"Hello, Professor Xiang, it's me, Xiao Sun!"

Sun Yuan barely suppressed the unease in his heart: "I've been discharged from the hospital..."

Professor Xiang glanced at him, then turned his head back to the ancient texts, seemingly indifferent to everything else, including how Sun Yuan got discharged.

This doesn't make sense!

After all, Sun Yuan was his student, and it wasn't like this when they communicated via phone before!

Sun Yuan's unease grew stronger, but he was helpless.

Hua Peng coughed to remind him to continue.

Sun Yuan had to brace himself, step forward, and was hit by a strong sour stench; previously, Professor Xiang was very particular about cleanliness.

"Professor, I want to ask a question about... Kunlun!"

He continued to speak.

"Kunlun? Kunlun!"

Unexpectedly, Professor Xiang suddenly swept the books off the table, letting them crash to the floor, and slapped his own head: "That's it, that's it, it's Kunlun! Kunlun Qingyu... Immortal bones! It makes sense, it's connected now! It's The Queen Mother of the West, it's The Queen Mother of the West!"

"The Queen Mother of the West?" Hua Peng felt vaguely familiar, but Sun Yuan knew about it very well.

This was a deity highly revered by the ancients. The hundreds of meters high bronze statue unearthed at Jiuxing Dui was cataloged as an image of The Queen Mother of the West.

Because apart from her, no female deity of the ancient times had such influence and honor.

But what puzzled the world was that the face of the giant bronze statue was completely blank!

Moreover, many religious books only described the greatness of The Queen Mother of the West, never her appearance.

"On Kunlun Mountain, lives The Queen Mother of the West... The Queen Mother of the West, the ancestor of the Immortals..."

Professor Xiang looked frenzied: "The mystery of prehistoric civilization is about to be solved by me... hehe... hahaha..."

As he spoke, he foamed at the mouth, lost consciousness, and collapsed.

"Damn it!"

"Call the hospital, quickly."

"Save him!"

Sun Yuan and Hua Peng exchanged a glance and hurried into action.

...

Whee-woo, whee-woo!

The piercing sound of the ambulance brought the group back to the hospital.

Watching Professor Xiang being sent into the emergency room, Sun Yuan and Hua Peng exchanged a glance, both feeling helpless: "Professor, how did it come to this?"

"He's always been healthy; could it be a heart attack? Or a stroke?"

"Never mind that, now that we know it's related to Kunlun Queen Mother, are you going to continue the investigation?" Hua Peng asked.

"Of course, now it's not just me, it seems the Professor is also involved." Sun Yuan pulled out his phone, skillfully surfing the web for information related to The Queen Mother of the West.

Much of it he had already read, knowing even more than online users.

Only a few dubious threads of research caught his attention.

[The Queen Mother of the West is believed to be a primitive worship idol from the matriarchal society era. After all, in a matriarchal society, there was bound to be worship of a feminine deity... And transitioning to a patriarchal society, until feudal times, the belief in The Queen Mother of the West gradually faded... Documented evidence shows the belief in The Queen Mother of the West flourished during the Yan Han period, allegedly originating from Emperor Shenwu! This emperor even dreamed of meeting The Queen Mother of the West and was bestowed a treasure named 'Kunlun Mirror', but it was never found by later generations, commonly believed to be buried with the emperor.]

[You're an idiot for believing myths! There's no such thing as The Queen Mother of the West. The so-called Queen Mother of the West is merely a collective term for a series of matriarchal deities from ancient times. I'm a university history student; do you think I would deceive you?]

[The Queen Mother of the West... is believed to be the Kunlun God; the most detailed description about her is probably in the "Mu Heavenly Emperor's Journey to the West."]

[What "Mu Heavenly Emperor's Journey to the West"? It's already proven to be a forgery, right? The earliest historically certified dynasty is Yan Han. And you talk about an Emperor of Zhou before the Immortal Qin? Are you out of your mind?]

[See... you know it too?]

[Idiot!]

[You're the idiot!]

...

Ignoring the pointless bickering, there was indeed information in some of those posts that made Sun Yuan's eyes shine; these were details he didn't know.

"'Mu Heavenly Emperor's Journey to the West'? I'll go look for it in the library one of these days..."

Sun Yuan felt he had learned something.

Just then, another call came in: "Is this Sun Yuan? It's Old Huang from the archaeological camp!"

"Master Huang, what's the matter?"

Sun Yuan's expression changed.

Although the bamboo slips were destroyed, the scientific investigation had to continue. In fact, work at the camp was ongoing.

"After you fell sick and were hospitalized, Professor Xiang left for the school without a word, saying he needed to check some data..."

Old Huang, the manager of the camp, was overly full of complaints now: "After that, Hu and Jin Gong were tasked to continue the excavation work... But these past two days, they've been acting strange, staying in the tent and not coming out, guarding those Immortal bones and not letting anyone in... this could lead to mistakes. Artifacts belong to the state; how can they treat them like personal property? I thought maybe Professor Xie could say something to them, but isn't he hospitalized? Could you come on behalf of the professor?"

"I... I'll be right there."

Sun Yuan originally didn't want to cause trouble, but fearing there might be something harmful in the ancient tomb, he quickly agreed.

Leaving Hua Peng to keep an eye on Professor Xiang, he took a cab to the excavation site.

Old Huang was a middle-aged, balding man with an oily face, and he came to greet him: "Sun Yuan, let me tell you, Old Hu and Lao Jin have been acting very weird, maybe... we should just call a doctor?"

"Let me take a look first..."

Sun Yuan approached a tent and called out: "Hu? Jin Gong?"

As the top talents in the camp, they enjoyed a large tent together.

There was no response after a while.

Old Huang smiled bitterly: "They've been like this these past couple of days, not responding to calls, I even have to have someone pass meals through the door... I'm really afraid something might happen."

Unfortunately, right now, with Professor Xiang missing, Hu and Jin Gong were next in line in terms of seniority at the camp.

Old Huang was desperate, calling Sun Yuan as a last resort.

Unless absolutely forced, he didn't want to report to higher-ups.

These seasoned workers instinctively cover things up before incidents become known.

'He's dragged me here to share the blame, hasn't he?'

Sun Yuan suddenly entertained a possibility, feeling a chill in his heart.

By this time, Old Huang had boldly uncovered the tent and went inside: "Old Hu, Lao Jin, what's wrong with you guys? Ah!!!"

A scream echoed.

Sun Yuan was startled, hurriedly lifted the tent flap, and rushed in, only to see...

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