Can't afford to pay for the takeout? Stunning CEO: Then pay with your body!

Chapter 373 Empty Cavity!

The plane landed in Jinghai at 6 p.m.

When Zhang Yan and Nie Qingcheng returned to the villa, Qin Xiao's car was already parked at the door.

"Brother Yan." Qin Xiao got out of the car, carrying two encrypted file boxes. "Everything you asked me to investigate is here."

Zhang Yan glanced at it. "Come in and speak."

The three people entered the study.

Qin Xiao opened the file box, which contained a thick stack of paper files and three encrypted USB drives.

"The target area in Shennongjia covers a radius of fifty kilometers, and includes nearly thirty years of geological exploration records." Qin Xiao divided the files into several stacks. "A total of seven scientific expedition teams have entered that area."

Zhang Yan picked up the first one.

"The first five were all conventional geological explorations, reaching a depth of up to 600 meters, with no anomalies," Qin Xiao said. "But the sixth and seventh—"

He paused for a moment.

"They've lost contact."

Nie Qingcheng looked up. "When did this happen?"

"The sixth team was from nineteen years ago, a deep geological research group under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, consisting of twelve people. They lost communication after descending to 800 meters. Three days later, a search and rescue team went in, but only found equipment wreckage." Qin Xiao pulled out a photograph. "The official conclusion was a geological collapse."

Zhang Yan looked at the photos. The equipment wreckage was scattered among the rubble, but the distribution of the rubble didn't resemble a natural landslide. It was too even.

"And the seventh one?"

"Eleven years ago. Military background, a six-person team, carrying the most advanced deep-sea exploration equipment at the time." Qin Xiao lowered his voice. "They lost contact after descending to 850 meters. This time, they didn't even send a search and rescue team."

Nie Qingcheng frowned. "Why?"

"Because on the third day after we lost contact, the surface monitoring station recorded an abnormal tremor." Qin Xiao pulled up some data. "It wasn't a seismic wave. The frequency was too regular. Like a heartbeat."

Zhang Yan took the data and looked at it for a few seconds.

"And then?"

"That area was subsequently designated a restricted zone by the military, and all files were sealed," Qin Xiao said. "I only managed to access it through Qin Changfeng's connections."

Zhang Yan put the data down. "Where's the satellite heat map?"

Qin Xiao opened his laptop and pulled up a thermal image.

"This is the thermal data for the target area over the past 72 hours." He pointed to a faint bright spot in the center of the screen. "There is a persistent heat source about 800 meters underground."

Zhang Yan stared at the bright spot.

"Pulse frequency?"

"Once every forty-seven seconds," Qin Xiao said. "Extremely regular. From the time I started monitoring until now, there hasn't been a single deviation."

Nie Qingcheng stood up and walked to the screen. "What were the last known coordinates of the team that lost contact nineteen years ago?"

Qin Xiao marked the location.

It is directly above the heat source.

The study was quiet for a few seconds.

Nie Qingcheng turned to look at Zhang Yan. "You're still going?"

It's not a question.

Zhang Yan said, "We must go."

Nie Qingcheng didn't say anything more. She returned to the table, sat down, picked up a pen, and began to make a list on a piece of white paper.

Qin Xiao looked at Zhang Yan, then at Nie Qingcheng. "Um... Sister-in-law, what's wrong—"

"Communication relay stations." Nie Qingcheng said without looking up. "The signal drops at 800 meters underground, so I need to set up relay nodes at 400 meters, 600 meters, and 800 meters."

Qin Xiao was taken aback. "Sister-in-law, are you going to the scene?"

Nie Qingcheng looked up at him.

Qin Xiao immediately shut up.

At 9:30, the doorbell rang.

Zhang Yan went to open the door.

Guan Xing stood outside the door, wearing a dark gray trench coat and holding a sealed transparent protective box in his hand.

"You came very quickly." Zhang Yan stepped aside to let her in.

Guan Xing went into the study and placed the protective box on the table.

Inside the box was a yellowed piece of paper. The last page of the handwritten manuscript.

"The restoration result," said the stargazer.

Zhang Yan looked down.

There is indeed a symbol beneath the ink stain.

Like a door.

Two vertical lines, a horizontal line at the top, and a dot in the middle.

Next to the symbol, there is a line of very small text.

Zhang Yan couldn't understand it.

"I had three ancient script experts translate it," Guan Xing said. "The conclusions were consistent."

She paused for a moment.

"This gate was not built by our people, nor opened by the ruins. It precedes all others."

The air in the study seemed to freeze.

Zhang Yan looked up and met Guan Xing's gaze.

Prioritizing everything else.

It predates the Mohist civilization of 30,000 years ago. It predates the ruins. It predates the spirit of creation.

"You've been observing the Heavenly Pavilion for three hundred years," Zhang Yan began, "have you ever speculated on when this door appeared?"

Guan Xing shook his head. "There's no data to extrapolate. There's only this one sentence in the manuscript. He wrote it down and then crossed it out."

"But he didn't tear it," Nie Qingcheng said.

Guan Xing looked at her. "Yes. He didn't tear it."

Zhang Yan straightened up. "We'll be leaving the day after tomorrow."

He looked at Qin Xiao. "The target area is within a ten-kilometer radius. Evacuate all personnel under the pretext of a geological disaster warning."

"receive."

"Stargazing." Zhang Yan turned to her. "Can your people provide underground communication technology support?"

"Sure," said Guan Xing. "Guan Tian Ge has a communication system based on low-frequency vibrations, which does not rely on electromagnetic waves. It is effective up to two thousand meters underground."

Zhang Yan nodded. "Deliver it before tomorrow afternoon."

"no problem."

After Guan Xing left, Qin Xiao also took his leave.

There were only two people left in the study.

Nie Qingcheng was still writing the list. Zhang Yan walked over and stood behind her.

"Equipment list," he said. "Thousand-Machine Arm, Heart of Heavenly Craftsmanship, White Tiger, Black Scorpion, Vermilion Bird."

Nie Qingcheng continued writing. "What is Zhuque to do?"

"Evacuation guaranteed. If something goes wrong underground, Suzaku can take you away from the surface in the shortest possible time."

Nie Qingcheng paused for a moment.

"I already said that." She didn't turn around. "I'm not leaving."

"You said you would leave."

"I'll withdraw if it's above Grade A." Nie Qingcheng put down her pen and turned to look at him. "But you need to give me a standard for judgment."

Zhang Yan thought for a moment. "If I'm missing underground for more than six hours, you leave."

"Twelve hours."

Eight hours.

Nie Qingcheng looked at him. "Ten hours."

Zhang Yan paused for two seconds. "Okay. Ten hours."

Nie Qingcheng turned back to writing. "Anything else?"

"You're in charge of the surface communications relay station. Qin Xiao, seal off the perimeter."

"Um."

"If the situation underground is beyond expectations, I will activate the Suzaku's remote connection protocol and send you directly back to Jinghai."

Nie Qingcheng stopped writing.

"Zhang Yan".

"Um."

"Every time you say 'if it exceeds expectations,' it always ends up exceeding expectations."

Zhang Yan did not refute.

Because she's right.

At 11 p.m. that night, Nie Qingcheng went to take a shower. Zhang Yan sat alone in the study and opened the system interface.

He entered the coordinates of Shennongjia and started a depth scan.

The progress bar has started moving.

10%……30%……50%……70%……90%……95%……97%——

its stuck.

Zhang Yan stared at that number.

Three seconds. Five seconds. Ten seconds.

The progress bars remain stationary.

Then the system pops up a message.

Gold lettering.

"The target area has an information masking layer. Recommendation: Use the Tiangong Heart device to get close and scan again."

Zhang Yan's fingers slowly tightened.

Information masking.

It's not interference. It's not shielding. It's concealment.

Something is actively hiding itself.

Moreover, its concealment methods are so sophisticated that even the remote scanning of the Heavenly Craftsmanship Heart cannot penetrate it.

Zhang Yan closed the interface.

Footsteps sounded behind her. Nie Qingcheng walked in, wrapped in a bathrobe, her hair still wet.

"Aren't you going to sleep yet?"

Zhang Yan turned around. "Right away."

Nie Qingcheng glanced at him but didn't ask any further questions.

She walked over and reached out to turn off the study light.

"Walk."

Zhang Yan followed her out.

When she reached the bedroom door, Nie Qingcheng suddenly stopped.

"Zhang Yan".

"Um."

"Whatever's down there." She didn't turn around. "You can't forget what you promised me."

Zhang Yan said, "Hokkaido. Hot springs. Hakodate night view."

Nie Qingcheng then pushed open the door.

"You have a good memory."