I, disguised as a white dragon, was supported by the state.

"If we can find traces of a dragon in this well, human history will be completely rewritten!" Liu Sheng thought to himself.

"No, it's been rewritten!"

He is nearly forty years old and is an archaeology expert.

He entered the top university in Daxia University as the third-ranked student in the province. Amidst the strange looks from many people, he gave up a popular major and chose archaeology.

He has loved these things since he was a child.

He wants to use underground cultural relics to recreate the glory of his ancestors and let the whole world know how awesome his motherland was!

Now, he discovers that the Great Xia Dynasty seems to have been even more glorious in the past than he thought.

The legendary dragon is actually real!

About a month ago, he received an invitation from the Shenlong Research Lab, hoping that he could join them.

He had heard of this research lab; it was said to have been established by a top scientist specializing in biology.

The legendary drug that was said to cure all diseases came from that research lab. There were rumors that the lab was conducting a top-secret national mission involving biological agents.

Some even suspect that extinct prehistoric creatures were cloned there, from which a special substance that could cure all diseases was extracted.

Based on the name of the Shenlong Research Lab, Liu Sheng once thought that dinosaurs had actually been cloned there.

Therefore, when he received the invitation, he did not refuse it directly, but planned to talk to the head of the research lab.

The man's surname was Zhang. He had thinning hair on top of his head and was covered in dust when they first met, as if he had just crawled out of some fresh grave. This immediately made Liu Sheng feel close to him.

He bluntly asked the other party if they had cloned dinosaurs. The other party's reaction was strange, and they asked him in return if he would be willing to join if he had dinosaurs.

His heart started racing.

Although his research focuses more on archaeological discoveries from the pre-Qin period, who wouldn't be interested in the existence of dinosaurs?

He resolutely gave up his university position, signed an agreement, and became a member of the Shenlong Research Lab.

He then learned that all about dinosaurs was a hoax, and that what the other party was researching was actually the mythical dragon!

That crystal-clear skeleton, those ferocious dragon horns and claws, all correspond perfectly to the legend.

That was the skeleton of a dragon!

When Liu Sheng saw this scene, his worldview was shattered.

He never imagined that the myths and legends were true, that dragons really existed in this world.

Even though the other party repeatedly emphasized that it was just a dragon, there was no essential difference at all!

Since its skeleton still exists, is it as legendary as it is said to be able to stir up storms and control the weather?

Could there be a dragon egg, or even a baby dragon, on that even more secretive Duck Head Mountain?

He could even picture the young dragon being locked up and having its blood drawn, and then the discovery of various miraculous medicines.

Liu Sheng didn't stay in the research lab for long. After a few days of intensive training, he received the task of excavating the Lock Dragon Well.

The area he was in charge of was Jiangnan Province, and in just over twenty days, he had already excavated five Dragon Locking Wells.

Unfortunately, there was no harvest from those dragon-locking wells.

This Suolongjing, located at the border of Jiangnan and Shandong Province, and only a dozen miles from the Yellow Sea, is now the sixth one.

It is located next to an abandoned village, surrounded by weeds.

Compared to the other excavated Lock Dragon Wells, it is the most inconspicuous, surrounded by several large stones, with some tattered fishing nets and other items hanging haphazardly on top.

There was even a woman's bra, which had turned completely black.

If someone hadn't checked the local county annals, no one would have known there was a Dragon-Locking Well here.

With a rumbling sound, the excavator dug up the surrounding area.

"Slow down, be careful not to touch the edge of the well!" Liu Sheng, wearing a hat, personally directed from the side.

The excavators were operated by military personnel.

Following Liu Sheng's instructions, he dug around the area little by little.

The surrounding weeds were cleared away, leaving only the wellhead standing alone in the same spot.

Chapter 79: Bottom of the Well

The wellhead has been repaired.

Liu Sheng could tell at a glance.

"This thing is definitely quite old," he thought.

As is customary, at this point, you should first use a brush to remove the surface dirt and dust, check for any unusual patterns or characters, and then...

"Professor Liu, shall we demolish it now?" A voice interrupted Liu Sheng's thoughts.

He turned his head and saw that the speaker was the leading officer in charge of the area.

It is said that this guy once served on duty at Duck Head Mountain and was incredibly strong.

"Let me take another look," Liu Sheng said.

As an archaeologist, he felt particularly distressed to see ancient artifacts being removed by excavators.

But he also understood that if there were indeed traces of dragons underground, a few ancient artifacts would be insignificant.

"Dig!" Liu Sheng turned his head away.

With the roar of the excavator, the stones at the wellhead were broken off, some falling to the side and others into the well, and no sound was heard for a long time.

Half a day later.

A huge pit, large enough to bury Optimus Prime alive, has been dug at the location of the wellhead.

Several thick chains were also unearthed.

These chains are different from those in the other Dragon Locking Wells.

It is entirely dark black with red veins, has a rough surface, is about the thickness of a child's arm, and has a rugged shape.

Liu Sheng stared at the chain in astonishment.

The chain is made of what appears to be meteorite iron, and the craftsmanship it displays is unlike anything from any known dynasty.

Surprisingly, its surface showed very little corrosion.

Liu Sheng carefully examined the surroundings and discovered that the chains were embedded in several stone grooves in the well wall.

These stone troughs are clearly different from the stone above them, appearing more antique and having a distinct sense of layering.

"The original wellhead should be here," Liu Sheng guessed.

He carefully removed the surrounding soil and stroked the mottled stone with his hands, as if he could see the past in that way.

He was secretly disappointed after failing to find any symbols or patterns around him.

The chain seemed to be fixed at the bottom, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't pull it off.

After taking some photos and videos, he indicated that he could continue digging.

He had a vague premonition that a dragon might have once existed in this almost abandoned well.

With the chugging sound of the excavator, the area below gradually opened up.

The well opening, which was originally only two meters in diameter, gradually expanded to seven or eight meters.

Its structure resembles a cone.

A faint earthy smell wafted through the air.

Liu Sheng kept a close eye on things from the side.

"Pause."

Seeing that the width of the well opening remained at seven or eight meters, Liu Sheng ordered the soldiers working to stop.

He leaned closer to the edge again and looked down.

The surrounding well walls are made of rock, with a rough surface and moss growing in the crevices.

The sunlight only reached the edge of the well wall; looking down, it was still pitch black.

“Try the flares,” he said.

Two flares were dropped one after the other, making the mine much brighter.

Looking up, you can finally see the deep well water.

Finding the area underground to be quite open with no other obstacles, Liu Sheng secretly looked forward to what was to come.

He had a drone go down to survey the area and check the oxygen concentration in the well. After confirming it was safe, he decided to go down himself to take a look.

Three soldiers accompanied him.

Before long, Liu Sheng descended into the well and stepped onto the rubber boat that had been lowered in advance.

The light from the flares had not yet faded.

The well water was still and deep, reflecting the well walls covered with green moss.

He carefully looked around, scraping away the vegetation on the well wall with a shovel to reveal the weathered stone.

Based on the degree of weathering of these stones, he guessed that this place could not have been built much later than the pyramids.

Has this well been around for so long?

Liu Sheng felt a surge of excitement.

Even without the dragon, this well alone is a huge archaeological discovery.

Not to mention the chains that appeared to be made of meteorite iron.

If its existence date can be confirmed, it would be a huge upheaval for human history.

But why did this smelting technology disappear?

After finding nothing of note on the well walls, he signaled to a soldier to activate the unmanned underwater vehicle.

The submersible sank rapidly, reaching a depth of over 100 meters before touching the bottom.

"This place is by the sea, yet there's such a deep well; it must be unusual!" Liu Sheng's eyes gleamed as he stared intently at the screen in front of him. "And this thing underwater..."

The screen displays footage captured by the unmanned underwater vehicle.

In that image, a square pattern is clearly visible on the bottom of the water.

"Zoom in a bit...wait, what's that next to us? Aim at the stone wall!" Liu Sheng commanded.

He had originally intended to examine the patterns on the ground more closely, but then he noticed images on the well wall beside him.

The submersible's camera was pointed at the well wall.

Liu Sheng looked at it carefully.

There was still some algae on the underwater well wall, but it was much cleaner than the surface, and you could barely see anything on it.

That was a faded mural!

Due to its age and the obstruction of surrounding materials, many parts of the mural are somewhat blurred.

Based on those lines and patterns, he could still make out the general content described within.

In the center of the mural is a dragon that is fixed by six chains, surrounded by several figures standing on the ground. The person in the front holds up something that looks like a long sword.

"Could this be a record of the dragon-locking scene?" Liu Sheng frowned slightly.

The submersible had reached the bottom of the well, but there were no remains of any dragon.

He stared at the mural, a sense of familiarity washing over him.

"The style of this mural seems to be from the Yu Dynasty," he thought to himself.

The Yu Dynasty preceded the Xia Dynasty and was formally established after Emperor Yao abdicated the throne to Emperor Shun.

However, mainstream historians do not agree with this view and refer to the period before the Xia Dynasty as the mythological era.

Liu Sheng is an expert in this field and does not agree with this mainstream view.

He has been trying to extend the history of the Xia Dynasty back to the period of Yao, Shun and Yu.