Chapter Thirty-Two Experience

  "They have no reason to do so, let alone it's not beneficial for them at all!" I said.

  That little girl curiously stared at me with big eyes

  "You look like you're tumbling for the first time!" The little girl asked.

  I didn't know what she meant, so I just nodded.

  The little girl whispered and said, "No wonder!" Then she spoke to me again, "They deliberately want to get rid of you, I deduce."

  I find it amusing, this little girl is clever but single-minded. I didn't hinder the Oil Water Belly's way, maybe I can even help them in some way. He doesn't need to play with fire, burning himself and driving me away. I think it's boring, rather than wasting time talking to her here, I'd better hurry up and catch up with Oil Water Belly!

  I put on the gas mask again, turned on the flashlight and quickly moved forward in small steps. The little girl was suddenly frightened, looking at the light from a distance, the darkness gradually engulfing her. She hesitated for a moment, ran to catch up with me, and soon ran behind me.

  "You're such a hopeless case, you can't even get ahead in life! That place isn't somewhere humans can stay!" The little girl panted heavily.

  As soon as I heard the breathing sound like a cow panting, I knew that this little girl was a typical city dweller, all talk and no experience, lacking in practice.

  "So you're confident you can safely return by the same route?" I countered

  "This...this..." She stuttered twice, unable to say a word.

  Suddenly a flash of white light flashed through my mind, and I thought of something as I walked and asked her: "What's the origin of those people in front, is that old man Liu who brought you still in your team?"

  That little girl was asked by me, her face stiffened, as if recalling something terrifying, her complexion suddenly turned pale and bloodless. After a while, she slowly began to speak about her experiences when she came here.

  She was a student at the Beijing Institute of Archaeology, named Gu Lele, who was not yet twenty years old. Her grandfather, Gu Ren, also known as Professor Gu, had been working in archaeology for nearly thirty years and was a renowned expert in the field. Two weeks ago, she went to her grandfather's office to discuss some academic matters related to archaeology. As she approached his office door, which was usually open, she noticed that it was tightly closed with no gap visible. She found this strange as Professor Gu's work was not usually so intense that he would close the door. She walked up to the door and was about to knock when she heard her grandfather talking to a man in a low voice. Her curiosity piqued, she looked around and saw no one else nearby, so she pressed her ear against the door to listen more closely. Although the voice on the other side of the door was hoarse and indistinct, she managed to make out a few words: "Guangxi Witch King's tomb". These words sparked her interest as she had been studying archaeology for over two years but had never seen a major tomb before. The mention of the Guangxi Witch King piqued her curiosity even more, so she quietly made her way to the window of Professor Gu's office. The window was not far from the door and was covered with curtains that were tightly closed, making it seem like something secretive was going on inside. However, Lele knew that the window lock had been broken for some time, ever since she had climbed in through the window to steal some documents. She carefully pushed open the window, trying not to make any noise, and lifted up a corner of the curtain to peek inside.

  That old man Liu dryly laughed twice

  "I've known you for thirty years, and I'm just joking with you." Liu's voice was hoarse and unpleasant to hear. Professor Gu was an archaeology enthusiast, and when he heard it was really the tomb of the Demon King, his heart was excited and he didn't know how many flowers were stirred up, but decades of experience made him calm down immediately.

  "You're not thinking of using me to rob a tomb, are you? We've been friends for over a decade, but I'm afraid I won't be able to go along with this." Professor Gu shook his head and sighed.

  The accountant's mouth was very useful, and Old Liu, seeing that he was about to be shut out, hastily said, "Don't you want to get that thing?"

  "Eh? Professor Gu exclaimed in surprise: "What thing?"

  Specifically what thing is also unknown, because when Old Liu said this sentence, he lowered his voice very low, only hearing Professor Gu's excited slap on the office desk: "How do you confirm that thing is there?" Professor Gu had no way to cover up the surprise in his heart.

  Liu Lao Tou took a look at Gu Professor's reaction and knew that there was something to it. He waved his hand, signaling Gu Professor not to get excited. Liu Lao Tou then pulled out a small, exquisite bronze box from his pocket. The box was square in shape with a narrow top and wide bottom, covered in green rust spots and dense, tiny characters like ants crawling on its surface. Although Le Le couldn't see clearly what the characters said from afar, it was obvious that the box was an antique.

  Liu Lao Tou turned the box over gently, and with a soft "click", the lid opened. He then pulled out a yellowed, blackened red sheepskin ancient scroll from the bronze box. With great mystery, he said to Gu Professor: "I obtained this thing by chance from a group of bandits. As an expert in archaeology, take a look and see if I'm deceiving you or not. I believe you'll find the contents very interesting!"

  The old professor's eyes were wide with excitement, and as soon as he saw the sheepskin book, he couldn't take his eyes off it. He carefully took the book from Old Liu's hands and placed it on his desk, smoothing it out gently, afraid that even a slight carelessness would damage the book. If this thing is damaged in any way, it will be a loss to the archaeological community! As he spoke, he pulled out a magnifying glass from his drawer and began to study the ancient sheepskin book.

  Deciphering the ancient silk book script is a meticulous task, and any carelessness is not allowed. Often, one character can have many translations, such as the simple "之" which can be translated into "of", "no practical meaning", etc., etc. Moreover, ancient people wrote without punctuation marks, which greatly increased the difficulty of deciphering ancient texts.

  This old professor's rich experience is not just bragging, after nearly an hour, Lele's legs were numb from squatting, only to see Professor Gu slowly put down the magnifying glass, let out a long sigh and shook his head again, with an incredulous look on his face.

  "This is the Guangxi Zhuang character of the Western Zhou Dynasty, I've decided to follow you on this trip." He paused and then said: "However, you must guarantee that after entering, you absolutely cannot move any of the burial objects inside. Those things are cultural relics, without the country's permission, it would be stealing, plundering, and our nature would change, becoming a tomb raider who steals national cultural relics." Professor Gu spoke with righteous words, his tone stern and unyielding.

  Many people think that Guangxi is a poor and remote place, with nothing but mountains and water. What culture could it possibly have? However, the Zhuang ethnic group has its own written language and culture, although it was influenced by Han Chinese culture from Central China at an early stage, resulting in a blend of cultures. As a result, only some elderly Zhuang people can read Zhuang script today, while other Zhuang people can only speak but not write it. The banknotes with denominations above 5 yuan have the languages and scripts of five ethnic minority groups printed on the top right corner, but how many people know what they mean?

  Liu Lao Tou took a look at the situation and nodded hastily. Finally, Professor Gu and Liu Lao Tou agreed on a specific time to go to Guangxi, which was two weeks later! In the end, Liu Lao Tou, with great enlightenment, left the bronze box and the sheepskin book inside it with Professor Gu, saying that he would donate them to the country, and then hurriedly pushed the door to leave.

  Lao Liu was so scared when he saw Lele that he rushed out and ran down the corridor in a flurry.

  Lè Lè knew that her grandfather would be leaving for Guangxi two weeks later to search for the legendary tomb of the demon king, and she wanted to go with Professor Gǔ. Usually, she could only see some information about ancient tombs in books, which couldn't satisfy her curiosity. So, she had the idea of following her grandfather to Guangxi. However, she was the only child in the family, her parents had passed away early, and her grandfather was a stubborn old man. The ancient tomb was also full of hidden dangers, so if she told her grandfather, he would definitely not let her go, and she might even get scolded by Professor Gǔ! So, she decided to wait until Professor Gǔ left, then ask for leave herself, and secretly follow him to Guangxi. She believed that once they arrived there, her grandfather wouldn't have any reason to send her back!

  Two weeks later, Professor Gu brought his two most promising students in the archaeology department and hastily bought three tickets to Guangxi. Lele learned that her grandfather was leaving and took the next flight to Guangxi. Upon arrival, they took a long-distance bus, then a public bus, and finally a cheap motorcycle before continuing on foot, following Professor Gu up Mount Er Long until they were discovered by him at the Man-Eating Blood Vine Forest, where they also received a lecture on socialist theory from Professor Gu. Liu Lao Tou was in the group with a young man named Hei Zi, along with Professor Gu and his students, making a total of six people. They encountered many troubles in the forest but managed to pass through safely after applying some gasoline to themselves. They arrived at the Tomb of the Demon King and stopped at the foot of the cliff covered in coffins.