Revisiting an Old Place

Over the next few days, the stone fragment's temperature slowly rose. Every afternoon when Lin Chen entered the tool shed, the stone fragment on the windowsill was slightly warmer than the day before. It gradually changed from faint warmth to a noticeable heat, like a stone left under the sun for a long time, maintaining the same temperature even on cloudy days. The analysis progress on the system panel advanced in tandem, slowly climbing from 11% to 15%, increasing a little each day at a steady, unhurried pace.

On the morning of the fifth day, Lin Chen did not head inside immediately after finishing his morning run. Instead, he walked farther along the coastline, reaching the rocky area near the fighting arena. He stood on a flat reef for a while as the sea breeze swept over him, carrying the distinct chill of morning. The distant sea was calm, with only fine ripples drifting slowly across its surface.

When he returned to Kame House, someone was standing at the courtyard gate. Bulma was crouching beside a small tree at the edge of the yard, looking down at the soil around its roots without touching it. Hearing his footsteps, she straightened up. "Krillin told me about the stone fragment. I have a set of scanning equipment that can image its internal structure. If you want to know what's inside, we can give it a try." She held a small silver-gray case in her hand. Setting it on the ground and opening it, she revealed a palm-sized scanner fitted inside.

Lin Chen took the stone fragment from his pocket and handed it to her. Bulma accepted it, placed it on the scanner's sensing surface, and pressed the button. The device emitted a low hum, which lasted around ten seconds before stopping. She picked up the fragment and returned it to Lin Chen. A series of images with interwoven light and dark shades appeared on the scanner's screen.

"The internal structure isn't solid," she said. "It looks like there's a hollow layer, slightly left of the center of the stone fragment. The shape is irregular, like a cavity deliberately left behind."

Lin Chen put the fragment back into his pocket. "Can you tell what's inside?"

"The scan resolution isn't high enough. It can only detect the hollow space, not what was placed inside." Bulma packed the scanner into its case. "But at least we can confirm that this stone was processed by someone."

She picked up the case and stood. "I'll be leaving first. The equipment hasn't finished being calibrated yet. Next time, I'll bring an improved version and see if it can penetrate deeper." She took several steps toward where her aircraft was parked, then paused. "Oh, right. You'd better wrap those things in your tool shed with cloth and store them in sealed boxes. The humidity has been unstable lately. Old books and pottery shards can easily warp when they get damp." With that, she continued forward, lowered the hatch, and started the aircraft's engine. Once it rose into the air, it turned west and flew away.

Standing in the yard, Lin Chen felt the stone fragment in his pocket continuously giving off heat. Even through the cloth, he could feel a distinct layer of warmth. He entered the tool shed and pulled an old wooden box from the bottom of a cabinet. He placed the map, scroll, pottery shards, and stone slab inside one after another. Then he wrapped the stone fragment in a dry cloth and placed it in the box's inner compartment. A layer of dust covered the box's surface. He wiped it away with his hand, revealing the dark wood grain beneath. He closed the wooden box and set it on the bottom shelf.

After training in the Gravity Room that afternoon, Krillin inspected the cracks in the old bamboo pole in the yard, running his hand over them. "Want to check the river near the old goods market tomorrow? I heard someone once found something similar on the riverbank there." He set down the bamboo pole. "We don't have to go specifically to search. We can just take a look while we're passing by."

The next day, when the two arrived at the old goods market along the streets, it was still early. The shops had not fully opened yet. Several were removing their door panels, which thudded heavily against the walls when leaned aside. After passing through several streets, they reached the edge of the old district. The ground gradually changed from stone paving to dirt paths, with slender weeds growing along both sides and stretching toward the bank of a narrow river. Several old willow trees stood along the shore, their branches hanging over the water and swaying gently in the morning light.

Most of the riverbank was a mix of stones and sand. The two walked along it for a while. Krillin bent down, picked up a flat stone, and examined it. After turning it over and confirming there were no marks, he put it back where it had been. Lin Chen walked beside him, inspecting the stones on the ground as well. Most were ordinary river pebbles, smooth on the surface and nothing special. Sunlight shone on the river, turning it into a shattered mirror that reflected the light in irregular fragments.

After walking some distance, Lin Chen spotted a stone half-buried in the sand. The exposed edge bore a pale streak. He crouched and dug it out—the stone was slightly smaller than a fist, and one side had a smooth cut surface that had not formed from a natural break. Along the edge of the cut was an extremely faint engraved line, as though it had been scratched by something hard. The line was fine and did not look like the result of weathering.

[დინ! Acquired Ancient Tool Fragment ×1. Current Ancient Cultural Knowledge: 8%.]

He washed the stone in the river. Once the mud and sand on its surface were rinsed away, a darker color emerged beneath. The etched line on the cut surface became clearer after getting wet. At the bottom of the line was a layer of pale sediment, as if it had been left behind after prolonged contact with some kind of liquid.

Krillin came over and looked at the stone. "This cut surface was made by hand."

Lin Chen placed the stone on a dry rock along the riverbank to air out. "It could be remnants of construction by the riverbank, or it could be something else."

The two continued along the riverbank for some time but found nothing else. Lin Chen put the stone into his backpack beside the stone fragment, separating them with the dry cloth. The stone and the fragment remained apart, each retaining its own temperature without transferring heat to the other.

After returning to Kame House, he placed the newly found stone into the wooden box alongside the map and scroll. Rising, he stretched his shoulders. The sun had already tilted westward. Several clouds drifted slowly above the sea. As they neared the horizon, their undersides were dyed pale pink by the setting sun, while their edges carried a faint golden glow.

He closed the tool shed door and walked to the water jar in the courtyard to wash his hands. The droplets glittered briefly in the light, then sank into the sun-warmed ground, leaving small dark marks on the dusty surface as their edges slowly shrank.