C34 (1/2)

Mage Zhou was from Shaanxi province, and had somehow moved from the northwest to the southeast. He had heard that she had left her hometown in order to avoid the war between the Western Xia and the imperial government. He was mixed into the crowd of mages, and their books were strictly controlled by the government. Everywhere he went, he would have to register them according to his household register. Therefore, Mage Zhou being able to walk for a few thousand miles to establish a life in Fujian was already a very impressive thing. Mage Zhou's fame rose after a few years of training in Sword Arts. His methods were definitely not something an ordinary Mage could match up to. Gradually, his name became famous.

The reason the Ministry Councillor Huang was looking for Mage Zhou was because of his son Huang Chang.

Ministry Councillor Huang stood at the entrance of the courtyard and looked at the Pagoda tree. He rested for a while and stood at the entrance of the courtyard. The door opened and a ten year old child stood in front of him. He said, ”Please enter. My father is waiting for you in the main hall.”

The Ministry Councillor Huang was curious and followed the child to the great hall. A scholar who was about his age was drinking tea there. Seeing Ministry Councillor Huang, he gestured for him to take a seat. Ministry Councillor Huang knew, this scholar was most likely Mage Zhou. Mage Zhou's son ran to the back of the hall and after a while, brought Ministry Councillor Huang a cup of tea. He then cautiously stood beside his father.

When the host and guest met, they would not talk immediately. The guests would first have to taste the tea, the tea's interval, and the guests would have to appreciate the antique and calligraphy set in the master's house for a while before they could talk. Only during this process, the two of them would get to know each other better, and then the host would invite the guest to the guest room to discuss business.

Ministry Councillor Huang looked at Mage Zhou's clothes and thought that if he did not know that this person was a witch, he would most likely think that he was a filial son of the Imperial Examinations. But the lobby was strangely devoid of words and paintings. The walls were empty. Ministry Councillor Huang saw a circular door on the left side of the wall and went in curiously. He saw that the room was leaning against the wall and was filled with wooden cabinets, but if one looked carefully, they would see that these cabinets were not of ordinary shapes.

Magician Zhou, who was standing behind Ministry Councillor Huang, said that this was a household chore. Then, he smiled and gestured at Ministry Councillor Huang to take a closer look.

Ministry Councillor Huang cupped his hands and said: ”My apologies.” He then walked to the cabinet and looked at the bronze artifacts. They were all mottled with black and green. It seemed like the era was not short.

Mage Zhou walked in front of Ministry Councillor Huang and said softly, ”It's an ancient artifact from the Eastern Han Dynasty. What do you think of it, Mister?”

”At Wang Mang's time.” Ministry Councillor Huang said, ”This thing is rare.”

Mage Zhou nodded and didn't speak.

The lobby was completely silent. The sound of dripping water that Ministry Councillor Huang heard became even clearer, and only now did he realise that there was an item that was quickly dripping water at the bottom of an item. Immediately after, the Ministry Councillor Huang discovered that the sound of dripping water was not limited to just one area. After focusing for a moment, he heard another sound of flowing water, that came from an artifact on his right hand that was dripping down.

Ministry Councillor Huang seemed to understand something and was about to speak, but Mage Zhou raised his hand to signal for him to continue listening.

As a result, Ministry Councillor Huang continued to calm his mind and heart. He discovered that the sounds of dripping water were becoming more and more frequent, and were all very rhythmic and pleasant to listen to. Ministry Councillor Huang looked carefully at the wooden shelves, each of them was engraved with a small seal, and each of them had their own words written on it: ”Midnight, Cock of the Chicken, Pingtan, Sunrise, Eating Time, Middle of the Sun, Sun-Sun, Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sunset, Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sunlight”. Then on the other shelves, he saw the words ”Zi, ugly, Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sun-Sunlight, Sun-Sun-Four Moments, Sun-Four Hours”. ”Some of the other wooden cabinets had the words' Obscure, Sooo, String, Gaze 'on them.

Ministry Councillor Huang was originally a scholar, so when he saw these things, he immediately understood that they were just a tool used to measure the time lost in the ancient times.

Looking at the other wooden cabinets, some of them had numbers, while others had inscriptions that he could not understand.

Huang Chang pointed at the items and looked at Master Zhou, ”These are missing markings.”

Mage Zhou nodded, ”Yes, the method of calculating a drop of water is called water.”

The two of them stood there for a while. Ministry Councillor Huang knew that these bronze artifacts were all real, so he casually asked: ”I heard that every ancient artifact has predecessors attached to them, I wonder if those words are true?”

Mage Zhou laughed, ”There should be, but not everyone can see it.”