"Over here! Quick—come see! We've found something!!"
…
The sudden shout drew everyone's attention at once.
The camera crew at the rear immediately swung their lens toward the commotion.
"What is it?"
The three leading scholars broke off their discussion and hurried over, followed by the rest of the group.
The cry had come from a young researcher, about thirty years old. He stood at the riverbank, visibly trembling with excitement as he waved the sealed evidence bag in his hand.
"This! I found this in the riverbed… look!"
As the others drew closer, they finally got a clear look at the object inside the transparent bag. The moment they saw it, their expressions all changed.
It was a small chunk of metal, no larger than a knuckle.
The surface was corroded with rust.
But what mattered was not the rust—it was the clear evidence of human craftsmanship.
This was no natural formation.
It was a manufactured object.
"Hand me the tweezers," Academician Zhou said firmly.
With gloved hands, he clumsily but carefully extracted the piece of metal. Raising it into the sunlight, his expression grew heavier.
"A bullet casing?" the geologist murmured.
No one else spoke.
Even eaten away by rust, the shape was still enough to trigger the same thought in everyone's mind—this was unmistakably a spent cartridge.
"Bring me some sanding paper," Zhou ordered.
Someone rushed to fetch it. Soon they had gathered around a nearby rock, carefully grinding away at the surface.
Slowly, bit by bit, the corrosion fell away. The buried bullet began to gleam faintly once more.
And then, astonishingly, faint markings—like serial numbers—became visible on its side.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Finally, Professor Sun broke it, staring at the young researcher.
"Where exactly did you find this?"
"Right here, on the riverbed. It must have been washed down from upstream."
"…Dig. Search the area. See if there's more."
The order was given. The team scattered, pulling out excavation tools.
At first, no one expected much. If the casing had drifted downstream, it might be an isolated piece.
But minutes later, the sound of metal striking metal rang out.
"There's something here!"
"It's not stone—it's metal!"
One of the younger researchers dropped his shovel, kneeling to tug something long from the mud. He rinsed it in the river.
The crowd erupted as the form emerged.
"This… this is a gun?!"
Someone blurted it out.
A military officer escorting the expedition leaned closer, frowning. "Yes… it resembles a firearm structure."
What they had pulled from the dirt was a heavily corroded rifle.
The wooden stock had long since rotted away, but the barrel and metal frame remained.
If the bullet had raised suspicion, this left no doubt.
A firearm. An artifact of industry.
"Could it have been buried here in the Tack Desert originally? Or…"
The speaker trailed off. But everyone knew what he meant.
If this wasn't simply something hidden in the desert sands…
"Could it be… that this land itself passed through the ages? That an industrial civilization once existed here?"
The geologist's voice quivered. He was shaken to his core.
Then he shouted, almost losing his composure:
"Keep digging! Follow the river upstream!"
Academician Zhou, his own heart racing, forced himself to remain calm. Turning to the communications officer, he ordered:
"Transmit this immediately. Request archaeological specialists. We… need reinforcements."
"Ah, so they've uncovered it at last."
In his study at Lishan, Lin Tuo smiled faintly as he watched.
The livestream erupted with chaos.
The chat scrolled so fast it lagged:
"What did I just see?!"
"Why isn't the reporter speaking? Zoom in!"
"Am I blind, or was that a gun barrel they dug out?"
"What on earth happened inside the Black Box?!"
"This feels like world-shaking news again!"
The cameras stayed deliberately wide, avoiding close detail. The reporters did not speak hastily.
But even from what little was shown, the implications were obvious.
And then, as excavation continued, more objects surfaced.
Not just bullets and guns, but fragments of strange machines.
Soon it became clear—the bullet hadn't simply washed downstream. This whole site was a ruin, buried beneath soil and revealed only because the nearby river had eroded the earth.
When the rusted skeleton of a car emerged, the livestream exploded once more.
Lin Tuo, however, merely yawned.
"No surprises after all."
He had watched the broadcast only to guard against accidents. The only unexpected thing was how quickly the ruins were discovered.
Glancing at the time, nearly evening, he prepared to shut it off.
But then, his eyes narrowed.
"Hmm?"
On the Evolution Sand Table, he saw it: a pack of beasts creeping toward the excavation team.
He leaned closer, counting their numbers. There were quite a few.
"Should I intervene?"
Against modern weapons, the creatures stood little chance. But they had numbers, and the terrain. A careless fight might cost lives.
"Fine, I'll give them a little warning."
Lin Tuo lowered his hand onto the Sand Table, placing a fingertip upon a mountain between the two sides.
Inside the oasis.
The dig continued into dusk, with helicopters circling above.
Then, one of the scouts spotted them—shadows moving swiftly from the southwest.
"Unknown lifeforms approaching in large numbers from the southwest!"
The ground team froze. Exhausted after hours of guard duty, their nerves snapped tight.
"Defense formation! Southwest side!" the commanding officer barked.
The researchers faltered, spades and brushes forgotten.
But then—
A strange gust swept through the trees.
And from the southwest mountains came a thunderous sound.
"BOOM!"
The earth trembled faintly.
"Careful!"
"What was that?!"
The beasts, already closing in, panicked instantly. Their instincts sensed the crushing pressure that had descended from the mountain.
In moments, they fled in all directions, vanishing into the wild.
"Targets dispersed," reported the helicopter crew, baffled. "Cause of tremor unknown."
The ground team exhaled relief—but unease only deepened.
"This land is too mysterious. Mark the site, pack up—we're returning," Zhou ordered firmly, after a long look toward the depths of the oasis.
Ten minutes later, the entire expedition withdrew.
The retreat was swift. By the time the sun sank below the horizon, they had safely returned to the base, carrying with them countless biological specimens—and industrial relics.
The night ahead, and many to come, would be anything but peaceful.
Lishan Martial Hall.
Before the broadcast even ended, Lin Tuo had shut his computer.
He could already picture the uproar soon to engulf the global internet. It would rage for days, but he was finished paying attention.
"The first contact went smoothly enough. From here on, how they excavate the ruins and study the oasis… that's their problem."
In good spirits, he stepped into the training yard.
There sat Hua Xi, cross-legged at the courtyard center, eyes closed, posture straight, practicing the "Breath of Vital Qi."
Lin Tuo paused, thoughtful.
"With the oasis matter settled for now, it's time to focus on promoting cultivation in Yang City."
The spread of the "Qingling Breathing Technique" had grown steadily, with real results. But to Lin Tuo, progress still felt too slow.
"What's missing is a spark—a trigger. Maybe I need to create one… Tonight I'll tally the city's cultivation numbers."
He strolled over, tapped the girl gently on the head.
"Mm… Teacher?" Hua Xi blinked awake, dazed like she had just come out of a dream.
Lin Tuo chuckled.
"That's enough practice for today. Go wash up. Tonight, we're eating out. It happens to be a festival."
"Oh." She nodded automatically, then blinked again. "Festival? Is it some holiday here?"
Lin Tuo nodded with a sigh.
"Yes. Today is the seventh of July. Lovers' Must-Die Festival."
Hua Xi: "?"
(End of Chapter)