A row of low cabinets stood against the wall. Several stone slabs were mounted above them... tables and densely packed numbers were carved into the slabs.
Opposite them stood a chair and a desk, with little on the desktop.
But the chair's armrests showed clear signs of wear... the kind that came from long years of use.
Yang Wanqing crouched in front of one of the low cabinets. Its door was open. A stack of things lay neatly arranged inside.
Paper.
Not paper from Blue Star. It was lighter and thinner, its edges so even they looked as though they had been cut.
It was slightly yellowed, but there was no insect damage, no brittleness, no mold. It was unnaturally well preserved.
Yang Wanqing held one of the books in her hands. It lay open.
"Chang'e's diary!" She looked up at Chen Siyao, her eyes shining.
Chen Siyao walked over and bent down to look.
Primordial Script, written in vertical columns. The handwriting... was different from the inscriptions on the instruments, more casual, more fluid. It was handwritten.
"Have you read it?" Chen Siyao asked Yang Wanqing.
"No, I called you over so we could read it together."
Chen Siyao took the diary from Yang Wanqing and turned to the first page.
She read a few lines.
Her breath caught.
She set the Recording Crystal on the desk, its lens facing both the diary's pages and herself.
Then she began to read.
"Year 4217 of the Taiyin calendar. Autumn equinox."
"I arrived at the Guanghan Tidewatch Station today. The journey took four hours. My sect's teleportation array only reaches the outskirts of the Taiyin Realm. I had to fly the rest of the way."
"The Tidewatch Station is larger than I expected. There is a main hall, side halls, a