Chapter 663 - 359: Is This Just a Decorative Column?
Lunchtime arrived.
In the Fox Mountain cafeteria, around each small stone table, sat groups of fiery red foxes, chattering away in their fox language as they ate and bragged.
"Ying ying ying aow aow!"
The White Belt fox clawed at a crispy egg roll, boasting about its discoveries from the morning... The column it dug up with inscriptions on it, according to Master, is an important document!
The foxes pressed their fluffy heads together, chattering away in a flurry of fox speak.
Previously excavated sites rarely had such inscribed columns.
These past few days, there seem to be a few more.
...
On one side of the cafeteria, Bai Mo sat by a table, clutching a crispy egg roll, eating while pondering.
"The scriptures left by the Emperor might really just be decorations."
The archaeological work on Fox Mountain proceeds from the outskirts of the Pill Palace towards the core area.
The closer to the core, the more luxurious the Pill Palace’s décor becomes, with more and more inscribed columns appearing.
"If the Emperor’s scriptures aren’t meant to be a secret and are known to all, then using them as decorations fits perfectly.
"They have depth, a high sense of class, and can even flatter the Emperor.
"Although the Emperor probably doesn’t care..."
It’s like when someone prints a set of Maxwell’s equations to hang in their living room for show-off, or writes an I Ching to hang in their living room as decoration, it all seems quite reasonable?
Bai Mo grinned.
"That’s actually pretty good."
Bai Mo finished the egg roll, picked up a bowl of Jade Food Fruit porridge, took a big gulp of it with a "hula la".
He then pulled out his phone to look at the recent photos of the inscriptions on the column.
"This is probably just the first part...
"And some of the writing has become blurry, some letters are damaged, only partially visible."
This really makes things a bit tricky!
If it were other documents, Bai Mo could infer the missing parts based on context and grammar, guessing them very closely. But this is different, this is the Emperor’s comprehensive scripture, every word carries great weight, Bai Mo dared not guess recklessly.
"The good news is, this thing is just a decoration.
"Since it’s a decoration, it shouldn’t just be inscribed on one column, right?
"There must be more columns with the same inscriptions to be unearthed!"
...
At the Celestial Palace Ruins.
In the room, a lamp flickered.
Sun Jinsong sat cross-legged on a cushion, holding a scroll of Silk Book, head bowed.
With eyes closed, his breathing was even, and a line of glistening liquid dripped from the corner of his mouth... Turns out, he had fallen asleep.
In the gentle footsteps, the Ancient Immortal came holding a sturdy old root, sighing softly.
He didn’t blame Sun Jinsong... In fact, Sun Jinsong had been studying continuously for over twenty hours, grinding with clenched teeth, reddened eyes, wrestling with that Silk Book!
Unable to comprehend, feeling both anxious and exhausted, he fainted and finally fell asleep.
"Huh?"
Sun Jinsong was awakened by the Ancient Immortal’s footsteps and instantly raised his head.
Only to see his Ancient Immortal Master smilingly sitting cross-legged beside him.
"No need to put too much pressure on yourself.
"Sometimes, too much pressure becomes counterproductive.
"Take a short rest.
"Once you’re well-rested, I’ll explain the scriptures to you.
"You’ve been to school, you should know, that reading by yourself and listening to someone explain make a big difference.
"Soon, I will break down the Silk Book’s content thoroughly and explain it to you!"
Sun Jinsong quickly nodded.
"Yes, yes!"
The Silk Book in his hands was written by his master.
Being able to listen to the master explain in detail, that would be the best!
...
In the Bronze Hall, having eaten and drunk his fill, Bai Mo sat behind a desk, looking at the dilapidated column beside him.
"Without hearing the Emperor’s personal lectures, just looking at these documents feels somewhat regrettable."
Teachers and textbooks are ultimately not the same.
When reading documents alone, there’s no tone, no detailed explanations, no interaction, only cold stone columns with jumbled, tiny, and increasingly blurry letters.
Thankfully, Bai Mo had been accustomed to self-study since childhood, never needing a teacher, from school to Fox Mountain, for over ten years, it had always been this way, he was already used to it.
He stared at the column, reading one line after another, until the third line, when he suddenly smacked his lips.
"This..."
Bai Mo took a sip of tea, his gaze locked on the column, unable to look away.
The Emperor’s teachings indeed differed greatly from other documents!
In just three short lines, they were grand and profound, capturing Bai Mo’s interest, resonating like a thunderclap reaching his ears, like enlightenment filling his mind.
In his mind, Bai Mo seemed to see, thousands of years ago, the Emperor standing on a high platform, his sleeves fluttering, preaching, his gaze meeting his.
"This... This... is brilliant..."
Beside him, Small and Big Eyes and Butterfly Knot exchanged glances, also looking at the stone column.
The foxes’ eyes scrutinized up and down, only to see the column being dark green, weathered, cracked, with blurred script, still covered in dirt.
But... if the master says it’s brilliant, then it must be brilliant!
The two foxes instantly adjusted their expressions, their eyes wide in amazement, showing the same captivated look as their master!
...
Whoosh...
A fierce wind blew, swirling dust and sand.
In the excavation site, a huge pit full of dark yellow soil was visible.
Thud!
Turns out it was the White Belt operating the Big Mouth Flower digger, chomping away the last piece of earth, revealing a column still thickly wrapped in layers of soil.
"Ying ying ying!"
Master said the words on this stone column are actually very fragile. Buried in the soil for millions of years, suffering from humidity, erosion, and vibrations, the surface of these stone columns had become very fragile, almost merging with the soil. To carefully extract the stone column, it requires meticulous work!