The breeze swept across the yellow sand, stirring up a small dust storm around them.
And the wind then blew across the faces of a group of experts.
As the breeze brushed past, the experts slowly came back to their senses.
"It's magnificent, so culturally rich. This ancient city looks several times more impressive than the ancient city of Loulan."
Hao Aiguo gazed at everything before him, muttering unconsciously.
His eyes even welled up a little.
After searching for so long, they had finally found it.
"Look quickly, there's an altar over there. It should be the unique symbol of the ancient city of Jingjue."
"I never thought the legend of the snake god was actually true."
Chen Dongping pointed to the altar not far away, his voice filled with excitement.
Everyone had already seen the altar, but they hadn't spoken up immediately.
"That altar must hold all the secrets of the ancient city of Jingjue. Let's go and take a look."
Professor Chen spoke impatiently, and they all walked over slowly.
"Wait, this map doesn't guide us towards the altar," Professor Li suddenly called out from behind. The group paused.
"But Professor Li, the key symbol of the ancient city of Jingjue is right before our eyes. There's no reason not to go."
"Besides, we came here precisely to uncover the mystery of the ancient city of Jingjue's thousands of years of fame followed by its sudden disappearance. And now we can't go?" Chen Dongping said indignantly.
"Think about it, if you could truly go there, why wouldn't it be marked on the map? And the ancient city of Jingjue is incredibly dangerous, and this altar looks so eerie."
"If I'm not mistaken, there must be some mechanism on this altar."
"And while we are here to find secrets, we are primarily here for cultural relics. This is not the place we are looking for." Professor Li spoke continuously.
After Professor Li finished speaking, the group stopped walking.
Regardless of what was said, Professor Li's words held a lot of sense.
This was an ancient city, fraught with danger, especially for Professor Li's team, including Xiao Guang, who knew the perils of mechanisms.
After all, there was a precedent to learn from.
"Professor Li, let's go to the tomb first. We can come back to see this place later," Xiao Guang said. Professor Li nodded.
Professor Chen looked into the distance. He was regretful, but he also nodded.
It could be said that Professor Li held the most authority here, and everyone else was merely his assistants.
"But..."
Chen Dongping wanted to say something more, but seeing that his father had agreed, he could only shut his mouth.
He felt deeply dissatisfied.
His father was also an authoritative professor in Xia Guo, but throughout this journey, he had been largely led by Professor Li, lacking any real authority. This caused Chen Dongping, who had always admired his father, to have a slight crack in his idealized image.
With everyone's agreement, they did not head directly to the altar but followed the tomb map provided by Zhang Tian towards the original great hall.
"Hey, Professor Li, aren't we relying too much on this map? If it's fake, won't we all be doomed?" Chen Dongping said from the side.
Professor Li appeared unhurried.
"If it were fake, we would have died in the ancient city of Loulan. How could we have found the ancient city of Jingjue?"
"And do you think the cultural relics we saw in the ancient city of Loulan were also fake?" Professor Li's words silenced Chen Dongping.
After all, there were so many relics, and they had successfully found them. It was unlikely that it was all fake.
"However, what Xiaoping said is also reasonable. We should rely less on maps provided by special agents in the future. If the information is inaccurate, it can be very troublesome."
"We will be more cautious from now on." Professor Li said, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"As expected of Teacher Li, you think of everything."
"Yes, Teacher Li, you are our role model." Xiao Guang and the others praised him with admiration.
Even Hao Aiguo, Professor Chen's disciple, looked on with admiration.
To have found so many cultural relics, and without any harm, with such a meticulous mind, how could Hao Aiguo not be in awe?
Professor Chen did not speak. His gaze was fixed on the map.
"It indicates that once we enter a great hall, we can descend to enter the tomb passage." Professor Chen said, as he was eager to uncover the secrets of the ancient city of Jingjue and paid little attention to other matters.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go directly."
"There must be water in there. It will save our lives." Xiao Guang wiped his hands, excited.
They hadn't had a drink in days. Thinking of water, everyone unconsciously quickened their pace.
Soon, they were in the familiar great hall.
Several pillars were arranged in a row.
Numerous lifelike statues were carved on them.
"Such magnificent pillars."
"Like pillars reaching the sky, like the Ruyi Jingu Bang, piercing the heavens and reaching the palace of the celestial maiden."
Looking at the pillars before him, Xiao Guang's expression was filled with excitement.
His remark was fine initially, but the addition of the last part completely broke everyone.
"Xiao Guang, you shouldn't say such things."
"These are arranged according to the constellations, and they appear to be some kind of mechanism," Professor Li said, looking at the pillars.
The others, meanwhile, were gazing at the pillars and simultaneously taking pictures.
In a short while, several more photos were taken.
Although they were all black and white, these photos were extremely precious.
"Look quickly, the tunnel over there has been opened!"
"These pillars must be a mechanism. Could tomb robbers have been here?" Suddenly, Chen Dongping pointed to a tunnel not far away.
"It's unlikely to be tomb robbers. I suspect our special agents helped us open it. We've seen quite a few corpses along the way, but we haven't seen any bodies of tomb robbers in the ancient city of Loulan or Jingjue."
"This proves that those tomb robbers were not capable of reaching this place." Professor Li analyzed. Everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If it were tomb robbers, then the tomb would surely be ruined.
"Then let's go in and take a look. We must be careful," Professor Chen said softly, adding a reminder.
Xiao Guang walked at the forefront.
"I'll take the lead this time."
There were no other young people here, and Xiao Guang was the only male and a young one, so he naturally served as the vanguard.
Soon, they entered the tomb passage, and the distinct chilling aura of a tomb wafted towards them.
The tomb passage, built with sand and bricks, possessed a sense of mystery.
And on the walls of the tomb passage, they saw an unprecedented sight.
"This should also be a mural recording the secrets of the ancient city of Jingjue. Professor Chen, you are more knowledgeable about this. Please analyze it for us." Professor Li said with a smile. Professor Chen adjusted his glasses and began to study it carefully.
"According to legend..."
Professor Chen analyzed quickly, recounting essentially the same information that Zhang Tian and the others had discussed.
This indeed proved Professor Chen's accumulation of historical knowledge.
"This ancient city of Jingjue is so mysterious. What is that ethereal space?" Xiao Guang murmured, and all of this was observed by a weasel behind them.
After hearing the story, the weasel's eyes glowed green.