It is said that Xie An, carrying the large box, left the mountaintop and plunged into the forest, treading on the thick snow as he hurried down the mountain.
“This box is a bit heavy.”
Even with Xie An's current strength, he found the box somewhat weighty.
The heavier it was, the more it meant the contents had value!
“That red fox has the essence and blood from the precious plant, its injuries might recover quickly, I need to return to the city as soon as possible.” Xie An was not one to become complacent just because he had obtained a large treasure box.
In this chaotic world, constant vigilance against danger was the way to survive.
Xie An did not go through the city gate, but still climbed over the wall into the city, and then climbed over the wall into the central courtyard.
A dim oil lamp was lit in the west wing, and Yu He's figure could be vaguely seen sitting in meditation.
‘I hope everything goes smoothly for Yu He.’
Xie An silently recited in his heart, then carried the large treasure box back to his room and locked the door.
Gently placing the large treasure box down, Xie An lit the oil lamp.
To make the light brighter, Xie An lit three oil lamps and placed them around the treasure box.
As the wicks burned steadily, the light from three directions shone on the treasure box, not only making it much brighter, but also making the wood grain on the box very clear.
Xie An rubbed his hands, suppressing the excitement in his heart, “I'll open the big treasure box and take a look.”
Crack.
As the box opened and light shone inside, Xie An leaned his head in to look.
Roughly estimating, there were about twenty items inside, of various sizes.
To avoid damage, Xie An carefully took out the items inside and gently placed them on the ground:
Ten White Silkworm Stones.
There was also an ancient bronze Lei, six three-legged Jue, a Jia, and an Yi.
If ordinary people saw this set of items, they would inevitably feel overwhelmed.
But Xie An, as an experienced appraiser, recognized them.
The Lei was a vessel for holding wine. The three-legged Jue was a vessel for drinking wine, the Jia was a vessel for warming wine, and the Yi was also a vessel for holding wine, but it was used for sacrifices.
Simply put, this was a complete set of drinking vessels.
Xie An carefully examined the materials, colors, carvings, and structure…
The more he looked, the more surprised he felt.
With Xie An's thirty years of appraisal experience, he had never seen this kind of shape and carving.
It wasn't from the Jingtai dynasty, nor was it from the Tianbao dynasty.
At least it wasn't the popular carving and shape of the two dynasties, it was also possible that it was from a small country in a remote area of the two dynasties?
“But this has no cultural elements of the two dynasties, it's also unreasonable…”
Xie An knew very well that archeological appraisal had a logic to follow.
Even a small country in a remote area would be influenced by the local culture when manufacturing daily utensils, but it would inevitably be influenced by the mainstream culture of the imperial court, and these would be reflected in the structure and carvings of the utensils.
Just like the Samsung Pile civilization that was hotly debated in his previous life, although the standing figures, eyes, and lamps inside were unique. It was different from the cultures of the Central Plains dynasties, which is why people said it was an alien civilization.
However, the other Zun and Lei unearthed in the Samsung Pile civilization had obvious Central Plains culture. It can be seen that the so-called Samsung Pile civilization was also influenced by the Central Plains culture.
All major civilizations will influence each other and finally be reflected.
But this set of wine utensils did not have any cultural shadow of the Tianbao dynasty or the Jingtai dynasty at all.
This was shocking.
“Strange… I, an old man, have been appraising antiques for most of my life, but I have never seen this kind of shape and carving.” Xie An supported his chin with one hand and played with the three-legged Jue with the other, only to see some faint petals on it.
These petals were carved randomly, without any pattern, and it was impossible to tell what kind of flower it was.
But Xie An just felt a little familiar.
As he looked, Xie An was shocked.
Lycoris radiata?
Xie An immediately took out the magnifying glass from his inner pocket and compared the petals slightly. It was really… the same.
Xie An put away the magnifying glass and carefully checked the whole set of wine utensils, each utensil was carved with scattered Lycoris radiata petals.
He put down the utensils and pondered for a long time.
It could be seen that the items in this box were all from the same batch. They all produced wine utensils and magnifying glasses, and the workmanship was exquisite, it could be judged that it was a civilization.
Then the question came.
What kind of civilization would use Lycoris radiata as a symbol and totem?
This was too weird.
Human civilizations use totems such as dragons, phoenixes, lions, tigers, birds, and other divine beasts. Some literati and poets also use peonies, roses, etc. to praise the temperament and beauty of women.
But Lycoris radiata mostly grows in dark and humid places, it is also called the flower of the dead, or the guiding flower, it is an ominous flower.
Although Lycoris radiata has been described by literati and poets with multiple meanings, such as symbolizing the eternity of love. But its root is unchanged: Lycoris radiata grows at the intersection of life and death, symbolizing the separation of love and death, Lycoris radiata still grows tenaciously, implying the eternity of love.
In general, Lycoris radiata… the word Lycoris already destined that this flower was ominous.
There were also rumors that Lycoris radiata grew on the road to the Yellow Springs, guiding souls and demons.
“What kind of civilization would regard Lycoris radiata as a spiritual totem?”
Xie An felt that the civilization behind this pile of utensils was very strange.
Due to too little information, Xie An could not refer to it, and finally had to give up.
“No wonder the red fox said that if these things were sold, it would lead to death, it seems that what he said was true.”
Putting away his thoughts, Xie An continued to take out the things in the box.
There were three yellowed ancient books.
Judging from the age, they were very old, although they were well preserved, two of the books were still crumbling and the handwriting was unclear.
Only one book could be read.
The cover was made of leather, and the pages inside were made of silk, so they were well preserved.
There were only two words on the cover.
But Xie An didn't recognize these two words.
It was not the current script of the Great Qian, but similar to Small Seal Script, curved and winding.
Opening the first page, it was full of calligraphy similar to Small Seal Script, and he didn't recognize a single word.
As an experienced appraiser, Xie An naturally had a good understanding of the characters of the Tianbao and Jingtai dynasties, and even had some understanding of the earlier Small Seal Script. But the characters on it were obviously imitating some Small Seal Script, but they were not Small Seal Script.
In terms of shape, it was somewhat similar to the handwriting of the Lycoris radiata carvings.
After examining it for a long time, Xie An could not identify it.
When he went to take it out of the box again, he found that the box was already at the bottom.
The main reason was that the set of wine utensils was relatively large, occupying most of the space.
Xie An carefully counted the items:
A set of wine utensils, three ancient books, ten White Silkworm Stones.
It was already worth it to get ten White Silkworm Stones.
As for the wine utensils and ancient books, although they were not useful now, Xie An felt that there was a huge secret hidden in them. They could be kept for research.
Now Xie An had at least 105 years of life.
Having a long life had a good point, that was, he had a lot of time to study various things.
For Xie An, who had been studying appraisals for half his life, these wine utensils and ancient books undoubtedly had a great attraction for him.
Not to mention anything else, but discovering an ancient civilization and taking it to the imperial court could be exchanged for a good merit. What's more, Xie An felt that the civilization behind this was not simple.
“Absorb these ten White Silkworm Stones first.”
Xie An sat down cross-legged, arranged the ten White Silkworm Stones neatly, and then adjusted his breathing and luck, urging the white Dao Talisman in his mind.
Buzz!
The white Dao Talisman slowly vibrated, blooming with bursts of white light.
[Detected three thousand wisps of demon essence, do you want to absorb it?]
Absorbing three thousand wisps at once, Xie An was still a little afraid. Don't get pulled into that place by the white Dao Talisman again, for several months…
However, at the second level of longevity life, Xie An could actively choose the amount of demon essence to absorb per time.
For the sake of stability, Xie An absorbed it in three times.
After three times, three thousand wisps of immortal energy were all absorbed.
Xie An adjusted the panel:
[Current Longevity Life Level: Level 2, Fusion Degree: 0 / 10000]
[Effect: Can advance health cultivation, can sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, can sense the spiritual objects of alien beasts.]
[Currently sensed spiritual object: Seven Treasure Exquisite Box.]
[Mingyu Gong: Winter Solstice 32 / 200]
[Tiger Form Qigong: 6 / 100]
[Current available similar immortal energy: 3200 wisps.]
Looking at the 3200 number in the last part, Xie An breathed a sigh of relief.
“Advancing fetal breathing to Mysterious Turtle Breathing requires ten thousand wisps of similar immortal energy, finally completed nearly one-third…”
Although the progress was quite fast, it was extremely difficult to gather another seven thousand eight.
The red fox's treasures were used up, and it would not be easy to find such good things next.
“I also don’t know where this red fox got it from…”
Putting away his thoughts, Xie An found a bag and put the ten White Silkworm Stones into it.
In Xie An's eyes, this was not a useless stone, but seventy thousand taels of white silver.
Other items, taking them out to sell would indeed easily cause problems, but this White Silkworm Stone could be taken out to sell. After all, Ye Luo said that Nanyang Prefecture's Wanbao Building had it, it was not something that could not be seen.
He already had fifty thousand taels, plus seventy thousand taels… a total of one hundred and twenty thousand taels, a proper rich man.
After a long bout of excitement, Xie An put the wine set back into the box and sealed it. As for the three ancient books, because they were a little damp, Xie An took them to the oil lamp to dry them before putting them away for future study.
The Great Qian Dynasty wasn't like his previous life. Every city had a library where one could find ancient books. Only Nanyang Prefecture had a department specifically for preserving books, but it wasn't comprehensive.
To find a complete collection, one had to go to the capital.
… …
The next day.
Xie An was awakened early in the morning by a burst of noise. He got out of bed, still dressed, and went outside, finding He Chunli and Han Li surrounding the entrance to the west wing, talking loudly.
He went over to ask and learned that Yu He had successfully completed her closed-door training and broken through to the sixth level Martial Master.
"Master, thank you for the Inner Strength Pill," Yu He said, seeing Xie An approach and immediately stepping forward to salute and express her gratitude.
Xie An was genuinely happy for Yu He and quickly helped her up, laughing, "It's a small matter. Breaking through to the sixth level of Inner Strength is a great thing. One more level and you can become a Rank Six Inspector in the Demon Suppression Division."
Yu He giggled, "I don't want to be any kind of inspector; it's enough to serve by Master's side."
Although it was just an ordinary sentence, Xie An felt very gratified. "Then let's have a more lavish breakfast. Tell Chunlan to add two chicken legs. After we finish eating, we'll go to the Demon Suppression Division together."
He Chunli said, "I had Chunlan kill a chicken early this morning. Chunlan is in the kitchen preparing it now. The chicken legs are definitely for Miss Yu He."
His words caused everyone to burst into laughter.
Soon, Chunlan came to call everyone for breakfast, and indeed, she had added chicken legs for Yu He.
Taking advantage of the break during the meal, Xie An said, "Chunlan, go find a mirror polisher nearby during the day. I'll be back at dusk. I have a mirror that needs polishing."
Chunlan readily agreed, "Then after I find a mirror polisher, I'll have him wait at home for Master to return."
… …
"Li Hao wants to excavate a canal along the edge of the Great Yin Mountains?"
On the seventh floor of the Demon Suppression Division, Xie An was shocked to hear Chen Tie's words.
Chen Tie took out a map and spread it out on the long table, showing it to Xie An. "Brother Xie, please look. The Huai River generally flows from north to south. To the north of the eight-hundred-mile Great Yin Mountains, there are two more rivers flowing from north to south. We only need to connect four hundred miles to link the Huai River to the Nan River in Nanzhou."
Connect four hundred miles!
That is, excavate a four-hundred-mile canal.
This was a huge project, requiring the mobilization of tens of thousands of laborers working simultaneously and taking several years to complete.
So, Li Hao went out to survey the terrain as soon as he arrived, preparing to excavate the canal?
Moreover, such a large project would require an order from the imperial court. Even if Li Hao was the heir of the Prince of Huainan, he wouldn't have that kind of power.
"Is this Li Hao's idea?"
Chen Tie shook his head. "According to Li Hao, there's a demon lair within the Great Yin Mountains. It's also the border of the Great Qian Dynasty, backed by the East Sea and the South Sea, often plagued by pirates. We only need to excavate the canal, and the Nanzhou navy can travel down the river to and from both places. This would completely solve these pirate and demon troubles. It would also prepare for opening a trade port between the Great Yin Mountains and the South Sea in the future. It's a great thing that will bring hardship to the present but benefit future generations. Li Hao has already reported this matter to the Six Ministries of the imperial court, and it's said… that the imperial court has already agreed, and the imperial decree will be issued soon."
Xie An was silent.
Although Li Hao's explanation was seamless and without problems.
Xie An just felt that this matter was probably not that simple.
However, Xie An was only a Rank Five Chief Inspector of the Demon Suppression Division and could not interfere with matters of the imperial court, nor could he speak up.
Finally, Xie An asked, "Then what do we need the Demon Suppression Division to cooperate with?"
Chen Tie said, "According to Li Hao, the Demon Suppression Division needs to patrol and guard to prevent the demons of the Great Yin Mountains and the Huai River from causing trouble and affecting the laborers excavating the canal. The specific affairs will not be known until the imperial decree is issued."
Xie An nodded, "Then we'll wait for the imperial decree to be issued before we talk about it."
Huang Silang still hadn't woken up.
Another uneventful day.
Xie An returned to the Xie residence at dusk.
As soon as he entered the door, Chunlan greeted him, "Master, you're finally back. The mirror polisher is waiting inside."
Xie An put away his work thoughts.
Let them dig the canal if they want.
He would just take care of his own affairs.
"Where is that person?"
"In the tea hall of the back-facing room."
"Bring him to the central courtyard." Xie An left those words and walked past the screen wall, pushing open the hanging flower gate and entering the central courtyard.
The central courtyard was where Xie An and Yu He lived. The backyard belonged to Su Yuqing, while Han Li and the others lived in the back-facing rooms in the front row. The back-facing rooms had eight rooms and a tea hall for entertaining guests.
When outside guests came, Chunlan naturally wouldn't bring them to the central courtyard.
Xie An brewed tea under the eaves of the central courtyard, then lay down on the nearby drunken chair, feeling all the fatigue of the day dissipate. He had only taken two sips of tea when Chunlan walked in with a mirror polisher.
The mirror polisher was a middle-aged old man, wearing a tattered jacket, revealing a sallow face, carrying a toolbox, walking tremblingly, not knowing if he hadn't learned to walk properly or if he was under great pressure meeting Xie An, a Rank Five Chief Inspector.
Chunlan explained, "Master, this is Master Huang, the mirror polisher I found. He says his skills are top-notch. Master Huang, this is our lord."
"This humble one greets Chief Inspector," the old man said, giving Xie An a grand salute.
Mm.
Xie An waved his hand, signaling Chunlan to go busy herself, then said to the old man, "Master Huang, don't be nervous. I just have a mirror that needs polishing."
Master Huang said, "This humble one has been a mirror polisher for half my life, and I guarantee to polish your lord's mirror until it's smooth and shiny, able to clearly reflect even a hair."
Xie An looked the old man up and down and didn't find anything unusual, so he took out the mirror from his inner pocket and handed it to the old man. "Master Huang, take a look. If you polish it well, I won't skimp on the reward."
"Thank you, my lord."
Master Huang stretched out a trembling hand and slowly took the mirror.
His subtle movements were all seen by Xie An, who secretly pondered: This old man has been a mirror polisher for most of his life, so why is he trembling when he takes a mirror? Or is the power of my Rank Five Chief Inspector so great?
Something doesn't seem right.
However, this was his own home, and there was a great master sitting in the backyard, so Xie An wasn't worried about anything.
After Master Huang took the mirror, he carefully examined it and didn't say much. He opened the toolbox and took out a grinding wheel, as well as tin powder, alum water, mercury, and other mirror-polishing medicines.
He smeared these mirror-polishing medicines on the mirror surface and then carefully polished it with sandpaper.
His technique was quite professional.
Xie An's worries dissipated for the most part.
But there was one point that Xie An couldn't understand: Why wasn't this mirror polisher affected when he looked at the other shore flower on the back?
That didn't make sense.
As he polished, the copper rust and dirt on the mirror fell off, and the mirror surface began to become smooth. Xie An's mood also improved, and he thought that professional matters still had to be done by professionals.
He could never have done it himself.
After about half an hour, the mirror had been polished until it was shiny, and the bronze color could even shine. Xie An saw that the polishing was almost finished and was very happy, so he got up to go to the room to get the silver.
Just as Xie An turned around, the eyes of Master Huang glanced at Xie An, revealing a sly smile, and he gently tried to stuff the mirror into his pocket.
That's right.
Xie An didn't see it, but this person was the Red Fox after transforming into a human.
He had put in a lot of effort to get back the Spiritual Treasure Mirror. He had been lurking around the Xie residence for a day. In the morning, he learned that Chunlan was going out to find a mirror polisher, and he guessed Xie An's intention. So, he disguised himself as a mirror polisher and set up a stall on Chunlan's inevitable route, hawking the polishing of mirrors. As expected, it attracted Chunlan's attention, and Chunlan invited him in.
Later, he also got information from Chunlan that Xie An was the Chief Inspector of the Demon Suppression Division, so he acted more cautiously.
He knew that although the Qingwu Demon Suppression Division was a small government office, the Great Qian's Demon Suppression Division was a complete institution. If he killed a Rank Five Chief Inspector, it would cause this huge institution to operate, which would be very troublesome.
Fortunately, after some hard work, he finally got the mirror in his hands.
Looking at Xie An's departing figure, Master Huang felt that although this person was cautious, he was still a little less experienced than himself. Except for the White Fox, no one, not even demons, knew that he had transformed into a human.
Humans, compared to their fox clan, were still too young.
Just a little kid.
The treasure of their fox demon clan, was it something that a kid like you could take?
Huh?
Wouldn't he have to obediently return it?
Master Huang was thinking this, and was about to stuff the mirror into his pocket and run.
Suddenly—
A slender, jade-like hand reached out, pinching one end of the mirror, and a pleasant, wind chime-like voice came, "Master Huang, thank you for polishing this mirror. Come in and have a cup of tea."
Master Huang looked up and immediately saw a face even more beautiful than a fox's, and feeling the woman's aura, he immediately cursed in his heart. [swear word]
Martial Dao Grandmaster!
And not just an ordinary Martial Dao Grandmaster!
Then Master Huang looked at Xie An's back and immediately felt that he was small… He had been tricked by this kid again!
