As they approached the dark bluish structure, Professor Zhou and Love Li were utterly stunned by the sight before them. They exchanged glances, seemingly unable to believe their eyes, and stood there speechless.
What lay before them was a group of palaces made entirely of bronze, emanating a faint, dark bluish glow under the setting sun. The glow was dim and murky, which is why it had been difficult to make out anything from afar.
No one knew when these bronze palaces had been built, nor when they had been buried beneath the desert's sands. If it hadn't been for the recent sandstorm, this group of bronze palaces might have remained hidden, buried in the sands, never to be discovered.
Now, with the surrounding sand cleared away, the bronze palaces stood quietly amidst the yellow sands, seemingly displaying the splendor of a bygone era.
Possibly due to being buried beneath the sand for so long, the bronze structures showed no signs of green rust. As the sun set and night fell, the glow on the palaces intensified, with faint blue halos beginning to emanate from them.
After their initial shock, Professor Zhou took Love Li's hand, and the two walked around the palace complex before returning to the front of the main palace.
The palace complex was made up of a main hall and several subsidiary halls. The main hall stood in the center, with a smaller front hall before it, and the subsidiary halls were located on either side of the main hall. Unlike traditional palaces, this complex had no rear hall, making it look more like an ordinary temple complex.
Professor Zhou gazed at the ancient bronze buildings with a peculiar expression. After circling the complex and observing the materials and the intricate designs of monster patterns on the bronze, he speculated that this complex might have been built during the Zhou dynasty, or perhaps even earlier.
But there was something odd about it—this place was far from the central plains of Hua Country. At that time, this area would have been occupied by nomadic tribes.
How could a structure with such clear central plains cultural characteristics have been built here? And who had built it? What was its purpose? It was baffling. Clearly, history had left out many details.
Professor Zhou shared his speculations with Love Li, and the more Love Li listened, the more curious she became. When she suggested that they go inside to take a look, Professor Zhou firmly rejected the idea.
"This place is strange, and the fact that it's built here is even stranger. It's so ancient that the inside is probably crawling with snakes, rats, insects, and ants. Better to be cautious. Let's not go in recklessly. We'll notify the archaeological team when we get back, and we'll come back together with them to explore." He muttered under his breath, "I just hope we can still find this place when we return."
Love Li looked at the palace in front of her. It was indeed as strange as Professor Zhou had said, and for the sake of safety, it was probably best not to go inside. She nodded. "I’ll listen to you. There's no rush. We can come back another time. Let the archaeological team deal with the snakes, rats, and insects first!" She patted her chest as if relieved by the thought of avoiding those creatures.
Professor Zhou glanced at her affectionately and then began setting up their tent a short distance from the palace complex. He lit a fire and began preparing dinner. Noticing the lingering gaze Love Li cast at the ancient bronze palace, he shook his head and chuckled to himself.
As night deepened, countless stars appeared in the sky, twinkling overhead. In the darkness, the blue halo around the bronze palaces became even more pronounced, blending with the starry sky to create a mysterious atmosphere.
Professor Zhou added more fuel to the fire before entering the tent to tuck Love Li in and wrap her red scarf around her once more. Then he returned to the fire to keep watch.
He felt a vague sense of unease as he gazed at the glowing bronze palaces in the distance. That was why, after convincing Love Li to sleep, he had decided to stay up and stand guard.
The desert night was cold, and he pulled his coat tighter around him as he moved closer to the fire. Perhaps out of curiosity, he couldn't resist glancing again at the palace complex.
That one glance froze him in place. His gaze was drawn to the blue halo, and as he stared at it for a while, his eyelids grew heavy until they finally closed, and he slowly fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, he was startled awake by the sound of footsteps. Groggy, he opened his eyes to see a figure walking toward the palace complex.
The figure seemed so familiar. When he saw the red scarf draped around her, Professor Zhou jolted fully awake. It was Love Li!
Without time to think about why she would be wandering outside in the middle of the night, he leaped up and ran toward her, shouting anxiously, "Stop, Love Li! Don't go in! It's dangerous in there!"
Love Li, who had reached the palace's entrance, turned her head and gave him a sweet smile before continuing to walk inside.
By the time Professor Zhou reached the palace entrance, Love Li had already crossed the front hall and entered the main hall. Her red scarf stood out starkly against the dark interior, and Professor Zhou could just make out the red color moving deeper inside.
He glanced at Love Li, then at the palace before him. Steeling his nerves, he charged into the palace after her.
As soon as he stepped inside, he sensed something different. The blue glow was much brighter here, illuminating the interior so that everything could be seen more clearly. Professor Zhou pressed on, and soon he saw Love Li standing quietly in front of the main hall doors, smiling sweetly at him.
He moved toward her, but to his shock, her figure began to blur and then slowly faded away. She vanished before the main hall doors as if she had never been there.
Professor Zhou, stunned, rubbed his eyes. Love Li had disappeared, leaving him alone in the hall.
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"Was it just a hallucination caused by staring at that blue glow before sleep?" he thought, trying to rationalize what had just happened. He was about to turn and leave when he suddenly heard Love Li's voice behind him.
"Zhou, what's wrong? Why didn't you respond when I called out to you just now?" Love Li, out of breath, ran inside and grabbed his hand anxiously.
Feeling the warmth of her hand, knowing this was the real Love Li, Professor Zhou finally relaxed.
"I saw you running toward the palace, and no matter how much I called, you didn’t respond. I got scared and ran after you to see what was going on." Love Li explained, glancing around cautiously as she did so.
It turned out that Love Li had been woken up by Professor Zhou’s shouting. When she saw him running toward the bronze palace complex, no matter how much she called after him, he didn’t respond, which frightened her. Even though she was terrified of the snakes, rats, and insects in the palace, she had no choice but to follow him inside.
Professor Zhou rubbed her head and explained that he had experienced a hallucination. He then took her hand, intending to leave the palace.
"Zhou, look, what’s that?" Love Li pointed toward the center of the main hall. There, a smooth object was reflecting the blue glow of the palace.
Curious, Professor Zhou muttered to himself, "Strange, I didn’t see that earlier." He had planned to ignore it, but Love Li tugged at his sleeve, refusing to leave without investigating.
"Zhou, let's go take a look! We’re already here, and we didn’t see any snakes or insects on our way in, so there’s nothing to be afraid of anymore!" Love Li pleaded with wide, innocent eyes.
Professor Zhou estimated the distance from the main hall to the entrance, figuring out how quickly they could escape in case of danger. The distance wasn't too great; they should be able to make it out quickly. Reluctantly, he agreed. "Alright, but be careful. If anything seems off, hold on to me tightly, and we’ll run out together."
Love Li nodded obediently and then, holding Professor Zhou’s hand, headed straight for the object in the center of the main hall. Meanwhile, Professor Zhou took the opportunity to examine the surroundings and the ceiling of the palace.
The bronze walls were adorned with countless cloud and monster patterns, as well as some dragon-like creatures.
On the ceiling, there were carvings of figures that seemed to depict the construction of the palace. What stood out most was a massive bronze eye suspended in the center of the ceiling.
Although the blue glow from the bronze wasn't very bright, the size of that eye made it particularly noticeable. It was as large as the entire main hall itself.
After finishing his observations, Professor Zhou turned back to see Love Li intently staring at the smooth object. As he approached, he realized it was a wooden carving. The carving had been polished so smooth, likely from years of handling, that it now gleamed like a mirror.
The carving was of an eye. Comparing it to the giant bronze eye above, Professor Zhou saw that they were nearly identical in shape, with strange lines etched into the center.
"This must have been built by a tribe that worshiped eyes. The palace was likely intended to enshrine this wooden eye," Professor Zhou speculated aloud to Love Li.
But Love Li didn’t respond. She continued to stare at the wooden eye, seemingly entranced. After a while, she reached out and picked it up before Professor Zhou could stop her.
After picking it up, Professor Zhou waited for a while and found that there was no reaction around them, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. Love Li played with the wooden eye for a while, seeing that it seemed to hold no further surprises, and handed it over to Professor Zhou to keep.
Suddenly, Professor Zhou sensed the increasing presence of sand in the air, and he could faintly hear the howling wind roaring outside the palace. "Not good, there might be another sandstorm coming!" This was no place to linger. Who knew if the bronze palace complex would soon be buried under the sand once again?
"Let's go! The sandstorm is coming, we need to leave now!" Professor Zhou called to Love Li in a low voice, pulling her as they hurried toward the door. But just then, the entire bronze palace began to shake violently, making it difficult for them to stay on their feet. The massive bronze eye above them suddenly broke free and fell straight toward the two of them.
Sensing the danger, Professor Zhou grabbed Love Li and tried to roll to the side, but in the chaos, his grip on her hand slipped. When he looked up, he saw that Love Li had been pinned under the massive bronze eye, her legs trapped firmly beneath it.
As the sand piled higher, Professor Zhou rushed over and tried with all his strength to move the bronze eye. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shift it—its weight was simply too great.
Panting and exhausted, Professor Zhou gritted his teeth and tried again and again, but the giant bronze eye wouldn’t budge. As more sand poured in, a sense of despair welled up inside him. If they didn’t leave soon, it would be too late.
"Zhou, save me!" Love Li cried out in desperation, struggling to free herself. But it was all in vain—the bronze eye remained firmly pressed down on her legs.
"Don’t worry, I won't leave you. Just hang in there, I’ll try again!" Professor Zhou reassured her, then continued to exert all his strength to try to push the eye off her. He strained with all his might, but still, he couldn’t move it even a little.
His eyes red with frustration, Professor Zhou opened his mouth to say something more to Love Li, but just then, a violent tremor shook the palace again, causing cracks to appear in the ceiling. The bronze beams above them began to snap and fall.
Professor Zhou scrambled to dodge, rolling out of the main hall's entrance, only to watch helplessly as one of the beams came crashing down on top of Love Li.
When the dust settled, she was still alive, but her eyes were filled with despair as she looked at Professor Zhou.
Stretching her hand out toward him, she called weakly, "Zhou, save... save me!"
Professor Zhou looked at her, wanting to rush to her side, but the sand was piling up fast, and the palace was shaking more and more violently. In the end, with a heavy heart, he whispered a final apology to Love Li before dashing for the palace doors, unable to bear looking back at her pleading gaze.
Just as he stepped outside, he heard Love Li's heart-wrenching scream from inside the palace. But there was no time to dwell on it—sand stung his eyes, blinding him, and tears began streaming down his face. In the next instant, he was swallowed by an overwhelming tide of sand.
When he awoke, Professor Zhou found himself lying on a sand dune. Looking around, there was no sign of anyone, and the bronze palace complex had vanished without a trace, buried who knew where beneath the sands.
Later, when the base grew concerned that they had been gone too long, they sent out a search team, and he was eventually found alive and brought back. He reported everything to the base, though for some inexplicable reason, he decided to omit any mention of the wooden eye. At the time, he thought of it as a keepsake, something to hold onto.
As the base was disbanded and the people who had been there began to leave, some died, and others grew old. There weren’t many left who knew about what had happened. Yet, all these years, Li’s desperate gaze and her cry of " save me!" continued to haunt him.
Had he not abandoned her to save himself, had he stayed with her to be buried under the sand, would he have been spared the torment of these years? But what’s done is done, and human affairs don't allow for many "what-ifs."
Professor Zhou picked up the wooden eye. Thankfully, he had kept it back then, and now, after cross-referencing various information, it appeared to be the key to contacting that entity.
If that entity could grant eternal life, then maybe... Could it be possible? The thought excited Professor Zhou. Regardless of whether it was true, it was worth a try. Eternal life was a tremendous temptation for him.
But then he thought of Lam, and his excitement waned a little. After all, the entity might not necessarily be benevolent toward humans.
With a deep sigh, Professor Zhou placed the wooden eye back in its box and closed the lid, intending to put it back where it belonged.
However, as memories of the red scarf and Love Li’s cries, which had haunted him for so long, flooded his mind once more, his resolve crumbled instantly. After all, he had fulfilled his duty as a human; what remained was out of his hands.
So, he opened the box again, took out the wooden eye, hesitated for a long time, and finally closed his eyes and uttered the incantation:
"Dhaka..."