Solving Middle Age Crisis by Intelligence System-Chapter 596 - 398: Is It a Coincidence? (Double-Length - )_2

Chapter 596: Chapter 398: Is It a Coincidence? (Double-Length Chapter)_2

Qi Yun furrowed his brow, turned his head and stared at De Gaulle, asking, "Not planning to give me an explanation?"

"Explanation? Explanation of what?" De Gaulle chuckled twice awkwardly, trying to appear calm, "I just thought this lake looked peculiar during the day, so I asked them to go down and investigate."

Qi Yun’s face darkened; he was too lazy to poke through his pretense, speaking with seriousness, "You’d better think carefully before answering me."

"If you continue to refuse to reveal the truth, then there’s no point in continuing our collaboration."

"After we leave tomorrow, I’ll immediately send someone to seal off the entrance to this place. You shouldn’t doubt my ability to do that, right?"

De Gaulle’s expression froze, the arguments he was planning to make swallowed back down.

He certainly believed in Qi Yun’s capability to lock this place down; the disturbance in Japan from a few days ago showed that this guy was quite influential—so much that even Softbank and Mitsubishi stood by him.

And that’s just his influence abroad; his domestic influence need not be mentioned...

After a long silence, he nodded bitterly, "Alright... I’ll tell you everything later."

Qi Yun gave him another look, finally turned and left without saying a word.

Apart from Xiao Wu still hidden in the dark, Brother Quan and the others also followed behind heading back to the camp.

Back at the camp, the campfire still had some embers; Qi Yun added some dry wood, which snapped and crackled as it reignited.

After a while, Xiao Wu returned and nodded at him.

Soon after, De Gaulle also came over and sat across from the fire.

He hesitated for a long time before taking a notebook from his backpack and pushed it in front of Qi Yun: "This is a copy of Louis I’s diary, recording all the clues about the Land of Eternal Life."

Qi Yun picked up the notebook and flipped it open; the text seemed to be in French, which he couldn’t understand, so he shot a glance at De Gaulle and put the notebook down.

"An Zai, please ask the professor to come over."

An Zai promptly rose and ran toward Ignacio’s tent, soon returning with him.

As soon as Ignacio sat down, Qi Yun passed the notebook over: "Professor, could you please translate the contents of the notebook for me."

Ignacio placed the notebook on his lap, putting on his glasses before starting to go through it.

He was proficient in many languages, French naturally among them.

"This... this records information about six items: statue... compass... Bronze Mirror..."

Indeed, the Gwen Clan possessed key information on the map’s six clues; no wonder they could swiftly locate that cross from the Vatican.

The diary also said that to reach the Land of Eternal Life, one must gather all six clues, follow the guidance to find a passage to paradise, and ultimately arrive at the Land of Eternal Life.

A passage to paradise...

It refers to the passage they came through.

These Catholics always like to speak of paradise and God.

"When the time of Moon’s lead arrives, the sacred city beneath the sacred lake will emerge..." Ignacio thought aloud, "Sacred lake... that should be the lake ahead, right?"

"Is this time of Moon’s lead referring to a special time?"

He wasn’t aware of the earlier events by the lakeside, so he found this description puzzling, but Qi Yun could understand now why De Gaulle and the others had gone to the lakeside in the middle of the night.

"What is the sacred city?" Qi Yun turned to look at Ignacio and asked.

Ignacio put down the notebook and spread his hands: "There’s no more content after that."

After hearing this, Qi Yun turned his gaze to De Gaulle, his eyes scrutinizing.

At this critical juncture, there was no more content afterward; he couldn’t help but suspect that this guy was hiding something.

De Gaulle understood his gaze and helplessly explained, "This diary was incomplete to begin with. When my ancestor acquired it, the last few pages were already missing, leaving only what’s here."

"I also have no knowledge about the specifics of the sacred city."

"And the timing of Moon’s lead is something my team calculated, roughly around two to four in the morning."

Seeing that he doesn’t seem to be lying, Qi Yun tentatively believed the explanation and continued asking, "What did your people discover at the lake bottom?"

"Take a look for yourself." De Gaulle said as he handed over a camera the size of a cigarette box, which was the equipment previously worn on the chests of the two people who went underwater.

Qi Yun took the camera and pressed the play button.

The video seemed to start recording when the two reached the center of the lake and began diving, the screen’s images somewhat shaky, the dives illuminating the pitch-black water.

Judging by appearance, the lake seemed about thirty to forty meters deep, with very clear water where not even water plants or fish were present.

As they kept diving down, numerous specks of light suddenly appeared in the video; these weren’t the lights from the dive but rather pale blue light seeping from the cracks in the lakebed stones.

Scattered like stars in the pitch-black water, gently swaying with the current.

Qi Yun slowed down the playback speed, clearly seeing the light spots all emanated from the cracks on the lakebed.

These cracks were about finger-width, distributed over a flat rocky area, with the pale blue light seeping from deep within them.

Somewhat like a certain famous beach online...

The divers continued downward, eventually reaching the lakebed.

They walked across the slick rock, swimming forward, when suddenly, a vertical shadow appeared in the video.

As the camera lifted, a stone wall at least over ten meters high appeared prominently on the screen.

The surface of this stone wall was impressively smooth, without a hint of moss, as if it had been polished.

Only in the middle area did it seem that certain carvings were present.

As they drew closer, these carvings gradually clarified—it seemed like some complex writing... or perhaps patterns.

"Is this the sacred city!?" Qi Yun lifted his head in disbelief.

There was actually a city under the lake!

Beside him, Ignacio snatched the camera, freezing the image on those patterns, staring at them intently for a while before stuttering, "This... this should be Ancient Sanskrit!"

"It’s very similar to the text you found on the stone tablet in the Ancient Loulan!"

Stunned by the revelation, Qi Yun wondered, Ancient Sanskrit?

The last time at Loulan Ancient City, Professor He had told him about Ancient Sanskrit, considered as Classical Sanskrit, originating from ancient India, one of India’s oldest languages.

It could be traced back to around 1500 BC, created by the ancient Indian Aryan people, originally serving as a religious scripture’s carrier.

It was said that famous texts like Diamond Sutra and Lotus Sutra were initially recorded in Ancient Sanskrit.

However, after Buddhism underwent various periods, modern Sanskrit gradually started translating these Buddhist sutras.

Due to differences in pronunciation between modern Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit, many semantic discrepancies arose, leading some to suggest the current versions of these sutras have lost their original Buddhist essence...

"Then what do the inscriptions on this wall mean? Is it the sacred city!?" Impatiently, De Gaulle across the campfire asked.

Due to a lack of time, he only briefly viewed the video himself earlier without yet giving it to accompanying researchers for analysis.

Ignacio glanced at him and shook his head, "These symbols are too ancient, far more obscure than those recorded on the Loulan stone tablet; we will need to translate the manuscripts for the answer once we go out."

A hint of disappointment flashed in De Gaulle’s eyes, but he said no more.

The video continued playing, and the two people circled around the stone wall for a while, then started to ascend slowly, seemingly planning to observe the other side of the stone wall.

However, as they rose to the stone wall’s height, they didn’t stop and kept ascending until they emerged from the water.

According to De Gaulle’s explanation, those two subordinates mentioned encountering an irresistible undercurrent at the time, pushing them upwards.

As the camera lens pulled back, Qi Yun saw their last footage from the lake water—a corner of the city...

The layers of stone walls, their edges curving upwards, seemed to blend with the inside architecture.

The design bore an uncanny resemblance to a blooming... lotus.

Qi Yun’s mind buzzed with realization, as electricity appeared to surge through his body.

He snatched the camera from Ignacio, repeatedly playing that last frame numerous times.

"Coincidence? How is that possible..."