Although Li Changyou squandered his family fortune through gambling, he was still quite shrewd, being one of the first people in Qingyun Town to make a fortune through business.
The next day at noon, following my instructions, he brought back the listening device that he had hidden with Qu Ruilin and his group the day before.
As Jiang Man connected the device to the computer, the stored audio files began to play.
I won't go into the details of the gossip, but one particular conversation caught my attention.
An unfamiliar male voice came through the recording first: "Miss, the composition of the sheep's head and chicken head has been analyzed, and it's metallic chromium!"
"chromium?"
Old Song's voice sounded surprised: "Chromium is the hardest metal! It's even harder than titanium. How could this thing be found in an ancient tomb? Have the carbon-14 results come out yet?"
The man said, "It's out! The carbon-14 dating results of the golden rooster and golden sheep show that these two items are between 1,070 and 1,100 years old, dating back to the late Song Dynasty."
"That's impossible! If you knew the history of metallic chromium, you would know that this is a fallacy!"
Song Laosan explained: "In 1766, the German scholar Lehmann analyzed a Siberian ore and determined that it contained lead. This ore was classified as Siberian red lead! In 1797, the French chemist Vauquelin also discovered a bright red ore mined in Siberian gold mines, and found a new element in this ore, namely chromium. The following year, it was reduced with carbon to produce metallic chromium."
In what year did the Song Dynasty fall? 1279! That's almost five hundred years! It's common knowledge that chromium doesn't exist in a free state in nature! If the metal components behind these two animal heads are made of metallic chromium, where did this technology come from?
Qu Ruilin: "As you said, metallic chromium was named by Vauquelin in 1797, but he only discovered this natural element, not invented it! So this thing has always existed on Earth! As far as I know, the reason why the ancient sword of the King of Yue could shine so brightly when it was unearthed was because its surface was covered with a thin film of metallic chromium! In addition, metallic chromium was also detected on the surface of some weapons found in the terracotta army burial pits of Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum! This shows that ancient my country already knew how to use this element during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods!"
Old Song continued to argue: "Covering a thin film with metallic chromium and casting metal components with it are two completely different concepts!"
Wei Shengnan's voice rang out at this moment: "Stop arguing. This is not our point. Putting aside whether the craftsmanship at the end of the Song Dynasty was even capable of producing such a thing, the facts are already before our eyes. What's the point of arguing anymore?"
Male voice: "Miss, there's something else very strange! The research institute said they detected a completely new, unknown element in the samples we sent. As for what this element is, there's no conclusion yet, but the research institute's analysis suggests that the samples we sent were likely made from meteorites."
Song Laosan: "Meteorite?"
Qu Ruilin: "That makes sense. Do you remember the murals found in Jin Yang Cave? There were four moons in the sky at that time! Now that I think about it, they were probably not moons, but meteorites that fell! Ancient people were generally superstitious. They may have found these meteorites and turned them into animal sculptures."
Wei Shengnan: "So, of the four moons in the mural, only one is real, and the other three are meteorites. Then there should be three sculptures in this mountain! Besides the golden rooster and golden sheep we got, there should be another animal!"
Song Laosan: "These beast heads all have long metal pillars attached to their backs, which look like keys to some kind of mechanism. Could they be related to the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace?"
Wei Shengnan: "The timeline doesn't match, does it?"
Song Laosan: "Perhaps the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace was built a long time ago, but the person who discovered the meteorite regarded it as a miracle or something and modified it?"
Qu Ruilin: "If these things are really related to the Miao Jiang Fairy Palace, then their terrain must also conform to the feng shui pattern. If we can find the missing sculpture, we might be able to discover something by combining their respective locations."
Song Laosan: "The police have already entered the mountains. If we go in now, it's too easy to get into trouble!"
Qu Ruilin's voice turned low: "That bastard Duan Jinyan is a wanted criminal. Even if the police go into the mountains, he can't possibly escape! I suspect that the group that was watching us in Jin Yang Cave was Duan Jinyan's men. If the police patrol hadn't arrived, the consequences would have been unimaginable! If these three beast heads are, as Third Master guessed, all the keys to unlocking the mechanism, then without any one of them, we probably won't be able to enter the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. We've already got two, so we must press on and get them all in one go!"
Wei Shengnan: "You want to go into the mountains?"
Qu Ruilin: "We must go into the mountains."
Wei Shengnan was silent for a few seconds: "Alright, let's gamble this time. At least we can't let Duan Jinyan win first. Tell people to prepare immediately. We'll go into the mountains first thing tomorrow morning!"
Male voice: "Yes!"
After listening to the conversation, Jiang Man turned her gaze to me: "This conversation was recorded last night, which means that Qu Ruilin and his group went into the mountains early this morning! Although these guys don't know the legend of Sanbao Mountain, they've already guessed its secret! They're really clever!"
I wasn't surprised at the time: "Qu Ruilin's feng shui skills are above mine, and Song Laosan is a seasoned veteran who has been in the industry for many years. Their combination is far more terrifying than you can imagine."
"We're not pushovers either!"
Jiang Man retorted, unconvinced, "Since they've already entered the mountains, we can't fall behind. I'll have people prepare now and set off as soon as possible!"
"No rush!"
I thought for a moment and shook my head: "The chicken head they took from us is fine, but that sheep head must be very heavy. And they wouldn't bring something so valuable and bulky into the mountains! They mentioned in the call that what they sent for testing was just a sample, which means that the two animal heads should still be in Qingyun Town!"
"Li Changyou's cellar!"
Jiang Man understood immediately: "If they want to rob a tomb, they will definitely bring a lot of shady tools. A hidden workshop is very important, and a cellar is the best choice!"
"clever!"
I gave Jiang Man a thumbs up: "Right now, the mountains are full of militia teams searching for the missing. Their teams won't be too large, so most of them should be staying in Qingyun Town! Tell your men to get ready to take action and get back what we've lost!"
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