At one in the morning, two off-road vehicles were slowly driving across the sand.

Inside the car, Zhan Hongbo held the compass that Mamati had given him, his eyes fixed on the needle.

The magnetic field in Lop Nur was extremely chaotic, and the needle swung back and forth incessantly.

"Drive slower."

"Okay." Mamati responded as he continued driving.

The vehicle staggered along for another ten minutes or so, and suddenly, the compass in Zhan Hongbo's hand began to oscillate violently, the needle spinning as if powered by a motor.

"Stop!" Zhan Hongbo shouted urgently.

Mamati quickly brought the car to a halt.

Before the car had even fully stopped, Zhan Hongbo had eagerly pushed open the door and jumped out.

"Right here! There's really a magnetic stone platform!" He stared at the compass in his hand, his tone filled with excitement.

Qi Yun felt a surge of excitement as well, surprised to find that it was indeed the Satellite City beneath them.

He stepped out of the car and joined Zhan Hongbo: "Can you confirm it?"

"It must be correct!" Zhan Hongbo pointed at the spinning needle, "The magnetic intensity here far exceeds the normal range; there must be a large area of magnetic minerals underground!"

He walked around the vehicle, eventually stopping six or seven meters to the right, shouting to Qi Yun, "The center of the magnetic field is here!"

Qi Yun opened the trunk of the car, took out an iron rod, and came to the spot where Zhan Hongbo stood, planting the iron rod deeply into the sand.

The others gathered around, curiously watching the compass in Zhan Hongbo's hand.

"Is there really an ancient city down there?" Duan Pingyu asked curiously.

"Based on the existing information, it should be!" Zhan Hongbo spoke with the caution typical of someone in scientific research.

"What's in the ancient city?"

"It's hard to say..."

The group began discussing the matter eagerly, with everyone intrigued.

Qi Yun glanced at his watch; it was already half past one. Suppressing his excitement, he said, "It's getting late, let's head back for a rest and come back in the morning."

With that, everyone boarded the vehicles and returned to the camp.

...

At six in the morning, after a brief rest at the camp, four off-road vehicles arrived at the previous night's location.

The group, each armed with foldable shovels, began excavating around the center point.

The sand layer was soft, causing fine sand to slip continuously during digging. Every so often, Zhan Hongbo would grab a handful of sand and carefully observe the change in sand particles.

A few hours later, a sand pit measuring six to seven meters in length and width, and over a meter deep, had been dug out.

Qi Yun took the iron rod from nearby and plunged it into the sand, burying the entire 1.2-meter rod, indicating that they needed to dig at least this deep again.

As temperatures rose, they returned to the camp to rest until evening before coming back to work.

At eleven at night, the pit had been dug nearly three meters deep. To prevent accidents, Qi Yun instructed Mamati to place two safety ropes in the pit, with the other ends tied to the vehicle's tow hooks.

"Seems like we've hit something!" Suddenly, Zhan Hongbo, in the center of the pit, shouted excitedly.

The others hurriedly gathered around.

After digging a few more shovelfuls, the foldable shovel made a crisp sound as if striking something hard.

Mamati shone the flashlight towards the bottom of the pit, revealing a dark stone slab.

Zhan Hongbo lay on the sand, touching the stone slab with his hands. After a moment, he cried out excitedly, "It's a magnetic stone!"

The others also squatted down to inspect.

Zhong Rui curiously took out a keychain from his pocket and placed it on the stone slab, feeling a very slight pull: "It's really a magnet! There's a pull!"

"Keep digging! Clear out the sides!" Qi Yun stood and instructed.

Everyone increased their digging speed, the sound of shovels against sand echoing clearly in the silent desert night.

As more surrounding sand was cleared, a circular stone platform about three meters in diameter emerged gradually.

The surface of the platform was rough, yet formed a natural radiating pattern, reflecting a somber metallic sheen under the flashlight's beam.

Zhan Hongbo poured water over the stone platform, then removed his t-shirt, wiping away the sand and dust. His movements revealed the radiating patterns more clearly, resembling a sun.

"Look, it's a sun pattern, identical to the features of the sacrificial platform documented in historical records," he shouted excitedly, pointing at the pattern, "The Ancient Loulan people worshipped the Sun God and likely used this magnetic stone platform for rites."

The group gathered around, marveling at the magnetic stone platform.

Qi Yun glanced at it before shifting his gaze, examining the sides of the platform.

A few minutes later, his steps stopped at the front of the platform, where a protruding stone tablet stood.

He turned off his flashlight, seeing a faint glow emanating from the stone tablet.

This is it!

Qi Yun's heart raced; he was familiar with such faint glows, realizing the stone tablet before him was what the intelligence had pointed to!

He hadn't expected the first sign of the purple information to be a stone tablet!

He turned the flashlight back on, squatted down, and reached out to touch the tablet's surface, feeling the cold sensation under his fingertips.

The material of this stone tablet was unknown, but it felt somewhat like marble.

Measuring around eighty centimeters in length and fifty centimeters in width, the tablet was carved with numerous patterns, resembling an unfamiliar script or perhaps some kind of imagery.

He applied pressure with his hand, trying to see if the stone tablet was loose.

Despite using all his strength, neither pulling nor pushing moved the tablet an inch.

Moreover, no seams were visible on the sides, suggesting it was perfectly embedded in the platform.

"Hongbo, come take a look at this stone tablet." Qi Yun called out, looking up.

Zhan Hongbo heard the shout, jumped off the altar, and came to the stele.

Qi Yun pointed to the patterns on the stele: "Do you recognize these characters?"

Zhan Hongbo leaned in to observe closely, raised his hand to touch the patterns on the stele, and murmured, "This... this doesn't seem like the Loulan script..."

Not the Loulan script? Qi Yun frowned.

"Loulan's Kharosthi script is written horizontally, with obvious arc features in the strokes, but these symbols are vertical in structure, and all the corners are right-angled zigzags." Zhan Hongbo pointed to a set of patterns at the upper right corner of the stele, "This set of symbols... I seem to have seen them on a bronze artifact before..."

"What do these symbols mean?" Qi Yun pressed on.

Zhan Hongbo thought for a moment and slowly began to speak, "It seems to mean... 'extreme,' corresponding to today's character for 'extreme.' The specific meaning still needs to be translated with other content."

Qi Yun nodded and said no more, walked over to the side, and sat down, lighting a cigarette to smoke.

It is now confirmed that this stele is the thing indicated by the intel, and it seems to be embedded together with the altar, making it impossible to remove it individually.

To take the stele away, it would have to be forcibly detached from the altar with tools, but doing so would certainly damage the altar.

Otherwise, it would have to be taken along with the altar...

But either way, it's difficult to operate.

This altar looks like a very valuable artifact, and it would be a pity if it were damaged.

Moreover, there may even be legal risks in the future.

As for taking it away... it doesn't seem realistic either. Such a heavy object can't be transported out without lifting equipment, and it would still face legal risks.

Because this time it's different from the last. The last time, it was just the Qingnang Book and those jewels unearthed in the wild. Apart from him, no one knew what the Qingnang Book was.

Even if the news of the jewels leaked, it wouldn't attract much attention.

This time it's different... the discovery of an Ancient Loulan ruins will surely cause a sensation domestically and even attract history enthusiasts worldwide.

As soon as the news spreads, the government will definitely send people immediately.

If it is found by then that such a precious artifact has been damaged by him or taken away... the result is predictable, and even if Zhang Dayong stands up for him, it may not be able to protect him...

Apart from Qi Yun's confidants, there are the guide and Zhan Hongbo on site... who knows if the information will be leaked, so it's better not to have any ideas.

The current plan seems to be to first photograph the content recorded on the stele and study it slowly after returning.

Hopefully, it's the text patterns that are useful, not the stele itself...

"Brother Qi, what do we do next? Should we keep digging?" Zhan Hongbo, having finished examining the altar, came over to ask.

Qi Yun took a drag from his cigarette and shook his head, "No more digging, let's rest and head back to the camp."

"It's now confirmed that there's a ruin underneath here, and relying on just a few of us to dig will take forever, plus we're not professionals; we could end up damaging the ruins."

"When it gets bright, I'll contact Wei Xueming with the satellite phone and ask him to notify the government departments to take over."

Zhan Hongbo nodded after hearing this, "Okay."

...

At eight in the morning, guessing that Wei Xueming should be up, Qi Yun picked up the satellite phone and dialed the number.

"Elder Wei, it's me, Qi Yun."

"Qi Yun?" Wei Xueming was taken aback, "Aren't you in Lop Nur?"

Qi Yun spoke plainly, "Yes, I found something here, so I'm contacting you using the satellite phone."

"What did you find?"

"It's like this..." Qi Yun explained the general situation at the scene to him.

"An altar!?" Wei Xueming was not calm after hearing it, his voice rising several degrees, "Did you really find it, kid?"

Qi Yun smiled and nodded, "Yes, based on Zhan Hongbo's theory, this very likely could be the ruins of a Satellite City."

"Satellite City!?" Wei Xueming's tone was somewhat excited, clearly indicating he knew a bit of this piece of history.

After a few seconds of pause, he cautiously asked, "You called me, what do you want me to do?"

He had previously suspected that Qi Yun must have obtained some clues to venture into Lop Nur.

Though it sounds somewhat incredible, who would normally venture to such a dangerous place without reason?

Now, knowing that ancient ruins were indeed found, further confirms his suspicion.

Meanwhile, Wei Xueming also understood that Qi Yun definitely went with a purpose...

After hearing this, Qi Yun chuckled softly; this is why he trusts this old man. If it were someone else, their minds would be busy calculating their own interests, whereas Wei Xueming was asking for his opinion.

If he wanted to temporarily conceal the news, the opposite party would surely not leak it out.

"Haha, I'm calling you to help report the matter up and ask the country to send specialized archaeological personnel to take over."

"Is that it?" Wei Xueming was a bit suspicious, thinking why this kid's ideological awareness improved so quickly?

"Yes, just remember to mention my name when you do." Qi Yun laughed.

Wei Xueming also laughed, "You kid! Alright, I understand; I'll contact them right away."

"Okay, then I'll wait at the site." Qi Yun wasn't embarrassed, responded, and then hung up the phone.

Although he couldn't take the stele away, the great merit of discovering ancient ruins certainly won't slip away, and rewards are inevitable.

Moreover, the introduction to the Loulan Ancient City still has Sven Hedin's name on it to this day.

After putting down the phone, Qi Yun pushed open the car door and followed a small sand dune back into the sandpit.

He took out his phone and took more than a dozen photos of the stele, ensuring every angle was very clear.

After all this, he got back in the car, lit a cigarette, and quietly pondered.

What do the contents of this stele represent?

And is this Satellite City ruins really the point marked on the sunken ship map?

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