have dreams.

That era still had its technological limitations.

The amazing part is, how did Shengzu set up this mechanism without being discovered?

Logically speaking, so many Square Bodies have been unearthed, and Yiguo's research into them is very thorough; many parts of the Square Body's Rune have been brought out by Yiguo to show off—look, our ancestors were this awesome five thousand years ago, this Rune Group is truly exquisite, pretty awesome, right? Back then, your ancestors were still eating shit.

But regardless, the level of Runes five thousand years ago was still far behind the present; if the Square Body had relevant Talisman Arrays carved into it, they should have been discovered and their specific functions parsed long ago.

The fellow countryman still had some tricks up his sleeve.

This hypothesis remains to be verified.

So, Chen Shu left the Crystal at home today and wore a high-quality replica that looked exactly the same.

The little motorcycle stopped at the foot of Beauty Mountain, where a checkpoint had already been set up, and Chen Shu showed his work credentials to the security personnel.

"Please pass."

He parked the little motorcycle there and walked toward the archaeological camp.

Chen Jiaoshou was eating dinner, and when he saw him, he raised an eyebrow slightly: "Why are you back again?"

"I thought about it, I still have to cook for your wife at home, so I might as well come here and mooch a dinner. There's free breakfast provided tomorrow morning, too."

"Hmm."

"You aren't even concerned about my grades."

"How did you do on the exam?"

"I don't want to tell you anymore."

"Hmm."

Chen Jiaoshou continued to bury his head in his meal.

Professor Shi, however, was very concerned: "Can you get into Yujing? Did you fill out your application? Which major did you apply for?"

"Spell Principles."

"Eh..."

Professor Shi wore a look of heartbreak: "I've seen too many young people like you; your talents in other areas are clearly excellent, yet you insist on applying for this kind of major..."

Chen Shu nodded repeatedly.

That's still better than this damn history major; encouraging people to study history is asking to be struck by lightning.

The next morning.

Chen Shu was rarely awake earlier than Chen Jiaoshou, and seeing Chen Jiaoshou fast asleep on the bed next to him, he chose to disturb him without hesitation:

"Chen Jiaoshou?

"Chen Jiaoshou?

"Chen Jiaoshou, get up for work!

"Chen Jiaoshou, that stock you sold off last week has hit the daily limit three times in a row!"

"!!"

Chen Jiaoshou jolted, sitting up in Surprise.

Once he came to his senses, he wiped his face with his hand, looked at Chen Shu beside him with resignation, and let out a long sigh:

"What time is it?"

"Seven o'clock."

"Breakfast isn't served until eight..."

"Did you have a dream last night? Why didn't I have one?"

"None."

"Oh..." Chen Shu nodded, then urged, "Get up quickly, wash up, and go scout for information; I'm very interested."

"..."

Chen Jiaoshou threw off the quilt and got out of bed.

According to Chen Jiaoshou, no one had any more dreams last night, and the Mijing Space Stone was also normal.

This sort of thing isn't worth being too surprised about—

It is a mechanism set up five thousand years ago; the fact that it could still activate is the greatest testament to its excellence.

You cannot expect it to still be operating normally.

It is perfectly normal for it to suddenly break down after running for a few days; even if it mysteriously resumes operation again in two days, it would still be no surprise.

What everyone wants to figure out more is where this mechanism is located, how it operates, and what its purpose is.

The expert team from Yujing has been scratching their heads over it.

The military, however, had already successfully cracked the Mijing and had notified the group of history workers early on, telling them to enter the Mijing after breakfast to inventory the artifacts inside.

Everyone seemed somewhat impatient about this.

Entering the Mijing.

The space inside is not large at all, and it is irregular; the longest part is about four hundred meters, the narrowest part is about three hundred meters, and the highest point is about five hundred meters. The shape of the space is the same as the external shape of the Space Stone. This data is what Chen Shu heard from the big shots; in his eyes, there is actually only an endless darkness, no different from deep space.

The reason it is called a Mijing is purely because one can enter it; it is completely different from the Mijing with mountains and water in Chen Shu's impression.

With the help of the mask's faint light and night vision function, it is enough to see things.

He then began to take inventory.

The things in the Mijing are numerous and messy:

Ancient Artifacts;

Top-tier ancient Artifacts are very powerful and not necessarily inferior to modern equipment; the advantages of modern equipment are low cost, low Spirit Power consumption, strong functionality, mass production, and so on.

Various books;

This is the most precious wealth. In the past, Square Bodies rarely stored books, and the stock of books in this Square Body has made everyone ecstatic.

Clothing and various handicrafts;

Also very precious.

The roots, fruits, flower stamens, etc., of certain Spirit Plants;

Shengzu's method of handling these things is awesome; five thousand years have passed and they still retain their spiritual charm, as if they were specifically left for future generations. Some of these have already formed standardized cultivation in modern times, while others have not lost their value over time, and some that have been extinct in history are extremely precious.

But regardless, they all possess high historical value; at the very least, they can prove that five thousand years ago, our ancestors had already made use of them.

Special minerals, extraterrestrial objects, etc.;

Some minerals have been completely mined out today, and extraterrestrial objects are also becoming scarcer with every bit used; there is no lack of things with strategic value.

Precious metals, gemstones, etc.;

Trash.

Things made from the bones, horns, teeth, skin, or even certain organs of exotic beasts;

These are the earliest exotic beast products unearthed.

To be honest, some things do not look like they were left for Chen Shu; it is likely that Shengzu also considered the situation where the Square Body was unearthed and not met by a fellow countryman, but discovered by other descendants.

These things were already processed five thousand years ago, so there are no obvious signs of damage even now, with only a few books being damaged. However, after they get their hands on them, they still need to use special instruments to perform protective treatment again, covering them with a layer of special Spirit Power, and then they can be taken out.

In this process, it is best to attach a simple label to these items, classify them, and explain their importance to facilitate categorized storage and transportation, in anticipation of further research.

Therefore, everyone often discusses while taking inventory.

"Oh!"

A cry of Surprise came from Professor Liu's side, causing everyone to turn their heads.

They saw Professor Liu carefully holding A Book; the book had already been opened to a page. He turned his head and said to everyone, "This is incredible! This 'Classic of Exotic Beasts' might accurately record the time period when exotic beasts appeared on our planet; it is of very high value!"

"Professor Liu, stop flipping through it!"

"I know, I know..."

Two scholars who were very interested had already gathered around, while the rest continued to busy themselves with their own work.

Not long after, Chen Shu heard a female scholar beside him say in confusion, "This hairpin looks very ordinary; why would it be placed here?"

The female scholar was holding a wooden hairpin.

Chen Shu turned his head to look carefully and thought for a moment: "I do recall an allusion."

"Please tell us."

"This is a small matter recorded in the 'Biyun County Annals (Yu)'. It says that during the Yu Dynasty, there was a very famous miscarriage of justice in Biyun County that reached the throne, but the Emperor did not really want to deal with it. So, his trusted minister used an allusion from the previous dynasty's Holy Emperor to remonstrate. It said that there was also a miscarriage of justice during the Holy Emperor's time. A woman was at her wit's end and knelt to beg for justice when the Holy Emperor was on an inspection tour. The Holy Emperor then indeed investigated the truth for her and cleared her name. The woman gave him a hairpin as a reward. People all over the world praised the Holy Emperor's benevolent heart," Chen Shu said. "You can go and check it."

"Did you find this allusion in order to understand Shengzu?"

"Something like that. I don't have much interest in the Yu Dynasty, but the Xia Dynasty is too far away and there are too few things left behind; however, the subsequent dynasties recorded a lot of things about the Xia Dynasty."

"No wonder Chen Jiaoshou wanted to pull you over."

"I just happen to know it."

"You are being modest."

The female scholar put the hairpin away and wrote the words "Hairpin gifted to Shengzu by a common woman (pending verification)" on the box's label.

Subsequently, someone else found clothing embroidered with dragons, which was probably what the Holy Emperor wore after court; the style was very similar to the Emperor's casual wear that Chen Shu had seen in some historical TV dramas before. Later, every dynasty had revised it, and now it has become very unfamiliar.

Chen Shu also found something very familiar: a basin often used in the countryside in his past life to hold lard.

But because he could not think of any relevant records and lacked strong evidence, he could not point at it and say it was used to hold lard; he could only write "Mudanhua Wencibo".

"This skull cup is very strange. In my impression, Shengzu rarely did such things that show cruelty, right?"

"Could it be Zhang Chi's?" a scholar said subconsciously.

"Doesn't look like it," Professor Shi countered. "Why would Shengzu put his favorite general's skull cup here? Shouldn't he have been given a grand burial?"

"I think it might be Xuli's," Chen Shu pondered for a moment. "At that time, Zhang Chi died in Yue Di, and his skull was made into a skull cup by the people of Yue Di who worshipped Xuli. But later, after Shengzu was furious and went to Yue Di himself to kill Xuli, he had already given Zhang Chi a grand burial; it is unlikely he would keep Zhang Chi's skull here for preservation. And looking at this skull cup, it has been polished bright; it looks more like Shengzu, in order to take revenge on Xuli, also made his skull into a cup."

After finishing, Chen Shu grinned: "This is just my guess. If we find Zhang Chi's tomb later, we will know if it is Zhang Chi's once we open it."

"What you say makes sense."

"It's just a guess; it might have other origins."

"Archaeology requires some imagination. Let's think freely and not have any psychological burden. Before writing it in a book and announcing it to the world, we can fully imagine it."

"Yes."

"After these things are inventoried, I estimate that only a small portion will remain in Yuanzhou, and most will be transported to Yujing for research," Professor Shi said to Chen Shu. "If you are free then, come and help me; I will give you extra credits and pay you a salary."

"Okay."

Chen Shu was eager to do so, but he still said: "Credits don't matter, just give me more money."

Professor Shi laughed out loud.

A few days later.

The excavation of the Square Body and the inventory of cultural relics were basically completed; as Professor Shi said, most of the items were transported to Yujing, and a small portion were sent to the Yuanzhou Bowuguan. However, it would only be possible to display them in the exhibition hall after scholars had tested and studied them.

The Mijing, however, belonged to the military.

It is said that the authorities do not intend to turn this Square Body into a museum, and are prepared to just let it remain on Beauty Mountain for tourists to take photos.

Furthermore, Chen Shu still had to go to the Yuanzhou Bowuguan to work and do some auxiliary tasks, for which he would receive a salary, while at night he had to continue the analysis work of the Protective Divine Light after returning home.

He also had to cultivate.

He also had to chat with Qingqing.

He also had to watch young ladies dancing online.

He was truly spinning around in circles from being so busy.