Chapter 139: Remnant_1

The next day, Jiang Yu and the others took an armed helicopter to the ruins where important clues were found.

Wu Zheng and his colleagues called it the "Heifang Relic Site", which they located after nearly four years using Beidou satellite, ground searches, and interviews.

So far, preliminary excavations and sorting at the "Heifang Relic Site" have been completed, uncovering some clues about "Black Square".

On the helicopter, Thirty-Six sat next to Jiang Yu, with Wu Zheng sitting across him and two foreigners next to Wu Zheng.

Amidst the roar of the large propeller, Wu Zheng said to Jiang Yu through the headset, "We owe the discovery of this relic site to our persistent interviews of the local people.

"An old shepherd told us that when he was young, while seeking shelter from a sandstorm in the ruins of an ancient city, he encountered a weird person who was also hiding from the storm.

"This strange person looked quite different from ordinary people, and they couldn't understand each other's language.

"What impressed the old shepherd most was that the other person's food was actually fresh fish!"

At this point, Wu Zheng laughed and said, "I was there when the old shepherd was telling the story, and he couldn't help swallowing saliva when it came to the fish.

"Back in his youth, it was very rare to get fresh fish here.

"The fellow villagers of the old shepherd thought he was just telling stories, but we found the details in his story to be rich and credible.

"Centering on the location where the old shepherd had sheltered from the storm, it took us more than two years to finally locate the 'Heifang Relic Site'."

Jiang Yu asked, "A relic site? So you mean no one lives there anymore?"

Wu Zheng nodded, "I'll explain the specifics when we get there."

Jiang Yu hummed and looked at the two foreigners on the helicopter, "Has the research on 'Black Square' now become an international subject?"

Yesterday, he had noticed many foreigners in the dormitory area of the base.

Wu Zheng explained, "Before the 'Black Cube Base' was built, the Americans detected 'Black Square' with satellites. After several negotiations, they sent a research team, and later, Europe also sent a joint team.

"Their main research focus is to attempt to measure the weight of 'Black Square'.

"Alas, we realized just how immature our methods were in front of 'Black Square'. Its sheer size makes it impossible to split it, and now we don't even know the mass of 'Black Square'!

"What's more discouraging is that we simply have no way to measure the mass of 'Black Square'.

"Thus, the two foreign teams hope to place multiple lifting devices under 'Black Square' and use the total force required to lift it, to estimate its mass, thereby inferring the material composition of 'Black Square'.

"This plan is still underway, and it's said that the weight of 'Black Square' far exceeds expectations."

He then added with some implication, "They all understand Chinese."

Jiang Yu smiled and said "Oh" in response, taking it as a reminder from Wu Zheng not to assume they couldn't understand Chinese and to be careful about discussing confidential matters in front of them.

After discussing the discovery of the relic site, the two foreigners conversed politely with Jiang Yu. They first congratulated Jiang Yu on defeating a Wallbreaker, and said it was their honor to converse with a Wallfacer.

It must be said, Baluo's behavior in offering up his head had taken the Wallfacer Plan to unprecedented heights, and Wallfacers were now more widely respected!

The helicopter flew for over two hours, finally landing amid a landscape of yardang landforms.

In the blazing sun, the wind-eroded rocks that resembled mounds or the remains of an ancient city gave Jiang Yu the impression of entering a forest of bizarre shapes.

In this "forest" there was a campsite with over a dozen tents. Helicopters were almost daily delivering supplies, equipment, and personnel.

Two middle-aged men stood in the distance to greet them. After coming down from the helicopter, Jiang Yu exchanged a few polite words with them.

Wu Zheng introduced Jiang Yu, and one of the two men was Professor Jiang, a renowned archaeologist in China.

The other, a middle-aged man wearing black-rimmed glasses with a "Mediterranean" hairstyle, was Pei Yunqi, a domestic expert on ancient texts.

Accompanied by the two archaeologists, Wu Zheng led Jiang Yu and the others into a small ancient city ruins.

The ruins of the ancient city were already very dilapidated, with most of the houses reduced to broken walls and rubble.

A few people entered a room that was still relatively intact, and upon entering, a surge of cool air hit them.

The room contained some furniture made of earth and stone, and although there was a thick layer of dust, one could still make out traces of life.

Wu Zheng took Jiang Yu into a small room on the left, where there was a hole more than a person tall.

Inside the hole, there was another world altogether, a vast space.

Staff had already set up generators, lights, and so on, making the place brightly lit.

This appeared to be a large stone hall, grand and imposing, with clear signs of human craftsmanship.

In the depths, there were long, rustic tables and other arrangements that gave a sense of antiquity.

Wu Zheng shared, "When we found this place, a mummified corpse was sitting at the uppermost seat here."

He scrolled through his phone to show Jiang Yu the relevant photos. A body found in such ancient ruins always had an eerie feel.

Especially the mummified facial expression, which Jiang Yu felt was somehow meaningful.

Wu Zheng continued, "On the stone table in front of him, there lay a document written with a brush on cloth, which we have named the 'Heifang Cloth Manuscript.'"

He showed the document's photo to Jiang Yu, where the light-colored cloth bore text that looked very ancient. Jiang Yu seemed to have seen the characters before, but upon closer inspection, he did not recognize a single one.

Jiang Yu asked, "Is this ancient Chinese?"

The one answering him was the ancient text expert, Pei Yunqi, "It looks a lot like the West Xia language, but its structure differs significantly, especially in terms of grammar, it's completely different from the West Xia language.

"We are currently trying hard to decipher it, but as we have found only this one piece of text, progress is slow."

Jiang Yu nodded, "This document may contain crucial information, so please decipher it as quickly as possible."

Pei Yunqi responded, "We will do our best. If we could find other documents to use as materials and for reference, the deciphering speed would be much faster."

Jiang Yu suggested, "What about excavating around here to try our luck?"

Wu Zheng replied, "We've tried that early on, but we haven't found any other textual information in the surrounding area."

He paused before adding, "However, we've found new clues in the rear hall."

Making a gesture of invitation, Wu Zheng led Jiang Yu through a stone gate.

After going down a descending corridor, they arrived at a back hall that was about the same size as the front one underground.

Wu Zheng, walking in the lead, further explained, "In the rear hall, we discovered a large number of neatly arranged corpses, without coffins or any funerary objects, distinctly different from all the joint burial groups found in current archaeology.

"We've conducted carbon-14 tests on these bodies; some have been here for hundreds of years, while others only a few decades.

"We also did DNA tests, and, without exception, their DNA matches extraordinarily well with that of the extinct Neanderthals."