Chapter 101 Content of the Notes
When Gu Fan, Lin Xi, and Lu Yi returned from their excursion, they found Professor Luo sitting inside the house with a heavy expression on his face as though he had encountered some sort of difficult problem. Further to this, both Teacher Liu and Ouyang Jin also appeared troubled.
Gu Fan noticed a book on the table around which they were seated. Looking quite old, it must be the journal that Ouyang Jin had mentioned of his father’s expedition into the foreign territories, bearing notes about the events that had transpired on the journey.
"What’s the matter with you all? You all look so grim." Gu Fan asked, after which he saw Professor Luo sigh, reflecting an air of perplexity.
It was Teacher Liu who spoke up, "We’ve read Mr. Ouyang Jin’s father’s notes. Thirty years ago, he led a team into the desolate territories in search of the ancient Qianye Country, and he was the only one to return alive."
"Ah, that’s dangerous." On hearing this, Gu Fan felt a sense of unease. Lin Xi and Lu Yi also looked rather pale – this was definitely not good news.
Ouyang Jin added, "When my father handed his notes over to me, I was mostly working outside and rarely came home. In addition, my father’s handwriting was very poor and the initial part of the content seemed unremarkable, so I didn’t really look into it. But, today Professor Luo meticulously went through my father’s notes and found a good amount of notable information."
"What did you find? Is it really that dangerous?" Driven by curiosity, Gu Fan picked up the notebook from the table and began to read it seriously. Despite the poor handwriting that made it difficult to comprehend, Gu Fan was more interested in the content.
Ouyang Jin’s father had noted every day’s events after setting out. The initial twenty days seemed normal, but what happened afterwards could only be described as mysterious.
The team, on the twenty-first day, encountered a sandstorm which reduced the size of the expedition team by half, underlining the dreadful nature of the storm. But what was more terrifying was the note suggesting that, even within the veil of sand, Ouyang Jin’s father had faintly heard the screams of people and had even seen a figure being dragged away by something.
Just reading up to this point left Gu Fan covered in cold sweat – the contents of the notes were simply too eerie.
In archaeology, sometimes one needs to venture into untouched territories, which inevitably comes with certain risks. Having had such experiences, Professor Luo was not afraid, but the events in the notes were unlike anything he had ever encountered before which left him feeling rather unsettled.