99: Chapter 99 The Golden Mask That Devours History

Jiang Feng could feel his passive skill, Empathy Shielding, operating at high speed within his body.

It barely managed to counteract some of the mental pressure brought on by that vacuum area.

"Damn, is this thing actually an artifact?"

Jiang Feng cursed inwardly, feeling incredulous.

"This damn thing is a black hole!"

"This time, things have gotten a bit out of hand."

"This third divination is likely hell-level difficulty."

The chatter of tourists and the explanations of the tour guides could not penetrate that area.

Standing there, Jiang Feng felt as though a piece of his auditory world had been hollowed out.

He took a step forward, walking toward the source of that deathly silence.

He walked slowly, each step feeling like he was probing an unknown realm.

As the distance closed, that eerie sensation of having his senses stripped away grew increasingly intense.

Finally, he stopped in front of that isolated display case.

Inside the case, under dim lighting, a gold mask was quietly displayed.

The mask's design was primitive, perhaps even a bit crude.

Where the eyes should have been were two bottomless hollows.

The mouth was a curved, wide grin, neither smiling nor frowning, exuding an indescribable aura of evil.

On the plaque beneath the display case, there was only a simple line of description.

【Liao Dynasty · Shaman Ritual Mask】.

The introduction was unusually brief, stating only that it had been unearthed from a solitary shaman tomb, with almost zero recorded historical data regarding its specific purpose.

Jiang Feng's ability to discern history through sound was now pushed to its absolute limit.

In his auditory world, this mask was a black hole for sound.

It not only failed to emit any sounds representative of history itself, but it was also continuously absorbing all the sounds emitted by other exhibits nearby.

"This is not a dead object at all," Jiang Feng thought, his hair standing on end.

"This is a monster that is devouring history," he concluded.

Jiang Feng shifted his gaze away from the mask and onto a tour guide responsible for this area.

She was a young woman, leading a group of tourists and explaining a Liao Dynasty silver pot in the display case next to the mask.

She spoke vividly, citing historical references.

But when she finished talking about the silver pot and led the tourists to the next exhibit, she skipped over the gold mask entirely, as if she hadn't seen it at all.

It was as if, in her subconscious, this object simply did not exist or was not worth introducing at all.

"There's something strange about this thing; is everyone intentionally or unintentionally ignoring it?"

This eerie sense of being forgotten sent a chill down Jiang Feng's spine.

He stared at the mask, a wave of unease rising in his heart.

"Young friend, are you interested in this, too?"

A hoarse voice rang out behind Jiang Feng.

Jiang Feng didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

Professor Sun.

He walked over, supported by two students.

The old professor's complexion was still pale, but his eyes had regained some of a scholar's clarity and rationality.

He looked at Jiang Feng with a complicated expression.

"Professor, why did you come over? Are you feeling better?" Jiang Feng turned around, his tone polite.

Professor Sun shook his head, walked to Jiang Feng's side, and cast his gaze toward the mask in the display case.

"Whether I'm better or not is another matter. It's just that those few words of yours earlier left me somewhat… shaken."

"It seems you've come to terms with it," Jiang Feng said.

Professor Sun gave a bitter smile.

"This is the first time I've seen you so focused on this mask."

He pointed at the gold mask inside the case.

"This is the strangest collection piece I have ever handled."

"Oh? In what way is it strange?" Jiang Feng asked. He wanted to hear how Professor Sun would describe this anomaly.

Professor Sun rubbed his hands together, a trace of confusion appearing on his face.

"It's strange in that… all memories related to it are exceptionally easy to forget."

"For example, the team responsible for studying it always inexplicably loses their notes."

"Or they can't remember the next day where they left off the day before. It's as if… as if something is always being erased by it."

"Hmm?" Jiang Feng hummed, signaling him to continue.

"Even I…" Professor Sun paused, his tone revealing helplessness, "have to repeatedly check the documents every day just to barely remember its basic information."

A male student behind Professor Sun couldn't help but chime in: "That's right, Master. This thing is too evil. I'm responsible for organizing the electronic files for this mask, and the documents have been corrupted three times; every time, the data turned into garbled code without any warning."

He looked at Jiang Feng, the implication of seeking help very clear.

"We can't figure out what's going on."

Another female student quietly echoed: "We don't really dare to get close to it. We always feel that if we look at it for too long, our minds become groggy."

"So you have always kept your distance from it?" Jiang Feng asked again.

Professor Sun interjected: "We didn't intentionally distance ourselves from it, but naturally, it's hard for anyone's attention to remain focused on it."

"No one wants to specifically study it," the female student added.

"Even the explanations are often skipped?" Jiang Feng looked at Professor Sun.

Professor Sun nodded.

"Before you arrived earlier, I brought my students past here and skipped over it too. If it weren't for you being here, I'm afraid I would have forgotten again."

Jiang Feng finally turned around.

He looked at Professor Sun's face, which was full of wrinkles and confusion, his expression more serious than ever before.

"Professor Sun, do you want to know why the historical records concerning this mask are almost completely blank?" Jiang Feng asked directly.

Professor Sun was stunned.

His eyes were filled with inquiry.

He vaguely felt that he might be about to come into contact with a truth that would completely overturn his sixty years of materialist worldview.

"What exactly is its origin?" Professor Sun's voice was somewhat dry.

"Have you ever thought about what it would be like if an artifact possessed the ability to erase its own history?" Jiang Feng did not answer directly but instead posed a question.

Professor Sun frowned, pondering Jiang Feng's words.

"Erase history? How is that possible? Artifacts are inanimate, and history is objective," Professor Sun retorted.

"Is that so?" Jiang Feng asked back, "Didn't you just say that all memories related to it are easily forgotten, and materials are easily lost?"

"This… this is a coincidence, or perhaps some kind of unknown physical effect," Professor Sun insisted on his viewpoint.

Jiang Feng reached out his hand and pointed at the gold mask with the ambiguous smile.

He said, enunciating every word: "Because it eats history."

Professor Sun and his students all opened their mouths.

This explanation exceeded the scope of their understanding.

"Eat history? This is simply… a fantasy!" Professor Sun felt it was absurd.

"It sounds absurd, but the facts are right before your eyes."

"Anyone who attempts to record, study, or even remember it will have their memories and related records of it slowly devoured by it as time passes."

"It's as if someone has forcibly gouged a piece out of the river of history," Jiang Feng explained.

"In the end, it returns to nothingness."