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墨書 Inktalez
At four in the morning, the Forbidden City Restoration Institute was brightly lit. Lin Xueqing leaned over the microscope, her fingers gently rotating the focus ring.
"Here you go." A cup of hot coffee was placed in front of her.
She paused, surprised that Shen Mo Ting had not left yet. "President Shen, aren’t you going to get some rest?"
"You mentioned you made a discovery," he said, pulling a chair closer and sitting down.
Under the microscope, the patterns on the Peach Wood Comb's surface were clearly visible. Lin Xueqing adjusted the focus. "Look here, there are even older marks beneath the hidden inscriptions."
Shen Mo Ting leaned in closer, his suit sleeve brushing against her arm. The faint scent of Long Tao perfume filled her nostrils, and Lin Xueqing instinctively held her breath.
"Is it... a number?"
"Yes, but it's completely different from the surface inscriptions." She brought up a three-dimensional scan image. "These marks were carved with a sharp tool, dating back at least two hundred years."
Shen Mo Ting squinted. "Are you saying this comb is genuine?"
"Very likely. But someone later added forged inscriptions to create the illusion that it belonged to Lang Shining."
The office fell silent. Outside the window, dawn began to break.
"Why?" Shen Mo Ting murmured. "If the comb itself is genuine, why go through so much trouble to forge its origin?"
"Unless..." Lin Xueqing suddenly had a thought and quickly typed on her keyboard, pulling up an archive from the Qing Dynasty. "Look at this."
The archive contained a striking piece of information: In the fifteenth year of Qianlong's reign, a treasurer presented a wooden comb that concealed a mechanism within its body, capable of opening a compartment to reveal a secret letter. The comb went missing afterward, and the whereabouts of the secret letter remained unknown.
"So those people were after the secret letter?" Shen Mo Ting's voice carried a hint of excitement. "Did they think they could find some secrets within the comb?"
"But we've checked; there's nothing inside the comb."
"No, maybe we’re looking in the wrong place." Shen Mo Ting suddenly stood up. "Those ancient marks—could they be..."
Before he could finish his thought, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor.
"Expert Lin!" Xiao Wang pushed the door open, his face pale. "Something has happened!"
"What is it?"
"Just now, someone attacked the Old Curator in the blind spot of the surveillance cameras. He... he is now in the hospital."
Lin Xueqing's expression changed drastically. "When did this happen?"
"Just twenty minutes ago. When the Old Curator was found, he was clutching a note tightly in his hand."
"What did the note say?"
Xiao Wang swallowed hard. "It said to stop the investigation, or bear the consequences."
Lin Xueqing stood up abruptly, her chair scraping loudly against the floor. But Shen Mo Ting was quicker, pressing a hand on her shoulder. "I'll take you to the hospital."
"No need."
"This isn't a request." His voice was firm and unyielding. "You are not fit to act alone right now."
Lin Xueqing wanted to say something else, but Shen Mo Ting had already picked up her coat. "I've sent Comb back to the vault; come with me."
The lights in the corridor flickered intermittently, their shadows intertwining on the walls, casting mottled silhouettes.
The smell of disinfectant in the hospital corridor was overwhelming. Lin Xueqing stood outside the intensive care unit, peering through the glass at the Old Curator inside. Various wires from machines were tangled together, and the green line of the ECG pulsed rhythmically.
"The doctor said he is not in immediate danger," Shen Mo Ting offered her a cup of warm water. "Do you want to go back and rest for a bit?"
Lin Xueqing shook her head, her eyes still fixed on the patient room. "What did the Old Curator say before he fell unconscious?"
"He only mentioned one thing: 'North Wall.'"
"North Wall..." Lin Xueqing's eyes widened suddenly. "The North Wall of the Conservation Studio!"
She turned to leave, but Shen Mo Ting grabbed her arm. "Are you crazy? Going now?"
"There's a private studio behind that wall belonging to the Old Curator. He never lets anyone in," Lin Xueqing said, shaking off his hand. "I have to take a look."
"We have to wait for Daybreak."
"I can't wait." She locked eyes with Shen Mo Ting. "The person who attacked the Old Curator might go there too."
Shen Mo Ting fell silent for a moment. "I'll go with you."
The Conservation Studio was empty at midnight. The two of them walked down the corridor, illuminated only by their phone lights, their footsteps echoing in the silence.
"This is it." Lin Xueqing stopped in front of what appeared to be an ordinary white wall.
Shen Mo Ting examined it closely. "There's no door."
The Old Curator once said that some doors are real only when they are invisible. Lin Xueqing's hand explored the wall carefully. "Just as I thought!"
At the corner where the baseboard met the wall, she found a tiny recess. Gently pressing it, the wall silently sank inward, revealing a narrow door.
Behind the door was a small studio filled with old tools and books. Dust indicated that no one had been here for a long time.
"Look for any clues," Lin Xueqing said cautiously as she began to sift through the documents on the desk.
Suddenly, Shen Mo Ting whispered, "Someone's coming."
Faint footsteps echoed from afar. Just as Lin Xueqing was about to turn off the light, Shen Mo Ting had already pulled her into hiding behind a filing cabinet in the corner.
The footsteps grew closer. In the darkness, Lin Xueqing could distinctly feel Shen Mo Ting's breath brushing against her ear. His arm wrapped around her waist, seemingly afraid she would make a sound.
A beam of flashlight swept across the studio as someone entered, heading straight for the desk.
"Did you find it?" came a whisper from outside the door.
"No," the voice searching was urgent. "The old man said it was here before he fell into a coma."
"Keep looking! The Blueprint must be here."
Lin Xueqing's heart raced. The Blueprint? What Blueprint?
At that moment, she caught a glimpse of something strange protruding from the top of the filing cabinet. She held her breath and reached up with her fingers to explore.
Shen Mo Ting noticed her movement and immediately pressed down on her hand. But it was too late.
With a click, the side panel of the filing cabinet suddenly popped open, and a roll of yellowed Xuan Paper tumbled to the ground.
The beam of a flashlight immediately shone over.
"Who is it?"
Shen Mo Ting pulled Lin Xueqing close with one hand while the other moved toward his waist. But in the darkness, a muffled sound came from behind.
Someone was attacking from behind.
Lin Xueqing felt the world spin, a sharp pain at the back of her head, and then everything went dark.
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