Yang Ming also came back with news.

There really had been an earthquake in Caiyuan Village before. Many local farmers had heard about it, and some happened to be visiting Caiyuan Village at the time. They were scared out of their wits, but when they left Caiyuan Village and returned to their own villages, they found that no one there had noticed anything.

Because of this, quite a few people came to Caiyuan Village to see what was going on. If it hadn’t been for everyone saying the same thing and several old houses in Caiyuan Village having cracked from the quake, no one would have believed it.

An earthquake covering just a single village? Is that even possible?

Of course not. So it definitely wasn’t an ordinary earthquake—it must have another cause.

Shen Hao looked at the notes he’d written on the piece of paper. He thought for a moment, then added the words "quake-like" to it.

If it wasn’t an earthquake, then what caused the tremors in Caiyuan Village?

And judging by the timing, it wasn’t long after this "tremor" that something—or someone—emerged from the fish pond. There had to be a connection between the two events. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Sir, could the tremor have been caused by something in the tomb?" Wang Yiming was now thinking along the same lines as Shen Hao, and the further he reasoned, the more he felt he was closing in on the truth.

Shen Hao had considered this as well, but there simply wasn’t enough information to judge.

After thinking for a moment, Shen Hao’s gaze fell on the two pieces of copper artifacts on the table. He turned to Wang Yiming and asked: "Anything special about these?"

"I picked these up from that dried-goods vendor’s house. He claimed both were dug up from underground in Caiyuan Village. And previously, people had dug up quite a few similar items."

"Quite a few? Then why has no one come here to excavate?"

"Because these copper artifacts aren’t worth any money."

"Hmm?" Shen Hao wasn’t familiar with antiques; he assumed anything old dug up from the ground would be valuable, so he was puzzled why no one had come to dig deep in Caiyuan Village.

Wang Yiming explained, "That man said the things dug up from beneath Caiyuan Village are all old junk with no value. They’re antiques, but you can’t get any price for them..."

Wang Yiming continued his explanation, and Shen Hao began to understand. So-called "no value" just meant that the things dug up from under Caiyuan Village had no distinguishing features and weren’t in the category of ’collectible antiques’. They were simply old objects, at best purchased to trick a newcomer who didn’t know any better. So no one bought them, and no one came to dig further here.

As he listened to Wang Yiming, Shen Hao picked up one of the copper bottles for a closer look.

A very ordinary shape, about a foot tall, quite heavy in the hand. The surface was engraved with very regular patterns—looked vaguely like some kind of beast motif.

The Xuanqing Guard Black Robe uniforms also had beast motifs—Taotie patterns. The ceremonial uniforms for the Jingjiu Dynasty military positions also had beast motifs, but Shen Hao had never seen one like this before.

They all had beast motifs, and the style was similar to how vases look in the current Jingjiu Dynasty. At least in terms of aesthetic, it seemed to share a lineage with Jingjiu Dynasty items.

Shen Hao recalled that aside from visiting Flower Houses, Zhang Qian loved collecting antiques, and claimed to be something of an expert. Maybe he could show these two artifacts to Zhang Qian and see what he thought?

Fortunately, the Black Banner Battalion’s camp was right next to the garrison grounds, so finding Zhang Qian was easy. Seeing Shen Hao come to him again not long after they’d last parted made Zhang Qian curious. When he saw the two copper artifacts in Shen Hao’s hands he laughed, thinking Shen Hao was bringing him a gift.

"Haha, Shen, why so polite?"

"Hey, Brother Zhang, you’ve misunderstood. These aren’t for you—they’re for you to take a look at. I want to see if you can tell where these two copper artifacts are from."

When he heard they weren’t for him, Zhang Qian clicked his tongue and swore at Shen Hao for playing with him. But his hands didn’t hesitate—he picked up the two artifacts and examined them for a good while. Then he fell silent and seemed to be deep in thought.

After a long pause, Zhang Qian frowned and said, "Strange. This bottle is really odd. The style seems like something from the early days of our dynasty, but the pattern isn’t like any kind of known beast motif. In fact, it might not even be a beast motif at all. Never thought I’d find an antique here that even I can’t identify."

"No idea at all?"

"Not quite. Look at this one." Zhang Qian said as he put down the copper bottle and picked up the other artifact—a solid bar, half a foot long and three fingers wide. You could vaguely make out some patterns, but it was so rusty that you couldn’t tell what the design was.

"Shen, look—this one’s obvious. This is called a sword box, you’ve heard of it, right?"

"Artifact Control Skill?"

"Exactly. To be precise, it’s something every Sword Control Skill cultivator must have. Usually, a sword box can hold ten flying swords. Every cultivator who practices the Sword Control Skill needs one. It’s just—this design is the first time I’ve ever seen it."

"So you think these antiques are related to cultivators?"

"Definitely. Heh, Shen, be honest—where’d you get these two things? It’s obvious they’re funerary objects. Don’t tell me you dug up some major tomb? Don’t forget about your old buddy here, okay?" He said that, but Zhang Qian didn’t understand how Shen Hao, who’d only just got here, already found something. Could it be those two wagtail-like guides he’d just sent his way spilled the beans?

"Fine, Brother Zhang, if you want them, just go dig yourself—they aren’t far."

Zhang Qian curled his lip. "Don’t tell me it’s Caiyuan Village?" Seeing Shen Hao just smile without a word, he knew he’d guessed right. He waved his hand: "Forget it, forget it. You sly dog, I’m not going in there."

After leaving Zhang Qian, Shen Hao started writing up materials to report to the Governor’s Office as soon as possible. He now had a solid reason to persuade Jiang Cheng to order Wu Changhe to withdraw from the danger zone and halt attempts to breach the restriction array.

Because Shen Hao believed there might be unforeseen dangers within the restriction array—especially considering the "person" who climbed out of the pond was a complete mystery. It’d be reckless to just tear open the restriction array like this.

As for the people already caught up in it, Shen Hao figured they were all as good as dead. Whether earlier or later didn’t make much difference—they’d either already died or, if not, wouldn’t perish that quickly.

But just as Shen Hao was halfway through writing his report, a thunderous explosion erupted outside the tent, deafening as a thunderstorm’s boom.

"Sir, there’s movement at the restriction array up ahead!"

"What?! Wasn’t it supposed to happen at night..."

"Boom——"

Shen Hao’s words were cut off by the second blast, his brows knitting into a deep frown. This had to be the result of a large number of Thunder Charms or Thunderbolt Talismans being triggered at once.

Looking at the report he’d only half-finished, Shen Hao let out a sigh.

"Wang Yiming, continue this report for me. The purpose is to get Lord Jiang to order Households Commander Wu to suspend all operations. Once you’re done, deliver it right away."

"Sir, you mean..."

"The restriction array is full of peril. Forcing it open now could lead to unpredictable consequences. You submit the report and fight for Lord Jiang’s support. I’ll go find Households Commander Wu and see if I can convince him to change his mind."