Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Nothing major happened for the next two days. Today, Su Yuan was walking back to his dormitory after dinner. Just as he reached the stairwell, his phone rang. It was Zhao Cheng calling.

"Xiao Su, have you gone back to your dorm?"

"Not yet, I just got downstairs. What's up, Brother Zhao?"

"It's nothing. Just now when I was reporting to the director, he said that Han Zhengming secretly transferred people to the eastern suburbs, and they might arrive tonight."

Su Yuan stopped: "So fast?"

"Yes, the news from the Ninth Bureau is that there are three people in total, one of whom was recruited by Jiang Weiguo from another place. It is said that he can control some evil spirits."

Su Yuan stood there, increasingly anxious as he pondered the matter.

Zhao Cheng paused and then said:

"The director also told you to get some rest early tonight. Director Zhou will send a car to pick you up for the exhibition in the provincial capital tomorrow."

"it is good."

Su Yuan hung up the phone, went upstairs, pushed open the dormitory door, put the toolbox in the corner, and took the bronze mirror off his neck and placed it on the bedside table.

Awu's image brightened, and she actually sat on the mirror, her two little legs dangling over the edge of the bronze mirror, her bare little feet swaying.

"Su Yuan..."

Su Yuan looked at Xiao Awu with delight. Awu had changed a lot recently!

The outline of her whole body was clear, and the light on her facial features was also much clearer. She was wearing a light green gauze dress, and today the outlines of her two calves and little feet were also complete.

Su Yuan leaned closer, looking at the exquisite little A-Wu with a beaming smile:

"Awu, you're so beautiful..."

Suddenly realizing that what I was doing wasn't quite right, I coughed lightly and asked:

"Awu, how much do you know about that big guy moving eastward?"

Awu cupped her face in her hands and thought for a few seconds: "I don't know much. I only remember seeing it from afar in the mezzanine a long time ago."

"Back then it was still asleep, and it wasn't as big as it is now. It was all dark around, and you couldn't see anything clearly."

"And then?"

"Then I broke up with them..." Awu said, her head bowed.

"When I woke up again, most of my soul and memories were already in the bronze mirror. I don't know what happened in the hundreds of years that followed."

Su Yuan picked up the bronze mirror, looked directly at A Wu, and asked softly, "A Wu, it's alright. So what exactly is it?"

Awu raised her head, her eyes sparkling as she blinked twice:

"At the time, I knew it wasn't something that formed naturally in the interlayer; it had been placed there intentionally."

Awu thought about it again with more effort:

"And the person who released it... used extremely cruel methods, sacrificing human lives and feeding it with blood..."

Su Yuan shuddered upon hearing this: "Awu, do you know who put it there?"

"have no idea…"

Awu shook her head: "I wasn't even born when that happened. I only heard about it later from some old people in the mezzanine."

"They said that the big guy was dragged here from a very far place, and it was still small when it was dragged here."

Su Yuan felt a chill run down his spine, thinking:

"Dragged here from a very far place, sacrificed with human lives, and fed with blood—what exactly is this thing?"

"Awu, is Han Zhengming using the gap to nurture it, trying to control it?"

"Yes."

A-Wu stared at Su Yuan with some worry: "Elder Zhong and Elder Miao both told me..."

"That Han Zhengming used his own blood, mixed with blood collected from other places, to nourish the gaps, and also fed some gaps to this big thing, but that thing cannot be controlled at will."

Awu reached out her little hand to touch Su Yuan:

"Those who think they can control it will not have a good outcome if they make a mistake."

Su Yuan also recalled the feeling when he sealed the crack in the wall. The struggling force and terrifying power were truly beyond human resistance!

"Awu, does it have thoughts?"

"Yes," Awu said with certainty.

"It's smart. It's just waiting, waiting for the right time, waiting for the person who feeds it to feed it well, waiting for the crack in the interlayer to be big enough for it to squeeze through."

"Screen through? Screw through to where?" Su Yuan was taken aback.

"This real world."

Awu became worried again: "If this continues, the interlayer will no longer be able to contain it, and sooner or later it will find a way out."

Su Yuan suddenly thought of a question:

"Awu, do we have to gather your remaining soul fragments before it finds an exit, and then seal the entrance?"

Awu's light and shadow nodded and then disappeared.

Su Yuan rubbed his face, placed the bronze mirror beside his pillow, and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning at six o'clock, Su Yuan was woken up by his alarm clock.

He got up, washed up, changed into clean work clothes, put the bronze mirror into a soft cloth bag and hung it around his neck, then picked up his toolbox and left the dormitory.

When Su Yuan arrived at the workplace, the lights in the cafeteria at the back were already on, and Li Xiulan was busy in the kitchen. Su Yuan went over to see if there was anything to eat.

"Xiao Su, why are you up so early today?"

"We're going to the provincial capital today."

"Wait a few minutes."

Seven or eight minutes later, Li Xiulan came out carrying a bowl of wontons:

"Hurry up and eat, Xiao Su, don't go hungry on the way."

Su Yuan thanked Li Xiulan, ate while blowing on the food to cool it down, wiped his mouth after finishing, picked up his toolbox and left the cafeteria.

In the courtyard of the workplace, a black sedan was already parked there, and Zhou Peiyuan was standing next to the car.

Su Yuan was surprised to see him and quickly called out, "Teacher Zhou! What brings you here?"

Su Yuan walked over quickly, and Zhou Peiyuan smiled at him and nodded: "It's on your way back from running errands, get in the car, we'll talk on the way."

Su Yuan opened the back door and got in. Xiao Meng, in the driver's seat, turned around and nodded at him. Zhou Peiyuan and Su Yuan sat together, and the car drove out of the yard.

There weren't many cars on the road, and Xiao Meng drove fast and steadily.

Zhou Peiyuan turned to look at Su Yuan: "I've looked at the restoration file of that bronze tripod. The welding stress points were well chosen, and the aging process was also very well done."

"Teacher Zhou, you flatter me."

"This isn't a compliment; it just means you put your heart into it."

Zhou Peiyuan said with his arms crossed, "Those old guys from the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau blushed when they saw the tripod legs were reattached."

Su Yuan smiled but didn't reply. Zhou Pei then said, "Our people are keeping an eye on things in the eastern suburbs, so don't be too anxious."

Su Yuan nodded and hummed in agreement.

Zhou Peiyuan continued, "Come with me to the exhibition today, and we can meet a few people. Some of them might be helpful in the future."

"Okay, thank you, Teacher Zhou."

Once the car was on the highway, the private car was indeed faster than the bus. Su Yuan leaned back in the seat, watching the fields and villages outside the window rush past.

The bronze mirror, wrapped in soft cloth, was warm to the touch. Awu knew that Su Yuan had gone to attend an exhibition, and he was very quiet in the mirror!

An hour and a half later, the car exited the highway and soon turned into the urban area of ​​the provincial capital.

A red banner has been put up at the entrance of the provincial museum, which reads: "Special Exhibition of Han Dynasty Cultural Relics".

Xiao Meng parked the car in the underground parking lot. After Zhou Peiyuan and Su Yuan got out of the car, they went to the museum through the staff entrance.

The corridor was quiet. Several staff members pushed carts past and nodded and greeted Zhou Peiyuan when they saw him.

"Zhou Chu..."

"Teacher Zhou!"

Zhou Peiyuan responded to everything, and Su Yuan followed behind him, carrying his toolbox, feeling like he had just entered Zhou Peiyuan's classroom.

Soon they arrived at the door of an office on the third floor, and Zhou Peiyuan knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Upon entering, Su Yuan saw that the cabinets against the wall were filled with various catalogs of cultural relics.

A man in his fifties was sitting behind a desk, wearing glasses and looking at documents.

"Old Zhou!"

After recognizing the newcomer, the man stood up and turned his gaze to Su Yuan: "This is the Su Yuan you were talking about?"

"right."

Zhou Peiyuan pointed to the man and introduced him: "This is Zhao Changhe, the deputy director of the Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau. You can just call him Director Zhao."

Zhao Changhe smiled and waved his hand:

"Don't call me that, just call me Uncle Zhao. Old Zhou and I are old friends!"