112: Chapter 112 Don't Pretend to Know What You Don't
Walking along the dim corridor.
The beam of the flashlight swept across the front, illuminating nothing but broken walls and ruins.
Lin Mo walked and stopped, occasionally crouching down to touch the carvings on the stone wall.
Sometimes, he would stare at a collapsed corner, lost in deep thought.
At the same time, he "uploaded" the scenes he saw to the System AI in his mind.
The System AI operated at high speed, reconstructing the original appearance of the building in his consciousness based on these fragments of information.
Where the corridor used to be, where the palace gate was, where the Sect emblem should have been carved on the pillars...
Therefore, in his eyes, these dilapidated ruins were no longer the broken mess before him, but a three-dimensional picture of the past.
His focused and inquisitive demeanor soon caught the attention of Captain Gu Miaoyu, making her pay a little more attention to him.
After observing for the past few days, she had long since realized that this team from the Eastern Martial Soul Academy was clearly centered around Lin Mo.
This young man seemed carefree, but the fact that both instructors listened to him proved he was no ordinary student.
"Lin Mo, have you noticed something?"
Teacher Shen Yao leaned over. She was a theory instructor, after all, and was particularly interested in these ruins and remnants.
Hearing Teacher Shen Yao's question, Captain Gu Miaoyu, who was some distance away, paused her steps. She looked as if she were observing the surroundings, but her ears were quietly pricked up.
An instructor asking a student for advice?
This was a novelty.
Lin Mo pointed to a deep, bone-chilling slash on the wall, his tone firm: "Well, judging by these marks, it seems this Sect experienced a brutal slaughter before being buried by geological shifts."
"Ah? You can tell that?"
Teacher Shen Yao leaned closer to the mark in surprise.
Lin Mo lifted his chin proudly: "Of course, I am a 'Great Master' after all."
"Stop spouting nonsense." Teacher Shen Yao gave him a charming roll of the eyes and pursued, "So? What does this mean?"
"So, our harvest from this trip might not be very large, or we might return empty-handed."
Lin Mo put away his smile and pointed to the scattered weapon fragments at his feet.
"My guess is that if the Shuiyue Sect had experienced a great battle before being buried, then the important items in the Sect were either mostly destroyed during the fighting or looted by the victors."
He paused, his tone filled with a hint of regret.
"Now I can only pray it isn't the latter, otherwise we might really be making a wasted trip and won't even find a single decent hair."
Once this was said, not only did Teacher Shen Yao and the team members nearby look grave.
Even Captain Gu Miaoyu, who was "eavesdropping" from afar, couldn't help but furrow her brows.
"Are you sure these marks were left by a great battle and not just geological shifts?" Teacher Shen Yao shone her flashlight on a broken stone pillar.
"Look here." Lin Mo pointed to the broken stone pillar.
"The fracture surface of the stone pillar clearly shows traces left by blood..."
Lin Mo listed a few simple examples.
Hearing the end, Teacher Shen Yao took a deep breath, and most of her lingering hope was extinguished: "I hope you guessed wrong."
Exclamations came from ahead; the team members in front had discovered something.
Everyone hurried over, only to see a relatively intact ancient building.
Lin Mo squeezed to the front.
He saw many remains of bookshelves scattered inside the room.
The whole room only had a few dusty books scattered around...
"It seems... that kid was right."
Captain Gu Miaoyu walked in. Her gaze fell on a yellowed, thread-bound book on the ground, and she bent down to pick it up.
"Captain Gu, wait!"
A shout suddenly rang out.
Everyone looked toward the sound and saw Master Bai Yuntian of the Vermilion Bird Academy straightening his lapels as he walked out from behind the crowd.
He put on the air of a scholar well-versed in ancient book research.
"These books are at least several hundred years old. The paper has long since oxidized and become extremely fragile. If Captain Gu picks it up directly with her hands, I'm afraid it will be damaged on the spot."
His tone carried a hint of imperceptible superiority.
Hearing this, many nodded in agreement.
"Master Bai's words certainly make sense."
"Thanks to Master Bai's reminder, otherwise this ancient book might really have been destroyed."
"It seems professional matters should be handled by professionals, otherwise the loss would be huge."
Captain Gu Miaoyu quickly withdrew her hand, a flash of embarrassment on her face, and said sincerely to Master Bai Yuntian: "Many thanks for the reminder, Master Bai."
"Hehe, no problem."
Master Bai Yuntian had a gentle smile on his face and was about to continue showing off his knowledge, "After hundreds of years, the paper fibers have long since aged. We need to use special..."
Before he finished speaking, a figure "whooshed" to Captain Gu Miaoyu's side, bent down, and picked up the book.
"Uh..."
The air suddenly went quiet.
Everyone's eyes converged at once.
They saw a young guy licking his fingertips and flipping the book pages directly.
His movements were as rough as if he were flipping through a dime-store novel found anywhere.
"Tsk tsk tsk, luck is decent, it's actually a Profound Rank martial arts Secret Manual."
While flipping through the pages quickly, he clicked his tongue in admiration. The pages made a "rustling" sound in his hands, looking quite sturdy.
This scene completely stunned everyone.
Didn't he say it was heavily oxidized and would crumble at a touch?
What was going on with it being flipped through so fast?
Master Bai Yuntian's pupils shrank even more. When he saw it was Lin Mo, he trembled with anger and pointed at him, scolding: "You, you, you... rascal! How dare you!"
"You, you, you, you my ass."
Lin Mo didn't even lift his head. After finishing the last page, he handed the book to Captain Gu Miaoyu casually.
He cast a sidelong glance at Master Bai Yuntian.
"Don't pretend you know if you don't."
"The paper used to record Secret Manuals, can it be ordinary waste paper? It's mixed with special animal skin fibers and special curing agents. Never mind a few hundred years, even if it were buried for another thousand or eight hundred years, it would still be just as sturdy."
"You... Pfft—"
Master Bai Yuntian was flushed red by his words, both ashamed and angry.
He couldn't catch his breath, covered his chest, and took two steps back.
Captain Gu Miaoyu picked up the Secret Manual, her fingertips touching the paper.
Sure enough, as Lin Mo said, although it was a bit dry, it was exceptionally tough, with no signs of crumbling at a touch.
She looked up at Lin Mo, her eyes filled with a bit more curiosity.
This young man seemed to know more than she had imagined.
She secretly thought to herself that when she went back, she would send someone to check this student's background.
If he really had talent, she would break the rules and pull him into the organization.
"Giggle, Old Man Bai, you'd better rest. In front of my boss, your little bit of knowledge is nothing." Lu Mengmeng covered her mouth and giggled, her chest heaving, quite a pleasing sight.
Master Bai Yuntian was so angry he couldn't speak. He rolled his eyes and fainted directly.
"Instructor Bai!"
Several students from the Vermilion Bird Academy hurried up to support him.
Lin Mo ignored him and let his gaze fall on the other scattered books.
This time no one stopped him.
They just watched as he picked one up and quickly flipped through the pages.
"Hmm, this one is a bit worse, just a set of Profound Rank Martial Skill Secret Manual."
After quickly flipping through it, he handed it directly to Captain Gu Miaoyu.
Everyone watched as he not only finished reading it quickly but also told everyone what the book was.
He had no intention of keeping it for himself.
Only then did they not say anything.
Finally, Lin Mo walked to the corner of the room, picked up a small jar, and opened it.
"Eh, it's actually a body tempering pill?"
Lin Mo picked one up and sniffed it in front of his nose.
"Hey, Captain Gu, you're lucky. This jar of body tempering pills hasn't gone bad yet. Taking it back won't be a wasted trip."
Lin Mo smiled and shoved the jar into Captain Gu Miaoyu's arms.
Then he continued to wander around the room.
This scene left everyone stunned.
"body tempering pill? What is that?"
Captain Gu Miaoyu didn't understand and quickly asked Lin Mo.
Lin Mo waved his hand without looking back:
"It's just the pill that ancient Martial Artists used to assist in training their physique. You take it back and have the researchers analyze it. Perhaps they can create a physique potion. It will definitely be a great contribution."
"Hiss..."