Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 469: Chapter 465 The Passing of Time

Huo Sining certainly didn’t miss Li Xuanbing’s undisguised provocative gaze, and she sincerely felt wronged.

Ever since arriving at the ancient tomb, she had been keeping a low profile. If she had any questions, she would ask Ji Kun or Ding Liang in private. Besides, she didn’t know much and hadn’t competed with anyone for credit.

But why did Li Xuanbing have to be against her for no good reason?

Unable to figure it out, she simply let go of the thought.

Huo Sining didn’t like to stir up trouble, but if someone really provoked her, she wasn’t one to be afraid of conflict.

Although she didn’t understand what that girl’s issue was, the saying ”meet force with force and counter every move” should never go wrong.

”That’s it for now. Everyone is tired from the morning, so rest well this afternoon. This afternoon, a few of us professors and the archaeological team will reinforce the tomb to prepare for emergency excavation tomorrow. Then you all can come and gain some experience. Once we receive notification from the police station for assistance with artifact identification, we will make further arrangements for your schedule,” Xie Daoyuan said in a serious tone.

Everyone nodded and left the office, whispering excitedly among themselves. Only Huo Sining remained calm.

She quietly touched the Heavenly Eye on her forehead. Not to brag, but when it came to identifying the authenticity of things, she believed she was more skilled than Xie Daoyuan, let alone the others.

Bright and early the next day, with all preparations in place, Xie Daoyuan gave the command, and the archaeological team began excavating the ancient tomb.

At first, everything went smoothly, but a small problem arose when they started to clear the tomb passage.

The construction team from the holiday resort had only dug a small part of the tomb passage with their excavator, and when they discovered something unusual, they didn’t dare to continue. The authorities also quickly sealed off the passage.

However, upon clearing it, they discovered that the excavator had destroyed an underground river in the tomb, causing a surge of groundwater to rush up.

The excavation work came to a halt, and Xie Daoyuan decisively sent people to bring in several water pumps to drain the river.

Unexpectedly, during the pumping process, a mineral water bottle floated up from the riverbed, causing everyone to freeze. Xie Daoyuan’s face turned dark, and he glared ominously at the bottle.

Needless to say, it was obvious that such modern trash as a plastic bottle wouldn’t normally be found in an ancient tomb, pointing to the possibility that it was left by a Tomb Robber!

Once the river was drained, Xie Daoyuan took the lead and went down.

Having been involved in archaeological excavations for many years, Xie Daoyuan was obviously very experienced, directing the entire team on where to dig and how to proceed with the construction, and even personally overseeing the progress to avoid any mishaps.

At this time, the trainees were not allowed to go down. They could only stay on the periphery and watch since they were still young disciples, and the items in the tomb were too precious. If someone accidentally damaged an artifact, the loss would be too great for anyone to bear.

As soon as the tomb was opened, Xie Daoyuan led the archaeological team members carefully into the burial chamber. At first, there was a constant movement of soil coming out, but gradually, there was silence.

Unaware of the situation inside, everyone looked nervously at the entrance of the tomb, with bated breath.

After what seemed like an eternity, a voice came from inside the tomb: ”The artifacts are coming out, clear the area outside!”

A person covered in mud walked out holding a bamboo basket.

Ji Kun rushed down first and took over the basket, which originally served to carry sand and soil, but now contained a few painted pottery figurines, shiny as new.

With her head tilted slightly upward and hair done in an updo with a bun, and her long gown touching the ground, these pottery figurines stood dignified and elegant, epitomizing the tri-colored lady figurines characteristic of the height of the Tang dynasty.

The shapes of these lady figurines each differed greatly, with some wearing a yellow short jacket with a turnover collar and narrow sleeves over a long green skirt that touched the ground, and shoes with upturned toes; others clad in short-sleeve tunic and waistcoat, with half-sleeves embroidered with flowers and hem pleats covered in persimmon-calix patterns;

Some had one hand with a pointing finger while the other hand was curved and held close to the chest; there were also those with the left hand half-clutching and raised to the chest, seemingly looking into a mirror, with the right hand stretched out as if to touch up the forehead.

Each simple pose and succinct design vividly depicted the grace and opulence of a Tang dynasty lady.

If Huo Sining hadn’t seen with his own eyes that these figurines were taken out of an ancient tomb, he would never believe such clean and beautiful figurines had been buried underground for over a thousand years.

”The color is gorgeous, the glaze pure, and they look so lifelike. They’re truly beautiful!” Ding Liang couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration at the sight of the lady figurines.

Not just Ding Liang, the other trainees standing nearby were also stunned, gazing at the figurines brought out as if they were rooted to the spot, motionless.

Ji Kun took several more items out of the ancient tomb and, turning back to see the trainees still standing there dazedly, he urgently bellowed, ”What are you dallying for? Hurry down and help!”

”Right!” Huo Sining was the first to snap to attention and leaped down into the tomb in two or three steps, not caring what the others thought as he quickly ran to take the bamboo baskets passed from his archaeological teammates.

Of course, the others didn’t want to be left behind and scrambled down to help as well.

Ji Kun was incredibly excited; when he saw that mineral water bottle, he had braced for the worst, thinking it possible that the contents of this tomb might have already been emptied by tomb robbers. But, to his surprise, he was met with such a tremendous delight.

He picked up a dressing lady figurine with utmost care, touching it gently before marveling, ”Look at these colors and the quality of the glaze—these are definitely the finest of fine pieces. Thank goodness those unschooled tomb robbers didn’t steal them, otherwise who knows if we could have recovered them!”

Huo Sining took a basket with a dancing lady figurine, and as soon as her right hand touched it, Heavenly Eye opened before her, and a strong surge of purple qi filled her view.

She even saw visions of a group of ladies singing and dancing to the music of string instruments, as though melodies from distant lands were mingling with the sound of joyful laughter around her.

Huo Sining was stunned; was this what the Heavenly Eye meant by seeing into the past?

But when she had previously picked several antiques at Dashilar, the Heavenly Eye had only revealed a faint purple qi on the antiques without these strange visions.

Huo Sining was perplexed, yet there was no time for her to ponder at that moment.

As soon as the cultural relics were unearthed, the onlookers who had been observing from a distance began to stir, and the guards tightened security, closely watching the surrounding crowd to ensure that no mishaps befell the artifacts.

”Ding Liang, you and Huo Sining are responsible for labeling. The rest of the trainees will handle packing. Move quickly; we can’t leave these items exposed to air for too long, and there are probably many more things to come out!”

Seeing all the students getting caught up in the excitement, eager to have a personal encounter with every unearthed item, Ji Kun’s expression cooled, mercilessly quashing everyone’s wild ideas and instructing all the trainees.