Thinking of this, Ye Tian suddenly realized something that felt very wrong – why was the Sixth Group set up in such a city? And why would a master like Guo Bin condescend to stay here?
Could there be something strange going on in this city? Or could it be something to do with a Magic Artifact? Generally speaking, whenever there is a Magic Artifact, a lot of bizarre events are sure to happen.
Ye Tian “swooshed” out of bed and looked up the news from the past ten years but didn’t find anything odd.
“Damn it!” Ye Tian cursed quietly, “If there really were strange events, the officials would usually try to quell the news. Yes, that’s it!”
Ye Tian opened the city’s forum and searched, discovering an interesting piece of news – two years ago, which was also when Xiao Yi suddenly appeared, an ancient tomb was unearthed on the mountainside near the city.
Although the official information later claimed it was just a wealthy merchant’s tomb from the Han Dynasty, there were still rumors that the first group of people who went in all came out supporting one another, faces pale green, and later a large number of Armed Police sealed off the site.
Ye Tian found it very suspicious. If the color was pale or red, he could believe it as ancient tombs are completely enclosed structures, almost devoid of air, and even if there was air, it would be extremely polluted. They were experienced archaeologists; how could they possibly enter without proper ventilation?
A pale green complexion, most likely they were scared by something inside. Even if it were a burial object, they had seen too much of that; how could they be frightened? Ye Tian thought there must be something going on inside.
Continuing to read, sure enough, there were plenty of speculations. Some said a giant snake guarded the tomb, others believed there were zombies, some were scared by the traps inside, and there were even claims that one person failed to come out. Ye Tian didn’t believe those, but one comment grabbed his attention, saying that the first batch that entered the ancient tomb all received promotions, and some even went abroad for further studies.
It seemed the tomb really did harbor something mysterious. Now, Ye Tian wondered if he should go have a look himself to see if anything remained.
The ancient tomb was eventually excavated, and though not many relics were found, an Ancient Sword inlaid with Blood Jade was now exhibited at the museum. People said that just getting close to it, even in the summer, would make you feel as if your bones had turned cold.
Blood Jade, something Ye Tian knew about. Some said it was formed from blood soaking into jade, but current science pointed to iron as the culprit. Whether it’s true or not, Ye Tian planned to visit the museum to see the Jade Sword for himself.
Unfortunately, upon arriving at the museum, Ye Tian learned that the Ancient Sword was under maintenance and couldn’t be displayed. What a coincidence, he thought with a cold laugh, then left, planning to sneak into the museum at night to find out the truth.
Upon leaving the museum, Ye Tian unexpectedly saw Guo Bin and followed him without a second thought.
A societal drifter coming to the museum for no reason? Ye Tian didn’t believe he was here for a visit.
Soon, Guo Bin stopped in front of a standalone courtyard. Apparently unaware of being followed, Ye Tian watched him enter and then climbed a large tree nearby to get a glimpse into the courtyard’s interior.
Inside the courtyard was Xiao Yi. Although Ye Tian had never seen Xiao Yi in person, he had seen his photos. However, Ye Tian was too far from the courtyard to hear what they were discussing. But now that he knew where Xiao Yi lived, there would be time in the future.
Ye Tian was confident because he could feel that Xiao Yi was just an ordinary person without any Spiritual Power. However, something in his eyes felt eerily familiar to Ye Tian, reminiscent of the Special Mercenaries he’d encountered on battlefields. Could it be Xiao Yi had a background as a Special Mercenary?
Too many questions, Ye Tian decided to head home to rest and conserve energy, planning to investigate the museum at night.
That night, wearing black, Ye Tian went to the museum. The small city’s museum didn’t have as much high-tech security as he had anticipated, so he managed to get inside quite easily. After searching for an hour, he still hadn’t seen any sign of the Jade Sword.
At the back of the museum, Ye Tian saw the duty roster and photos of the security guards, and quickly felt that something was off. He hadn’t seen any of the people in the photos tonight. Does that mean all the guards have been replaced? The fact that the photos haven’t been changed yet suggests it hasn’t been long. What exactly happened?
Ye Tian connected all the dots and was startled by his own conclusion. Could it be that the guards were swapped out because of the missing Jade Sword? Yet the museum hasn’t announced the incident, which suggests there’s indeed something problematic about that sword.
While Ye Tian was deep in thought, he heard some noise and quickly found a place to hide himself.
“Director, are you sure there won’t be any trouble for selling that sword?” the man behind cautiously asked the person in front, seemingly fawning and ingratiating.
“What could possibly go wrong? How many times have we done this over the years? Has anything ever happened?” the Director said with nonchalance.
“But that sword looks really strange. I always feel like it has a spirit. You haven’t forgotten, have we? To bring it back, several people died, remember?”
“I also feel it’s an evil object, so we handed it over. The higher-ups kept it, leaving it in such a small place like ours. Isn’t that inviting disaster upon us?” the voice was somewhat irate.
“I’m really worried it might bring some calamity…”
The voices of the two men gradually faded away, but Ye Tian was shocked. It turned out that smuggling artifacts was an inside job, a disgrace.
When Ye Tian came out, he used the dim light to look at all the ancient relics in the exhibition hall. He couldn’t tell which ones were real and which were fake, but from the conversation of those two men, it seemed likely there were more fakes.
It looked like among those few security guards, perhaps someone knew something. It would be better to investigate.
Leaving the museum, as Ye Tian had slept quite a bit in the afternoon and wasn’t sleepy, he decided to visit Xiao Yi’s house tonight. Knowing about the Ancient Sword, he felt even more certain that this man was connected to the case.
Xiao Yi’s house was a standalone courtyard, looking no different from the surrounding neighbors—half new houses. To come here after seeing Zhang Qiang’s villa really felt quite shabby.
It wasn’t very late, but Xiao Yi’s house was pitch dark.
Not sure if anyone was home, Ye Tian didn’t dare to rashly enter. After observing for a while, he discovered there was no one. Xiao Yi wasn’t home.
Ye Tian climbed over the wall and entered the yard. The wall wasn’t high at all; not just for Ye Tian, even for a common thief, it would have been no obstacle. The door was locked, but getting through it was a piece of cake for him, and he quickly made his way into the room. The interior was sparsely decorated with nothing odd except for a photo of a woman.
It looked like it had been there for a while, as the photo was somewhat yellowed. The woman was above average in looks, and at a glance, Ye Tian could tell she was blood-related to Xiao Yi. Considering the condition of the photo and Xiao Yi’s age, she was probably his mother.
Ye Tian put the photo back in its place and entered another room, which seemed to be a study or a sitting room, furnished only with a desk and a chair, nothing else. Opening the drawers and rifling through a stack of messy papers, he found no oddities until he uncovered a one-inch photo of a four or five-year-old girl at the bottom. Ye Tian was stunned because he had seen this photo in Bai Yanwu’s room!
Could it be that Xiao Yi knew Bai Yanwu? Why hadn’t she ever mentioned him? If they knew each other, then the affairs of the Bai Family might really be linked to Xiao Yi. No, he must tell Bai Yanwu.