Chapter 3: The Antiquities Bureau Agent Comes Calling

The sound of leather shoes drew closer, each step a dull, rhythmic thud that felt like it was landing right on Lin Fuling’s heart. The darkness inside the culvert was thick, almost suffocating. The air reeked of rotting soil and damp moss. On the left side of her vision, the system interface flickered violently, the red warning text glaring and harsh, accompanied by a faint static buzz: 【Earth Language on cooldown. Current magnetic interference is extreme. Recommend immediate disconnection.】

Shen Zhao reached the mouth of the tunnel. His boot toe flicked a loose stone chip; the sharp crack echoed through the silence, startling a mouse from its corner that squeaked and scurried into the deeper shadows. He didn’t turn around. His voice was colder than ice chips, sending shivers down the narrow space: “The cat in the culvert. You can come out now.”

Lin Fuling knew the disguise was blown. She slowly rose from the shadows. Her knees felt like jelly, but she gripped her sleeves tight, brushing the gray-black dust from her hem, forcing herself to look composed and trying to steady her breathing: “Commissioner Shen, I… I’m a restorer.”

Shen Zhao sidestepped, his gaze raking over her face like a blade. There was scrutiny in his eyes, and no hiding the suspicion. A mocking curl formed at the corner of his mouth: “A restorer? Crawling into a culvert in the middle of the night with a shovel to dig up the Imperial Mausoleum. Which national treasure are you ‘restoring’?”

Lin Fuling swallowed hard, her throat dry. She clutched the Wind-Calming Pearl hidden in her pocket, her knuckles turning white from the grip. Her brain was racing. She needed to prove who she was, fast, or she’d end up rotting in prison for life, if not worse.

Lin Fuling pulled out a crumpled stack of documents from her pocket and held them out with both hands, her fingers white from the pressure, nearly pinching blood into the paper. “This is my temporary work ID from the Provincial Cultural Relics Restoration Center, and my qualification certificate for ancient book restoration. Mr. Shen, I was checking the Earth Veins cracks. I was worried the ceiling might collapse on top of you.”

Shen Zhao took the documents. He wasn’t wearing gloves. He flipped through two pages, the paper rustling softly between his fingers. His expression didn’t soften a bit; if anything, it got colder, even tinged with a hint of disgust: “Credentials are fake, aren’t they? Your name isn’t on the province’s restoration roster.”

Xiao Chen, his second-in-command, stood to the side holding a thermal imager. The light on the screen was focused on Lin Fuling’s chest. Her temperature was abnormally high, flashing red-orange, indicating a severe stress response. Shen Zhao snatched the thermal imager from Xiao Chen. The blue glow from the screen lit up half his face. He pointed at Lin Fuling, sneering: “Explain it. Why is your heart beating so fast? Or did you just not hide well enough?”

Lin Fuling felt a chill crawl up her spine. Cold sweat trickled down her back, soaking through her thin shirt and sticking to her skin, making her queasy. She was betting that Shen Zhao didn’t have the bandwidth to verify the background of some random, unknown restorer. After all, the security of the Imperial Mausoleum was the top priority. Any distraction could be fatal.

“I’m nervous,” Lin Fuling said in a low voice, trying to stop the tremor in her tone, lowering her voice to mask her panic. “I mean, we’re dealing with the Imperial Mausoleum. One mistake and I’d be on the hook for it.”

Shen Zhao tossed the documents back at her; they arced through the air in a short, sharp line. He turned and walked toward the center of the tomb chamber, his boot heels clicking against the stone slabs. “Fine. Being nervous is okay. But if I find out you’ve been doing any illegal digging, don’t expect me to look the other way just because we’re from the same hometown.”

He didn’t actually believe she was a harmless restorer. He just lacked hard evidence for now. He chose to control the situation first and keep her under close surveillance.

Lin Fuling let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. She stepped back to the side, but her eyes stayed glued to Shen Zhao, watching his every move. She knew the real test was just beginning.

Shen Zhao stood at the entrance to the main burial chamber. The beam of his flashlight swept across the rotting threshold, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the light. Suddenly, a grinding noise came from overhead, so sickening it made her teeth ache, as if some giant beast was gnashing its teeth inside the stone walls. Pebbles trickled down, dust filled the air. The entire structure of the tomb seemed to be at its breaking point, the air tensioned until it felt like it would explode any second.

Shen Zhao snapped his head up. His pupils contracted. He bellowed: “Retreat now! Brace for impact!” His voice echoed through the empty tomb chamber, carrying an undeniable authority. The footsteps of his team became a chaotic scramble as they fell back.

Lin Fuling didn’t move. She could feel the ground beneath her feet vibrating slightly. The stone bricks under her soles were trembling. 【Structural collapse risk detected. Level: High. Initiate Earth Vein repair? Cost: 500 points.】 The system notification rang in her mind, as calm and mechanical as a robot, a stark contrast to the chaos around her.

Lin Fuling glanced at Shen Zhao. He was directing his team to retreat, not noticing the fine cracks rapidly spreading across the overhead beams like a spiderweb. If she didn’t repair it, Shen Zhao would die. The mission would fail, and she’d be buried with him. If she did repair it, she’d reveal abilities no ordinary human should have. But this ability could save lives. Life or death. No time to hesitate.

She gritted her teeth and silently willed it: Repair.

A golden flow of light surged from her palm, seeping silently into the soil below and the stone cracks above. The loose blocks, as if glued by an invisible adhesive, closed at a visible speed. The precarious overhead beams stabilized again, emitting a faint golden glow. The whole process took less than three seconds, but it drained her mental power massively. Her vision even flashed with black spots for a moment.

The ominous noise overhead stopped abruptly. The dust settled. The tomb chamber returned to a deathly silence, broken only by the heavy, ragged breathing of the team members in the distance. Shen Zhao turned around, his face dark as he looked at her: “What just happened? What did you do?”

Lin Fuling crouched down, pretending to inspect the fallen dust on the floor. She didn’t lift her head, her voice sounding a bit hollow: “Mr. Shen, this is the ‘Stone-Calming Method’ recorded in ancient texts. It uses special resin to stabilize loose stones. I just happened to smear some on… ” She couldn’t admit it was the system. She had to make up a reason that sounded professional and esoteric. Her fingers lightly swept across the ground, masking her inner turmoil.

Shen Zhao stepped forward, crouching down. Using the flashlight, he carefully inspected the stone beams overhead. His fingers traced the recently closed cracks. His brow furrowed. The seams were smooth as new. There was absolutely no grainy residue from fresh resin. It looked more like the stones had just grown that way, with no trace of human repair.

He looked up at Lin Fuling, his gaze sharp enough to pierce skin. “Ordinary resin can’t set that fast. And it wouldn’t change the physical structure of the stone. What material are you using?”

Lin Fuling’s heart was pounding like a drum, but her face stayed calm. She even managed a tired smile. “A family recipe. The results are unstable, so I rarely use it. The situation was urgent today, so I took the risk.” As soon as she finished, she quickly stood up, faking a weakness in her legs to retreat into a corner, getting away from the intimidating man.

Shen Zhao didn’t press the issue, but the doubt in his eyes had taken root, like weeds that were impossible to pull out. He stood up, brushing the dust from his hands, and said to his second-in-command, Xiao Chen: “Secure the scene. No one goes in or out. Keep Lin Fuling where she is. Don’t let her slip away.”

Xiao Chen blinked, asking, “Boss, isn’t she a restorer? Keeping her here isn’t exactly safe, is it?”

Shen Zhao let out a cold snort. “Since she’s bold enough to claim it’s a ‘family recipe,’ she stays here. Document the entire repair process. If we find anything suspicious, she’s not getting off scot-free.”

Lin Fuling huddled in the corner, listening to their conversation, internally wincing. This night was definitely not going to end peacefully. She needed time to recover from that energy expenditure, and she needed a chance to use her remaining points for something else to prepare for any investigation that might come.

Night deepened. Moonlight poured through the cracks in the tomb ceiling, casting mottled shadows. Cold, white beams of light slanted through the dark tomb chamber. Shen Zhao and Xiao Chen were on alert on the other side of the room, occasionally exchanging low whispers about surveillance updates. Lin Fuling confirmed that Shen Zhao’s gaze was temporarily off her, and quietly activated the system panel, tapping at the air with her fingertips.

【Current available points: 300. Detected partial damage to the mural. Restoration value: High. Restore?】

She nodded, her finger lightly touching a flaking patch of paint on the wall. A soft, pale blue light flowed over the surface. The broken colors seemed to reassemble as time reversed. The originally blurry lines became clear, even taking on a strange, vivid brightness, as if they were breathing on the wall like living things. The system notification rang out: 【Restoration complete. Reward skill obtained: Basic Yin-Yang Eyes.】

Her vision instantly shifted. Lin Fuling felt as though a layer of light mist had been draped over the world. But she could clearly see the trajectories of dust flowing in the air. She could even sense the cold, killing aura radiating from Shen Zhao. That aura was like a black dog, lying in wait at his vital spot.

She blinked, trying to adjust to the change, but her mouth twitched involuntarily. The perception was too acute. It made her dizzy, as if countless needles were being stuck into her cerebral cortex.

She was just about to close her eyes to calm herself down when she noticed Shen Zhao had moved to the mural next to her. Shen Zhao wasn’t using a light. He was just staring at the freshly restored section of the wall, his brow furrowed. He looked as if he’d seen something that unsettled him. The cold air around them seemed to freeze.

“You just… touched this, right?” Shen Zhao’s voice was light, but it carried a chill. Through her Yin-Yang Eyes, Lin Fuling could even “see” the sound waves rippling off his lips.

Lin Fuling went rigid. She didn’t dare turn around. She forced herself to sound calm, her voice dry: “Just a minor repair. To prevent the paint from continuing to flake off.”

Shen Zhao reached out, his fingertips lightly brushing the edge of the restored mural. His voice was low: “There’s something underneath this mural.”

Lin Fuling’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately activated her Yin-Yang Eyes to check. Sure enough, beneath that seemingly complete layer of colored painting, a faint dark red pattern was seeping through. It looked like some kind of map drawn inside the wall itself. Those lines were twisted and grotesque, as if they were struggling. She didn’t dare say a word more. She just nodded. “It could be layering caused by foundation settlement. It needs professional equipment to test.”

Shen Zhao withdrew his hand. He stared at Lin Fuling, his gaze deep. A dangerous curve formed at the corner of his mouth, looking particularly grim in the moonlight: “I hope you’re telling the truth. Otherwise, tonight’s moonlight probably won’t be the last thing you see before you leave the tomb.”