Chapter 2375: Chapter 2278: Contradiction

Director He glanced at the meat broth Su Qingqing and Ding Liang were drinking from disposable cups, and the cup noodle boxes thrown on the ground, assuming that Professor Zhou Shitao and the others did it to save time for work, casually dealing with a meal. Instantly, a look of pity and admiration flashed in his eyes, and he felt even more respect for these frontline archaeology professors.

"Professor, it’s my oversight at work, not providing you with meals and early breakfast in time. Rest assured, I’ve already arranged for catering trucks at the foot of the mountain, ready to supply food and drinks for the team at any time. The problem of sustenance will definitely be solved, and there won’t be such issues again!"

Director He repeatedly assured Zhou Shitao.

Zhou Shitao completely missed the sympathy and guilt in Director He’s eyes, so he casually waved his hand and said "Hmm," then continued focusing on his work.

If he knew what Director He was thinking now, he’d probably laugh his teeth off.

No matter how good the food from those catering trucks might be, it’s still just bulk meals; he’s had plenty of those. Can it be better than the broth Huo herself fussed over?

These old fellows, exhausted after staying up all night, felt refreshed after a few cups of vegetable soup; Zhou Shitao knew for sure the soup deserved credit.

Not just Zhou Shitao, even Xie Daoyuan, who usually spoke little, kept urging Huo Sining to make the vegetable soup for them again tomorrow morning, clearly addicted to the taste.

Director He, unaware of the reason, thought Zhou Shitao and the others were being polite and quickly expressed:

"If you need anything, just let me know; it’s my job. Please don’t stand on ceremony, working hard on the mountain, I’ll definitely handle logistics well for you, so you have no worries!"

Zhou Shitao was initially quite impatient dealing with Director He due to limited time; he wanted to open the passage as soon as possible to see whether the burial items inside were damaged, and had no mind to entangle with Director He.

But his glance caught sight of Huo Sining’s pathetic-looking kettle, which was unbearable to see, so he immediately nodded his chin at Director He and said:

"Alright then, build a small stove next to Miss Huo Sining’s tent, get a pot for making soup, using a kettle for soup is absurd. Oh, also prepare a set of porcelain bowls and spoons for each of us, for soup!"

After saying this, Zhou Shitao turned back to work, leaving Director He standing there perplexed and at a loss.

"Ah?"

Despite Huo Sining having already drawn up the entire structure map of the ancient tomb, Zhou Shitao was still not entirely satisfied, wanting to wander around the entire mountain head, hoping to have some luck finding another opening.

Seeing this, Huo Sining naturally volunteered to follow.

After all, she’s only probed the outer structure of the tomb; she’s not entirely sure about places facing the mountain head, including whether there are more suitable locations for excavation beyond the main chamber and the other end of the burial pit, so since Zhou Shitao wants to see, of course she hopes to accompany him for a look.

Zhou Shitao himself also intended to take Huo Sining along, discussing with her the excavation of the tomb to see her thoughts on it.

Although Huo Sining hasn’t taken part in the excavation of many large ancient tombs, Zhou Shitao has always trusted and appreciated his little female apprentice bottom from the heart.

Since he accepted this girl as his closed-door disciple, she’s never made a significant mistake, always earning him face. Many times he thought the girl couldn’t possibly do it, yet unexpectedly she exceeded his estimates, not only completing but doing so beautifully.

Thus, Zhou Shitao often feels the girl’s ability is like an endless pit; he can never reach its bottom.

The key is this child always acts calmly and composedly, as if nothing can stump her, making people involuntarily trust her.

Zhou Shitao has accepted several apprentices, although their talents weren’t bad, none has ever received such high praise from him. Even Ji Kun, he always feels like it’s a master-leading-an-apprentice mode.

Only with Huo Sining it feels effortless and more like lifelong friends guiding each other than pure master-apprentice relation, because truly, with this girl, he hasn’t spent much effort teaching her too many things; it’s all her own exploration.

Yet Zhou Shitao has to admit this girl’s understanding is very strong; with just a little guidance from him, she grasps things quickly, making Zhou Shitao feel unlike a teacher lacking the sense of achievement from dedicated efforts.

However, when she earns him face, he still feels full of pride, unable to hold back his smugness, after all, this girl is his apprentice, and even others can’t envy.

Following behind Zhou Shitao, Huo Sining didn’t know about her master’s many thoughts. Walking behind, she kept an eye on Zhou Shitao’s footsteps, fearing the old man might carelessly step wrong and get hurt, while sporadically reaching out and probing the mountain cliffs and underfoot, analyzing the mountain’s structure.

Zhou Shitao wasn’t idle either, examining the vegetation and the rock-soil layers around him, exploring widely until they arrived at a mountain cliff. Seeing a massive strip of fractured granite, staring at the gigantic rock, Zhou Shitao’s expression turned a bit sour.

"This should be the shady side of the mountain; underneath here is possibly the burial pit."

Looking at the several meters wide rock layer, Zhou Shitao paused, then suddenly lifted his gaze to the freshly risen sun on the horizon, finally his eyes fell slowly on the distant empty paddy fields at the foot of the mountain, heaving a long sigh, revealing a mix of sorrow and concern in his eyes.

"This tomb is difficult to excavate; on one hand, I fear the burial items inside might be damaged, on the other, I admire and revere Ge Hong’s wisdom, it’s an irksome contradiction."

"Eastern Han to Wei Jin, Tang to Song Yuan Ming Qing, over thousands of royal families, this many tombs, how many have been perfectly preserved?"

"This tomb is considered fortunate, avoiding much disturbance from tomb robbers all these years, evident of Ge Hong’s brilliance, yet other tombs may not share this luck."

"From ancient times to now, tombs lucky enough to escape tomb robbers’ visits are few and far between."

"Perhaps decades or a hundred years later, to our descendants, there might no longer be ancient tombs throughout Huaxia Country."

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