The Omniscient

Chapter 64: Hardcore Bait

“What are we digging up?” Lin Li asked in shock.

“A city!” Huang Ji replied firmly. “The Ruins of Zhuhong!”

Lin Li felt a little dizzy. What? Digging up a city? Just the two of them?

“Big Bro, are you serious?”

Huang Ji nodded and explained, “To the east, there’s an abundance of Yangshao culture and Xia Dynasty ruins. To the south, there are early Shang ruins like Fangcheng and Ligang. To the west, Dengfeng City even has the Wangchenggang Ruins, which are believed to be the capital Yangcheng of Great Yu.”

“One could say the area within a few hundred kilometers is filled with ruins from pre-Shang and pre-Xia periods. And yet, New Zheng (Xinzheng) is the only exception. The only site found here is the Peiligang Ruins, which date back 8,000 years to the Neolithic era. Later in the Western Zhou period, the city of Kuai was established here, and during the Spring and Autumn period, it became the capital of Zheng and Han states. This clearly shows that this area is suitable for building cities. So why was it left as wilderness during the Xia and Shang periods?”

“All around are the ruins of Yao, Shun, Xia, and Shang, yet this area was conspicuously avoided. There’s even a time gap of three to four thousand years during which there’s no record of anything here.”

“I’ve spent yesterday combing through historical texts and today surveying the terrain. I finally figured it out—four thousand years ago, this area was flooded. It became a giant swamp, stretching over a hundred kilometers!”

“This situation persisted until the Western Zhou period. But before the geological changes, the area wasn’t a blank slate. The only recorded site is the 8,000-year-old Peiligang Ruins. What about the blank period in between? There must have been a city here.”

“Various records clearly state that the Youxiong Kingdom and the Zhuhong Kingdom existed in New Zheng. They were merely buried by that flood. If you look at the map, the area corresponds to Peiligang. That’s why I’m confident the Zhuhong Kingdom must be in this area.”

“Here, to the north, it overlooks the Yellow River; to the west, it borders Mount Juci; and to the east, it opens to a vast plain. The Ruins of Zhuhong must be here!”

Lin Li was utterly confused by the explanation but managed to say, “I’m not questioning that, Big Bro. Of course, I trust your judgment. If you say there’s a city, then there’s a city. If you say we dig, we dig!”

Huang Ji smiled. “Then what’s the problem?”

Lin Li raised his hands, incredulous. “I just… I just want to confirm. Are we seriously going to dig up a whole city by ourselves?”

Huang Ji chuckled and replied, “If we actually find something, we’ll report it to the Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau. Naturally, countless archaeologists from across the province will gather here for a proper excavation.”

Lin Li froze, then awkwardly laughed. “Oh, so we just dig a small patch, report the site, and leave the rest to the archaeology teams?”

“What else did you think?” Huang Ji said with a sly smile.

Lin Li grinned sheepishly. “I thought… we’d go straight to the National Museum or something.”

Huang Ji rolled his eyes. He wasn’t interested in the artifacts themselves. To him, they were meaningless.

Long ago, this place did house “electrical devices.” Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor) had weapons far ahead of his time. However, Huangdi didn’t live here, nor was he from the Youxiong Kingdom. Zhuanxu did reside here briefly, but there was no advanced technology left behind, and he soon moved away. Therefore, the Ruins of Zhuhong didn’t hold anything Huang Ji sought.

The true value of this land lay in the historical information it preserved.

If Huang Ji’s capacity for processing information were stronger, he wouldn’t even need physical artifacts. By standing on this land, he could directly perceive the data of ancient high-tech weapons, recording their design principles and materials.

Unfortunately, the technological gap was too vast. Even if Huang Ji reached the pinnacle of human science, he would still need a physically strong body to perceive the technology of those ancient weapons across time.

For now, he required physical artifacts.

Under the moonlight, the two began digging in a field. They dug deep, widened the hole, then dug even deeper.

After seven hours of labor, nearing four in the morning, they finally unearthed a jade tablet. At this point, they had reached over six meters below the surface.

“Holy crap… Is this Henan for real? It’s that easy to dig up artifacts?” Lin Li marveled as he rubbed the jade tablet, amazed.

Though he wasn’t an expert in archaeology, he could tell from the ancient craftsmanship that this object was from a distant era.

To think they could uncover a relic in a farmland! The soil layers here even seemed to show differences, with stacked stones underneath. Could there really be an ancient city here? Could it really be the legendary Ruins of Zhuhong?

Huang Ji said, “One hole isn’t enough. Let’s dig a few more tunnels.”

“Big Bro, why is that necessary?” Lin Li asked.

Huang Ji explained, “If the Ruins of Zhuhong are discovered, it will shake the archaeological world. By leaving a few tunnels, we ensure that the archaeological and cultural relics sectors pour manpower and resources into this site for rescue excavations. This isn’t just a matter for New Zheng—experts from across the province will come, including those from the Luoyang Archaeological Research Institute.”

“And what I truly want is located in the Luoyang Archaeological Research Institute. It’s a Tang Dynasty Golden Buddha, which was once stolen. I’ve seen it before and know its surface is made of copper, but inside it hides something related to aliens. However, everyone assumes the inside contains gold. So all we need is 12.5 kilograms of gold to swap out the hidden object.”

“The discovery of the Ruins of Zhuhong will create the perfect opportunity for me to steal it. It’ll reduce the difficulty of the switch since, after all, there are only two of us.”

Huang Ji’s tone was calm, but Lin Li felt like his mind was exploding.

“Huh? Big Bro, you found an archaeological site that could shock the world… just to make it easier to steal the Golden Buddha?”

Lin Li was completely dumbfounded. What kind of god-tier bait was this?

“Wait a minute, Big Bro, let me get this straight… We find the Ruins of Zhuhong, which are over 4,000 years old, report it to the Cultural Relics Bureau, shock the archaeological world, and use this as bait to draw away all the archaeologists in the province… just to steal a Tang Dynasty Golden Buddha?”

Huang Ji shook his head and said, “What would I do with the Golden Buddha? It’s what’s inside that matters. The Buddha contains a hidden treasure that weighs exactly 12.5 kilograms. Trust me, the weight is perfect. I can open a small hole at the bottom, take the item out, and then repair it so seamlessly that no one will even realize it’s been stolen.”

“Big Bro! 12.5 kilograms of gold is worth five million!” Lin Li exclaimed, exasperated.

“Huh? Is it that expensive?” Huang Ji tilted his head, genuinely surprised. He really hadn’t thought about that.

“Doesn’t matter. The item inside is priceless.”

Lin Li stared blankly at Huang Ji, who clearly had no concept of money, and sucked in a cold breath.

He leaned back, his mind reeling with shock.

What does it mean to be an international thief?

This was too hardcore. Using a 4,000-year-old ancient city as bait to lure away the archaeologists—who would even think of something like this? The archaeologists wouldn’t know what hit them, and they’d all come running over, excitedly.

“This is a 4,000-year-old ancient city!” Lin Li mumbled, still trying to process the idea.

Huang Ji calmly replied, “Is this city yours? Can you dig it up? Even with thousands of people, who knows how many years it would take to excavate everything… Look at it objectively.”

“It’s not a city being exchanged for a Buddha—it’s just a piece of news being exchanged for a Buddha.”

“With a bit of thinking, one piece of information can control countless people, and no one will even realize they’ve been manipulated. Isn’t that the perfect bait?”

Lin Li stood there, stunned. He couldn’t argue with the logic.

But… but Huang Ji just thought for a moment and managed to locate a 4,000-year-old ancient city… With this kind of talent, how did he end up becoming an international thief?

Unable to hold back, he asked, and Huang Ji smiled as he replied, “If aliens weren’t keeping us as livestock, I’d just want to quietly read books and become an excellent doctor in the future.”

“But reality… doesn’t allow that.”

Lin Li looked at Huang Ji and could truly feel the scope of his vision.

Indeed, the logic made sense. Using a simple method to gather countless archaeologists in one place was practically effortless for Huang Ji.

But the way Huang Ji approached the situation was just so unconventional. To bait an entire field of professionals, he first achieved what could be considered the pinnacle of success in that field, then created bait so irresistible that no one could refuse it…

Clearly, Huang Ji’s thought process was fundamentally different from everyone else’s.

And Lin Li’s thought process was no less unique. He was the kind of guy who, in pursuit of an extraordinary life, could be tricked a hundred times and still come back for more.

From confusion to shock, then calm, and finally to excitement, Lin Li’s emotions shifted rapidly. At this moment, he was filled with zeal again.

Just what kind of extraordinary person was he following?

“Big Bro, I believe you will defeat the aliens, just like Emperor Zhuanxu did in ancient times!”Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“You’re the savior of our era!”

Huang Ji patted Lin Li’s head and said, “Dig the tunnels. Dawn’s coming soon.”

“…Oh.” Lin Li enthusiastically resumed digging.

…

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