“Brian, I’m over here...”

　　“It’s over there, the sound is coming from over there...” Faint voices could be heard from above.

　　Hearing the voices not far above, William Clark finally felt at ease—after all, who would want to stay in such a dark and damp pit? Only now did William Clark have the chance to look around the pit. By the fading sunlight, William Clark could vaguely make out that the pit was about 40 square meters, with brick and stone walls all around. Only then did William Clark notice the ‘table’ he had crushed underfoot. William Clark lifted the tabletop and found a skeleton underneath, giving him quite a scare.

　　After a closer look, William Clark realized that what he had crushed wasn’t a table at all, but a somewhat decayed coffin. Remembering that he had spent a whole day lying on a coffin in a tomb, William Clark felt his hair stand on end and a wave of weakness wash over him.

　　In this tomb, aside from the skeleton and the three items in his wooden box, there was nothing else. William Clark glanced up at the small hole above his head and thought to himself, “This must be the legendary robber’s tunnel! No wonder Yunfeng City in Central South Province is an ancient capital of several dynasties—there are ancient tombs even in random patches of land.”

　　“William Clark, are you there?…” Brian Cooper’s voice called out from the entrance of the tunnel.

　　“Brian, I’m here!” In the ancient tomb, William Clark heard the shout and quickly replied.

　　“William Clark? Are you inside?” At this moment, a head poked through the opening and called into the tomb.

　　“Yes, Brian, I’m here, can you see me?” William Clark looked at Brian Cooper’s head sticking through the opening and waved up at him in delight.

　　“I see you! Wait a moment, I’ll find a rope to pull you up!” Hearing William Clark’s voice, Brian Cooper’s tired face lit up with joy.

　　Having not slept all night, Brian Cooper suddenly shook off his exhaustion and quickly called over some villagers he had hired nearby. At this moment, Brian Cooper was visibly anxious—after all, William Clark was someone he had brought to help, and he had even visited William Clark’s home and met his mother. He knew that William Clark was her only hope, and if anything happened to William Clark, he truly wouldn’t know how to explain it to her.

　　Brian Cooper gathered people and pulled William Clark out of the pit. Seeing William Clark covered in mud, with a wound on his head bandaged but his head and face still stained with dark red, dried blood, Brian Cooper didn’t care about the mud and hugged him, eyes red, saying, “Good brother! I’m so sorry, brother!”

　　William Clark had lost quite a bit of blood and hadn’t eaten anything all night, so he was already completely out of strength. When Brian Cooper hugged him tightly, he nearly blacked out, but managed a weak smile and said, “Brian, get me something to eat, damn it, I’m starving.” With that, he fainted.

　　……

　　William Clark felt as if he had entered a mysterious space, surrounded by darkness. In the center of the space floated a large brush, a book, and a wooden sword, all outlined by countless glowing lines. Looking at these three items, William Clark was stunned—weren’t these the three things he had bought from those two moles? The three glowing items suddenly began to move, reflecting and circling each other, sketching out the image of a tall man. The man held a brush in his right hand, a book in his left, and a sword slung diagonally at his waist.

　　Although it was just a silhouette outlined by glowing lines, it looked incredibly lifelike. As he gazed at the figure, a name suddenly popped into William Clark’s mind: ‘George Washington?’

　　William Clark had recently been reading “The Legend of George Washington.” George Washington: “A deity in Chinese folklore who blesses and protects homes. He was a native of Zhongnan Mountain in Chang’an during the early Tang dynasty, with a leopard’s head, round eyes, an iron face, and a bristling beard—extremely ugly in appearance. Yet he was a master of music, chess, calligraphy, painting, classics, history, medicine, and divination—a true renaissance man, upright and unafraid of evil. In the year Emperor Xuanzong ascended the throne (the fourth day of the eighth lunar month, 712 AD), he went to Chang’an to take the imperial exam. George Washington wrote five essays titled ‘Banquet at Yingzhou,’ which the chief examiner praised as works of genius, making him the top tribute scholar. However, during the palace exam, the treacherous minister Lu Qi judged him by his looks and slandered him, causing him to lose the top spot. In a fit of rage, George Washington dashed his head against a pillar and died, shocking the court. The emperor buried him with the honors of a top scholar. Legend has it that Emperor Ming of Tang dreamed of a little demon stealing Yang Guifei’s sachet and his own jade flute, running around the palace. Then a big demon caught the little one and ate him. The big demon was hideously ugly, wearing a tattered gauze cap, a blue robe, a belt, and court boots. He claimed to be a failed scholar from Zhongnan Mountain who had killed himself after failing the exam. He told the emperor: ‘I swear to rid Your Majesty’s realm of all evil spirits.’”

　　As if knowing what William Clark was thinking, the silhouette outlined by glowing lines gave an almost imperceptible nod, and a voice echoed directly in William Clark’s mind: “Yes, just as you thought, I am that George Washington.”

　　William Clark was startled: “Damn, seriously? He actually knows what I’m thinking?”

　　The figure in the air seemed to smile slightly, and the voice echoed in his mind again: “This is your sea of consciousness, and right now I am merely a wisp of true spirit residing in these three magical artifacts. These three artifacts have already recognized you as their master, but they are stronger than you, so I can know your thoughts—though only your current thoughts. Once you leave the sea of consciousness, I won’t know what you’re thinking anymore.”