Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Antiques Street, Gathering Light Pavilion.
Professor Lin would close his shop punctually every night at 8 o’clock.
He never cared if his business was not doing business. It seemed that he opened this shop purely for his own interests.
Before he was forty years old, he worked in a museum in the capital city. His position was not low, and he was considered to be quite famous.
However, for some unknown reason, he resigned and disappeared for a period of time. It was only in recent years that he returned to his hometown, where he was born and raised, and opened such an antique shop.
His shop opened at 10 am and closed at 8 pm. It was always punctual, and there was no exception.
Compared to his peers on this street, he appeared to be quite Buddhist.
“I wonder if my body can last until the day I unlock the secret?”
In the meditation room, he sat alone on a straw futon and looked at the two-foot-square painting on the wall — the White Crane Longevity Painting.
He sighed and reminisced.
He had never shown this painting to outsiders before today.
And he himself had been looking at it for 20 years.
It was also because he had been studying it for too many years and had yet to come up with any results. In addition, his body was deteriorating day by day. He was afraid that he would not be able to hold on, so he let Song Yuchen and Zheng Wenbing take a look at it today.
Speaking of this painting, it was neither bought nor given by anyone.
It was taken out from a corpse during an archaeological operation 20 years ago.
Professor Lin Gaohan still remembered that scene.
Even when he woke up countless nights, it was also because of that scene.
20 years ago, he was 45 years old.
Because one day, he received news that a village in the Central South Province had caused a landslide due to heavy rain, and a historical site had appeared.
After receiving the news, Lin Gaohan immediately rushed over with his team.
When they arrived at that place, the rain continued to pour.
They wore raincoats and held umbrellas as they rescued the ancient ruins that had been buried in the mud for who knew how many years.
That time, they reaped a bountiful harvest.
A lot of the things they obtained were from the northern and southern dynasties.
The team leader at that time thought that there might be a huge group of ancient tombs in that place.
Therefore, after rescuing those ancient ruins that had exposed their traces, he made a prompt decision and split his men into four teams to investigate separately.
Professor Lin Gaohan and a young assistant, Xiao Li, were in a team.
At that time, the two of them took a big detour and went to the back of the mountain village to conduct a full-scale exploration.
In fact, the shape of the mountain village looked like a huge turtle from a height.
The village was located on the back of the turtle, and the mountain where the landslide occurred was the giant turtle’s raised head.
Lin Gaohan and his assistant, Xiao Li, surveyed the area for three days in a row. It rained heavily every day for three days, and thick fog lingered in the mountains, so the visibility was limited.
However, on the morning of the fourth day, where Lin Gaohan and the others were patrolling, half of the mountain seemed to have been cut by someone, and it slid down.
At the same time, a rotten coffin flew out from the center of the mountain.
The coffin slid down and rushed to the foot of the mountain, falling into a mud pit.
“It’s a coffin, Professor Lin,” Assistant Xiao Li shouted.
Of course, Lin Gaohan also saw it. He immediately called out, “Use a rope to drag the coffin out first. Don’t get too close to the mountain. Be careful not to slip again.”
“Yes.”
Assistant Xiao Li deftly took out a horse king nail and hammered it into one end of the coffin. Then, he tied the rope, and together with Lin Gaohan, they pulled the coffin out of the mud pit.
For safety reasons, they dragged the coffin a little further away.
“Professor Lin, should we tell the team leader first, or take a look first?” Assistant Xiao Li asked excitedly.
The young man who had just joined the archaeological work would always look very excited every time they got something. Lin Gaohan understood very well. He smiled and said, “Let’s take a look first. This coffin is very ordinary. Maybe it’s just a few decades old.”
“Okay.”
The coffin had already rotted. It was indeed not high-standard production.
The pouring rain in the sky continued.
Xiao Li picked up a steel rod and pried open the lid of the coffin.
At that time, the sky was gray.
However, just as Xiao Li opened the lid of the coffin, red light burst out from the coffin.
The light was so bright that people could not open their eyes.
Lin Gaohan was shocked. He had been in the business for many years, but he had never seen such a strange situation.
The dazzling red light only lasted for two or three seconds before it disappeared.
Then, Lin Gaohan and Xiao Li both excitedly and curiously pounced on the opening of the coffin and looked inside.
They saw a white skeleton inside, covered with a piece of tattered black cloth.
The red light came from under the cloth.
The assistant, Xiao Li, couldn’t help but want to reach out and open the tattered cloth.
“Be careful. Let me do it.” Lin Gaohan stopped him in time.
The young man was not experienced enough, so he was not very assured.
“Oh.” Xiao Li withdrew his hand apologetically, his eyes full of curiosity. He stared into the coffin without blinking.
Lin Gaohan stretched out his hand and carefully picked up a corner of the rag. Then, he opened it bit by bit.
When he opened it halfway, red light flashed on the body of the corpse again. The light pierced their eyes so much that they could not open them again.
Then, in their trance, they seemed to see a dazzling and graceful light. Like a dragon, it flew out of the coffin, pierced through the clouds, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Lin Gaohan was so surprised that he couldn’t close his mouth.
Suddenly, he completely uncovered the remaining rags, but he vaguely saw a white crane descending from the sky, flapping its wings, and landing on a corner of the coffin.
The white crane drew its neck and let out a long cry.
Lin Gaohan and Xiao Li were both stunned.
But in the blink of an eye, the white crane also disappeared.
All that was left was a picture placed on white bones in the corner of the coffin.
The spot where the red light flew away just now was left with a rotten scabbard.
“Professor Lin, what… what’s going on?” Xiao Li seemed to have been refreshed and shocked, the scene surpassing all of his knowledge.
“Scabbard?”
Lin Gaohan picked up the scabbard, but as soon as he picked it up, it broke — the degree of decay was too high.
He picked up the painting in the corner again.
Strangely, this painting wasn’t touched by the rain. Although it looked dirty and broken, it seemed to have existed in the past.
When the picture was unfolded, the words ‘White Crane Longevity Painting’ could be seen rising above it in the rainstorm.
In the picture, there was a red-crowned crane dancing gracefully and singing loudly.
“Professor… Professor Lin… This…” Xiao Li was so excited that he couldn’t speak, and his whole body trembled.
“Longevity painting? White Crane Longevity Painting? Longevity? Could it be that this painting has the secret of longevity?” Lin Gaohan also felt that his mouth was dry.
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Such a wonderful scene couldn’t help but cause people’s imaginations to run wild.
“Professor Lin, this is a miracle. This is definitely a miracle. Yes, it is a miracle. We have to tell the team leader that this is a major discovery, and it is also a discovery that can shock the world,” Xiao Li shouted excitedly. He turned around and was about to run toward the station.
He was about to report the good news.
Lin Gaohan was like a demon, muttering ‘longevity’.
Suddenly, for some reason, a malicious thought suddenly arose. He picked up a sharp stone from the ground and threw it at the back of Xiao Li’s head..