My hotel is full of emperors throughout history.

A construction site in Lintong.

It was a little after 3 p.m., and the sun was blazing.

With a loud thud, the excavator shoveled into the soil, its tracks crushing the gravel. Driver Lao Zhao, a cigarette dangling from his lips, squinted as he mechanically repeated the motions of raising the boom, rotating, and tipping.

I've been in this business for twenty years; I could do it with my eyes closed.

Sudden--

"Click!"

With a sharp crack, the excavator's bucket visibly paused, as if it had hit something hard.

Old Zhao cursed and stopped the machine, then jumped down to check.

The workers who had been watching also gathered around, chattering amongst themselves.

"Did you find a rock?"

"Could it be a sewer?"

"Does this place even have a sewer system?"

Old Zhao squatted down and brushed away the loose soil with his hands.

Beneath the dusty, gray soil, something was sticking out...

It's round and plump, like it's made of pottery.

"Oh?"

Old Zhao became interested and poked at it a few more times.

Gradually, more of the thing was revealed—it was a human figure, or more precisely, half a clay figure, made of gray pottery, with traces of painted decoration on its body.

It lay on its side in the soil, its posture somewhat contorted, as if it had been violently awakened from its slumber.

"Terracotta Army!" a young worker nearby exclaimed. "Those are damn Terracotta Army!"

"Bullshit!"

The foreman, Old Qian, slapped him on the back of the head and then pointed in a direction.

"The Terracotta Army is over there! Over there! It's several miles away from here! Do you think it's a radish that can be dug up anywhere?"

The crowd laughed.

But despite the laughter, even more people gathered to watch.

Several workers quickly cleared away some of the loose soil around the terracotta figure, revealing more of it.

Then, someone noticed something was wrong.

"Huh? What's it holding?"

Everyone stared intently—

The terracotta figurine's hands are holding something.

The thing had a long, tubular structure with a curved bottom and a square section...

"That...that's a gun, isn't it?"

Someone hesitated before speaking.

"gun?"

"AK! That's an AK!"

The young worker shouted again, this time his voice was different.

"I use an AK-47 every day when I play video games!"

"You've been playing too many video games, haven't you?" Old Qian slapped him again. "The terracotta warriors of the Qin Dynasty are holding AKs? Why don't you just say Qin Shi Huang was driving a tank?"

The crowd burst into laughter again.

"It's definitely a prank."

Old Qian concluded, "I don't know which scoundrel made a fake figurine and buried it here, just to fool us. Never mind, let's call the cultural relics bureau to handle it, and we should get back to work."

"Yes, yes, it's a prank."

"These people are really bored out of their minds."

"You're making short videos, right?"

Everyone agreed and dispersed.

The excavator roared again, bypassing that area.

Old Zhao sat back in the driver's seat, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and continued working.

But for some reason, he felt a little uneasy.

The terracotta figurine's face...

The expression on that face...

He couldn't help but glance in that direction again.

The terracotta figurine still lies on its side in the soil, with half of its face exposed and its eyes staring straight at the sky.

That expression was indescribably solemn, indescribably...serious.

It doesn't seem like a prank.

He shook his head and stubbed out his cigarette hard.

"Get to work, get to work, it's none of my business."

Around 5 p.m., the workers were preparing to wrap up their work.

The young worker—whose name was Xiao Liu—strolled over to the terracotta figurine again, squatted down, and examined it closely.

He took out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and shone it on the "AK" in the terracotta figurine's hand.

The more I looked at it, the more something seemed off.

The gun was incredibly detailed—the front sight, rear sight, barrel, magazine, stock, grip… and even the safety markings!

If it's a prank, how much free time must the person who made this thing have?

How professional do they have to be?

He then examined the terracotta figurine's body.

The terracotta figurine still had some traces of paint left on it; the patterns and colors were exactly the same as the terracotta warriors he had seen in the museum.

Moreover, the terracotta figurine and the "gun" in its hand are connected together—they were not glued on later, but were an integral part from the time of firing.

He suddenly felt a chill down his back.

He stood up again, took two steps back, and looked around at the terrain.

The construction site is located on an open area, with Mount Li not far away.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the mountains, casting a dark red glow.

He suddenly remembered a rumor—that the area of ​​Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum was actually much larger than the currently designated protected area.

During the archaeological exploration, many anomalies were discovered underground, but in order to protect the tomb, many places were not excavated.

What if... what if this really is the area of ​​an imperial mausoleum?

What if... what if this terracotta figurine is real?

He shivered, turned and ran.

"Old Qian! Old Qian!"

As foreman Lao Qian was packing up to leave, Xiao Liu grabbed him, exclaiming, "Lao Qian! That terracotta figure! Something's wrong with that terracotta figure!"

"What's wrong now?"

"Come with me and take a look! Something's really wrong!"

Old Qian was pulled along by him, jogging all the way to the terracotta figurine.

Xiao Liu shoved the flashlight at him: "Take a look! Look carefully!"

Old Qian squatted down and looked at himself.

The expression on his face changed from impatience to confusion, and then to... solemnity.

"this……"

He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

He was a contractor; he knew nothing about archaeology or cultural relics.

But he's worked on construction sites for over thirty years; what kind of counterfeit goods hasn't he seen?

What kind of pranks haven't I encountered?

Those counterfeit goods all have one thing in common—they're rough.

People who play pranks don't bother to pay so much attention to the details.

Just make any shape that can fool people.

Who would bother engraving those sights, rear sights, and safety features?

Who would bother to adjust the colors to be exactly the same as the real thing?

Who would bother to fuse the terracotta figurines and the "gun" together?

unless……

Unless it's not a prank.

Old Qian slowly stood up and looked around.

The sky had darkened, and only a black outline of Mount Li remained in the distance.

He suddenly felt a little cold.

"Xiao Liu."

His voice was a little dry.

"what?"

"You stay here and watch over things, don't go anywhere. I'm going to make a phone call."

"Who should I call?"

Old Qian did not answer.

He walked briskly toward the work shed, his pace quickening until he was almost jogging.

Behind him, the terracotta figurine lay quietly in the earth, half of its face exposed, its eyes staring straight at the darkening sky.

Xiao Liu looked at that thing and felt creeped out, so he quickly followed.

"Old Qian, wait for me!"