They reached the checkpoint.
Before Luo Yang and Su Changming could walk over, several people came to meet them, with Ma Zhonghua in the lead.
"Luo, how did it go?" Ma Zhonghua asked anxiously.
"There's just one final step left," Luo Yang said. "I found the Bronze Knife and brought it out."
"You brought it out?" Ma Zhonghua was startled.
Shi Fei instinctively retreated two steps, looking very nervous.
Luo Yang patted his abdomen, producing two taps against something hard. "Curator Ma, it's right here."
"Luo, this is against regulations. If anything goes wrong, who could bear that responsibility?" Ma Zhonghua was getting anxious.
Luo Yang remained calm. "Just now, Professor Su was influenced by this knife again and tried to stab me. If I hadn't reacted quickly enough, the consequences would have been unthinkable."
Su Changming couldn't help shooting Luo Yang a deeply resentful look. So you asked me along just to use me as a shield?
Everyone's eyes turned to Su Changming's face.
"Professor Su, is that true?" Ma Zhonghua could hardly believe it.
"Well... I don't know what happened either, but what Luo said is true," Su Changming said.
Luo Yang took over. "Curator Ma, I'm only telling you this to remind you how dangerous this Bronze Knife is. I want to find a secluded place in the Museum to remove its spirit and turn it into a genuine historical artifact. If you don't agree, I'll put it back right now. But then it's no longer my responsibility, and my contract will have been fulfilled."
If I put it back, you pay up. Your call.
Ma Zhonghua hesitated.
Ye Yiming spoke up. "Ma, Luo is careful and reliable. You can trust him. Besides, he's not taking the artifact home. It's still in the Museum. If he puts it back now and leaves, what happens if the archaeologists get into trouble again?"
"All right, we'll do as Luo says." Ma Zhonghua couldn't think of any other solution.
The group headed back.
Bai Jing walked beside Luo Yang and asked curiously, "Doctor Luo, with that knife hidden on you, won't it affect you?"
"No," Luo Yang replied, wondering what she was after.
"Why don't I carry it for you? I can help you out later." Bai Jing seemed very eager.
Luo Yang smiled. "No need. And don't bother trying. I have to deal with this knife alone."
Bai Jing's little mouth immediately turned up in a pout.
Shi Fei said, "Doctor Luo, please be careful while you work. Whatever you do, don't damage the artifact. If the Bronze Knife needs any repairs, please leave them to me."
Luo Yang nodded. "I'll handle it carefully."
Shi Fei glanced at Luo Yang's collar. His lips moved, but he swallowed the words before they came out.
That tiny movement didn't escape Luo Yang's notice, but he didn't give it much thought.
Back at the Museum, Ma Zhonghua found Luo Yang an office that had just been vacated.
"Curator Ma, you'd all better keep your distance in case anything unexpected happens," Luo Yang warned.
"Then we'll wait for your good news in my office," Ma Zhonghua said. "Be careful yourself, too."
Luo Yang nodded, went inside, and locked the door behind him.
Bai Jing leaned up to the window, but before she could get a clear look, the curtains swished shut, blocking everything from view.
Su Changming tugged on Bai Jing's sleeve. "Let's go. That thing really is sinister. We're better off keeping our distance."
Bai Jing was reluctant, but she still moved away from the window. As they walked, she spoke quietly to Su Changming. "Professor, I don't think he's a doctor. At least, not a normal doctor."
"Then what do you think he is?" Su Changming asked casually.
Bai Jing lowered her voice. "I think he's a Shaman. He doesn't just practice medicine. He knows Shamanic Sorcery, too."
Su Changming gave her a thumbs-up, filled with pride and satisfaction.
As expected of his brilliant favorite student with an IQ of 141, she had seen through that young man's secret with ease.
Shi Fei glanced out of the corner of his eye at Su Changming and Bai Jing as they talked quietly. An enigmatic smile appeared on his lips...
Inside the office.
The Bronze Knife lay on the desk, the eye on its hilt staring at Luo Yang. An eerie green light shone from that strange eye, making it deeply unsettling.
Luo Yang stared back at the eye. "Everything has its allotted fate. You encountered me, and that's yours. You'll have to accept it whether you like it or not. But before that, I want to meet you. You can tell me whatever you have to say."
The Bronze Knife's spirit was evil, and its spiritual power was strong, so he could skip the spirit-possession step and communicate with it directly.
Luo Yang took the Golden Bronze Mask out of his shoulder bag and put it on. After a little preparation, he began to dance and chant.
"The heavens are dark, the earth is vast. The divine emerges, and the four spirits guard the four directions. Azure Dragon of the east, take your place. White Tiger of the west, take your place. Vermilion Bird of the south, take your place. Black Tortoise of the north, take your place. The Ancestral Shaman's life essence stands at the center..."
Boom!
Luo Yang's body shuddered. Darkness enveloped his eyes, with bloody mist swirling through it.
"Come here, come here..." A woman's voice came from Luo Yang's mouth, eerie and mournful.
Although that strange voice coming from his mouth was not his own, his consciousness was no longer in the office. It was inside the Bronze Knife's "memories."
The stronger an artifact spirit was, the richer its memory space would be, and the weaker it was, the simpler that space became. When he had used the Spirit Communication Technique on the archaeologists during the day to lure out the evil spirits, there had been virtually no memory space to speak of.
Now, even Luo Yang was stunned by the scene that suddenly appeared before him.
A tower-shaped altar seventeen or eighteen meters tall stood before him, broad at the base and narrow at the top, like a pyramid with its upper third cut off. A flight of stone steps led to the top on the side facing him.
Suddenly, a human head fell from the top of the altar and tumbled down the steps. Every impact made a dull thud and sent blood splattering.
A woman appeared at the top of the steps, dressed in a black robe and wearing a red hat covered in feathers. The feathers were very long, bent into curved shapes with branches and cord.
This matched Su Changming's description of the Shamans of Sanxingdui to some extent, but it wasn't a wig. It was a feathered crown.
Luo Yang's gaze shifted to the female Shaman's hand and froze there.
She held a Bronze Knife in her right hand-the very same one lying on the office desk.
She was the one who had severed that head.
The female Shaman knelt, raising the knife above her head with both hands as she chanted.
It was a Shaman's incantation. She was making an offering to heaven and praying for blessings.
The answer to why the Bronze Knife contained an evil spirit had already emerged. It was a knife used specifically for beheading people.
The female Shaman soon finished her incantation.
Luo Yang had no interest in learning this blessing sorcery, because its true core wasn't the incantation, but the beheading ritual and the sacrifice itself. In modern society, he could hardly cut someone's head off as an offering to heaven just to learn this kind of blessing sorcery, could he?
The female Shaman stood and began descending the bloodstained steps.
Luo Yang noticed that she really was wearing a pair of socks.
"I am Feather Blade. I would make a bargain with you!" The voice came not from the female Shaman's mouth, but from the Bronze Knife.
This was the Bronze Knife's evil spirit. It had already developed consciousness. It was powerful indeed!
"What sort of bargain?" Luo Yang asked.
"Spare me, and I shall follow you."
Luo Yang felt a headache coming on.
If he took this knife with him, his next stop would be prison. Follow him, his ass.
But it was begging for mercy, and there had never been any enmity between them. He couldn't help feeling a little reluctant to destroy it. What should he do?
Before you continue