The ancient return was exposed by his sister's live stream.

Qin Xiaoyu squatted at the edge of the altar, her small hands gently tracing the patterns on the bronze surface. The patterns were winding and seemingly chaotic, yet they contained hidden patterns, like writing. She asked in confusion:

"Hey? Professor Li, look! These patterns... they don't look like decorations, they look like characters!"

Professor Li Songlin was deciphering the sacrificial text when he heard this. He immediately turned around, walked quickly to Qin Xiaoyu's side, and stared at the patterns on the surface of the bronze altar in the direction she was pointing.

He walked quickly to a distance and looked back at the entire altar.

"It really is writing... This isn't ancient Lao script, it's ancient script!"

Ancient script was found inscribed on the altar of the ancestral temple of the ancient Lao people. Could the beliefs of the ancient Lao people be traced back to ancient times?

"Ancient script?"

Ying Wenjie leaned closer and followed Professor Li's gaze to the crisscrossing patterns.

Professor Li did not answer. He took out a sketchbook and pencil from his pocket, squinted, and began to draw the patterns on the altar stroke by stroke.

He painted very slowly, pausing to look at each stroke for a long time. The professors around him didn't dare disturb him and stood quietly to his side.

Ye Chendong walked over to Ying Wenjie and whispered, "What is he drawing?" Ying Wenjie shook his head and said, "Professor Li said it's ancient script."

Ye Chendong's eyes changed slightly. Ancient script, that is a script system that is even older than the ancient Lao script, and it is rarely seen in the unearthed cultural relics.

Professor Li is still drawing. The altar is too big; he has only drawn one corner, yet he has already filled two whole pages. The lines are winding and crooked, some resembling birds, some mountains, and some people.

Several sets of symbols appear repeatedly, resembling radicals or a fixed sentence structure.

"Xiao Ying," Professor Li called to him, his eyes still glued to his sketchbook, "You know Mr. Chen Hao, don't you?"

Ying Wenjie was taken aback for a moment and said that he knew him, and that Chen Siyao had his contact information.

Professor Li tore out the page he had just finished sketching from his sketchbook and handed it to him: "I don't recognize the words on this. But Mr. Chen Hao certainly does. Find an opportunity to ask him."

Ying Wenjie took the paper, carefully folded it, and put it in his pocket.

The altar suddenly shook.

Everyone felt it; several professors who were taking samples were startled and nearly dropped their tools. The vibration was very faint, like a heavy truck passing by in the distance.

"What's going on?" Wu Qingya's hand was already on the holster at his waist. His tactical flashlight swept across the dome, but no rocks fell.

The vibration stopped.

"There might be a cavity underground, and the strata are unstable." The old professor pushed up his glasses, his voice still trembling. Just as he finished speaking, the second wave of tremors arrived.

This tremor was much stronger than the first one, as if something underground had struck the altar. The bronze resonated, a buzzing sound emanating from the center of the altar, growing louder as it approached.

"Be on guard!" Qin Zheng gave the order, and the special intelligence officers quickly formed a circle, guns pointed outwards, protecting the professors behind them.

A thought suddenly popped into Ying Wenjie's mind, and he blurted out, "Could it be that Jiulong is really about to appear?"

A professor immediately said, "Young man, don't talk nonsense! That's just a totem myth from the ancient Lao Kingdom, a deity made up by the ancients. No one can live that long."

Ying Wenjie muttered under his breath, "Tch, of course the High God wouldn't know. You old fogey." He didn't argue with him.

Professor Li didn't participate in their argument; he was examining the patterns on the altar. His eyes remained fixed on those patterns throughout the tremors.

When he heard Ying Wenjie say "God," and looked at the bronze altar that was shaking and getting brighter, he suddenly remembered the ancient characters he had just copied.

At that moment, he finally remembered—he had seen similar symbols in an archive room of the Forbidden City.

The symbol was very similar to the ancient script he had copied, with roughly the same pattern and direction. Next to the symbol were two words: "Seal".

His face turned deathly pale instantly.

"No!" His voice changed, becoming sharp and piercing. "This isn't an altar! It's a seal! Something evil might be sealed here! Run! The evil is about to emerge!"

Several professors with modern academic training disagreed and asked him what his basis for judgment was.

Professor Li pointed to the patterns on the altar, his fingers trembling: "Ancient script. I don't recognize it, but those few characters that appear repeatedly—I saw them in the Forbidden City when I was young. The annotation next to them is 'seal'."

He continued, "The silent demise of the ancient Lao people, who combined ancestral worship with their rituals, is probably related to this sealed evil object."

The air froze for a moment. Without waiting for anyone to speak, Qin Zheng stepped forward, his voice low but each word like a nail driven into the ground: "Withdraw."

"Team members, take turns providing cover and ensure the professors are evacuated first. Don't leave anyone behind! Hurry!"

The order was given, and not a single team member questioned it.

They obeyed Qin Zheng's command and immediately split into two teams: one team guarded the altar with guns, and the other team protected the three professors. They turned around and ran wildly towards the tunnel entrance.

"Oh no! My notebook! My copying materials!" Professor Chen Jingshan wanted to turn around and grab his notebook.

"And my instruments! Those are the test data!" Professor Lin Song was unwilling to give up.

"Forget about them! Lives are more important!" Wu Qingya grabbed the two professors and dragged them back. "If the seal is really broken, all the data is useless. Getting out alive is the most important thing!"

No one argued anymore. The Special Affairs officers escorted the professors towards the tunnel entrance, with Wu Qingya bringing up the rear, Qin Xiaoyu and Ye Chendong flanking Professor Li, and Ying Wenjie following behind.

The tremors became more frequent and intense. Debris rained down from the dome, one piece grazing past Ying Wenjie's ear before hitting the ground and shattering into pieces.

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" Wu Qingya shouted from behind. The tunnel entrance was not far ahead, and the crowd surged in like a tide. The tunnel was also shaking, the cracks in the walls were widening, and dust was falling from above, choking people and making it impossible to open their eyes.

But nobody stopped.

Qin Zheng pushed the last person up the stone steps. Just as he turned around, a deafening roar came from behind him.

The ground suddenly sank down, not with the shaking of an earthquake, but as if something had pushed upwards from underground, lifting the ground more than a meter high before collapsing with a roar. Debris, soil, and rubble cascaded down like a waterfall.

boom--!!!

The entire underground plaza has completely collapsed!

As the smoke and dust cleared, a huge sinkhole appeared in the center of the ruins.

The pit's edges were irregular and jagged, as if something had torn a hole in it from the ground. Thick dust billowed out of the pit, choking people and causing them to cough incessantly.

The stone walls on both sides of the ruins still stand, but the central square is gone, as is the altar, leaving only a dark, gaping pit.