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墨書 Inktalez
The Ancient City of Xi'an, I have only been here once, during the mission for Zombie Ba. During that mission, I was also obstructed by a team of Archaeologists.
Among that Archaeologist team, the one who left the deepest impression on me was a girl named Xia Liyi. Xia Liyi immediately clicked with me due to her quirky way of thinking, similar to mine. Although we didn't spend much time together, I still had a good impression of her.
I originally thought it would be hard to see her again, but unexpectedly, we met so soon.
"What brings you back here?" I asked, looking at Xia Liyi, who was covered in dirt. Excavating tombs is indeed a messy job; she looked like she had rolled around in the mud.
"I had no choice," Xia Liyi shrugged at me. "The place we went to before was actually my original topic for writing a thesis. I didn't expect you to blow it up."
That place must have been Zombie Ba; there was no helping it. If it wasn't blown up, I would have done it myself.
"So this is your new topic now?" This Sister's luck isn't great; it's another ominous Tomb.
"No, I'm just here as an assistant. This site seems to be extremely significant and might even rewrite history," Xia Liyi said with longing. "For someone in our line of work, witnessing history unfold before your eyes is such a wonderful experience!"
"Is that so?" I looked at her. "Come on, help me identify what era this thing is from."
I took out the sword hilt left by my master. I had speculated about its origins for quite some time, but I didn't expect Xia Liyi to be able to tell me; I just wanted to make a joke with her.
However, the sword hilt did have a sense of historical weight to it, and the patterns on it were quite ancient in style.
"I'm an Archaeologist, not an artifact appraiser," Xia Liyi glanced at me disdainfully. "Did you buy this from a street vendor?"
But after Xia Liyi took the sword hilt, she suddenly fell silent and began examining the patterns on it closely.
"This sword hilt," Xia Liyi said, looking puzzled at the patterns on it, "doesn't resemble any dynasty's decorative style. However, it looks quite old and doesn't seem like a fake. The style resembles those commonly used during the Zhou and Shang periods, but if it really were from that time, how could there be no signs of rust at all?"
Xia Liyi flipped the sword handle back and forth in her hand, then looked at me and asked, "Where did you get this?"
"It was passed down from my master; it's considered a family heirloom for us."
"Family heirloom?" Xia Liyi looked at me skeptically. "Then you don't even know the origin of this thing?"
"How would I know? My master tossed it to me, and I haven't seen anyone else since." Yes, I had only heard his voice once, and when I woke up, he had vanished again.
"This Burial Tomb was dug up by you?" I looked at the Burial Tomb that was almost completely excavated. "Do you know what this Burial Tomb is for?"
After all, Xia Liyi specialized in this field; she should know about these things.
"To be honest, I really don't know the purpose of this Burial Tomb. Generally, Burial Tombs have their functions, but the items dug up this time are all chaotic—there are no burial goods or any Skeleton present." Xia Liyi thought for a moment but had no answer.
"This excavation has many experts believing it could rewrite history; this might be an unprecedented discovery."
Trouble—if the contents of the tomb were made public, who knows whether it would be a blessing or a curse.
"Captain, I've already found information on the missing person," Li Ping's voice suddenly echoed in my mind. This was his ability—to probe and communicate with others through his brainwaves.
"Really?" I responded directly in my mind. "Where are you now? I'll come right away."
"At twelve o'clock in the west direction," Li Ping replied.
"Okay, I'm on my way." I responded.
"Xia Liyi, I have to leave now. Let's talk again when we have the chance."
"Okay, take care."
In a spot at the western corner that had not yet begun excavation, Li Ping stood there, pressing one finger against the ground while the other hand pressed against their forehead.
Receiving news from Li Ping was a good sign; it meant that those below had not died. Li Ping could only sense brainwaves, and since there were still brainwaves, it meant they were still alive!
"Can you communicate with the people below?" I asked.
"I can't do that, and their positions are very strange."
"Strange? What do you mean?"
"Their traces appear suddenly and then disappear just as suddenly. I've felt this many times; they vanish right in front of me."
"Are you sure it's Lin Zhao and the others?" Could it be some bizarre creatures down there instead of Lin Zhao?
"Well, Captain, I can only sense human brainwaves; I can't detect those of animals." Li Ping stood up. "And one thing I can confirm is that the people below are very Health. Their brainwaves show no signs of chaos. It's like lost individuals running around aimlessly."
Lost? Could it be that Lin Zhao and the others are trapped by something beneath the tomb? But then what explains their sudden disappearance?
Wait! With so many experts here, could any of them understand the situation beneath the tomb? Even a rough idea would be good news!
"Li Ping, continue to investigate around here and wait for news." I wasn't sure when we could descend into the tomb, but having as much information as possible in hand would certainly help.
I am preparing to consult those experts to understand the situation they are aware of, in order to gain a general understanding.
“Jiang Shao.” I contacted him using the pager that Jiang Shao provided me, as phones are not allowed here; the only way to reach someone is through a pager.
“Mr. Yin, is there a problem?” Jiang Shao responded immediately.
“Can you organize a seminar with the experts? I want to understand the situation below the tomb.”
“Well,” Jiang Shao hesitated, “these experts have come with their own topics, and I estimate they won’t communicate with each other until they have results.”
“Is that so? In that case, try to organize it; let as many come as possible.”
“Okay, I will do my best,” Jiang Shao said.
If we could obtain some useful information from those experts, it might reduce a lot of Trouble when we go down to the tomb.
After thinking for a moment, I returned to the Burial Tomb where I had previously encountered Xia Liyi, as it was the only place that had already been excavated.
However, what I did not expect was to run into not one, but two acquaintances.
Wu Zhixiang and Wu Zhishang.
These uncle and nephew were also at this excavation site, and it seemed that the people around them respected Wu Zhixiang. No matter what questions arose, they would ask him first and only act after receiving his approval or acknowledgment.
However, I had no intention of approaching them. Instead, I walked directly over to Xia Liyi, who was half-kneeling on the ground, carefully cleaning dirt off a stone slab.
"What are you digging for?" I squatted down as well.
Xia Liyi's movements were very gentle as she carefully brushed away the dirt with a small brush.
"This is a stone carving. Although I don't know what it depicts, it has patterns that have never been seen before, and they are not pictograms."
Pictograms are symbols similar to hieroglyphs.
Xia Liyi switched tools, using a bamboo stick to gently scrape away the dirt along the traces of the patterns: "Incredible, the ancients were able to carve such intricate designs in such a small area. These patterns should be decorative."
I looked at the seemingly chaotic patterns on the stone slab and suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. I extended a finger, letting a bit of my magical energy leak out, tracing the patterns in the air.
Sure enough, as I completed the drawing of the entire pattern, it formed a simple yet flowing diagram of magical energy circulation.
I remembered something and quickly took out the Octagonal Taiji pendant from around my neck, aligning its original symbols with the patterns on the stone slab.
Indeed, among the eight original symbols, there was a Rebirth Talisman. The last segment of the Rebirth Talisman perfectly matched one corner of this pattern!
Could this actually be a Talisman? Or perhaps an exclusive symbol left by a master of Talismanic Arts!
Rebirth? It wouldn't be surprising to find such a symbol in a tomb, but why would it appear in a burial site? Moreover, this Burial Tomb doesn't even contain any Skeletons!
That is rather strange.
"Xia Liyi, don't move for now."
"What are you doing?"
"Look." I handed her the Octagonal Taiji. "The last structure of this Talisman is exactly the same as the structure in the corner on the right side of the stone tablet."
Xia Liyi took the Octagonal Taiji.
"Really, Yin Zheng'an, where did you get this from?"
"It was also passed down by my master. Listen to me first, these eight Talismans are the original symbols of our Taoism, the foundation of all talisman drawings. No matter how complicated a talisman drawing is, it originates from these eight Talismans."
"And this one is the Rebirth Talisman."
"Rebirth? What does that mean?"
"The Rebirth Talisman is a talisman that uses one's own Merit to grant Rebirth to unwilling Vengeful Spirits. Simply put, it's like a business card for the talisman maker. A soul that has been granted Rebirth by the Rebirth Talisman will even have to give some respect to the talisman maker in the Underworld, allowing that soul to successfully Rebirth."
"But those great evildoers are supposed to go to hell; a regular Rebirth Talisman wouldn't work on them. The Talisman in front of us is a Talismanic Arts drawing made by everyone. If I'm not mistaken, it must have used some method to cleanse the sins of great evildoers."
"Talisman? Underworld? Are you sure this isn't feudal superstition?"
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