38: Chapter 38: The archaeological team is in an uproar; Demonic script appears in the live stream.

"Shut up," Wu Ren said irritably, then turned to Song Yiqing and Zhang Qilin, "You two, since this black tower seems problematic, we can just take a detour. There's no need to take the risk."

"..." Zhang Qilin still didn't say anything, instead turning his head to look at Song Yiqing beside him. The latter said, "Let's go take a look. It's fine. We can earn some points while we're at it."

"..." Zhang Qilin looked at him deeply but didn't say a word, simply walking to the front. The implication seemed to be that he would lead the way. Song Yiqing naturally didn't object to this behavior; Zhang Qilin's durability was quite high, so having him walk in front was fine. As Zhang Qilin took the first step, the group followed in unison.

Viewed from afar, the black tower didn't look overly impressive, but only upon getting close could one notice its height—roughly over thirty meters, with eleven levels. It looked like there was some kind of sphere on the spire, though it was hard to see clearly. Each side of the black tower lacked any walls, with each level supported by six thick stone pillars. However, when the group entered the bottom level, they noticed there was no sand on the ground. On a desert that had just experienced a sandstorm, this was clearly somewhat incredible. Song Yiqing also noticed that the area around the black tower was covered in yellow sand; the massive rainstorm seemed to have only washed the area outside, while here, everything remained undisturbed. At first glance, it was just a black tower, but after a careful observation, even Wu Ren and the other two, who didn't understand Feng Shui, detected a hint of something strange.

"This place is a bit weird, something's not right!" Wu Ren said in a deep voice, while he raised his rifle, his eyes filled with vigilance. Gong Chen and Wei Zhiyuan, who were following him, also raised their weapons in unison. Having traveled back and forth across the Taklamakan Desert many times, their awareness of danger was quite strong. However, neither Song Yiqing nor Zhang Qilin had any intention of drawing their blades; the two sides' attitudes toward the situation were clearly distinct.

Gong Chen leaned in close to Wu Ren at this moment and lowered his voice, saying, "Captain Wu, although Brother Zhang said this place isn't right, they haven't drawn their blades, nor are they overly vigilant. Are we making a mountain out of a molehill? Besides, I think this just looks like an ordinary black tower."

"..." Wu Ren didn't answer at first, instead glancing at him before saying in a deep voice, "Can you pin down a Jiangshi and beat it with one hand?"

"Hiss—" Gong Chen gasped, then cautiously tightened his grip on his gun, afraid it might slip from his hands.

[Haha, this kid is really a clown. You're comparing yourself to Song Yiqing and Brother Zhang? What a joke!]

[You guys aren't even on the same level, how can you compare??]

[Laughing my head off, I'm dying of laughter. I don't know how he managed to ask that. That's hilarious.]

Inside the Flying Tiger Archaeological Expedition Team, as Song Yiqing and the others found the black tower, everyone crowded in front of the livestream to examine it closely, all wanting to see what was going on with this black tower that stood unfallen in the desert.

"Hiss! The structure of this thing is impressive, quite unique."

"Indeed. Judging from the surrounding conditions, it probably doesn't have walls to prevent it from being blown over by the wind. But the construction technique is really something."

"Look closely at the stacking of these stones. What kind of material was used? Judging by this, it must have at least a few thousand years of history."

"Hiss! This Song Yiqing really has discovered something extraordinary."

"What a pity! The person who can discover such a building with a long history is actually accused of academic fraud. Tsk, tsk, tsk!"

"Alright, say less. The announcement is already out, so we have to believe it!"

Everyone kept talking, and Xue Xingye was undoubtedly feeling extremely distressed by the stimulation. After all, once the Kyoto University of Archaeology issued the announcement, he was completely placed on the fire to be roasted. Before, he could have just muddled through, but now that was absolutely impossible; everyone's spear was pointed at him. The greater the contribution Song Yiqing made, the greater the pressure he would have to endure. 'Song Yiqing!! Damn you!!' Originally, when the Kyoto University of Archaeology issued the announcement, he was very happy and pleased with himself. But as a result of the current situation, he was completely deflated; he had truly become a target of public criticism.

However, just as he was thinking this, Shi Zhishan, who was walking at the very front, suddenly stopped and found Fei Erfeng. "Elder Fei, why does this tower feel a bit familiar to me?"

"Familiar?" Fei Erfeng looked at him in confusion. "How is it familiar?"

"No, I mean the structure makes me feel somewhat familiar with it," Shi Zhishan said. "I remember that in the Forbidden Area Exploration Logs, there were some relevant descriptions. It seems like it was recorded by a survivor after they returned. But because not many people had seen the black tower, this piece of information had never been remembered; it belongs to the more obscure information."

"Black tower..." Fei Erfeng looked at the black tower on the livestream screen. Then, the camera followed Song Yiqing and the others as they entered the bottom level. The drone livestream ball had self-detection capabilities, so when the AI noticed records like symbols on the ceiling, it quickly turned its direction. On the ceiling, there were lines of obscure and difficult-to-understand ancient characters. Fei Erfeng immediately exclaimed, "This is ghost cave script!! Wait, I remember!"

His emotions began to rise, and he instantly attracted the attention of everyone at the scene. "If I remember correctly, in the Forbidden Area Exploration Logs, there was once a description regarding ancient characters. The survivor at the time was unable to make a rubbing of the relevant text, but he did write down a line of ghost cave script in his log. Based on the meaning of his record at the time, this so-called ghost cave script should be the writing of a country that once existed in the place he visited. Its biggest characteristic is that these characters look like they are watching you with eyes."

"Demon Kingdom!!" Shi Zhishan also quickly spoke up. "If that's the case, isn't it possible that this black tower was built by the people of the legendary Demon Kingdom? Because according to our deduction, the Demon Kingdom's greatest totem characteristic should be eyes. So, if we put it that way, it must be correct!"

"Stop," Fei Erfeng suddenly said. "What did you say about the black tower just now? How is it described in the log you saw?"