“A wooden box?” Liu Dashao was slightly puzzled, murmuring to himself.
“Never mind so much, whatever it is, just bring it down first,” Wang Zhicai said from below to Fan Debiao.
After struggling for a while, Fan Debiao finally retrieved the box. One hand grasping a groove on the statue, the other holding the box, with just a little support from his feet, he swayed unsteadily on the statue, clearly off balance and in danger of falling. He tried descending several times but failed each time.
“Give me the box,” Jackson said to Fan Debiao, seeing that he was struggling.
Upon hearing this, Fan Debiao threw the box toward Jackson. Jackson, in a much easier position, caught it effortlessly with one hand. Examining the box for a moment revealed nothing obvious, so he tucked it under his arm and climbed back down the way he came. With an extra hand free, Fan Debiao now had it much easier and followed closely behind.
When Fan Debiao reached about two or three meters above the ground, he started showing off by whistling mockingly at Sun Li and Tiaozi, who became so angry their faces turned green. Suddenly, Fan Debiao’s foot slipped, and with a loud “Ahh!” he plummeted from above, nearly hitting the ground at the same time as Jackson. Seeing Fan Debiao’s clumsy appearance, everyone burst into laughter, with Sun Li and Tiaozi laughing so hard they got stomach cramps.
After reaching the ground, Jackson immediately handed the box to Wang Feifei. Wang Zhicai looked slightly disappointed and hurriedly moved closer to examine it, with others gathering around as well. Fan Debiao, not particularly interested in the box, went off to search for antiques instead.
The box appeared to be made of poplar wood, about fifty centimeters long and thirty centimeters high, with colorful Buddhist statues painted on each side—just like the statue Fan Debiao and Jackson had climbed.
Seeing this, a sudden realization struck Liu Dashao. This box looked exactly like the one Old Wu had shown him a few days ago—could it also contain an ancient parchment?
He hoped this time there would be an explanation so he could show off in front of Master Diao later.
Wang Feifei had extensive knowledge of foreign history, but this box puzzled her slightly. Seeing Wang Zhicai stretching his neck forward like a curious duck, she handed the box directly to him.
Wang Zhicai took the box without hesitation and opened it immediately. A pleasant fragrance wafted out, familiar to Liu Dashao—it was the same scent as from Old Wu’s box.
Carefully, Wang Zhicai pulled out an ancient parchment scroll from inside. Liu Dashao looked slightly disappointed. This scroll was a bit larger than Old Wu’s, but instead of winding lines, it was covered in dense, tiny characters. Adjusting his glasses, Wang Zhicai began studying it intently.
Grumbling, Fan Debiao came around from behind the statue, empty-handed, clearly having found nothing. Seeing everyone gathered around the scroll, he hurried over and asked Liu Dashao, “What’s going on, Boss? Did the box contain something earth-shattering?”
“Not quite earth-shattering,” Liu Dashao replied. “But there’s a small secret. Interested?”
“Pfft, I don’t care about small stuff!” Fan Debiao scoffed.
Seeing that Wang Zhicai had been studying it for quite a while, Wang Feifei asked, “Mr. Wang, how is it? If it doesn’t have much archaeological value, maybe we should head to the ancient city first.”
“This,” Wang Zhicai answered, “is a biography, recording the history of this ancient city. It turns out the people here were descendants of the Queen of Gold. After the fall of the Golden Ancient City, the survivors migrated here.”
Upon hearing the mention of the Golden Ancient City, Wang Feifei immediately became interested. Perhaps the tomb of the last Golden Queen was nearby, which might reveal whether her mother was buried here too.
“Does it mention the Golden Queen?” she asked Wang Zhicai.
He replied, “It says this ancient city was buried overnight by a sandstorm on the day the Golden Queen was buried. The survivors who escaped came here and lived a kind of communist life, so there was no queen here anymore.”
Slightly disappointed, Wang Feifei realized she’d probably only find answers once they reached the Golden Ancient City. Addressing everyone, she said, “The storm has just passed, and the weather is good now—we should get moving. Let’s end the excavation here and head to the ancient city as soon as possible.”
Her words still carried the air of a strong female leader. Liu Dashao couldn’t help but wonder whether this authoritative Wang Feifei was the same one who had spoken to him the previous night.
Since the main goal of the expedition was the ancient city, they couldn’t stay too long. Wang Zhicai returned the scroll to the box, placed it in his backpack, and ordered everyone to move out.
“Look! The statue is crying!” Just as everyone was turning to leave, Lin Miaoke suddenly shouted.
Hearing her, everyone turned their heads and looked toward the eyes of the statue.
At first glance, nothing seemed unusual. But upon closer inspection, they noticed some black liquid around the eyes—possibly just black paint flaking off from the mural. At a glance, it really looked like the statue was shedding tears.
Startled by her scream, everyone felt a cold sweat break out. Fan Debiao had been about to scold her, but seeing how delicate and charming Lin Miaoke looked, he swallowed his words.
Wang Zhicai reprimanded her, “Don’t make a big fuss without seeing clearly. In archaeology, we must always confirm things before drawing conclusions. Remember that next time.”
Lin Miaoke nodded obediently, “Okay, no next time.”
Seeing nothing serious, Wang Feifei urged everyone to hurry. As soon as she finished speaking, her expression suddenly changed. “Have you guys noticed a strange smell?”
Hearing this, everyone rubbed their noses and sniffed around, but none could identify the odor.
Fan Debiao, sniffing, moved closer to Wang Feifei and said, “There really is a strange smell. I’ve never smelled this perfume before.”
Wang Feifei blushed, quickly stepping away and giving Fan Debiao an astonished look.
Liu Dashao, watching Fan Debiao, felt both annoyed and amused. He whispered to Fan Debiao, “Stop fooling around for no reason. She’s your boss now. If you reveal your true self, she might kick you out of the desert with nothing in your pocket.”
Hearing Liu Dashao’s words, Fan Debiao changed his expression and quickly approached Wang Feifei. “Boss, I was just joking. Don’t take it too seriously.”
Wang Feifei replied, “It’s okay, Consultant. I just saw a scary-looking bug and jumped away.”
Liu Dashao sometimes really doubted her judgment, seeing that she still regarded Fan Debiao as a consultant despite his antics. Upon hearing her say she had seen a scary bug, he became curious and started looking on the ground for it. After searching for a while without success, he asked Wang Feifei if she might have misseen it.
Wang Feifei looked down at the ground, puzzled, murmuring, “Could I really have been mistaken?”
Hearing her say that, Liu Dashao shook his head with a smile. Suddenly, a sharp metallic smell entered his nose, making him feel like vomiting.
Wang Feifei’s expression became extremely unpleasant. “This is the smell I mentioned earlier,” she said, covering her nose and mouth with a disgusted expression, as the stench grew stronger.
“Whoa, the statue is bleeding from all seven orifices!” Fan Debiao screamed.
Liu Dashao immediately looked up and saw black liquid flowing from the statue’s eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, continuously emitting greenish smoke, making him suck in a breath of cold air.
Soon, the statue’s body began oozing the same black liquid, and the pungent smell grew even stronger.
Jackson paused, frowned, and shouted, “This black liquid—it’s mercury!”
Liu Dashao had only encountered mercury twice before, but its unique properties had left a deep impression on him despite the short exposure.
Before anyone could discuss further, suddenly a large hole cracked open on the statue, and a jet of mercury shot straight toward them.
Fan Debiao reacted quickly, shouted “Run!” and was already ten meters away. His reflexes must have been honed during his years of grave-robbing.
Hearing Fan Debiao shout, everyone took off running without hesitation. At first, the danger didn’t seem too serious, and their running was somewhat scattered. But when they looked back, they were stunned—streams of mercury were rushing toward them like a flood irrigating a parched riverbed, moving incredibly fast. Seeing this, everyone ran like madmen, with the big guy Wubai sprinting so hard his saliva flew and he screamed wildly.
Seeing everyone running in panic, Old Karma hurriedly asked what had happened. While running, Fan Debiao gestured frantically for him to run faster, shouting that a river of mercury was surging toward them.
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