I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

Tang Zhi finished speaking.

Lin Ye looked down at the scanned document again.

Those few lines of fragmented text were very short.

But the more I look at it, the more awkward it seems.

It's not because I can't understand it.

It's precisely because I can understand a little bit of it.

Food Vessel Spirit.

To entrust one's soul to another.

Both of these things apply to Han Jingchuan.

One coincidence can be explained.

It got a little hard after just two tries.

Where is the original stele?

"Storage room".

Where is Lu Zhixia?

"in."

Lin Ye picked up the scanned document and left.

Tang Zhi followed behind.

"Aren't you going to find Captain Cheng first?"

"He knew I would go."

"Too."

"You've been seen through by your boss."

"Say less."

Sealed area.

The stone tablet has been cleared out.

It's bigger than in the photo.

It's about half a person's height.

It was interrupted once in the middle.

A large section is missing from the edge.

Lu Zhixia, wearing gloves, was squatting down to look at the rubbing.

She was dressed very simply today.

White shirt.

Her long hair was casually tied back.

Upon seeing Lin Ye enter, the first thing he said upon looking up was:

"Don't touch it."

Lin Ye stopped in his tracks.

Do I look that clumsy?

"Um."

"..."

Tang Zhi laughed out loud from behind.

Lu Zhixia ignored them.

The soft brush in my hand gently swept across the surface of the monument.

"This thing is very weathered."

"Many places weren't worn away; they were destroyed by people later."

Lin Ye frowned.

"Is someone trying to prevent the content from being left behind?"

"uncertain."

Lu Zhixia shook her head.

"It's also possible that it broke apart along with the ruins when they were destroyed."

Don't jump to conclusions.

Lin Ye nodded.

This is very much like Lu Zhixia.

Cheng Fang was also there.

Standing on the other side, let's look at the 3D reconstruction that the technical team just created.

"How many can you recognize?"

"Less than 30%"

Lu Zhixia said.

"And it's not continuous content."

"The monument itself may just be part of a record."

"It's not the complete inscription."

Tang Zhi leaned closer.

"Is it possible to find out what it actually says?"

"I can guess roughly."

Lu Zhixia spread out several rubbings.

"Look at this first."

The top line.

It's so bad that only a few words remain.

[...age...foreign cultivator...enters the mountain...]

A large section is missing below.

Further on.

[...Food Vessel Spirit...Seizing Techniques...]

The third paragraph.

[...a soul possesses another...the host is immortal...]

I saw the words "The host is immortal".

Lin Ye's expression changed instantly.

"etc."

He pointed to the past.

"Are you sure about this?"

"uncertain."

Lu Zhixia answered quickly.

"The word 'host' was added by us based on the context."

"The original text only has one word that looks like 'master'."

"But 'immortality' is basically certain."

"So don't take the supplementary text as the original text."

Lin Ye nodded.

"That means at least something close to the truth."

"Possibly."

Lu Zhixia continued scrolling down.

It's not about descriptive ability.

More like a warning.

[...keep away from him...]

[…Do not engage in prolonged combat…]

[...Do not heed his words...]

Tang Zhi finished reading.

"Who wrote this?"

"So afraid?"

Cheng Fang said calmly:

"I'm afraid it would mean someone has died there."

In a word.

The room became quieter.

Lin Ye looked to the next section.

Only three characters remain that I can recognize.

[...Xuan...Daoist...]

Almost the entire middle part was broken.

Lin Ye stared at the character "玄".

"What's so mysterious?"

Lu Zhixia shook her head.

"have no idea."

"Xuanqing?"

"Xuanzhen?"

"Anything is possible."

"What about the character 'Tao'?"

"That's just speculation."

She pushed the original rubbing over.

"The remaining strokes on the right side resemble the character 'Tao,' but they are severely missing."

"The only thing that can be confirmed is 'mystery'."

Lin Ye clicked his tongue.

The clue was only half-finished.

It's like they're deliberately teasing us.

Tang Zhi, however, stared at another fragment.

"There's also the word 'death' here."

"Um."

Lu Zhixia picked it up.

"This part is more troublesome."

"Both the front and back are broken."

"Only..."

She read them in order.

"...Thirty-seven people died..."

"...The spirit of the artifact has been completely lost..."

"...towned in..."

That's all.

Lin Ye suddenly remembered the black jar in the ruins.

Thirty-seven.

That number.

Also thirty-seven.

He looked up.

"Black jar".

Cheng Fang also realized what was happening.

"Number thirty-seven?"

"right."

The group immediately looked toward the technical team.

Staff retrieved the internal serial number records of the site.

The talking black jar near the main hall.

The number is indeed thirty-seven.

However, this "thirty-seven" was renumbered based on the order of placement during modern inventory.

It has no direct connection with the 37 people who died mentioned in the inscription.

Tang Zhigang became excited.

I was discouraged again.

"All my happiness for nothing."

Lin Ye, however, had not completely let go.

"Where is the location?"

The staff member was taken aback.

"What location?"

"Where was the stele discovered?"

"Where is the black jar?"

The map appeared quickly.

The fragments of the stone tablet were found in the collapsed area on the west side of the second level.

The original location of the black jar.

It's less than 20 meters away.

Cheng Fang frowned.

"close."

But that doesn't prove anything.

Lu Zhixia said.

"Unless it can be confirmed that the monument was originally standing there."

"Otherwise, it's normal for debris to move tens of meters after the ruins collapse."

Lin Ye didn't say anything.

There isn't enough evidence yet.

But the direction is becoming clearer and clearer.

This is the site of the Imperial Spirit Relics.

I once actually encountered someone who could devour artifact spirits and possess souls.

Many people even died because of this.

more importantly.

In the other person's name or title.

There is likely a mystery involved.

"What era is the monument from?"

Cheng Fang asked.

Lu Zhixia thought for a moment.

"Only a range can be given."

"Judging from the script style and carving habits, it is at least much earlier than most existing religious inscriptions."

"It's impossible to give a definitive answer."

"Ancient times?"

Tang Zhi asked.

"It's definitely not modern or contemporary."

Lu Zhixia took off her gloves.

"And this isn't a monument commemorating a victory."

Lin Ye looked at her.

"You said before that it was like a disaster."

"Um."

Why?

"Because it doesn't sing praises."

"There is no sect name."

"There is no oral instruction passed down."

Lu Zhixia pointed to the fragments of the sentence.

"It was all an accident."

"How many people died?"

"How many artifact spirits have been lost?"

How to avoid it?

How to prevent it?

She paused.

"It's more like a warning to those who come after."

Lin Ye looked down at the stone tablet.

A picture suddenly popped into my head.

Many years ago.

This sacred site is not yet abandoned.

Someone broke in.

Devouring the spirit of the artifact.

To seize power.

To possess another person's body.

In the end, many people died at the entire site.

Those who survived carved their stories in stone.

It's not for commemoration.

It's to prevent the people behind from stepping on it again.

Tang Zhi whispered:

"And that thing inside Han Jingchuan's body..."

"Could it be this one from the monument?"

No one answered immediately.

Cheng Fang was the first to speak.

"We can't make that decision yet."

"It's taking too long."

"Similar abilities do not equate to the same person."

Lin Ye nodded.

"But at least it shows that this approach existed before."

"And someone has studied it."

"This is the most useful one."

If the ancients really encountered this.

That might leave behind more things.

weakness.

Response methods.

Even the name.

Cheng Fang already understood what he meant.

"Continue clearing the ruins."

"Focus on finding inscriptions on steles, wall carvings, and sealed records."

"The technical team re-screened all the fragments containing the character '玄' (xuan)."

"There are also old records related to the words 'spirit control'."

Tang Zhi raised her hand.

"And what about us?"

Cheng Fang looked at her.

"You want to go down and move the stones?"

"...Never mind then."

Lu Zhixia suddenly said:

"There's one more thing."

Several people looked at her.

She took out another photo.

The top image shows the back of the monument.

It's not text.

Instead, it was a very shallow scratch.

It looks like someone added it later.

Lin Ye stared at it for a long time.

"What is this?"

"Soul Seal."

Lu Zhixia did not answer him.

It was Wanling's voice that suddenly came through the phone.

Lin Ye was stunned.

"When did you bring him in?"

Tang Zhi waved her phone.

"Just now."

"I want to ask him if he knows him."

Wanling remained silent for a few seconds.

For the first time, the voice wasn't so lazy.

"Enlarge the photo."

Tang Zhi did as instructed.

"Even bigger."

Keep watching until the scratches fill the entire screen.

Wanling fell silent.

Lin Ye frowned.

"You've seen it before?"

"I've never seen this person before."

"Then why are you so nervous?"

"Because of this printing method..."

Wanling's voice slowed down.

"It was carved with a soul."

No one made a sound from inside the room.

Lin Ye stared at the faint mark.

"What do you mean?"

"It means that the person who carved this thing no longer had a physical body at the time."

Wanling paused for a moment.

"Or rather."

"At that time, he was just a soul."