The storm outside continued to rage without any sign of abating. The entire area was pitch black, so dark that one couldn’t even see their own hand in front of their face. Everyone else had lain down to rest, but Liu Dashao couldn’t sleep and sat by the wall, lost in thought.
Suddenly, the area brightened as a fire was lit nearby. It turned out to be Wang Feifei, who also couldn’t sleep. Somehow, she had gathered some firewood and lit it up in front of Liu Dashao. After lighting the fire, she sat down beside him and said, “Mr. Liu, you seem different from the others.”
When she said this, Liu Dashao started thinking to himself, “Why is this girl coming over to talk to me? Could it be she’s taken a liking to me?” He paused briefly before replying, “Is that so? In what way am I different?”
Wang Feifei smiled faintly and said, “Everyone else was terrified by the sandstorm, but you remained very calm. It shows you have more experience than the others.”
“You flatter me, Miss Wang,” Liu Dashao replied with a smile.
“Don’t call me Miss Wang, it feels awkward. Just call me Feifei, that’s what everyone I know calls me,” Wang Feifei said.
Liu Dashao nodded and replied, “Then don’t call me Mr. Liu either, it makes me feel old. Call me Dashao or Big Brother, like Fan Debiao does.”
Wang Feifei nodded and said, “Actually, my main reason for coming to the desert this time is to find my mother.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Dashao paused and asked, “What do you mean?”
Wang Feifei continued, “Do you remember I told you that the expedition team sent some experts to the ancient city for archaeological research last time? Three people went missing, and they were my parents and a professor from the mainland.”
“Oh? And then?” Liu Dashao asked.
She continued, “The original drawing of the coffin I showed you earlier was found in the hands of a skeleton. After examination, we confirmed that skeleton was my father’s remains. However, next to his remains, we didn’t find my mother or the professor from the mainland. That was quite strange. So I suspect my mother’s remains might be related to that coffin. Therefore, I applied to the company to come back to the ancient city. No matter what, I have to bring my mother’s remains back to our hometown, Hangzhou.”
After listening to Wang Feifei’s story, Liu Dashao’s view of her completely changed. He hadn’t expected this woman to be so filial. Nowadays, most girls were self-centered, and people like her were rare. Thinking this, Liu Dashao couldn’t help but feel admiration for her.
Liu Dashao comforted Wang Feifei, saying, “Feifei, don’t worry. I will do my utmost to help you find your mother.” As he said this, he thought to himself, “Ah, now my mission has increased. Originally, I came here to explore, then I had to help this guy Fan Debiao dig up treasures, and now I also have to help Feifei find her mother. Looks like I’ve got a lot on my hands.”
Seeing Liu Dashao lost in thought, Wang Feifei patted his shoulder and said, “Big Brother, tell me about your past!”
Since she seemed so interested in his past, Liu Dashao began recounting the events from five years ago at Bodhisattva Mountain. Of course, he omitted some parts. She might have heard about them from Jackson before, so she wasn’t particularly interested in what Liu Dashao was telling. As he talked, she gradually leaned against his shoulder and fell asleep. Liu Dashao kept talking until his speech became incoherent, and soon he too fell into a deep sleep with his head drooping.
When he woke up, it was already the next day. The sandstorm had stopped, and due to the storm, the sun had finally come out, making it less hot than usual.
Liu Dashao stood on the earthen wall and looked out. After the storm’s cleansing, the entire ancient city had re-emerged onto the earth’s surface. The city was quite large, with houses everywhere, and a few temples scattered in certain areas. On the ground were scattered remains of animals and some metal artifacts.
In the center of the city stood a very tall building, which looked like a palace, possibly the residence of the city’s ruler. The city had experienced countless burials over the years, and the palace was already leaning.
Wang Zhicai was leading the other four people into the palace, clearly preparing to explore inside. Liu Dashao felt a bit resentful they hadn’t invited him along, though seeing Wang Zhicai walking steadily, it seemed he had fully recovered, so Liu Dashao had no need to worry about him.
Liu Dashao wondered where Fan Debiao and the others were. He looked around and finally spotted Fan Debiao, Jackson, and the old man Kelama sitting below the earthen wall, laughing and eating breakfast while occasionally chatting about Hu Da.
Liu Dashao jumped down from the wall, woke up Wang Feifei, and walked together towards Fan Debiao and the others. Upon reaching them, he sat down beside Fan Debiao and grabbed some compressed biscuits to eat.
Fan Debiao whispered slyly to Liu Dashao, “Big Brother, you’re quite the player! You’ve already won this girl over so quickly.”
Liu Dashao gave Fan Debiao a sidelong glance and retorted, “Won her over? You idiot, your mind is always wandering into the gutter.”
After Liu Dashao finished speaking, Fan Debiao kept giving Wang Feifei a sly grin, making her feel quite embarrassed. She dropped her biscuit and said she was going for a walk.
Seeing his mischief had worked, Fan Debiao said to Liu Dashao, “Bro, this woman is pretty reserved. When you get her, make sure to ask her to give me a raise!”
Upon hearing Fan Debiao’s words, Liu Dashao wanted to rush over and beat him up. He suddenly pounced on Fan Debiao, pinning him to the ground, and was about to reward him with a couple of punches when Lin Miaoke came running out of the palace in a panic, out of breath, saying, “There’s a discovery! There’s a discovery inside! Boss Wang wants you all to come take a look!”
As soon as Lin Miaoke said this, everyone was momentarily stunned, then looked at each other in confusion. Wang Feifei reacted quickly, immediately sprinting toward the palace. Everyone hastily stuffed the remaining compressed biscuits into their mouths, gulped down some water, and rushed after Wang Feifei.
Upon arriving at the palace, Liu Dashao’s first impression was that it was incredibly magnificent. Everyone who had just entered stood there with mouths agape, eyes wide with astonishment. The palace was so tall that the ceiling was visible from the ground. The walls on all four sides were painted with many colorful Buddhist images, though some parts had peeled off due to age. In the very center of the palace stood a massive Buddha statue, its head nearly reaching the ceiling. The Buddha’s left hand was flat against its chest, and its right hand held a gesture with the fingers elegantly extended. However, why was this Buddha statue placed in the center? It was truly puzzling.
Moreover, all the Buddha statues had sorrowful expressions, making people feel uneasy just by looking at them. Liu Dashao felt somewhat familiar with this particular Buddha statue but couldn’t recall where he had seen it before.
He had only been in the antiques business for a short time, so he couldn’t understand much of what was around him.
Fan Debiao remarked beside him, “Ah, the people of this ancient city believed in Buddha but not Hu Da. No wonder they deserved to be buried.”
Liu Dashao interrupted Fan Debiao, telling him not to speak carelessly, and then asked Wang Zhicai, “Big Brother Wang, can you make sense of what’s going on here?”
Wang Zhicai replied, “I’ve examined it carefully. Judging from the degree of weathering here, this ancient city should have been built about a thousand years ago. However, there are no records of such a city in historical documents, so we currently can’t determine which ethnic group this city belonged to.”
“Boss Wang, earlier Lin Sister came out and said you had a discovery. What exactly did you find?” Fan Debiao asked Wang Zhicai.
“The discovery I mentioned is up there,” Wang Zhicai pointed toward the Buddha statue’s left hand.
Everyone followed Wang Zhicai’s pointing and looked up. On the Buddha statue’s left hand, there was something vaguely placed there. Due to the distance, it was unclear exactly what it was. Sun Li and Tiao Zai were currently climbing up to retrieve the object from the statue’s hand.
These two could be described as genuine bookish types, and their climbing looked extremely strenuous. They were only halfway up when they shouted that they couldn’t go on anymore, their legs trembling.
Seeing their condition, Wang Zhicai knew it was impossible for them to continue, fearing it might even endanger their lives, and quickly called them back down.
Fan Debiao shook his head in disdain at Sun Li and Tiao Zai, then called on Jackson to go up with him. Jackson nodded.
Although Fan Debiao’s figure was bulky, he climbed surprisingly fast, at least twice the speed of Sun Li and Tiao Zai. Jackson’s climbing skills hadn’t deteriorated either, closely following behind Fan Debiao. This reminded Liu Dashao of the escape five years ago. Soon, both Fan Debiao and Jackson reached their destination. Fan Debiao steadied himself and started to fiddle with the object.
“Fan Debiao, what’s up there?” Liu Dashao asked.
“Damn it, it’s just a wooden box. Doesn’t look worth much,” Fan Debiao replied.
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