Restoring cultural relics: Starting with the crying Tang Dynasty figurines

Su Yuan's expression changed after reading the message. He put his phone away, and Zhou Peiyuan asked, "What's wrong?"

"Director Zhang said there's some activity in the eastern suburbs."

Zhou Peiyuan stood up, seemingly unsurprised. "Director Zhao, we have to go now. Let's talk another day."

Zhao Changhe nodded and glanced at Su Yuan: "Little Su, come visit often when you have time."

When the two came out of the museum, Xiao Meng had already parked the car at the entrance.

Su Yuan and Zhou Peiyuan got into the car, which drove out of the city and onto the highway.

"Teacher Zhou, do you know...?"

"Yeah, I just got the news too. I didn't expect Zhang Weiyi to be so anxious."

Seeing that Zhou Peiyuan didn't seem too anxious, Su Yuan felt a little relieved.

"Teacher Zhou, what exactly do you think that ancient god is?"

Zhou Peiyuan leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and thought for a moment: "It's hard to say. The senior researchers in the Ninth Division have been studying it for decades, but they haven't figured it out."

"All we know is that it is currently the most powerful entity in the interlayer, beyond human capabilities to contend with. Fortunately, it won't be easy for it to escape the interlayer either."

Su Yuan muttered under his breath, "Then Han Zhengming will keep it..."

"He thought he could control it."

Zhou Peiyuan opened his eyes and looked out the car window: "Sometimes people are like this. Even if they know it's a deadly path, they still can't help but try it."

"They all think that once they succeed, they can do whatever they want!"

Su Yuan understood the reasoning Zhou Peiyuan was making, but some people couldn't figure it out.

After driving for more than an hour, they exited the highway and turned into the town. Xiao Meng parked the car in front of the repair center, and Su Yuan got out with his toolbox.

"Xiao Su, I need to go back and take care of some things. Don't be too anxious about anything."

"Yes, thank you, Teacher Zhou..."

After watching the car leave, Su Yuan went upstairs and knocked on Zhang Weiyi's office door.

Zhang Weiyi was sitting behind his desk smoking, and there were already several cigarette butts in the ashtray. He stubbed out his cigarette when Su Yuan came in.

"Xiao Su, have a seat."

After Su Yuan sat down, he put the toolbox aside. Zhang Weiyi took a map out of the drawer and spread it out on the table.

Several marks were drawn on the map in red, with a large circle drawn around the eastern suburbs.

Zhang Weiyi pointed to the map and said:

"The news from the Ninth Bureau is that Han Zhengming's men have acquired a piece of land in the eastern suburbs."

Su Yuan stared at the spot he was pointing to: "Director, what are they trying to do?"

It's not clear yet.

Zhang Weiyi shook his head: "According to Director Gu's assessment, Han Zhengming probably wants to establish a control point at that location."

"Once that big thing in the interlayer moves there, we'll use some means to control it."

Su Yuan hurriedly asked, "Then what methods will they use?"

Zhang Weiyi put the map away and said, "The Ninth Bureau is investigating. Han Zhengming is always very cautious, so it's difficult to find concrete evidence against him."

Su Yuan touched the bronze mirror; A Wu and Zhong Ming were both very quiet inside.

"Director, what should we do now?"

Zhang Weiyi lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said, "Wait, let them make their move first, then we'll move."

"Taking action now will not only fail to gather any evidence, but haste will also cause unnecessary losses. By the way, when you encounter a suitable opportunity, seize it and go into the mezzanine again!"

Su Yuan hummed in agreement. After leaving Zhang Weiyi's office, Su Yuan saw Chen Xiaohe squatting on the steps outside the lobby on the first floor, smoking.

Seeing Su Yuan come out, he asked, "Su, you're back? How's it going in the provincial capital?"

"It's alright, the exhibits are all pretty good."

Su Yuan squatted down next to him. Chen Xiaohe offered him a cigarette, but Su Yuan waved it off and didn't take it. Chen Xiaohe lit it himself.

"Su, I saw Wang Jianguo at the entrance of my workplace this morning, he..."

Su Yuan frowned: "What's wrong with him?"

"He's acting really strange today. He's pale, has dark circles under his eyes, like he hasn't slept for days," Chen Xiaohe said, exhaling a puff of smoke. "And the smell on him..."

Su Yuan hurriedly asked, "What's wrong with the taste?"

Chen Xiaohe thought for a moment:

"We all know Wang Jianguo has a problem, but I smell something else on him! It's like... the smell of rusty metal, or even more like the smell of blood."

Upon hearing this, Su Yuan was startled: "When did this happen?"

"I smelled it in the hallway this morning after Wang Jianguo arrived," Chen Xiaohe said, scratching his head.

"The smell was very faint, it disappeared in a flash. Su, did you think that was the smell of blood?"

Su Yuan nodded, unsure, then stood up and patted Chen Xiaohe: "Brother Chen, I'll go talk to Zhao Cheng for a bit first."

After saying that, Chen Xiaohe went upstairs again, squatted on the steps, watched Su Yuan's back, and muttered to herself:

"What is this kid hiding from me this time?"

Su Yuan went up to the second floor and entered Zhao Cheng's office. Zhao Cheng was sitting and organizing documents. When he saw Su Yuan come in, he asked him, "What's wrong, Xiao Su?"

Su Yuan didn't beat around the bush and said directly:

"Brother Zhao, Brother Chen said he smelled two kinds of scents on Wang Jianguo today. One was a musty smell, and the other was a metallic, rusty smell, which also smelled like blood."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Cheng's expression changed: "Really? I didn't smell anything!"

"Brother Chen said the smell will disappear quickly!"

After listening to Su Yuan's explanation, Zhao Cheng stood up and thought for a moment: "Little Su, what did you feed that big guy that Han Zhengming was raising?"

Su Yuan was taken aback: "Isn't it just a gap?"

Zhao Cheng analyzed, "It's probably not just a rift; the big guy Han Zhengming is raising needs even more powerful energy."

"You mean...blood!"

Su Yuan recalled that the guy had used human sacrifices before. Zhao Cheng nodded: "The piece of land Han Zhengming acquired in the eastern suburbs is probably for that purpose."

Zhao Cheng sat back down in his chair, picked up his phone, dialed a number, and waited a few seconds: "Director Zhou, Chen Xiaohe has made a new discovery..."

Standing to the side, listening to Zhao Cheng and Zhou Peiyuan's conversation, Su Yuan's mind was in turmoil:

"Is Han Zhengming feeding it human lives? I haven't heard of any cases of multiple missing persons or deaths..."

Su Yuan suddenly thought of a blood bank! The idea became clearer and clearer in his mind.

"Brother Zhao, have you ever thought about where the blood would come from if Han Zhengming wanted to feed that thing with human lives? I haven't heard of any murders happening there..."

Zhao Cheng put down his phone and looked at him: "What do you want to say?"

Su Yuan continued:

"Brother Zhao, it's the hospital's blood bank! If Han Zhengming didn't kill anyone, but just needed blood, it would be much safer for him to get it from the blood bank than to kill someone."

After listening, Zhao Cheng realized what was going on, picked up his phone, and redialed Zhou Peiyuan's number: "Director Zhou, Xiao Su has a guess... yes, the blood bank... okay."

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Cheng looked at Su Yuan: "Xiao Su, the part you thought of is very important, well done!"

Su Yuan wasn't happy; he was just thinking to himself:

"Han Zhengming's ability to obtain blood from the blood bank indicates that he has connections within the medical system, and his position is not low. The power behind this person is very deep..."

Zhao Cheng sat down again. "Director Zhou said he would investigate and notify us as soon as he has any news."

Su Yuan nodded and left Zhao Cheng's office. Lin Xi came up the stairs, carrying a small brocade box.

"Su Yuan, this is a jade seal. It was sent from a neighboring town, and they specifically asked you to repair it. What do you think…?"

Su Yuan did not refuse and accepted the brocade box. Inside lay a small white jade seal from the Republic of China era, which appeared to be a personal relic of a well-known calligrapher of modern times.

The jade is warm and translucent with a thick patina, but a small piece of jade is missing from the last stroke of the seal's seal character at the bottom.