Super Zoo

Zhao Yun and Suming sat on opposite sides of the large table. As Suming poured out a hodgepodge of items from his bag, Zhao Yun initially glanced over them nonchalantly, but his eyebrows quickly furrowed, and his expression became serious. He dragged a chair over to sit next to Suming and began to examine the small fragments one by one carefully.

Seeing Zhao Yun's expression, Suming knew that these things were probably not ordinary, at least not modern imitations. He asked, "Mr. Zhao..."

Zhao Yun, however, cut him off with a question, "Where did you find these things? Wait, come up to my study on the second floor!"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Without further discussion, Zhao Yun packed the items, carried the bundle, and hurried up to the second floor, with Suming following. They entered the study, and Zhao Yun casually locked the door behind them.

"Mr. Zhao, even if it is a genuine antique, there's no need for such a fuss, acting like we're committing theft." Suming joked. With no one else at home, Chengcheng and Zhaoqian were out, was it really necessary to lock the door?

"I'm doing this for your own good. You think I can't tell? These all came from the ground. If word gets out, you'd be in big trouble."

Zhao Yun glared at Suming irritably, "Don't get carried away with those novels about tomb raiding. I'm telling you, the state has specialized personnel dealing with such matters. If the items are worth anything, you'll be under surveillance as soon as you try to deal with them."

"Is there really a Dragon Group?" Suming suddenly got excited at the thought. If there was a Dragon Group, I, as a person with special abilities, would join them!

"Dragon Group? What's that?" Zhao Yun, being of an older generation, clearly had no idea what 'Dragon Group' meant. He didn't dwell on it but instead repeated his warning to Suming not to sell any antiques privately. The state had people covertly managing these issues. If it were an ordinary antique, it would be one thing, but if it were a national treasure, with Suming's current connections, he would be apprehended before he could even sell it abroad.

"As mysterious as you make it sound, it might not even be an antique." Suming was indifferent, since he had no intention of making money from it.

Zhao Yun turned on a white incandescent lamp in the corner of the study and pulled out a magnifying glass. Under the bright light, he inspected the rubbish Suming had brought, then opened a drawer and took out a palm-sized bottle. With a small brush, he dipped it into the bottle containing an unknown liquid and brushed it over a copper piece several times, examining it carefully under the light.

"How is it?" Although Suming didn't count on making money from it, his curiosity was piqued, and he asked somewhat nervously.

"If this isn't an antique, then there are no antiques in the world," Zhao Yun replied, putting down the copper piece and tapping on it, "It should be from the early to mid-Ming Dynasty. Tell me the truth, how did you get this?" Your journey continues on empire

Suming didn't hide anything, spilling the details to Zhao Yun like pouring beans from a bamboo tube.

After listening, Zhao Yun pondered for a while and then said, "Based on what you've told me, there should be a tomb in the back hill. However, judging by the patterns on these fragments, the tomb's owner was likely just an ordinary person, at most slightly wealthy. It's a good thing you didn't actively dig up the tomb; otherwise, the nature of the issue would be different. I'll tell you, such tombs do have archaeological value, but they really don't have much economic value. If you dug up something worth a few hundred thousand, it would be quite remarkable."

"Looking at how you're talking, having been influenced by you all these days, my heart is like a bright sun, never once did I think of raiding tombs," Suming laughed, "You won't believe it, but I even thought, if the tomb's owner was unearthed, as a good deed, I would bury him back."

"Heh, I'll just pretend to believe you. Anyway, no one knows what treasures might be inside the tomb right now."

"Mr. Zhao, you get me!" Suming said with a playful grin.

If there really was something uniquely rare and valuable, given Suming's character, he definitely wouldn't end up on the losing side. And Suming was well aware that Zhao Yun was a businessman, and all businessmen have an innate desire to profit. Ultimately, this middle-aged, handsome man wasn't the type to selflessly dedicate himself to the interests of the Party-State.

Zhao Yun thought for a moment, then said, "Well, first take me to that place for a look, and we'll talk about the rest after we find the tomb."

"Talk about the rest?" Suming, with his sharp senses, caught a hint of something unusual in Zhao Yun's words and deliberately asked, "What 'rest'?"

Zhao Yun blinked and asked, "Don't you want to see the ancient tomb for yourself before the state excavates it? You should know that once the state starts its excavation, many primary sources will become top-secret files, and even I might not get a chance to see them."

"Mr. Zhao, you're tempting me to become a tomb raider," Suming chuckled.

Zhao Yun's expression turned serious, and he said earnestly, "Nonsense, if you go digging up graves, that's called tomb raiding! But if I take you to dig, that's called protective excavation! I have a license!"

Suming was close to crying from frustration, truly envious. Zhao Yun actually did have a 'license'. It was something called a 'National Cultural Relics Excavation Protection Qualification Certificate'.

With this thing, one could legally dig up graves. Of course, stealing the relics inside the tomb was not allowed, but if it was just him and Suming going into the tomb first, who would know what they did inside?

Zhao Yun, after all, was a bit more composed than Suming, still a professional. Before they set off, he made a phone call, and had someone deliver two large backpacks filled with equipment and tools. The guy who delivered the stuff seemed to be one of Zhao Yun's confidants; he didn't say anything when he arrived, didn't ask any questions, just dropped off the goods and left.

Carrying these things, the duo left Zhao's villa, drove back to the zoo to pick up Su Meng, and followed the guidance of two shepherd dogs to the back mountain. After threading through the deep woods for hours, the leading shepherd brothers finally stopped in a small stream in the mountains, barking at a slope nearby.

Their current location was right at the top of a mountain owned by the zoo, situated between another peak used by the zoo but not part of its property. The two mountain tops formed a 'V' shape, and Suming and the others were now at the bottom of the 'V'.

To put it more vividly, they were in the cleavage of a 'career line'.

There were no paths around, the terrain on both sides was fairly steep, with at least a forty-degree incline. The slope was dotted with trees and rocks, and from a distance, they could see a large patch of bare earth exposed by a landslide caused by mountain floods, standing out awkwardly like a bald spot in the midst of greenery.

From this distance, several small black dots that looked like dogs were on that bare patch, roaring at the ground.

************

PS: That's all for today, continued tomorrow