46: Soaring fame

That afternoon, the news of the discovery of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's treasure at Old Crow Mountain spread rapidly through the national cultural relics and archaeology system like a top-secret electronic order in the form of an "internal bulletin."

For a time, all relevant office phones were ringing off the hook.

At exactly 8:00 PM, the official account of the Xinhua News Agency released a news flash that was as short as it could possibly be.

[An important Taiping Heavenly Kingdom site has been discovered in Shimian County, Sichuan, China. A large number of precious cultural relics have been unearthed. Specific details will be announced in the coming days.]

No pictures, no details, just a mere thirty-odd words.

However, those thirty-odd words were like a ton of TNT exploding beneath a calm lake surface.

The entire historical and archaeological communities were completely sleepless.

In a certain compound in the capital, a titan-level history professor with graying hair saw the push notification on his phone. His hand shook, and he was completely unaware that hot tea had spilled all over him. He grabbed the phone and called an old friend at the Cultural Relics Bureau: "Old Zhang! That site in Sichuan! Count me in! These old bones of mine can still climb mountains!"

On the internet, things were already in an absolute uproar.

Within ten minutes of the news being released, three topics were forced to the top of the trending list by netizens' fingers.

[#Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Treasure Discovered#] Hot

[#Mystery of Taiping Rebellion Leader's Treasure Ends#] Hot

[#Who is Lin Feng#] New

The first two topics were understandable, but the third topic left countless old fans not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

The follower count of Lin Feng's Bilibili account was jumping at a terrifying speed visible to the naked eye. In just a few short hours, it broke through the 20 million mark directly from 15 million, and it was still soaring.

The comment section of his post "Tomorrow, entering the mountains" had completely fallen.

"I freaking knew it! A production by God Feng is bound to be a masterpiece!"

"Two days ago, I was still playing chess online, saying God Feng was going to fail this time. Now my face hurts, but I feel so good! God Feng, slap me!"

"This is what you call a truly peerless national hero! Handing it over to the country as soon as the treasure is found—vision, that's what you call vision!"

"Stop bragging, you guys. You didn't see how nasty the insults were in the livestream the day before yesterday. A bunch of fence-sitters."

"What's the point of arguing? Does God Feng need you mortals to judge him? Everyone, spam: God Feng is the GOAT!"

"God Feng is the GOAT!"

Inside the Shimian County Guesthouse.

Wang Dalong was almost half-lying on the bed, holding his phone, his mouth wide like a ladle, letting out bursts of uncontrollable, silly giggles.

"Brother Feng! Brother Feng, look! 21 million! It's still rising!" He sat up with a kip-up and shoved the phone screen in front of Lin Feng's face. "The private messages in the backend have exploded. They're all advertisements, and there are even variety shows from several Satellite TV stations! They specifically want you as a permanent guest! The appearance fee... there are so many zeros at the end, I lost count!"

Lin Feng was methodically stuffing a change of clothes into his backpack. Hearing this, he only lifted his eyelids to glance before lowering his head to continue.

That expression was so calm it was as if Wang Dalong had said he ate a bowl of noodles for dinner tonight.

"No, brother, give me some reaction at least, will you?" Wang Dalong was completely speechless. "This is the treasure of the Taiping Rebellion Leader! Real gold and silver! A discovery at the level of a history textbook! Media outlets all over the world are reporting your name right now! Aren't you excited?"

"And then?" Lin Feng asked back without looking up.

"And then?" Wang Dalong was stunned by the question, then slapped his thigh. "And then we've made it! Total financial freedom! In the future, you can buy whatever you want and do whatever you want, and you'll never have to look at anyone's face again!"

Lin Feng finally stopped his movements, turned to look at him, his gaze very serious.

"You want financial freedom?"

"Duh! I dream of it!"

"Then you stay." Lin Feng zipped up his backpack and stood up. "You handle those collaborations; I won't take a cut of the profits."

"..."

Wang Dalong's mouth hung open, choked into silence for a long time.

He looked at Lin Feng's unruffled face and suddenly lost his steam, chuckling as he scratched his head. "Fine, I knew you were like this. Money is probably no different from paper in your eyes. Alright, I'll listen to you. So, what are we doing next?"

Lin Feng uttered two words.

"Going home."

The two of them drove away from Shimian County through the night.

To avoid those reporters and internet celebrities whose sense of smell was sharper than a dog's, Lin Feng didn't take the highway. He specifically chose a national highway that could only be seen by zooming in on the map, and stubbornly drove several hundred extra kilometers around mountain roads.

By the time they returned to the apartment, the horizon had already turned fish-belly white.

"Click."

The door opened, and a familiar scholarly air wafted toward him.

Lin Feng tossed his backpack into the corner and sank heavily into the large computer chair in the study, letting out a long breath.

Home was still the most comfortable.

He skillfully turned on the computer and logged into the Bilibili backend.

Red badges representing the number of messages flickered piercingly.

[Private Messages: 99+]

[Comments: 99+]

[Collaboration Invitations: 99+]

With an expressionless face, Lin Feng clicked the mouse three times, marking everything as read. The whole world instantly became quiet.

He closed the backend and typed a few words into the search bar.

"Old Crow Mountain Taiping Heavenly Kingdom"

Enter.

Over ten million search results instantly filled the screen.

Major domestic official media and portals, foreign outlets like the BBC, The New York Times, The Guardian... reports about this discovery were everywhere, each title more exaggerated than the last.

[BBC: Chinese Treasure Hunter Discovers Lost Kingdom Treasure, Value May Exceed One Billion Dollars!]

[The New York Times: Lin Feng—The Greatest Treasure Hunter of the 21st Century!]

[The Guardian: Three Major Discoveries in Half a Year, How Was the Oriental Miracle Made?]

Lin Feng scanned through them at ten lines a glance, his eyes showing no fluctuation, as if he were reading someone else's story.

Until he clicked on an analytical article from the official website of the most authoritative domestic journal, the "Journal of Archaeology."

The article's title was very long and academic.

[On the Historical Value of the Old Crow Mountain Site—Also Discussing New Breakthroughs in the Study of Late Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Military History]

The article was extensive, analyzing everything from the site layout, the distribution of remains, and the style of the unearthed relics, to the military deployment and psychological state of the Taiping Rebellion Leader before his defeat at the Dadu River.

Rigorous, professional, and profound.

At the end of the article, he saw the author's signature.

Jiang Wanqing.

Lin Feng stared at the name for a few seconds, his fingertip tapping lightly on the desk once, and then he closed the webpage.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

The noisy reports, the exploding data, and the staggering valuations all receded like the tide.

In his mind, scene after scene of illusions became clear again.

A cave filled with soaring flames.

Over two hundred sets of remains that refused to fall.

Centurion Li kneeling at the cave entrance, kowtowing heavily to the remains of every single brother.

And that roar that dissipated in the fierce fire.

"In the next life, we'll still be brothers!"

Lin Feng snapped his eyes open.

He opened the video editing software on his computer and skillfully created a new project.

He wanted to bring closure for those people and for that sealed period of history.

But this time, the protagonist of the story would no longer be the Taiping Army.