My hotel is full of emperors throughout history.

"What? You guys found terracotta warriors holding AK-47s?"

When Lao Liu, the staff member on duty at the Cultural Relics Bureau, heard this, his first reaction was also "a prank".

"Wait, bro? Your terracotta warriors are armed with AKs? You're kidding me, aren't you?"

"But it looks real no matter how you look at it!"

Old Liu spat out the sunflower seed shells with a "pfft" and laughed.

"Old Qian, were you drunk at lunch? The terracotta warriors of the Qin Dynasty are carrying AKs, why don't you say Qin Shi Huang drove a tank?"

"Really! Director Liu, I really didn't drink it! You can send someone to check and you'll see!"

"Okay, okay, I got it."

Old Liu hung up the phone perfunctorily and winked at the young man on the other end.

"These days, migrant workers make a big fuss about everything. Last time they said they dug up a gold ingot, but it turned out to be someone's discarded copper basin. This time it's a Terracotta Warrior with an AK-47. Will they say they dug up an alien next time?"

The young man smiled and agreed.

"It's probably just some bored college student playing a prank, burying it there to amuse us. Didn't they do something similar a few years ago? They buried a plastic dinosaur in the ground and claimed it was a fossil."

"Exactly, exactly." Old Liu continued cracking sunflower seeds, casually tossing the record aside. "Never mind, let's wait for them to call again."

5:40 PM.

Just as Lao Liu was getting ready to leave work, the phone rang again.

It's still the same old money.

"Director Liu! That terracotta warrior is still there! We haven't dared to touch it! Why don't you send someone to take a look?"

Old Liu was getting impatient.

"Alright, alright, send someone over to take a look tomorrow. It's just a broken terracotta figurine, isn't it? If it were a real artifact, it wouldn't be able to escape."

He muttered something after hanging up the phone.

"These people really know how to cause trouble."

Nine o'clock the next morning.

The cultural relics bureau sent a young man named Xiao Wang, who had only been employed for two years, to the construction site on a wobbly electric scooter.

He didn't take it seriously at all.

It's just a prank, I've seen it all before.

Last year, someone reported to the police that they had dug up a "Han Dynasty mobile phone," but it turned out to be a strangely shaped stone.

However, things were a bit strange a few days ago. There were Tang Dynasty rebar and Han Dynasty gantry cranes... I heard they were actually true.

This is me...

Thinking this through, Xiao Wang shook his head, banishing the unrealistic idea from his mind.

What if the Qin Dynasty really had AK47s?

How could the dynasty have died in the second generation?

What did Xiang Yu use to rebel against the Qin Dynasty?

Mechs?

Old Qian was already waiting anxiously at the construction site entrance.

"Comrade, you've finally arrived! Over here, over here!"

Xiao Wang, with a lollipop dangling from his mouth, lazily followed them inside.

"Alright, alright, take a look. But let me make this clear first, it's most likely a prank, so don't get your hopes up too high."

"You should see it first! You should see it first!"

Upon arriving at that area, Xiao Wang immediately spotted the terracotta figurine lying on its side in the soil.

The lollipop almost fell to the ground.

That is a terracotta warrior.

The piece is made of gray pottery, with clear armor patterns and a solemn facial expression—from his perspective as an archaeologist.

The craftsmanship, the design, the remaining traces of paint...

it is true.

It is definitely a genuine Qin Dynasty artifact.

But the problem is—

This authentic terracotta warrior is holding an AK-47 in its hand.

Made of pottery.

It is one with the body.

Xiao Wang stood there, stunned, and the lollipop in his mouth fell to the ground with a "plop".

Old Qian came over.

"Comrade? Comrade? What's wrong?"

Xiao Wang didn't answer. He slowly squatted down, stretched out his hand, then pulled it back, stretched it out again, and pulled it back again, finally trembling as he took out his phone and snapped a picture.

Then he dialed the bureau's number.

"Brother Liu...you have to come in person..."

Noon.

Old Liu stood in front of the terracotta figurine and remained silent for a full three minutes.

Then he squatted down and examined it carefully for ten minutes.

Then he stood up, took out a cigarette, lit one, took a deep drag, and said to Xiao Wang.

"Do you think... it could be a prop planted by a film crew during shooting?"

Xiao Wang said weakly.

"Brother Liu, have you ever seen a film crew that can produce props to this level? Look at the degree of oxidation in the paint, the layers of the patina, this..."

"Alright, alright," Old Liu interrupted him. "Let's call Old Meng over."

3 PM.

Old Master Meng has arrived.

Old Meng squatted down, looked for five minutes, and didn't say anything.

He watched for another five minutes, but still didn't say anything.

He took out his magnifying glass and examined it inch by inch.

Look at the terracotta figurines, look at the seams between them, look at every pattern, and look at every remaining trace of paint.

Finally, his gaze fell on the object in the terracotta warrior's hand.

silence.

A long silence.

Two young men squatted down beside him, barely daring to breathe.

They had followed Old Master Meng for many years and had never seen him with this expression.

That expression is hard to describe...

Stunned, doubtful, shocked, confused, astonished...

"Old Master Meng?"

One of them asked cautiously.

Old Meng did not answer.

He slowly reached out, put on white gloves, and gently touched the "foreign object" in the terracotta figurine's hand.

The feel, the texture, the seamless seams that blend perfectly with the terracotta figurine…

His hands trembled slightly.

"Bring...bring the tools."

His voice was a little dry.

The two young men quickly opened their toolbox and handed over a small brush, bamboo skewers, and a magnifying glass.

Old Meng took it and began to clean the loose soil around the terracotta figurine.

His movements were slow and gentle, as if he were touching something sacred.

Time passed by, second by second.

Old Qian and Xiao Liu stood aside, not daring to breathe.

Finally, Old Meng straightened his back and slowly stood up.

His face appeared unusually pale under the dim construction site lights.

"Old Meng?" Old Qian asked tentatively, "Is...is this for real?"

Old Meng did not answer. He just stared at the terracotta figurine, at the AK-47 in its hand, his lips moving as if he were muttering something.

a long time.

He turned around and looked at the two young men, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible.

"Call...the station. Tell them...to bring everyone over."

"Now?"

"Now," Old Meng paused, then added, "and... call the armed police."

The two young men were stunned.

Armed Police?

Old Qian and Xiao Liu looked at each other, a chill running from their feet to their spines.

That night, the construction site was sealed off.

The next morning, the advance team of the archaeological team arrived at the scene.

They brought various instruments and began preliminary cleaning and testing of the terracotta figurine.

On the third day, the news reached Beijing.