"W-wait!"
They were bringing community warmth, but if no one answered, they were going to blow the door up?
How heartwarming.
Ten thousand Iron-Eating Beasts rolled through Shi Yu's mind.
At the same time, one thought sprang into his head.
I've been exposed!
Most likely, he had finally been found out for breaking the stone statue.
Shi Yu had actually expected this result for some time.
If the appearance of the secret realm really had such a major impact, its cause was bound to be investigated.
Although a place like the park had no cameras, finding someone in a world with supernatural powers wasn't all that difficult.
Scent tracking, divination and foresight, turning back time... It was perfectly normal for some supernatural creatures to possess strange abilities like these.
"I hate this."
Shi Yu hated his own inquisitive nature.
Then, feeling gloomy, he ran to open the door.
If what the young doctor had said was true, this incident didn't seem to be a bad thing. He hadn't done anything illegal, either. If the evidence led to him, he would just tell them what he knew.
"You finally opened the door."
Shi Yu opened the door, and a cool voice came from outside, startling him.
There wasn't a crowd of people from the relevant authorities blocking the entrance as he had imagined. Instead, there was only one person.
And she wasn't the aloof older woman from the neighborhood committee he had pictured, either, but a younger, beautiful woman who was probably only in her twenties.
"Is that a Wind Demon Lion?!"
Shi Yu didn't pay attention to her for long. His eyes were immediately drawn to the creature beside her, a Wind Demon Lion that was itching to act. It really did seem ready to blast the door down!
The Wind Demon Lion resembled a shih tzu and stood nearly two meters tall even while sitting. It had fluffy white fur, majestic blue eyes, and black cloud patterns swirling around its neck, limbs, body, and long tail, making it look extraordinarily imposing.
[Name]: Wind Demon Lion [Attribute]: wind [Species Level]: ??? [Skills]: ???
Since Shi Yu's level hadn't allowed him access to higher-level supernatural creatures, he had only memorized information on creatures of Transcendent Level species while at school.
As for the Wind Demon Lion, it was clearly a higher-level creature. Shi Yu had only seen pictures of it and hadn't paid attention to its other details.
Still, of the species levels-Transcendent, Commander, Monarch, Overlord, and Mythical-he guessed the Wind Demon Lion was probably Commander Level.
"Roar-" The Wind Demon Lion grinned, baring her teeth.
"Let me introduce myself. Lu Qingyi, doctor of archaeology from Ancient Capital University and member of the Dong Huang Archaeological Association." Lu Qingyi raised her head to look at Shi Yu.
"I'd like to ask you about a few things. I hope you'll cooperate," the woman said with a slight smile.
A doctor of archaeology?
And from Ancient Capital University, one of the nine great universities?
Shi Yu looked at the young woman and felt a pain in his liver.
Such a nice girl, aside from being a little scheming. Why couldn't she see reason? She could have done anything else.
There's no future in archaeology!
"Shi Yu, unemployed, apprentice beast tamer. Please come in."
After she introduced herself, Shi Yu was completely certain what this was about.
Since coming to this world, wasn't the stone statue's transformation the only thing he'd gotten involved in that had anything to do with archaeology?
Shi Yu opened the gate, his heart heavy as he prepared to be interrogated.
Then, Shi Yu led Dr. Lu into the courtyard.
By then, the Iron-Eating Beast had obediently stacked the steel plates and was peeking out from behind a tree.
The Green Silkworm had also crawled back into the birdcage, as if whatever had happened had nothing to do with it.
Upon entering the courtyard, Lu Qingyi and the Wind Demon Lion immediately looked at the little Iron-Eating Beast behind the tree and the Green Silkworm in the birdcage.
Only afterward did they turn back to Shi Yu.
"I'll get straight to the point. The stone statue at the Ping City Beast Tamer Association shattered, and you had something to do with it, didn't you?"
"I mean you no harm. You don't need to worry."
"I just want to know whether you heard a voice coming from the statue."
Shi Yu asked, "Was that statue alive?"
By answering with a question, he had tacitly acknowledged what she'd asked.
Lu Qingyi said, "No, the statue was an inanimate object."
"Your talent is 'Telepathy.' As you understand it, Telepathy should only allow you to communicate with living beings."
Shi Yu nodded. He had even looked it up specifically, but unfortunately hadn't found anything new.
"However, there are exceptions to everything."
"Some inanimate objects that carry the faith, beliefs, will, and emotions of many living beings can give birth to a 'spirit' after being tempered by time."
"A 'spirit' is an intangible, elusive concept, unrelated to life, mind, heart, or soul. The archaeological community calls it 'Traces of History.'"
"Only a very small number of telepaths with special talents have a chance of hearing such traces."
"Therefore, the archaeological community also calls beast tamers with this kind of Telepathy talent 'those who can hear the voice of history.'"
Shi Yu said, "So... I'm the one with that special talent?"
Lu Qingyi nodded. "Being able to hear the voice of history is a remarkable talent. Over the long course of history, the historical record has been broken many times, and countless truths have been buried. Ruins are the main way for us modern people to learn about history."
"However, these surviving ruins are often protected by supernatural powers, making them very difficult to find and decipher."
"'Those who can hear the voice of history' have a far easier time than ordinary people finding key information about ruins or deciphering it."
"This time, because you touched the 'spirit' of that statue, an ancient ruin surfaced, and it might bring to light the truth behind the history of the Icefield."
Shi Yu had a bad feeling. He asked, "So the reason you came to find me is..."
Lu Qingyi said, "You're very talented, a born archaeologist. I'd like to invite you..."
No way!!!
Absolutely not!!!
I'm never doing archaeology again in this lifetime.
Wouldn't it be nice to earn a little money, raise a giant panda, find a beautiful girlfriend and raise a cute cat with her, then live happily and comfortably in a safe city?
"Sorry... I'm not very interested in archaeology."
"I don't want to join any archaeological association, and I don't want to study at any archaeological university," Shi Yu said apologetically.
Lu Qingyi asked in confusion, "Who said I wanted to invite you to join the Archaeological Association?"
"Huh? You weren't?"
"With your talent, joining the Archaeological Association would be something of a waste."
"At present, in the entire ancient country, there are only eleven known 'people who can hear the voice of history,' including you."
"That's fewer than the number of legendary beast tamers, and fewer than the number of guardian deity-level creatures in the country. Do you know what that means?"
"The one inviting you is another organization."
"Besides, you don't have to be so quick to refuse. Men are creatures who say one thing and mean another. Having this talent means you must like this field, or you couldn't possibly have heard the statue's voice."
Lu Qingyi walked over to the birdcage and looked at the Green Silkworm. Her words made Shi Yu feel miserable.
Why... why, why can't I get away from archaeology even after transmigrating?
Telepathy, you thick-browed, wide-eyed talent, weren't you supposed to be common? How could you stab me in the back?!