"Strange?" Hao Ren looked curiously at the small wooden box in Vivian's hand. It had a dark red luster and was decorated with fine European carvings from 300 years ago. Due to its age, there were some cracks on the edge of the wooden box, but other than that, it looked no different from any ordinary jewelry box from that era. "Perhaps this was the only valuable thing you had back then, so you handed it to your men."
"I am poor, but I don't really care about these expensive things," Vivian opened the small wooden box and looked at the velvet lining inside. "My main concern has always been to fill my stomach … What's so strange about this box?"
As she said that, she put the box under her nose and sniffed it. "There's a faint smell of blood. It's my own blood, probably left behind as a mark. But it's been 300 years, and the smell is a little thin. The runes in the box don't have any special information. "
Hao Ren took the box and shook it gently. Suddenly, an idea came to him. "Maybe there's a hidden layer inside … Should I open it and take a look?"
Vivian was a little hesitant. In fact, when she first got the box a few days ago, she had the idea, but she could not bear to open the box. After all, it looked beautiful. After a long struggle with herself, she finally nodded. "That's true … It's not a good idea to just leave it like this. Be careful, and try not to damage the wooden planks. Maybe we can repair it. "
Hao Ren pursed his lips and thought to himself that she really lived a poor life. Although she said that she did not care about expensive things, she would still feel bad when it came to it.
Hao Ren put the small wooden box on the table and took out a small carving knife and screwdriver to pry open the wooden planks around the box. He was very careful, not because he was afraid of damaging the box, but because he was worried that he might damage the hidden layer inside the box. After removing a few planks, he found something.
The thick bottom of the box was hollow.
"There's really something hidden inside?" Vivian was surprised. She extended her fingernails and dug into the gap of the bottom of the box. She pulled out a yellowish-white cloth that looked like silk. Along with this piece of cloth, a piece of blood-colored crystal less than the size of a thumb, only a few millimeters thick, fell out.
Hao Ren looked at it expectantly. He suddenly felt that the process was like a fantasy story: finding the hidden layer in an ancient jewelry box from three centuries ago, which hid the secret knowledge of the witch. The keeper of the jewelry box was an immortal who had lived for more than 300 years, and opening the box in a basement … Apart from the fact that the witch herself was a poor bat, everything else seemed quite elegant.
Vivian carefully unfolded the strange "cloth" and found that it was unexpectedly thin and tough. It seemed that the material was far beyond the textile technology of ancient humans. When unfolded, it was nearly three feet square. One-third of the top was densely written with dark red "paint", and the rest of the paper was painted with some simple pictures. There was also a large blank space, which seemed to be prepared for future use.
"This is … cloth used by the Egyptian gods. I remember Horus once gave me some of this to help him cure a plague." Vivian looked at the three-foot square "silk" thoughtfully. "This cloth was not made by humans in the past."
Hao Ren found that the color of the handwriting on the cloth was a little strange. It was of different shades. It seemed that it was not written in one go, but on and off notes from many different eras. "Did you write this?"
"It's my handwriting, and the writing material is my blood. Otherwise, it would not have been preserved for so long." Vivian struggled to decipher the logical order of the words. "My handwriting was really ugly back then, and these are all ancient words. I don't think anyone can understand them now."
Hao Ren was speechless.
"This is the beginning," Vivian pointed to a corner of the cloth and slowly read it out. "… Some of the records have been lost, along with my memories, and I can no longer find any trace of them. I don't even know what I have lost. Keeping the records in a dormant place or burying them is not reliable. If left unattended, they may be destroyed by changes in the natural environment. Also, I may not remember these things when I wake up. Before everything is lost, I should make a copy of them again and keep them in the hands of a reliable servant, or put them into a human museum. Even if I forget these things again, at least they will still be preserved, and there is a chance that they will see the light of day again. As long as there is a chance, it is good. "
Hao Ren furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"
"It should be about keeping these manuscripts. It seems like I have kept other similar messages, and I often keep and copy them. However, every time I wake up from my hibernation, I will find that part of the manuscripts is missing." Vivian deduced based on her own habits. "It seems like I tried to keep them by my side before I hibernate, and I buried them underground. In the end, I realized that if there is no one to look at these manuscripts, there will always be problems. So, in the end, I chose to give them to my servant, or induce human archaeologists to put them in a museum."
Vivian nodded at the end. "Hmm, although the lifespan of humans is short, their inheritance is more reliable than the lifespan of otherworldlings. At least … it is more reliable than my brain. Inducing things into the human archaeological system seems to be a good way to preserve the relics."
Hao Ren chuckled. "That is now. In ancient times, it might not be the case. What if you encountered the burning of books and the burning of the Library of Alexandria? "
Vivian pursed her lips. "I have seen the burning of the Library of Alexandria, but the burning of books and scholars was definitely not as serious as the later generations say. When Ying Zheng burned the books, he basically left a copy, and the only copy was not burned. He hid it directly in his library."
Hao Ren said, "… Then, let's continue to look at your last words … Oh, no, your messages."
Vivian leaned on the table and tried hard to decipher the ancient words written hundreds, thousands, and even tens of thousands of years ago. The symbols used in the words were unknown to anyone. Some of them were even primitive characters and hieroglyphs from the era of human origin. There were even mysterious characters that had never appeared in human history. Only Vivian could remember which tribe or which celestial clan they came from. Of course, there were also a small number of Letta runes. However, Letta runes were not suitable for remembering things, so there was only a small part of the content. Vivian knew the meaning of these words, but she could not tell where they came from. It could be said that this was a secret letter that only one person in the world could decipher. If it really got into the hands of human archaeologists, there was no telling how much of a stir it would cause.
However, it was destined to not fall into the hands of those experts. Now, only the writer of the letter was struggling to recall the meaning of the words and deciphered them intermittently.
"… The following content is copied from other old manuscripts and recalled. It may not be very accurate, and the early years cannot be recalled.
"… I woke up in a wasteland. The place where the sun rose was a large beach, and the place where the sun set was a mountain range. The long frozen plains had faded, and the earth seemed to be recovering. Breathing became more comfortable. Walking in the direction of the warm wind, I could see the grassland and the trees that were turning green. Among the rocks, I saw a human settlement. They had survived the freezing season and were hunting. I was regarded as a goddess and was worshipped with food. I began to recover my strength …
"… The seasons changed two hundred times. The tribe began to fear my longevity and power, so they left. Walking in the direction of the setting sun, over the mountain range, and flew over a very wide area. I saw a white tower and a palace. This was beyond human skills. Perhaps people like me lived here.
"The people in the tower did not welcome me, so they left. In the wilderness, I met Amon and Osiris. They were heading to a place where a large river flowed. They invited me to go with them, but I was overcome with sleepiness. I needed to find a place to sleep. Also, I was in a bad mood recently. I had fought with someone for no reason. It was best not to continue traveling with others.
"I found a stable cave, set up a defense, and prepared to sleep. The last night, there was a full moon. The moon was bright, but I no longer had the energy to look at it.
"… I woke up in the cave. It was cold, and it was snowing outside. I hoped that it would not be the long freezing season again. Outside the cave, I found traces of a human settlement. There were some abandoned stone houses and tools. It seemed that a tribe or small kingdom had appeared here while I was asleep. This time, I continued to walk in the direction of the setting sun … I found a large plain and discovered a relatively large human settlement. Their vitality was really tenacious.
"My strength began to recover again. The feeling of weakness after my sleep had subsided. Walking in the direction of the cold wind, I began to recall more things about my power. This seemed to be a good sign. On the mountain, I met Zeus and Hera, who were quarrying stones. They were an interesting couple. It seemed that they intended to raise a group of humans, but I didn't know how they were going to do it.
"My strength recovered very quickly. It seemed that I had returned to my peak. I easily defeated a group of beasts and undead in battle. But after that, there was a strange anger that could not go away. It seemed that those beasts and the masters behind them were my enemies. Perhaps it had something to do with some lost memories … My strength continued to increase. Finally, I attacked and destroyed the Lord of the Undead who invaded my territory. My anger subsided a little, but I was overcome with sleepiness. I needed to find a place to sleep. This time, I chose a mountain. "
Vivian translated and added her own speculations. "The first time was probably during the later stages of the Ice Age. The second time seemed to be seven or eight thousand years ago … Zeus had not yet built Mount Olympus. He only started to pay attention to the human kingdoms after a few thousand years."
"This seems to be a diary of every time you woke up and fell asleep." Hao Ren frowned. "Why did you record this?"
Vivian shook her head. "I don't know … I can only continue reading."
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