‘ Why would a monk’s name appear several times in historical records? Of course, it can only mean that the monk had played an important role in the history of the Xu Dynasty. ’
‘ It’s very likely that he was related to the Taowu bones, as well as the formation inside Su Jingmo’s Imperial Mausoleum. ’
‘ But Jingmo has never mentioned this
. ’
Qin Cheng has always been confused with what caused the disappearance of the Xu Dynasty from historical records. Not only was it not recorded in the Xu Dynasty’s records, but it was also missing from foreign historical records. The existence of such a Dynasty ever existing has never been mentioned. Qin Shihuang couldn’t cover up the period of time he burned books and buried scholars alive <sup>1</sup> , so what kind of situation could make an entire Dynasty disappear out of thin air; as if it had never existed in the first place.
Qin Cheng had once thought about countless rational possibilities, hoping to find a scientific and reasonable explanation, but all those guesses were overturned without exception.
Even if extreme hypotheses, such as a volcanic earthquake destroying the country, how could it be explained that the Xu Dynasty’s history is so seamlessly connected with that of the Wei, Jin, Southern & Northern Dynasties, as well as the Tang Dynasty <sup>2</sup> ? Not to mention that if such a destructive earthquake truly existed once, how could Chinese society exist now?
Amongst all, Qin Cheng believes that the concept of the distortion of space-time is relatively reliable, just like the scientific question that one must solve to explore the universe: does time have an end? Can you go back in time?
The reason why people think that time cannot be reversed is that sometimes people won’t even remember that a specific situation has taken place. However, if time can really be reset, then how will people remember it?
Qin Cheng once thought that if the space-time of the whole universe could really be distorted, then so would time on earth, which would explain how the Xu Dynasty disappeared from people’s sight.
However, according to this theory, if space-time gets distorted, and time is remade, then why were slight traces of the Xu Dynasty left behind? Such as the big mausoleums Qin Cheng had seen
.
It’s absolutely unscientific to say that a period of history could vanish entirely from all human records.
But it did really happen.
Qin Cheng suddenly remembered the course ‘the History of Chinese Archeology’ he took during his undergraduate year. Qin Cheng originally wanted to choose the most famous professor of the University who also happened to be the best lecturer of the course. However, because the course was full, he was brushed down. In the end, he could only choose the course of a teacher he had never heard of before. This teacher was already in his 60s, and even though this teacher should have been at the level of a professor or an associate professor, this teacher was still nothing more than a lecturer.
To sum it up, Qin Cheng didn’t like this teacher very much. First of all, Qin Cheng had the preconceived notion that this man was an average scholar who had only been a lecturer his whole career. Second of all, this teacher wasn’t really enthusiastic or passionate in his lectures; his words were so confusing that the audience felt disoriented and unclear.
Qin Cheng studied for four years in college, and three years as a graduate student. When looking back, what he hated the most was this teacher’s lecture. However, he also remembered very well what the teacher had said in the last class. At the end of the semester, the old lecturer didn’t focus on the exam, instead, he said some words to them, the beginner archaeology students.
This old lecturer told them: “Since history has already passed, and we don’t know what really happened at the time, even if you look further, like what they put in their tombs, or what they wrote in their books, words will always be different from actual facts. Since this world is so big, and time is so long, how much can those who recorded history really know? They haven’t experienced it themselves, so even historians have no right to say they know the one and only truth
. The official versions of the records written by the historians were only written with the consent of the Emperor, so even from the beginning, what’s written doesn’t really match the reality of what truly happened
.”
“History is like a straight line, and the history books are little markings made on this line. They seem coherent at first sight, but they are actually filled with holes
. There are too many unknown truths hidden between them. Do you think the history you know is the truth? Perhaps, historical mistakes were made when recording for thousands of years.”
At that time, Qin Cheng and the other dozen people in that small classroom felt that what the teacher had said was absurd, and they argued with the teacher for a long time. However, when the class ended, no one could really argue a reason why it was absurd.
Now, Qin Cheng felt that the teacher was actually quite eloquent.
Looking back, the remarks that Qin Cheng found absurd at the time, now made him feel enlightened.
‘ Perhaps, that old lecturer was more knowledgeable than I thought. ’
‘ After all, isn’t the sole existence of the Xu Dynasty proof of what he said? ’
‘ Since history is a straight line, the Xu Dynasty was supposed to be on that line, but it was cut off. ’
‘ It’s completely unscientific
. but there are many things I now know that cannot be explained by science. ’
‘ Su Jingmo’s existence has already overturned this so-called scientific world. ’ After Qin Cheng thought of all this, there were some things that could easily be figured out in a different direction.
‘ If ghosts exist in this world, could it be said that Gods exist too? Just like those Legendary Taowu bones. ’
For Qin Cheng, who studied archeology, the existing historical records couldn’t be clearer. As far as Qin Cheng knew, adding his understanding of the history of the Xu Dynasty, whether Qin, Han, Tang, Song or this disappeared Xu Dynasty, their historical process was more or less the same.
From the chaos of war to the establishment of the Dynasty. From prosperity to decline and extinction. These were inevitable trends, and the Xu Dynasty was no different.
‘ But why did the Xu Dynasty disappear? What’s the difference between the Xu Dynasty and all the other Dynasties? ’
Even after studying so much history, Qin Cheng had never seen the bones of mythical beasts mentioned before. However, in the history of the Xu Dynasty, the Taowu bones are mentioned a lot. If there was one thing that differentiated the Xu Dynasty from all the other Dynasties, it’s the mention of the Taowu <sup>3</sup> bones.
‘ Could it be that the Taowu bones made the Xu Dynasty disappear from the line of history, while the Dynasties that didn’t interact with the bones steadily progressed along the unstoppable river of history, painting a colorful picture with a heavy brush in the world? ’
Qin Cheng’s eyes closed. He didn’t know if there was a God out there, and whether this God was capable of erasing a period of history, but he was sure of one thing: it wasn’t a good thing for the Taowu bones to appear in people’s field of vision. Given their unbelievable function of turning people immortal, they will inevitably lead to chaos in the world
.because most people in this world crave to live forever and seize supreme power.
Qin Cheng thought: ‘ If I were one of the deities in Heaven who regulates the cycle of reincarnation, I wouldn’t be happy to let the Xu Dynasty remain in the world
. ’
If his guess was correct, once this period of time reappears in the world, Qin Cheng doesn’t think that the ‘people’ behind it all will allow it.
‘ I’m afraid they were ready to act the moment the tomb was opened and I met Su Jingmo, discovering the existence of the Xu Dynasty in the meantime. ’
When the big Mausoleum in Pingyao collapsed Qin Cheng thought that perhaps the burial goods could still be stored there. However, when he thought about it now, the collapse of the tomb was probably a set-up. After all, there were many things inside that tomb that could confirm the existence of the Xu Dynasty


Qin Cheng didn’t even dare to think that the sole existence of Su Jingmo, with his personal experience in the Xu Dynasty, would lead those people to act now.
‘ What would happen to Su Jingmo then
.? ’ Qin Cheng didn’t dare to think about it. He must not think about it.
As he scratched his head with annoyance, he tugged at his hair and hurried to walk through the college’s entrance gate. When he was close to the research room, Qin Cheng stopped in his tracks.
This college had a lot of students coming and going in the afternoon, but the only people allowed into the building dedicated to the Department of Archeology are those who study archeology. So, why were there so many people here? Packing both the inside and outside of the building, screaming and shouting so loud that even Qin Cheng’s head began to hurt.
In front of the crowd, there was a bulletin board. Qin Cheng couldn’t see what attracted so many people here, and even though he initially intended to bypass the crowd to go to the research room, Lu Guoxian’s name suddenly fell into Qin Cheng’s ears. At this, Qin Cheng couldn’t help but turn back and walk into the crowd of people.
Qin Cheng was tall, so even though he stood at the back of the crowd, with his glasses on, he could faintly see a large poster on the bulletin board. Once he read what was written on it, Qin Cheng was a little bit confused.
The most popular professor in this university was Li Guoxian, and every time posters like these appeared it either publicized his lectures or informed his students that Li Guoxian had won a national award. However, this time, the poster was a full-size colored picture of Li Guoxian and a female student. Li Guoxian’s hand was touching the student’s ass, with the caption: ‘Female graduate student suffering from sexual harassment’.
And that wasn’t all. Another poster prominently revealed that Li Guoxian had put his name on the papers written by graduate students, passing them as his own work. The time, specific articles, as well as the testimony of the original authors were all exposed in the poster.
Lastly, with bigger letters, the third poster said: ‘To be continued
.’
Lololol this chapter was mostly Qin Cheng having inner monologues

.
(⊃˘ω˘⊂) ♡   ♡
Footnotes
<ol><b>焚äčŠć‘ć„’</b> <b>fĂ©n shĆ« kēng rĂș</b> ; The ‘burning of books and the burial of intellectuals’ is a phrase that refers to a policy carried out during the Qin Dynasty [221-207 BC] of ancient China, in the period from 213 BC to 206 BC, and the consequences that stemmed from it. A secondary effect was the marginalization of the ideology of the Mozi school in favor of the thoughts of Confucius. The main source of information on these events comes from ‘Records of the Grand Historian’, by Sima Qian [145-86 BC]; however, some scholars believe that this source doesn’t really reflect what really happened at that time. <b>é­æ™‹ć—ćŒ—æœ</b> <b>wĂši jĂŹn nĂĄn běi chĂĄo</b> ; Generic term for the historic period 220-589 between the Han [206 BC-220 AD] and Sui [581-617 AD] Dynasties. Remember that the Xu Dynasty was supposedly from this era and that Su Jingmo doesn’t recall the Sui Dynasty existing. As for the Tang Dynasty [618-907], remember that it was once speculated that Su Jingmo’s tomb may be from the Tang Dynasty (since the imperial mausoleum is located close to what once was the Tang Capital), but also an existing record detailing a whole army disappearing after they tried to steal a tomb (recorded by Qin Cheng’s supposedly past life no less!). Remember that the <b>æąŒæŒ</b> <b>tĂĄo wĂč</b> is one of the ‘Four Fierce Beasts’ of Chinese mythology.</ol>