Chapter 17

Rou Yi and Liu Xiaojuan cleared the path ahead, while Duan Pengfei and Wang Tieman supported Professor Chen from behind. Fatty brought up the rear.

The former citizens of the old kingdom, having just made it ashore, immediately began to run toward Fatty and the others. However, having just recovered from a shriveled, dehydrated state, their legs were not nimble enough to run fast. Fatty and his group maintained a safe distance.

However, not all of the old kingdom's citizens were old, weak, or disabled. Several brave young men burst out from the crowd and ran to the front.

Those who had just landed also gradually outflanked Fatty and his group from the sides. They were organized and disciplined, as if their unified actions were being manipulated by someone behind the scenes.

Seeing that several people were about to catch up, Fatty pointed his gun at them. They clearly didn't understand the power of the pistol, showing no fear and unable to comprehend Fatty's threat. Seeing that the threat had failed, Fatty hardened his heart and fired a shot toward the upper part of the ancient city.

The loud gunshot made those chasing after them feel a bit of apprehension, and they gradually slowed their pace. After a while, the citizens of the old kingdom saw that the weapon in Fatty's hand was only loud but didn't seem to have any real power, so they regrouped and chased after Fatty and his group again.

Fatty thought to himself, this group of barbarians is simply acting with reckless courage. They really need to be taught a lesson.

Fatty aimed at the calf of the person running in the lead and fired. With a "bang," the person's calf was hit, and they instantly fell to the ground. Those behind couldn't stop in time and trampled over the person. One after another, in an instant, the fallen person was crushed into minced meat.

Those behind had no idea what had happened in front, and continued to run as before.

Seeing that his previous shot had little effect, Fatty fired several shots into the crowd. The first few people were hit one after another and fell to the ground. The people who fell dragged down those behind them, slowing down the entire crowd's progress.

Fatty and the others were able to catch their breath and continued to run toward the temple.

When they reached the front of the temple, Fatty protected Rou Yi and Professor Chen behind him, facing the surging citizens of the old kingdom and continuing to be on guard with his gun.

However, the crowd stopped suddenly in front of the temple, not taking another step forward. They just stared straight at Fatty and the others.

Fatty knew that they weren't stopping because they were afraid of the gun in his hand. Perhaps there was some kind of authority or terrifying presence in the temple, a memory rooted in the hearts of the old kingdom's citizens, that made them afraid to approach.

Fatty hesitated. He had a feeling that there might be something even more terrifying in the temple, but with the path ahead blocked by the citizens of the old kingdom, they had nowhere else to go. They had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk into the temple.

"There may be danger in the temple. Everyone, please be careful." Seeing that the crowd showed no signs of rushing forward, Fatty moved from the back of the group to the front, leading everyone into the temple.

The main hall of the temple was magnificent, even more spacious than the Taoist temple they had seen earlier, with carved beams and painted pillars. Layers of lamps hanging on the red pillars emitted a holy light, illuminating the entire hall. Everything inside was clearly visible. The hall was very quiet, and only the heavy breathing of Professor Chen, Duan Pengfei, and Wang Tieman could be heard. Their chests rose and fell sharply, and they looked exhausted.

On the altar at the very back of the hall was a life-size statue, but it was far away and didn't attract much attention. There was something more fascinating that caught everyone's eyes.

The murals on the surrounding walls were radiant and colorful, and the carvings were ingenious, far surpassing the quality of the murals in the previous Taoist temple. It was clear that this temple was the very center of the underground ancient city.

Everyone approached the murals and carvings, wanting to explore them.

The murals and carvings were still narrative blocks. Overall, they seemed to describe the origin of the entire underground ancient city. Next to each pattern block was a large amount of Tocharian text. If you didn't understand Tocharian and only looked at the pictures, it would be impossible to understand what the murals were telling.

Professor Chen, Duan Pengfei, Wang Tieman, and Liu Xiaojuan tried to decipher the Tocharian language. They debated intensely for more than half an hour, constantly recording and deducing in their notebooks, but to no avail.

After all, Professor Chen and the others had basically never been exposed to the Tocharian language before, and they had never participated in the translation and decipherment of Tocharian. They had only seen brief explanations and illustrations of Tocharian in relevant literature and books. It was impossible to decipher Tocharian in such a short period of time.

Professor Chen looked regretfully at the murals and carvings on the wall that recorded the entire history of the ancient city. Unable to learn the secrets within, he sighed repeatedly, stamping his feet in frustration.

Rou Yi carefully looked at the content of the murals, comparing them with the Tocharian annotations, and silently translated them in her mind. It didn't take long for her to have a clue.

Rou Yi looked at Professor Chen and said, "I understand most of the Tocharian annotations on the murals. I roughly know what the murals are about."

Professor Chen looked at Rou Yi, who was more beautiful than anyone he had ever seen, and shook his head helplessly. He said to Rou Yi, "Young lady, it's best not to joke about this kind of thing."

Fatty, hearing the distrustful tone in Professor Chen's words, immediately defended Rou Yi, exaggeratingly saying to Professor Chen and the others, "This Ms. Anna in front of you is a linguistics expert, a linguistics professor at Harvard University in the United States. There's no language she can't decipher. She specializes in these 'difficult and complicated cases.' Even if you put an alien here, she can communicate fluently with the alien in less than half an hour. You can't underestimate her."

Fatty's boast really shocked Professor Chen and the others. Seeing that Rou Yi was only in her early twenties but had such achievements, she must have extraordinary abilities. They changed their attitude toward Rou Yi, and their eyes became respectful.

Nine and a half of the ten sentences Fatty spoke were false. Rou Yi rolled her eyes at Fatty and said modestly to Professor Chen, "I studied Sanskrit before and have a better understanding of this language family. Perhaps I can try to translate the Tocharian content on the murals. If there are any omissions, please correct me, Professor Chen."

Rou Yi's words made Professor Chen feel comfortable. People with strength and humility always close the distance with others. In comparison, Fatty, who was also Chinese, was not so likeable.

Rou Yi pointed to the Tocharian annotations on the murals, combined with the content of the pictures, and translated for Professor Chen and the others. Professor Chen then supplemented with historical facts and materials.

"The murals tell roughly this story..."