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  This professor's surname is Shi, now he is already 70 years old. According to Pangzi, more than ten years ago, when he first started fighting, he knew Professor Shi, who was already an old man in his sixties at that time. The two of them even fought together once.

  At that time, Professor Shi had offended his superiors for some reason and a research project he applied for was not approved. Later, he gritted his teeth and decided to fund it himself. He then found someone who had made a name for himself in Beijing, but while Professor Shi's goal was research, the other person's goal was to make money. Since they were after the same thing, the two of them quickly joined forces and became partners.

  When I arrived with Wang, Professor Shi was already sitting in the living room waiting for us. His hair was gray and his eyes weren't too good, but he was full of energy, with a rosy complexion. As soon as he saw Wang, he was overjoyed, stood up and grasped Wang's hand, patting it: "Little Wang, you've finally come to visit this old man."

  Fatso let out a loud "aiyo" and helped Professor Shi sit down, with a mouthful of flattering words, saying: "Aiyo, Professor Shi, how could I forget you? Every year during holidays, I think about coming to see you, but then I think about our different revolutionary stances, isn't that afraid of tarnishing your reputation? Can only suppress the feelings of missing my elders, today seeing you in good health, my heart can finally be at ease." I almost choked on my own saliva, this dead fatty, yesterday was still scolding Professor Shi in the courtyard, today he's acting like a son seeing his father, listening to it made me get goosebumps.

  At this time, the fat man gave me a wink, indicating that I shouldn't just stand there stupidly. I quickly introduced myself, following the previously rehearsed speech: "Professor Shi, my surname is Wu, I'm in the business of expanding copies, you can call me Little Wu."

  Professor Shi was a solitary person, and it had been a long time since he had any visitors. He seemed very pleased to have some company, and he busied himself having the maid bring tea and fruit. He chatted idly with Baozi for quite a while, but didn't seem to want to get down to business. I was getting anxious, and kept giving Baozi meaningful glances. Taking advantage of Professor Shi's distraction as he drank his tea, Baozi whispered to me: "Don't be impatient, this old man likes to talk, you have to let him finish what he has to say, or he'll go on all day."

  Professor Shi finished his tea, looked at me and sighed: "Time flies so fast. Looking at you young people, I think of my youth. At that time, we were revolutionaries from all over the country, shedding hot blood for the nation and the people. I didn't expect to grow old in a blink of an eye. This society is getting farther and farther away from me."

  Fat boy quickly picked up the conversation, saying: "Little Wu, you don't know, do you? Professor Wu was a professor at the Central Institute of Archaeology when he was young. During China's poorest times, he led his students to complete many archaeological projects. As the saying goes: 'The silkworm dies after its silk is exhausted, and the candle burns out after its tears are dry.' Professor Shi is your youthful model, Little Wu, you should learn from him."

  Fatso's words were actually meant for me to hear, but in reality, he was flattering Professor Shi. The old man smiled with his eyes narrowed, as if he had just remembered the main topic, and said: "Right, Little Wang, I've seen that rubbing you mentioned, but I couldn't understand the text on it."

  As soon as this was said, both I and Wang were stunned. In my heart, I cursed Wang for being so unreliable. He had brought me all the way to Beijing without even getting a single stroke of the eight characters right. Wang also seemed to have not expected this and quickly said: "I told Professor Shi... aren't you just playing with me? I promised Comrade Xiao Wu that you were knowledgeable about everything, and as soon as you said there was a way, I immediately had this young brother rush over from Hangzhou. He didn't even have time to eat along the way, look at him, he's so hungry his face is pale and thin, one gust of wind could blow him down. Your joke isn't funny at all."

  Fatso's words are also unreliable, I've been recuperating from illness recently, and the hospital has made me look rosy and radiant, a far cry from my previous pale and thin appearance, isn't this a classic case of speaking nonsense with one's eyes wide open?

  Professor Shi smiled and comforted the chubby boy, saying: "Ah, little Wang, your temper hasn't changed at all. Although I don't know you, I've still figured out some clues and should be able to help you. However, I'm a bit curious - where did you guys get this rubbing from?"

  As soon as I heard the door, I immediately asked with humility: "Is there something extraordinary about this rubbing? To be honest, I spent five dollars to buy it from a farmer. My family has been collecting ancient rubbings for generations, but I've never seen anything like this before, so I'm very curious. The ancients said that one should learn until old age, and I also want to improve myself." Professor Shi listened, patted my hand excitedly, and kept saying: "Good, good! Young people should be like this. The future of our country is in your hands, study hard, strive upwards every day, good, good!"

  The fatty sat beside me, with a mysterious smile that seemed to be laughing and not laughing at the same time. He quietly gave me a thumbs up, but I ignored him. This Professor Shi's temper is also quite familiar, so I took advantage of the situation and said: "Professor, you're praising me too much. I'm just a shallow learner with many things still to learn. You old folks have dedicated yourselves to the country and the people for so many years, that's what makes you the real treasures of our nation." Damn it, in over 20 years, I've never spoken such insincere words. After finishing this speech, I almost got nauseated by my own hypocrisy.

  Professor Shi was taken in by this and went on to talk about the country and the world with me for half a day before returning to the topic. Then, Professor Shi told me: "The rubbing you collected is an incomplete copy. The text on it is very ancient, should be from before the Shang Dynasty, and is from the same period as oracle bones. This kind of text has been discovered by others before, but due to its great age, no one has done any related research, so, Little Wu, the rubbing you collected is very significant."

  Professor Shi saw that the fat man had only given half of it, and naturally he didn't dare to give the whole thing, so Professor Shi thought it was an incomplete version, which wasn't surprising. But according to what he's saying now, the content on this copy of Zan Sheng Jing is very difficult to decipher.

  I felt a bit disheartened, thinking of the bronze door's sealed oil bottle, and I didn't know what to feel. At this time, Fatty shouted: "Professor Shi, this is really not good enough, if you say so, then no one will ever know what's in this thing?"

  Professor Shi waved his hand and said, "You're all in a hurry. You've come at the right time, and the timing of this thing is also very coincidental."

  What does it mean? Coincidence?

  I sensed something was off and hastily said: "Professor, could this thing have another meaning?"

  Professor Shi nodded and smiled, "The text on this is called 'Ghost Japanese' by the first person to discover it. It's said that the first time this language was discovered was in the depths of the Taklamakan Desert, where a German-led expedition team got lost in the desert and stumbled upon a huge city, where they found the script of Ghost Japanese. Later, only two members of the expedition team survived and returned to Germany, so Chinese scholars haven't studied it."

  The Taklamakan Desert is close to the Qaidam Basin, and some people say it belongs to the Qaidam Basin. In fact, the Taklamakan Desert stretches far and wide in an east-west direction, far beyond the scope of the Qaidam Basin. Once upon a time, there was a vast grassland with countless lakes and mountains, which was the location of the 36 countries of Western Regions. The famous monk Xuanzang passed through these countries on his way to India to fetch Buddhist scriptures, and in his book "Journey to the West", he also recorded the customs and conditions of the 36 countries of Western Regions in detail. Later, these countries gradually disappeared in the historical torrent, and the fertile grassland gradually evolved into a desert, with countless ancient cities buried in the desert.

  In modern times, with the development of archaeological undertakings, many ancient desert cities have been excavated, such as the famous Kucha, Loulan, Huohu, Xiyue and Gumu sites, which have all been discovered by archaeologists. They have now become the most popular destinations for desert adventure tourism. With the excavation of these ancient ruins, many small markets have also formed in the surrounding areas.

  However, there are even more civilizations buried under the yellow sand. In addition to the thirty-six states with historical records, the ancient Western Regions also had countless mysterious small tribes that were not recorded in history and left no words or phrases behind. Only the ancient buildings buried under the yellow sand can prove their existence, but those disappearing languages and unreadable texts have made these civilizations completely forgotten by humans.

  If the ghost language above is also one of those small civilizations, then after a thousand years, it's really as difficult as climbing to heaven to decipher the text information above.

  Suddenly, I thought of something. The place where the Xandara people are located is in Qinghai to the east, on the remaining veins of Kunlun, far from the Kunlun Mountain Pass, and Taklamakan is even more distant. How could this text from the Prajna Paramita Sutra be a ghost language?

  Located in the Kunlun Mountains' remaining veins, the Heavenly Coffin; located east of Chaidamu River, the Western Queen Mother's Country; and located in Taklamakan Desert, the mysterious Ghost Language. What connection is there among these three?

  Pangzi listened to Professor Shi and asked, "Can't you say something good? Does it mean we have to go to Germany?" I looked at Professor Shi, although he talked a lot, but didn't seem like an unreliable person. So I waved my hand at Pangzi, signaling him to shut up, then asked: "Professor, do you have any way?"

  "I said, the timing of this thing is quite coincidental. Recently, a Dr. Zhang returned from studying in Germany, and he was actually a student of that German who discovered the Ghost Language back then. This time, he returned to China, restored his nationality, joined the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and reported an investigation plan to the higher-ups, which was about the research on the Ghost Language. Three days later, they will set out to enter Taklamakan Desert to search for that city for a civilization survey. If we say who is most familiar with the Ghost Language in China, it must be Dr. Zhang, you should find him."

  I exchanged a glance with Fatso, feeling that this wasn't going to work out. The two of us were like sworn enemies from past lives, and every time we met it was as if we had an irreconcilable feud. Would they be willing to help me?

  Professor Shi seemed to have noticed our concerns and said, "I can introduce you, but Little Wang, the job you've done must not be revealed." The fatty immediately patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, it's absolutely safe. When is that Zhang guy free?"

  Professor Shi glared at the fatty and said, "It's Dr. Zhang, a returnee from overseas, with a big temper. If you really want to understand the content of this manuscript, you'd better behave yourself." The fatty looked disdainful and said, "Alright, Dr. Zhang, when can I see him?"

  Professor Shi gave us an address, a small museum in Beijing. He said Dr. Zhang would be stationed there tomorrow and had already been informed. Tomorrow, Fatso and I can go find him directly.

  After finishing the proper business, the old man warmly invited me and Paozi to stay for dinner. At the dinner table, drinking Er Hong Star wine, reminiscing about the past, looking forward to the future, we chatted for a full three hours. The old professor's enthusiasm was really overwhelming. When it was time to leave, he held my hand and kept saying: "Good, good comrade, now there are too few young people like you who are polite and eager to learn. In the future, when you come to Beijing, please come visit often."

  Although this old professor is quite garrulous, after spending a day together, he's actually not a bad person, dedicating most of his life to the country's archaeological undertakings. When I think about the Ming dynasty artifacts I destroyed in the tomb, my heart feels a pang of guilt.