*** don’t edit the highlighted paragraph!

The dark-skinned shooter, the metal book, the Italian archaeologist and his student, Linda...

All these things were a mess in Xia Lei’s mind.

There was a soft sound from the next room. Footsteps.

It was late. Why was she up?

Xia Lei crawled from his bed. His left eye twitched and the walls disappeared.

In the next room, Linda exited through the door. She was clad in a thin nightgown. In the faint light, every curve of her body could be seen under the nightdress. It was provoking.

Linda opened the door and then walked towards her study.

Xia Lei hopped off the bed and tiptoed to the door. He only opened the door when she entered the study. Then, he inched towards the study keeping his eyes locked on her.

She closed the study’s door, then walked towards a bookshelf.

‘I don’t think she’s just looking for a book to read?’ thought Xia Lei.

He saw Linda squat down and open a wooden cupboard at the bottom of the bookshelf. Her nightgown stretched tightly around her bottom, shadows accentuating her every curve.

This was awkward for Xia Lei. She didn’t intend for anyone to see her in this state, yet here he was.

Linda did not know there was someone behind the door. Here, she took out a leather backpack from the cupboard. Bringing the bag to the desk, she opened it and took out something from within. She placed a passport, a notebook, a pistol and some miscellaneous items along with archaeological tools.

She had a gun. However, he did not find it odd that she had one. Although gun laws here were strict, it was still common to own one in the countryside. Even an old lady might have one. You’d never know.

She picked up the gun and checked its cartridge. Then, she put the rest of the stuff back in her backpack. She put the bag back in the cupboard and then walked towards the door, holding the gun.

Xia Lei hurried off soundlessly. He had just entered his room when Linda walked out of the study with her gun. He hid at the door with his left eye still locked on Linda.

She came to his door with her gun, then stopped.

“She wants to kill me?” Xia Lei was surprised but calm. He was prepared. With a hand on his waist, he was ready to pull out his army knife anytime.

However, just as he was poised for battle, Linda shook her head and turned around to leave.

Xia Lei froze, not sure of her intentions. Amidst his confusion, Linda went to the front door to put on a pair of sneakers, then left.

Xia Lei also opened the door and left. He saw her walking down the hill. Under the dim moonlight, she looked ethereal in her nightgown. She looked like a floating spirit lingering around the hills, maybe a ghost looking for her next victim.

“She’s going to Professor Oman’s house. So she just wanted to invite me just now?” Xia Lei guessed her intentions and started to think. “At his home last evening, she wasn’t looking for anything. Was it on purpose? Was she planning to retrieve it alone? Could it be the metal book? Or why would she bring a gun?”

This guess made Xia Lei anxious.

Linda was not walking fast. After walking a bit, she turned around to look.

Just before she did that, he dove behind the front door and also made a decision. He did not follow immediately and instead, hurried to her study.

There were no tall plants on the hill, it would be difficult for him to hide. If he followed her closely, she might see him. Based on her current speed, he could definitely catch up to her before she arrived at the town. During this time, he could investigate the notebook.

As he walked to the study, he quickly took her backpack out of the cupboard and the notebook inside.

He opened the notebook and read its contents.

Inside were some archaeological notes, annotations of her research of some artefact. While the contents were random, they looked very professional. He skimmed through and quickly reached the end of the notebook.

“Professor Oman wanted me to research the metal book with him. He told me it was the most difficult mystery in the world. The age of this book far exceeds recorded human history. There are mysterious texts written inside that till this day, no one can decipher. He estimates that the book had been here since the ice age. Did another intelligent civilization exist then, during another part of Earth’s history? Well, the earth is billions of years old, and humans have only about two million years. Perhaps there is a possibility of an advanced civilization before this period? I accepted his suggestion. This is an opportunity to witness an archaeological miracle.

I finally saw the metal book. It looks like any other book, just a little larger. Before I thought it would be iron but I came to realise it was made of bronze. I asked Professor Oman why it wasn’t called the bronze book. He said it was named by the owner of this book during Roman times and they kept the name. It had appeared during the Roman times? My goodness, it’s been two thousand years since its discovery, yet till today, no one has been able to decipher its secrets.

Professor Oman and I have tried many methods. Light spectroscopy, talking to linguists, but to no avail. Our research hasn’t made much progress and I am frustrated. However I know that this is a two-thousand-year-old mystery, how could I hope to decipher it so soon.

The people at the church are a little anxious. They sent people here to ask about its progress. This is a joke. They had this metal book probably hundreds, maybe thousands of years. Yet they hadn’t been able to decipher it. How could they hope for me and Professor Oman and solve the mystery so soon? Why are they so impatient? I can’t guess the reason. The church is as mysterious as this book.

Professor Oman says he has been having hallucinations, yet he has been clean of substances. I asked what sort of hallucinations but he wouldn’t tell me. Never mind, it’s time for me to put down my work. I need to attend an academic exchange in China. I hope I’ll get some inspiration from the Chinese archaeologists, maybe I’ll have an idea soon...”

When he finished reading, Xia Lei was stunned.

Although Linda did not include a picture of the metal book, according to her description, he was sure that the book was the same as the bronze book he had with him.

Two bronze books! What was going on?

He suddenly recalled the ‘I’ mentioned in the audio recording of the bronze book.

“You can decipher my voice, because you are The One. I left my voice in this bronze book to tell you my story. I had a box once, and that was how I gained immense power. My life is long, long beyond your imagination. I built my own kingdom, but even I do not know how large it is. I have conquered many, many women, so many that I do not remember their names anymore. My grandchildren have died before me, and even the grandchildren of grandchildren of my grandchildren have passed before me. A long life has become my torture, yet my subjects hail me as The One. I think they see me as a god — but I am not a god. Wine, women, and vast lands are no longer enough to satisfy my desires. I began to want to unravel the mysteries of the box. And so, I departed from my kingdom. I scaled the highest peak in this world, and crossed the deepest ocean. I don’t know how many places I’ve visited, or if there was any place in this world I had not yet visited. My kingdom was extinguished, but I was not concerned. Then, a continuous snow fell upon the land. I witnessed the extinction of tens of thousands of creatures, and I truly became The One. I despaired. I wanted to end my life in the place where the sun rose. I came to the East, to the place closest to where the sun rose. This was the end I wanted. I leave this bronze book to you, but when the time comes when I am prepared to end my life...”

The audio had stopped here.

The ‘I’ in the recording did not say what happened when his life ended. He once guessed that some accident or sudden incident must have happened. However, it looked more like it was cut into two parts, not interrupted!

The part Professor Oman and Linda studied was the other half!

“As long as I can find the other part of the bronze book, I’ll be able to understand the audio. Then I will know what happened as this person prepared to kill themselves. Maybe I can even crack the AE or ancient alloy’s mystery!” Xia Lei was extremely excited.

Two minutes later, he put the leather backpack in its original spot and left Linda’s house.

As he left the front door, he looked up and spotted Linda at the entrance of the town.

She was travelling faster than before. Her hand was behind her back, holding the gun. She looked very nervous.

Under a normal circumstance, she should have changed into more appropriate clothing. However, she was just in a nightgown now, it would be difficult to hide a gun. He could tell how anxious she was to return to Professor Oman’s house.

Xia Lei rushed down the hill quickly. He took two minutes to complete the journey that took her eight minutes to walk. As he entered the town, Linda had already arrived at the professor’s house.

Street lamps lit the streets but there was no one around.

She ducked under the police tape and found a key under a flowerpot. Very quickly, she opened the door. Just as she stepped inside, a shadow leapt from the darkness!