When in doubt, ask Baidu—ah, no, Baidu was useless here. When it came to specialized knowledge, it was completely unreliable.
Shen Le decisively logged into the school intranet and connected to the database. The archaeology and Cultural Relic Restoration Major had built an enormous archive, categorizing and storing every artifact repaired or excavated by teachers and students, as well as collections from museums across the country.
Shen Le expertly opened the main categories for "Ancient Architecture" and "Houses," then quickly browsed through them.
Mm, nothing similar. So his major hadn't misled it—this thing really hadn't been used as exterior decoration for a building.
After some thought, Shen Le opened the "Pottery" category and began searching bit by bit. After the Tang Dynasty, porcelain became widespread, while pottery had largely fallen out of favor, so there was no need to look there.
Before the Tang Dynasty, however—especially during the Han Dynasties, the Three Kingdoms, and the Southern and Northern Dynasties—pottery had still been in its heyday, producing many highly artistic and imaginative creations.
Shen Le flipped through all the images in the archive, then raised the unidentified lump in his hand and held it beside the screen for comparison.
"It should be a funerary object? I just don't know whether it was a pottery house or a pottery jar... Tsk, there's only such a tiny piece left. Where am I supposed to find the other parts?"
Did he have to make another trip back to Xuan Yuan's side and ask which water demon had given her this thing, and where it had come from?
Oh, and he had to hope that, before he got back, the demon involved hadn't suddenly died—or been eaten by someone...
Shen Le handed the task of researching it over to Qing Deng, asking him to search