What do you mean you also want to return to the world?

Meanwhile, inside the monitoring room.

At that time, while Yan was watching the surveillance footage of Venue 13 in Gao Ping's office, Qi Fei and others were also observing him in the monitoring room.

However, everyone's reactions were different. Gao Ping, as the deputy director, was naturally the most restless. He paced back and forth in the monitoring room, his gaze frequently switching between the monitoring screen and the night outside the window.

Tang Shi was very quiet. She sat in the far corner of the monitoring room, wiping the sword case with great concentration. But she would occasionally look up at the monitor screen and then show a thoughtful expression.

As for Qi Fei, he was a complete outsider. Not only did he show no concern, but he also comfortably leaned back in his chair watching the live stream. Although he was wearing headphones, the occasional soft laughter of a woman could still be heard in the background.

Finally, Gao Ping lost his temper and rushed over to snatch Qi Fei's phone, which was filled with images of Milky White Snow Girl: "You bastard, don't go too far! I hired you here to exorcise demons, not for a vacation!"

"I don't think I've been on vacation either," Qi Fei said innocently. "I even canceled my live stream tonight, isn't that serious enough?"

"If you're really serious, go and take care of that monster right now!" Gao Ping said. "Don't use my employees' lives as a test for your subordinates!"

"Haven't I told you many times? If he hasn't solved it by dawn, then we'll take care of it. Why are you always in such a hurry?" Qi Fei shrugged. "As for the assessment, there's no way around it. This was indeed a perfect demon-slaying case, the kind where 'observation, listening, questioning, and palpation' are all indispensable. A regular assessment wouldn't have this effect. As for the safety of your employees, we will do our best to ensure it."

"As far as you can?!" Gao Ping was very surprised. "So many lives at stake, and you're just using such ambiguous words?"

"That's already a very accurate description. Even if we withdraw Shi Yan now and let Tang Shi and me go in, that's all we can say." Qi Fei sighed. "My respected deputy director, what do you think we're fighting? Some Tom, Dick, or Harry? This is a monster! And Tang Shi and I aren't taking action right now for your own good."

"What nonsense are you talking about? How is this for my own good?"

"After Tang Shi and I die, at least you won't have to worry about finding help," Qi Fei said. "On that day, you'll naturally remember how this child behaved tonight, and be thankful that 'thank goodness he was there.'"

Gao Ping was momentarily speechless, unsure how to retort—after all, this guy had already vowed to die for his cause, so after a long pause, he could only manage a stiff remark: "You really know how to play the victim. I don't believe a menace like you would die so young."

Seeing that Gao Ping's tone had softened, Qi Fei chuckled and took his phone back.

Tang Shi, sitting in the corner, merely glanced over but remained silent.

Gao Ping remained silent for a moment before speaking again: "You seem completely unconcerned about this monster. Does that mean you already know its origins?"

"Hmm, that's about it." Qi Fei started scrolling through short videos again, but this time he wasn't wearing headphones, so he was able to answer Gao Ping, "This monster is just repeating history."

"Replay history?" Gao Ping's eyes widened. "Replay what history?"

"What other kind of history could it be? People buried in mass graves, of course."

"I don't quite understand, what does this have to do with history?"

"What's buried in this mass grave?"

"The Han Dynasty..."

……

"...Liu Xu, the King of Li." Shi Yan flipped through the documents on the high table and read to himself, "In the third year of Emperor Li of Han, Liu Xu, the King of Li, plotted a rebellion, and the emperor executed his entire clan."

Now that we know that the monster's behavior is related to the ancient people in this corpse pit, Yan naturally wants to find out the specific origins of these ancient people.

But after watching it, I didn't find anything special. It was just that a family of royalty felt that being a royal relative was meaningless and wanted to be emperor to experience the taste of life, but the real emperor found out and killed them all.

Such things were countless in Chinese history several years ago. Only a small number succeeded, while most only became a brief mention in history books, like the case of King Liu Xu of Li.

Let me put it this way, it's not in the textbooks.

If it weren't for the chance discovery of this mass grave, who would bother to learn about this guy?

...It still doesn't work.

Shi Yan quickly flipped through the books on Gao Ping's desk, but found no more valuable information, only a pile of miscellaneous documents.

This is understandable, since Gao Ping is just a manager, not a researcher. Shi Yan felt he still needed to look at some specialized materials.

So he called Gao Ping to ask where the data management office was—this level of request for help was permissible.

Gao Ping directly told him the location of the management office and the drawer where the key was kept. Shi Yan immediately hung up the phone, found the key, and went out right away.

"Hey, hey, hey, you!" Shi Yan's movement immediately displeased Fei Hong, who had been happily engrossed in reading a novel on her phone. "Stop moving around! I haven't finished reading yet!"

Scarlet felt that the books Shi Yan had recommended before were too difficult to read, so she went back to read "Phoenix Clan". She was in the middle of reading it and was very excited, so she naturally did not want to give up.

With no other option, Shi Yan could only put his left hand and phone into his pocket, letting Fei Hong look at it from inside. But this not only made Shi Yan's walking posture look strange, but also made his crotch area look rather lewd because of the light shining through the phone.

Fortunately, it was already late at night, and only a small number of people were still working in the building. Most people had already gone to sleep—either in the break room or simply slumped over their desks. In short, few people noticed Shi Yan. So Shi Yan easily made his way to the data management room and found more information about Prince Li, Liu Xu. One sentence in particular caught Shi Yan's attention.

"King Li Xu was arrogant and extravagant, and loved fine clothes. His carriages and entourage were far more magnificent than permitted. Whenever he went out, the people would gather to watch, thinking it was the emperor on an imperial tour."

Although Shi Yan was a science student in both his past and present lives, he could still understand this level of classical Chinese.

That is to say, King Li Liu Xu was a person who lived a life of extravagance, and the food and clothes he used were better than those of the emperor—if he didn't die, who would?

Shi Yan mentally complained a little, then remembered Gao Ping's description of the corpse pit when he first arrived.

"Although this is a mass burial pit, there are quite a few burial objects inside. I don't know if the soldiers who buried the pit forgot to search it, or if the emperor wanted to leave this relative with some dignity, at least most of their clothes are still there."

Thinking of this, Shi Yan's brows furrowed little by little.

The royal rebellion, the extravagant lifestyle, and the large number of precious burial objects in the tomb all make sense.

But what does this have to do with the monster's persistent imitation?

Shi Yan felt that there was still one crucial point missing. Once that was found, everything would make sense.

But what exactly is this?

Just as Shi Yan was deep in thought, a menacing voice came from outside the door: "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

He turned his head and saw a young woman standing in the doorway, looking at him warily.

Shi Yan recognized the other person; it was Ms. Lei, who had previously yelled at the surveillance camera.

However, he knew the other person, but the other person didn't know him, so Shi Yan could only explain: "I'm a relative of the deputy director. He allowed me to come here. If you don't believe me, you can call him and ask."

"Really?" Xiao Lei took out his phone with some skepticism. "Don't move, I'll go ask right now."

Shi Yan shook his head and ignored the other person. He was very pressed for time. If he didn't find that monster soon, he would be dead by dawn.

But where should we begin?

Shi Yan looked at the classical Chinese text again and found a note below it: "From the Book of Han".

The Book of Han, which is the Records of the Grand Historian of this world, right? If so...

Shi Yan suddenly had an idea. He took out his phone, ignoring Fei Hong's angry "What are you looking at? I've only read half of it," opened the website, searched for "The Book of Han," and added the keyword "Emperor Li of Han."

Emperor Li of Han reigned for less than ten years, so there are not many records about him in historical books. Therefore, Shi Yan finished reading it quickly, and the record about the King of Li was indeed just one sentence.

But Shi Yan saw another passage—"In the second year of Emperor Li of Han's reign, the emperor discussed matters with his court officials. The emperor asked, 'Do people become noble because of their clothing, or do clothes become noble because of the person? If the nobles of the imperial family were to remove their brocade and embroidered robes and put on plain clothes, while ordinary people in the marketplace were to wear my fine clothes and adorn themselves with my jade pendants, and the two were to stand side by side in the courtyard, you would see who is the noble person?'"

This sentence was a bit long, and Shi Yan didn't quite understand it at first. He had to search it up to get the gist of it. In short, it was the emperor discussing with his ministers whether it's the clothes that make the person, or the person who makes the clothes.

This seems somewhat out of the blue, but it happened in the second year of the emperor's reign, and a year later, the King Le was executed along with his entire family.

Is there any connection between these two?

Shi Yan had a vague feeling that there were some, but he was still a little short of being able to connect them completely.

"Who can be a benefactor..." A light, airy female voice rang in Shi Yan's ears. He subconsciously looked up and saw that it was Ms. Lei. She had somehow appeared beside him, staring blankly at her phone screen, murmuring repeatedly, "Who can be a benefactor... Beautiful..."

...What happened? Did this girl work so much overtime that she lost her mind?

Shi Yan looked at the other person with considerable confusion: "What do you mean by 'good-looking'?"

"The clothes...the jewelry..." she said lightly, her eyes gradually unfocusing, as if looking through Shi Yan himself towards a more distant place, "They're all very beautiful..."

This guy... could it be...?

Shi Yan suddenly realized something and subconsciously took two steps back. Then he realized that he didn't need to be afraid. So he immediately snapped his fingers, and crimson flames burst out from his fingertips.

But in those few short seconds, the other party had already disappeared, leaving Shi Yan alone in the entire archives room.

"Damn it!" He immediately extinguished the crimson light and chased after it, but he couldn't find any trace of the monster. Of course, even if he could, he wouldn't be able to tell, since there were still hundreds of people in the mansion.

"Heh, you lost again, didn't you?" Crimson said gloatingly. "I deliberately kept quiet to see if you could react, and you really couldn't. Tsk tsk tsk, time's almost up, maybe I should just make my move, this little demon..."

Shi Yan ignored Fei Hong and took out his phone. After calming down, he dialed Gao Ping's number again.

He didn't need Scarlet's help, because he already understood everything.

"Deputy Director Gao?" Shi Yan took a deep breath. "Please do me one last favor, please."

Twenty minutes later, the sharp sound of the fire alarm broke the silence of the night and echoed throughout the venue.

"What's going on?"

"What's wrong with you so late at night?"

The archaeologists, still half-asleep, looked at the firelight outside and the hurried people coming and going.

"Fire! Fire! Get out of here!"

"Holy crap!?"

"Quickly! Wake up the people around you, get out of here!"

After a brief period of chaos, the staff managed to evacuate in an orderly manner. In less than ten minutes, the museum was completely empty, leaving only a slightly bewildered phantom floating alone above the mass grave.

"As expected, you can't leave here." A male voice sounded behind it. "Is it because you can't replicate what happened the first time?"

It turned around and "looked" at the boy behind it.

In the blink of an eye, its figure wriggled and slowly transformed into the appearance of a boy.

Looking at a replica of himself, Shi Yan felt a little scared, but he quickly suppressed it.

He guessed right. This monster could only imitate actions that had already been performed; it had no way to do actions that had not yet been performed.

This is the first time that the venue has been evacuated due to a fire alarm.

Of course, this was only one possibility, and Shi Yan could think of another, but he didn't say it immediately. Instead, he looked at the other person and said slowly and clearly, "Who can be a benefactor... Someone said that to you, didn't they?"

Upon hearing this, its previously blank expression began to react again, just as it had in the archives.

"That person told you a story." Shi Yan repeated the record from the Book of Han, "He said he made a bet with the emperor. If you could wear his clothes, use his jewelry, and do the same things as him without being detected by the emperor's men, then he would win. And after that, he would reward you with all of this... beautiful clothes, exquisite jewelry, making you true nobles."

Its body flickered and transformed from Shi Yan's appearance into a man dressed in magnificent ancient costume.

It smiled as it looked at Shi Yan, its elegant and noble demeanor like that of royalty.

but……

He lied to you.

With a "click".

Its body shattered like glass.