"Stop! Stop!"
Professor Li was furious and ran to the front of the SUV to block it.
"Can't you see all the engineering facilities are placed here? If they're damaged, who will pay?"
After the SUV stopped, Professor Li angrily yanked open the car door and berated the driver.
Professor Li initially thought it was a construction worker driving drunk.
To his surprise, when the car door opened, he saw a familiar face!
"How could it be you?" Professor Li's expression changed drastically.
He clenched his right fist, veins bulging, as if ready to throw a punch.
Seeing Professor Li's stance, Wang Zizai thought he was angry about the driver's reckless driving and quickly stepped forward to pull him back.
"Old Li, don't be impulsive! Hitting someone is illegal! It's not worth it for some drunk driver! Let the law take its course..."
However, Wang Zizai froze mid-sentence.
Then Elder Dong stepped forward, intending to mediate.
But before he could speak, he was stunned.
Seeing their expressions, the person in the SUV seemed pleased. He smugly unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.
"Tsk tsk, that old saying is really true. Birds of a feather flock together. Three academic scoundrels, and here you are all together."
"Fortunately, the higher-ups are wise and know that you three rats might gnaw at the national granary, so they sent me, a cat, to keep an eye on you."
"Alright, let's reintroduce ourselves! I am Liu Bin, sent by the higher-ups as the supervisor!"
This person was Liu Bin!
Liu Bin, who had framed Professor Li and slandered Elder Dong!
He never expected that his previous misdeeds would go unpunished, and now he had been parachuted in front of them as their supervisor!
"How could it be you? How could it be you? Old Cui clearly told me they would send a young person to observe symbolically! Why did Old Cui change his mind and replace him with you?"
Seeing Liu Bin, Elder Dong's body trembled with anger as he questioned.
Liu Bin sneered, "You have your stratagem, and I have my counter-measures. If you could bribe Old Cui to bend the law, I can naturally find other ways to replace the person Old Cui chose."
"In short, you three better resign yourselves! I will strictly supervise this excavation project and will not allow you to make any mistakes!"
"More importantly, you must report all excavation plans to me. Without my approval, you are not allowed to excavate even an inch!"
"Otherwise, I will halt this project!"
With that, Liu Bin got back into his car and was about to drive away.
This infuriated Elder Dong and the other two.
Liu Bin was clearly seeking personal revenge and deliberately obstructing the excavation project!
If there were any significant discoveries, Liu Bin would not only refuse to help but would actively sabotage them!
Who would have thought that with everything prepared, a fly in the ointment like Liu Bin would suddenly appear?
"By the way."
Liu Bin suddenly turned his head.
"At 8 PM tonight, hand me your first phase excavation plan. If I don't approve it, no equipment on this site is allowed to operate. Otherwise, it will be considered unauthorized excavation!"
"Do you understand?"
"Damn it, don't hold me back, let me beat him up!" Professor Li's eyes blazed with anger.
Wang Zizai desperately held him back, "Calm down, calm down! Beating him won't solve anything and will only play into his hands! He'll have a reason to stop our project, and he can smear us in the media! That would be a victory for our enemies! We absolutely cannot let him succeed!"
Hearing Wang Zizai's words, Professor Li's impulsive emotions slightly subsided.
"If you're not going to lay a hand on me, then I'll be leaving. Remember to submit the plan to me at 8 PM."
Liu Bin cast a provocative glance at Professor Li, jumped into his car, and drove away.
Even after the car had driven far away, Professor Li still wore an enraged expression.
"Alright, it's pointless to argue with such a petty person. He's like a toad, crawling on your feet, not biting but disgusting you. Don't pay attention to him; let's focus on how to prevent him from sabotaging us!"
Elder Dong also came over to console him.
However, the three of them stared at each other blankly, standing there for a long time without coming up with a good solution.
Finally, one of them sighed and said, "Forget it, the three of us aren't good at thinking. It's better to consult a professional for this kind of matter."
With that, the three of them walked towards a tent.
That tent was Ying Chen's living quarters.
Upon seeing Ying Chen, the three of them recounted the incident with Liu Bin.
Ying Chen, as if he had expected it, waved his hand calmly and said, "Ignore him. Have the talismans been distributed? Notify everyone, and start work immediately!"
The three were startled by Ying Chen's words.
Although Liu Bin was annoying, he did have the authority to halt the project if they proceeded with excavation without his approval.
"Mr. Ying, is this alright?"
Faced with their doubts, Ying Chen simply said four words: "Just do as I say."
Helplessly, the three left Ying Chen's tent.
After exchanging glances, they all sighed.
They then notified everyone to start work.
On the map, a spot was marked.
That was the location for the upcoming excavation, and also the Xuanjing location filled with a sickly aura that Ying Chen had mentioned when observing the qi.
Each worker had a talisman on them.
Some were dismissive and tried to tear off their talismans.
But when an older worker told them about the history of the place, the person immediately and obediently reattached the talisman.
Apart from the roar of machinery, no one spoke on the site, creating an eerie silence.
Thus, under the command of Elder Dong and the other two, the entire construction team began to excavate.
After about three hours of digging, a worker suddenly shouted, "There are bricks! There's writing on the bricks!"
Elder Dong and the other two rushed over.
Upon inspection, they indeed found a exposed blue brick.
As for the writing on it, it was ancient clerical script from the Eastern Han Dynasty!
"Xuantan Old Ghost."
Wang Zizai read the inscription.
He then looked at Elder Dong and Professor Li with a hint of confusion.
He didn't understand what these four words meant.
If Wang Zizai, an expert in Han tombs, didn't understand, Elder Dong and Professor Li understood even less.
The three could only guess that it was some kind of imperial decree or inscription.
And bricks or stones with imperial decrees or inscriptions were usually either opening bricks or closing bricks.
This meant that by excavating around this brick, they would soon see the full picture of the Xuanjing!
So, Elder Dong urged the workers to speed up.
As expected, shortly after, a dry ancient well appeared before everyone.
However, the shape of the well surprised them.
It wasn't the usual cylindrical shape, but more like a waist drum!
The middle was indented in a long circle, while the bottom and the opening were relatively wider.
It seemed to be divided into two distinctly different worlds.
As for the bottom of the well, it was pitch black as far as the eye could see.
Elder Dong shone a powerful flashlight down, but upon just a glance, he shivered and almost fell into the well!