Chapter 44

A group of people stared wide-eyed at the iron sheet that had fallen unexpectedly, and Lin Xiao was also startled. Could this be too much of a coincidence?

The iron sheet had been examined and moved by these people for several days, and it had already become loose. Lin Xiao's accidental stone just exceeded the critical point, so it fell down.

Finally, there was a breakthrough, and Huang Hong led a group of people to begin a detailed study.

They started with the iron sheet that had fallen to the ground. After repeated inspections and comparisons, they found that it might not belong to the structure above at all. It could have been added later, which is why it appeared rough and poorly made.

Huang Hong and the three professors came to the same conclusion, so they set the iron sheet aside and began to truly study the nine-square grid above.

The nine-square grid on the right was missing the last digit 'Nine,' unlike the left side, which was missing 'Five.'

They first arranged a nine-square grid identical to the left side, but there was no reaction, indicating failure. However, it didn't matter; success comes from failure, and getting it right the first time would be a stroke of luck.

The group continued to experiment, trying various combinations, moving the digits up, down, left, and right. No matter where they placed 'One' as the starting point, they couldn't solve it. It seemed that the difficulty on this side was several times greater than on the left.

Finally, someone suggested that since Lin Xiao had accidentally knocked down the iron sheet, he might be the right person to try. Perhaps he was destined for this.

Everyone thought it made sense. Since they had no leads, they might as well take a break and let an outsider try. His perspective might be different from theirs.

Lin Xiao was dragged up, and he was not happy about being interrupted from his rest. He glared at the archaeologists, but they weren't afraid of him. They smiled at him, and Lin Xiao had no choice but to go to the nine-square grid on the right.

If he was going to do it, he would do it well. Lin Xiao stood in front of the nine-square grid and carefully considered it. Comparing it to the left side, he realized that one of the numbers had appeared after the correct sequence was completed. This meant that one number was originally hidden inside, and only the correct sequence would reveal it, indicating that there were gaps in the original surface.

Following this line of thought, he looked for gaps rather than trying to solve the nine-square grid. Lin Xiao was very confident in his eyesight, believing that no one could match him.

He moved each digit one by one, carefully checking if there were any gaps in the spaces after each move. He was very patient, examining each one.

Ha, finally found you. No matter how you hide, can you escape my keen eyes?

After careful analysis, he finally found a gap under the position that should have been 'Three.' Since he had found it, it was much easier to proceed.

The ancients probably never imagined someone like Lin Xiao, who wouldn't try to solve the puzzle but would look for loopholes. The gap was only about one millimeter, which might have been the pinnacle of technology in ancient times. Without a magnifying glass, it would be impossible to find it today.

As for whether the person who made this would crawl out of the coffin and spit blood, that was none of Lin Xiao's concern.

Lin Xiao began to work. Knowing the endpoint, he just needed to find the starting point to solve the nine-square grid.

He mentally calculated the possible starting positions, which were 'One,' 'Five,' and 'Seven.'

He started with 'One,' but there was no reaction. Then he tried 'Five,' placing 'One' in the 'Five' position. All the digits revolved around 'One,' and 'Eight' ended up in the 'Two' position.

The onlookers noticed that all the digits avoided the 'Three' position, and they pondered this.

'Boom, boom'

This time it was finally correct. 'Nine' appeared, matching the nine-square grid Lin Xiao had completed.

'Boom, boom'

The sound of rumbling continued, and the door began to slowly open, the two doors moving parallel into the mountain walls.

"Haha, the door is open. You did it," Huang Hong excitedly patted Lin Xiao's shoulder.

Gradually, the scene inside the tomb came into view.

"Whoa," everyone drew in a sharp breath. A chill and a sense of foreboding rushed to their heads, making them shiver.

A stunning sight appeared before them: over a hundred skeletons in armor stood in formation, their large swords lying on the ground. Tiny, unknown insects crawled in and out of the eye sockets of the skeletons, and even in death, they still exuded a sense of foreboding.

What kind of soldiers were these, standing in death... No one knew what had happened in this tomb before.

This wasn't all; the massive ancient tomb contained many coffins, each with a tombstone.

Huang Hong led the team to bypass the soldiers standing near the entrance. These soldiers were worthy of respect, and their archaeological value was limited. They were clearly from the Song Dynasty, with armor and swords on the ground, not as interesting as the coffins to Huang Hong and his team.

A main tombstone was surrounded by smaller tombstones, like the moon surrounded by stars, drawing the attention of anyone who entered.

Generally, traps were only found in the initial sections of a tomb. The tomb's owner did not want to be disturbed after death, so they set traps to deter intruders. However, once inside the main tomb, there were usually no more traps, though there were exceptions.

So, Huang Hong carefully led the team, meticulously checking for traps. Caution was the most important quality in archaeology, and knowledge and experience could be gained over a long life.

'Clunk'

A dull thud startled Huang Hong and his team, who were carefully checking for traps. They immediately turned to look.

They saw Lin Xiao standing in front of a soldier, looking embarrassed.

Since entering, Lin Xiao had been interested in the soldiers. He had secretly approached one and poked the armor with his finger.

After so many years of corrosion, the skeletons were only standing because of the armor. When Lin Xiao accidentally moved the armor, the entire skeleton fell.

Seeing that everyone's attention was on him, Lin Xiao awkwardly scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

Huang Hong and his team didn't pay much attention to Lin Xiao anymore, letting him be. After all, he wasn't a formal archaeologist. Finally, they carefully made their way to the largest tombstone.

They carefully brushed away the dust with a soft brush, uncovering the history buried by time. As the dust was cleared, the inscriptions became clearer.

After the cleaning was complete, they carefully examined the inscriptions. Many characters were illegible, but the general content was still preserved.

This was the cenotaph of Song Yingchang, built by the Gong Sun family.

Song Yingchang was a famous military strategist of the Ming Dynasty. During the Wanli period, he fought against the Japanese in Korea, saving the entire Gong Sun family. This cenotaph was built to commemorate him.

However, a new question arose: why were the soldiers dressed in Song Dynasty attire? This was a matter of two different eras. Huang Hong and his team were thoroughly confused.

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