Chapter 2385: Chapter 2288: Totem Civilization

After a series of battles, Huo Sining’s tightly strung nerves finally eased a little.

She had always been full of curiosity and doubt about the situation inside this ancient tomb. After all, the fact that Fujiwara Seiho had gone to such lengths over it was enough to show that there was definitely something in here that interested that Dongyang man.

What on earth could be worth such a huge price to Fujiwara Seiho? Back at the tomb at the bottom of that reservoir and in the underground maze beneath the Miao Village, she’d already started to wonder what exactly Fujiwara Seiho was looking for. Now, seeing this garment, she finally felt a sudden flash of enlightenment.

Huang Zhenlong’s guess was definitely right. This garment was very likely the legendary Jiaoxiao recorded in the historical texts!

All that exhausting effort Fujiwara Seiho put into prying information about the Luofu Mountain Ancient Tomb’s entrance out of the Oil Rat’s mouth was very likely also for this thing!

What that Dongyang man was searching for were items related to the Jiaoren—he must be trying to find traces of the Merfolk!

No wonder he had gotten so close to Lu Huairu back in Philadelphia. Only that damned Taoist Lu Huairu knew about the existence of the Jiaoren. The two of them getting together was most likely to cook up some nasty scheme!

Once this thought surfaced, Huo Sining didn’t even care that she was currently standing in Ge Hong’s ancient tomb. Her mind spun rapidly, thinking far more about how to deal with Fujiwara Seiho in a way that would be completely unnoticed.

Jiaoren had always been called "numinous beings" by the ancients. All the records of Merfolk in Huaxia’s classical texts were steeped in romantic and mysterious hues.

The Jiaoren’s brows, eyes, mouth, nose, hands, and claws were no different from humans, and their faces were all beautiful women. The Jiaoxiao they produced did not get wet in water; when they cried, their tears turned into Pearls; and the oils they refined would burn for ten thousand years without going out.

Before her rebirth, Huo Sining had only had the most superficial understanding of these legends.

Of course, learning about mermaids wasn’t something she had deliberately pursued. Back in her student days, when they studied Liu Yuxi’s beautiful poem, "Over the bright Cang Hai shines the moon, and the Mingzhu sheds its tears; over warm Lantian rises the jade in mist," she had listened to her Chinese teacher’s explanation.

That Chinese teacher back then was widely read and felt a strong fascination for mermaids, so the entire lesson had gone off-topic, with him talking at length about materials in ancient texts that recorded the Jiaoren.

At the time, Huo Sining heard it and then forgot, never taking it to heart. She simply assumed this "species" was nothing more than a kind of totemic civilization imagined by the ancients out of longing for the sea—a remnant of a primordial totem, a kind of mythic concept.

But once the Jiaoren blood in her own body awakened, Huo Sining realized how naïve her earlier thoughts had been.

In this world there might still exist many things that humanity simply doesn’t understand yet—things current scientific frameworks are unable to reach.

So when that female team member suddenly mentioned Mermaid Cream, Huo Sining was a little shocked, but more than that she felt a kind of admiration for the girl’s wild imagination.

If that garment really was Jiaoxiao, then having something like Mermaid Cream inside this ancient tomb wouldn’t be anything strange.

It was just that, once she linked it to the idea that the oil in this Changming Lamp might have been refined by Merfolk, Huo Sining’s mood inevitably grew heavy.

Even though she still lacked any sense of belonging to the Jiaoren race, there was undeniably Jiaoren blood flowing in her veins. If Ge Hong’s tomb contained something like Mermaid Cream, it meant Ge Hong had at least once taken the life of a mermaid.

This alone was enough to make Huo Sining feel a dislike for this so‑called legendary Xiao Xianweng. She even felt somewhat uncomfortable simply standing in this Space, bathed in the dim light of that Changming Lamp.

"Huo girl, what’s wrong with you?"

Apparently noticing that something was off about Huo Sining’s expression, Zhou Shitao, standing nearby, happened to glance over and couldn’t help asking with concern.

Huo Sining felt a bit oppressed with every breath, but thinking of how they were about to open the stone doors of the main burial chamber and the Burial Pit, she knew that if she went up now and missed any key information, this trip would have been for nothing. So she could only force herself to endure that sudden sense of rejection and unease, quickly shaking her head toward Zhou Shitao and saying:

"I’m fine, just a little stuffy. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be okay after a bit."

Zhou Shitao nodded at her words, still somewhat uneasy. "Then be careful. If you really feel unwell, just go up. The air here is murky; it really isn’t suited for staying long."

Huo Sining didn’t reply. She simply felt little interest in taking part in the archaeological work in this Auricle Chamber. Luckily, seeing something off in her expression and thinking she was truly unwell, Zhou Shitao subconsciously didn’t assign her any tasks.

Idle, she couldn’t help letting her gaze fall around the Auricle Chamber, looking about with little focus.

Meanwhile, another group of young staff from the archaeological team had clustered together, packaging the scattered items in the Auricle Chamber while chatting with that female team member from earlier:

"Anya, how did you know about that stuff, that Mermaid Cream?"

The female team member’s expression showed a bit of pride. "I’ve been interested in mermaids as a species since I was a child. I don’t know why, but ever since I first read Andersen’s fairy tale, The Little Mermaid, I’ve been extremely curious about mermaids. So I pestered my dad to help me look up information about Merfolk."

"Later, when I got to high school, I realized that it’s not just abroad that they have mermaids—our own country does too, and they’re recorded in lots of ancient texts."

"So I spent a lot of effort reading and researching materials in this area. I even chose archaeology as my major in university because I wanted to learn more information about Merfolk."

Hearing this, several members of the archaeological team couldn’t help exclaiming "Wow":

"Then do you think mermaids really exist in this world?"

The female team member’s eyes held a bit of hesitation. She shook her head and said, "I’m not sure about that. All I know is..."

The few team members continued to chat, but Huo Sining no longer listened closely. She leaned against the stone wall of the Auricle Chamber, trying to calm herself and think about how to deal with the problems ahead.

Setting Fujiwara Seiho aside, just the archaeological discovery at Luofu Mountain this time—once news of the Jiaoxiao leaked out, Huo Sining was sure that the entire Hua Country, and even the whole world, would be shaken. Correspondingly, the number of people eager to explore mermaids would absolutely skyrocket. She couldn’t even guarantee the safety of herself, Yue Shuwen, Qibao, and the rest of her clanspeople.

She had to come up with a foolproof plan to ensure the safety of the clanspeople around her.

Thinking thus, the back of Huo Sining’s hand unconsciously pressed against the stone wall of the Auricle Chamber.

"Ah..." The next second, she couldn’t help but cry out in surprise!

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