Mu Lin released his true yuan energy to resist the force, which continued to slowly approach him along his spiritual consciousness. Without careful examination, Mu Lin sensed it might be a kind of bacteria invisible to the naked eye.
Quickly, Mu Lin unleashed his true fire. A淡 purple flame shot through the darkness along an invisible straight line, beautifully and swiftly heading toward the clay jars holding the organs. When it passed over the jars, it almost instantly vanished into them. A faint smell of burnt hair filled the air.
—
**Translation:**
Quickly, Mu Lin released his true fire. A pale purple flame shot through the darkness along an invisible straight line, beautifully and swiftly heading toward the clay jars containing the organs. As it passed over the jars, it almost instantly seeped into them. A faint smell of burnt hair filled the air.
By incinerating the bacteria that had crawled toward him along his spiritual awareness, he simultaneously turned the organs inside the jars into ashes. For the first time, Mu Lin broke into a cold sweat. He had never encountered anything that could invade him along his spiritual consciousness. In all his experiences and studies, such aggressively invasive bacteria were truly rare.
Yet these items had been stored here for many years. If the bacteria were this aggressive, they should have caused a major disturbance long ago. Why had nothing problematic occurred here until now? Perhaps his spiritual consciousness had disturbed the bacteria, just like the substances on the coffin lids. His spiritual awareness was merely a catalyst. Once activated by his consciousness, the bacteria would then attack the activator. Or perhaps these weren’t aggressive bacteria at all, but rather some kind of energy-storing microorganism, like black gemstones, beneficial to the one who activated them?
Reflecting on the night’s events, Mu Lin shuddered. These artifacts, over 5,000 years old, indeed had many strange and unusual characteristics. If he hadn’t cultivated true fire, he might have met his end here tonight. He heightened his vigilance and continued testing the other jars containing organs, but nothing unexpected occurred.
Mu Lin felt both surprised and frustrated. How could this be? Why was only one of them strange while the others were perfectly normal? He examined them again carefully, but still nothing unusual happened.
He had finally encountered something interesting, only to destroy it himself! There must be other jars containing organs somewhere else. Mu Lin knew that as a public museum with financial constraints, sometimes artifacts were temporarily stored in private collectors’ homes.
Without further ado, he turned away from the current area and headed upstairs to the manager’s office. Sure enough, the computer showed another batch of artifacts stored at the farmhouse of a private collector not far away.
After shutting down the computer, he prepared to gather his things and leave, only to find Xiao Laipi missing. Using his spiritual sense to search, he found the creature still downstairs, rummaging through debris and stuffing items into its storage space. Because its storage space was limited, it kept taking things out and putting them back in. Facing so many treasures on the ground, it looked visibly distressed.
Mu Lin chuckled. It seemed the little creature had been desperate for possessions for so long that it no longer discriminated. While Mu Lin searched only for items useful to his research, Xiao Laipi grabbed anything that looked pretty, explaining why it couldn’t fit everything in.
Going downstairs, Mu Lin casually swept up the pile of items Xiao Laipi was struggling with and stuffed them into his ring. Then, he directed his spiritual awareness to the circuit breaker and yanked the wires out, instantly plunging the entire building into darkness.
Using his spiritual sense, Mu Lin could see everything around him as clearly as daylight. Xiao Laipi, apparently a creature capable of night vision, also had no trouble navigating. The two swiftly removed the previously installed equipment and left before the guards could restore power.
The next day, the Y government was taken aback upon receiving the museum’s report. Many of the artifacts in the museum had originally been smuggled, stolen, or looted from other countries by Y’s so-called collectors during times when those countries were too impoverished or unaware of the artifacts’ significance. Now, many nations were demanding their repatriation from Y based on UNESCO cultural heritage agreements.
The Y government and the museum had consistently used various tactics—denial, delay, and refusal—to avoid returning the artifacts. Now, nearly all these important artifacts had been stolen. Whether other countries would believe it or even Y’s own media remained uncertain.
Since the museum’s surveillance systems were among the most advanced globally, with no damage to doors or windows and no anomalies in the video recordings, the theft during the half-hour blackout appeared almost miraculous—how could so many artifacts vanish under everyone’s noses?
At the press conference held by the Y government, nearly all attendees were local media. As Y’s media outlets sensationalized the theft, labeling it the biggest and most bizarre heist of the century, foreign media remained indifferent, offering only brief coverage before falling silent.
Some foreign outlets even speculated that the Y government had staged the theft to divert public attention, which truly stirred the hornet’s nest. The Y government declared those outlets unwelcome, but domestic media showed some skepticism, given the government’s previous record of misconduct. Soon, in what seemed like a coordinated move, all media outlets ceased reporting on the incident, clearly wary of it being another government-engineered distraction.
This outcome was clearly unexpected for the Y government. After all, the museum was one of the world’s top three, and now many of its most important artifacts had been completely removed. Yet there was virtually no clue about the thieves. The government had hoped to use the media to draw public attention, help locate the stolen artifacts, and thereby trace the thieves while diverting media focus. Unexpectedly, the plan backfired, drawing only ridicule. They had no choice but to assign personnel to investigate on their own.
The next evening, after resting through the day, Mu Lin and Xiao Laipi drove to the private collector’s farmhouse where the artifacts were stored. A distance away from the farm, they got out of the car and prepared to walk the rest of the way to avoid drawing attention.
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