In Sumeru, pretend to be a scholar

Wang Yan quickly waved his hand and explained with a smile, "You've misunderstood me. Who to invite to assist in the investigation is entirely up to Instructor Falushan. I'm just an apprentice; how could I have the authority to decide the list of invitees?"

Kavi wasn't really angry. After hearing the explanation, he laughed and said, "Alright, alright, I know you had no choice. But next time there's something like this, remember to give me a heads-up so I can find a reason to come along!"

Al-Hysen chimed in casually, "Even if you knew beforehand, you might not have had the time. Weren't you the one who was busy with the final touches on the spaceship project?"

Kavi was taken aback, glared at Elhesen, but didn't refute, just smiled and shook his head.

The three of them chatted and laughed for a few more minutes, creating a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.

Then, they walked together toward Estelle, who was already waiting outside the tent.

Kavi and Elhesen composed themselves, nodded respectfully, and said in unison, "Senior Erossan."

One was a proponent of subtle theories, and the other a proponent of epistemology. They were both direct descendants of Erossen, so they respected Erossen more than the average scholar of the Academy.

Erosham nodded slightly, her gaze falling on the carefully wrapped book in Alhesen's hand.

Al-Hysen understood, stepped forward, and handed the book to Eros: "This is a document borrowed from the Palace of Wisdom. The title is 'Albiruni: A Preliminary Exploration of the Symbolic System of Flora,' which may be helpful in deciphering the temple reliefs."

Erosanne did not reach out to take it, but turned her head and gestured to Wang Yan beside her with her eyes: "Give it to Wang Yan. He is currently leading this project, so he should naturally take over the literature first."

Upon hearing this, Elhesen flicked his wrist and handed the book to Wang Yan.

Wang Yan paused for a moment, then quickly reached out and solemnly took it. He carefully lifted a corner of the oilcloth, and when he saw the clear title and author's name on the cover, his eyes suddenly lit up, and a surprised and excited smile spread across his face.

"A Preliminary Exploration of the Symbolic System of the Flower Goddess" is exactly what Wang Yan needs most right now. With it, the arrangement rules and symbolic meanings of those relief flowers will have a basis for deciphering.

He looked up, his gaze fixed intently on Elhesen, his expression becoming very serious: "Thank you so much, Elhesen!"

Al-Hysen maintained his calm and composed expression, simply waving his hand lightly and saying in a nonchalant tone, "No need to be polite, it was just a small favor."

Wang Yan didn't stand on ceremony anymore, but nodded vigorously and kept the matter in mind.

At this moment, Kavi also came over, took out two exquisitely packaged oil paper bags from his bag, and handed them to Wang Yan and Falushan respectively, with a hearty smile on his face: "Here, these are some snacks I brought from Sumeru City. It's been hard exploring in the desert, so I brought them to change your palate."

"Haha, Kavi, you're so thoughtful," Wang Yan said with a smile.

The auntie in Aru Village is actually quite good at cooking, but it's just enough to fill you up, not really delicious. Being able to eat snacks from Sumeru City is naturally a happy thing.

"Do you want to go inside the ruins first, or set up camp?"

Erosian didn't seem to care much about the gift Kavi brought, and changed the subject back to the main topic.

The two exchanged a glance and then said, "Let's go check out the ruins first. I see there are quite a few people here; we can entrust the camping to them."

Both of them are senior research scholars, so they naturally know how to set up camp, but they are not so bad as to force themselves to endure hardship.

If you can get help with a task, there's no need to force yourself to do it.

"Have you had breakfast? If not, let's eat together, then we'll go to the ruins."

Eros pointed to the location of the kitchen.

"Then let's eat something together."

Since things have come to this, let's eat first.

The aunties who cooked were probably among the few people in the camp who didn't go shopping on the airship.

Upon seeing the four scholars approach, he presented them with a generous portion of thick soup and gave each of them a hearty roasted naan.

After quickly resolving the issue and returning the dishes to the aunties, Erosanne led Kavi and Elheisen into the ruins.

Wang Yan did not follow. He took the book "Albiruni: A Preliminary Exploration of the Symbolism System of Flora" that Albiruni had brought, returned to his tent, and began to read it.

According to Albiruni in his book, the Flora civilization was essentially a branch of desert civilization. It did not develop a systematic written tradition, or rather, the Flora civilization was essentially an appendage of the Red King civilization.

Of course, the Flower Goddess and the Crimson King are equal, so the Flower Goddess civilization and the Crimson King civilization are also equal. However, in terms of development, the Flower Goddess civilization's writing, customs, and even festivals largely overlap with those of the Crimson King civilization. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the two are one and the same, only they worship different gods.

However, Wang Yan knew that the writing systems of the two civilizations, besides their normal evolution, also originated from a certain creature that possessed a cat.

In Albiruni's research, the most distinctive feature of the Flora civilization was its love of flowers, a characteristic that was completely absent in other tribes under the Red King civilization.

Five hundred years ago, before the Calamity of Kanria, Albiruni visited some of the still-existing Flora tribes and obtained a great deal of knowledge about the symbolic system of flowers from these tribes. He recorded it all in his book, "Albiruni: A Preliminary Study of the Symbolic System of Flora".

Wang Yan carefully studied the book's discussion of the Flower Goddess civilization and compared it with the book, checking the information about flower carvings he had recorded and trying to find commonalities.

Once he finds a common thread between the book and the Huadiao wine, he can unravel the mystery and eventually crack the secret of the temple.

Chapter 94 "Happiness Returns" (19/20, please subscribe)

Time passed slowly, and the tent was quiet except for the sounds of Wang Yan turning the pages of his book and occasionally writing and drawing in his notebook.

He meticulously compared the floral symbols he had recorded with the illustrations and symbolic meanings in "Albiruni: A Preliminary Study of the Symbolic System of Flora," scrutinizing every detail with keen insight.

Next to Albiruni's meticulously drawn line drawings on the pages are detailed annotations explaining the meanings of different flowers in the civilization of Flora.

The lotus symbolizes 'purity and rebirth', the rose represents 'love and sacrifice', and the iris embodies 'secrets and protection'...

Different flowers have different interpretations in different environments.

As Wang Yan read, he quickly marked things in his notebook, constantly trying to construct possible mapping relationships in his mind.

However, most of the comparisons seem to have subtle differences—either the number of petals is different, or the posture is slightly off, making it difficult to perfectly match the lifelike reliefs in the temple that have survived the years.

Most of them are ambiguous, and it's difficult for Wang Yan to interpret them using such comparisons; they're too unrigorous.

However, Wang Yan was not discouraged. After all, archaeological deciphering is never something that can be accomplished overnight. He took a deep breath, rubbed his slightly dry eyes, and prepared to turn to the next chapter.

As his fingertips traced the edge of the book, his gaze inadvertently swept over an illustration in the corner of a page.

It was a simple drawing depicting 'Lily of the Sand', a simple yet distinctive image: slender stems, drooping bell-shaped flowers, and unique spiral patterns at the base of the leaves.

Wang Yan's movements suddenly stopped.

He quickly looked down, flipped through the notes in his hand, and soon found a record—Type F-7, bell-shaped drooping flower, with a spiral pattern on the stem, located in the middle of the third pillar on the west side of the main hall.

Next to the note is a sketch he made from memory. Although the brushstrokes are simple, the outline of the bell-shaped flower and the spiral pattern of the stem almost overlap with the 'Lily of the Valley' illustration in the book!

Wang Yan's pupils suddenly contracted, and his heart skipped a beat in his chest.

He subconsciously held his breath, brought the book pages close to his eyes, and carefully compared his sketches with the written notes beside them.

That's right, their morphological features are highly consistent!

A surge of intense excitement coursed through my spine like an electric current, instantly dispelling all fatigue.

Wang Yan suddenly sat up straight from the cushion, his hands trembling slightly, not from fear, but from the excitement of about to touch the truth.

In fact, he was prepared for a long battle, but he didn't expect to find a clue in just one morning.

Although a more in-depth and systematic comparison of the distribution patterns, combinations, and relationships with other floral patterns of all the 'Lily of the Sand' reliefs in the temple is still needed, his intuition tells him that this discovery is a crucial first step.

Like finding the core piece of a jigsaw puzzle, the work ahead finally has a clear direction.

My gaze returned to "Albiruni: A Preliminary Exploration of Flora's Symbolic System," where next to the image of the 'Lily of the Sand', it was clearly stated: "The meaning of the lily of the sand is 'the return of happiness,' symbolizing the happy return after a period of waiting."

"Happiness returns after waiting?"

Wang Yan's eyes flickered slightly as he pondered the implications. This kind of meaning was not good.

The prerequisite for returning is separation. Only after separation can we wait for returning, right?

"So, when this temple was built... the goddess of flowers had already perished?"

Wang Yan couldn't help but speculate in his heart.

If this conjecture is correct, it would explain why there was nothing left in the temple.

Because the goddess of flowers has already perished, this temple was simply built to await her return; it is not a normal temple dedicated to the goddess of flowers, and it is even very likely that no priests reside there regularly.

But if that's really the case, then this temple... probably doesn't hold the great secret that Wang Yan thought it to be.

Thinking of this, Wang Yan's eyes flickered slightly, and finally he shook his head: "Never mind, even if I don't gain anything, I am still an epistemological scholar. Deciphering these hidden texts is my job."

if I get it I am lucky, but if not, it is fate.

Wang Yan has already made great progress by learning from Falushan, so there's no need to be too disappointed if this trip doesn't yield any additional gains.

"However, if we have a lead, we can share it with them. Having someone to help will always make things faster."

Wang Yan also remembered that there were two intellectuals in the ruins.

He closed his notebook, carefully put away "Albiruni: A Preliminary Exploration of the Symbolism System of Flora," got up, and quickly walked out of the tent, heading towards the entrance of the ruins.

The sun was blazing, and the desert heat was intense, but Wang Yan didn't feel it at all. He didn't know if he was used to it or if his joy made him ignore the temperature.

Upon entering the ruins, there was no one in the front hall; the three of them must have gone into the main hall at the back.

Wang Yan continued deeper into the passageway and heard Kavi's slightly excited voice.

"There must be a secret passage here."

“You’re not architecture students, so you might not know, but ancient desert civilizations loved to hide all sorts of secret passages.”

“Although this temple is not large, I have read the records of the senior Erossan. There is even an underground water vein beneath the temple. Under such circumstances, the design of the temple must have taken this into account.”

"Since we didn't find any water source inside the temple, either the temple was poorly designed, or there is a hidden water source."

Kavi's voice was loud and clear; he had absolute confidence in his expertise.

Wang Yan quickened his pace and entered the main hall.

Then they saw Kavi and Elucan standing side by side in a corner on the west side of the temple, both with their heads down, gesturing with their fingers in the air.

Al-Hysen stood a few steps away, leaning against a surviving stone pillar, his arms crossed, his expression calm.

He didn't participate in the discussion, but his gaze was also fixed on the area that the two were focusing on, as if he were silently observing and digesting the information.

Wang Yan's arrival drew the attention of the group.

Kavi was the first to turn around, his eyes lighting up as he waved to Wang Yan: "Wang Yan! Come here quickly, I think there's something here."

Wang Yan nodded and walked over: "I've also made some discoveries."

"Hmm?" The three were immediately drawn in by his words. "You've deciphered the Shaoxing wine here?"

The three of them sounded somewhat incredulous, mainly because it was too fast; it had only been a morning.

"No, not yet, I just found a clue." Wang Yan quickly shook his head and then told him what he had discovered.

Elhesen's eyes flickered slightly: "The return of happiness? The fact that such a flower with this meaning was inscribed in the temple can indeed be interpreted as the fall of the goddess of flowers at that time."

If the goddess of flowers hadn't fallen, who would you expect to return to?

Furthermore, if the goddess of flowers had not perished, would carving flowers with this kind of meaning be interpreted as cursing the deity?

Don't underestimate the sensitivity of religious people.

“If the temple was built after the fall of the goddess of flowers, then what Kavi just said about the water supply for daily use seems a bit untenable. It’s very likely that the temple was never used after it was built.”

Elhesen made the same deduction as Wang Yan.

Kavi frowned slightly. When it came to his profession, he didn't get angry at Elhesen's denial. Instead, he started to think about it seriously.

After a long pause, he shook his head: "No, even if the temple wasn't used, the secret passage must still exist."

"Why?" the three asked, puzzled.

"Because neither the front hall nor the main hall truly points to anything related to the Flower Goddess. If the temple was built to await the Flower Goddess's return, then it should at least have a shrine to her, right?"

The previous guess was that it was an abandoned temple. It's normal that there are no shrines or statues inside, since it was abandoned and it's reasonable for things to be taken away.

But now it's said that this temple has never been used since it was built. It should be brand new. Even if it's just to wait for the gods to return, there should at least be something that points to the gods.

Generally speaking, such things are shrines or statues, but there are none in this site.

Upon hearing this, the three couldn't help but nod in agreement; what Kavi said made sense.

"So, do you think the secret passage is down here?"

Wang Yan pointed to the area where Kavi and Falushan had just been studying.

“I’m about 80% sure,” Kavi nodded.

Wang Yan looked at Falushan: "Then... shall we try to pry this open?"

Erosanne rolled her eyes at her disciple: "If it's a hidden passage, then there must be a mechanism. Forcibly opening it could trigger a chain reaction."

Many desert ruins are destroyed not because their self-protection systems malfunction, but because they are forcibly opened by gilded tour groups, causing a chain reaction within them, or even self-destruction.

As a scholar who enjoys conducting research, Estelle was very unhappy with this behavior.

However, she also knew that she couldn't blame the gilded guild. After all, they didn't know anything about it, and they were just trying to obtain resources to survive by breaking into the ruins.

As long as people don't cross the line of humanity, the damage they do to survive is nothing.