Lin Feng led the expedition team into the Sahara Desert for the second time in 2001, the expedition was funded by the Interstellar Development Group, and was formed at the end of February 2001, including Cheng Pengju, Feng Qianshan, He Weidi, Professor Yuan Zhong of the Department of History of Peking University, Professor He Ping of the Department of History of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Professor Lin Hairus of the Department of Archaeology of Tsinghua University, and 7 students, the guide of the Sahara Desert, Rokasha, a total of 15 people formed an expedition team, which set off on March 15, 2001, and the investigation period was one year.

On the first page of the note, the above description of the expedition team is written, and on the second page of the note, the personal information of the members of the expedition is simply recorded, but most of them are names, workplaces, contact information, etc., and nothing else. After that, there is a record of the work of the expedition. From the day of departure on March 15, 2001, the weather conditions, the surrounding environment, the route of the expedition, the places it passed, and the events encountered on each day were recorded concisely and clearly. No matter how big or small, Lin Hainan was quickly immersed in the notes, and as the sky gradually sank, Lin Hainan turned on the lamp on his mother's desk, and was not affected at all.

The expedition team set out from Beijing, and on the ninth day of the Sahara, it was about to enter the depths of the Sahara hinterland, when the expedition team encountered a sudden black sandstorm. The black sandstorm came very suddenly, there was no warning in advance, even the guide Rokasha did not expect, because there was no preparation in advance, the expedition team was caught off guard in the face of the black sandstorm, and after 5 hours, after the sandstorm ended, the expedition team lost two camels, but fortunately there were no casualties. However, the situation was not as optimistic as expected, the two lost camels were carrying water bags, due to the loss of these two camels, the water resources of the expedition team were reduced by half, if the expedition team could not find a water source for replenishment within three days, they had to return the same way, rest and recuperate before setting off, which would undoubtedly be a waste of time, and it was very likely to collide with the subsequent wind season, so that the smooth progress of the expedition could not be guaranteed.

As a result, the expedition team immediately decided to take a short break and set off on the original route, where there was a place to replenish water. But worse things happened, and the expedition lost its way on the 10th day of continuing its advance into the heart of the Sahara.

Guided by the Black Sandstorm, Rokasha was unable to accurately determine the direction of the changed sand ridge. After some discussion, the expedition team made it clear that the urgency of the delay was to find a source of water, and in order to ensure the safety of personnel, the direction of progress was adjusted to the edge of the desert.

On the 13th day of the expedition, the expedition team had very little water left. But the worst, least desirable of all happened – the expedition got lost in the vast Sahara Desert.

They don't know where they're heading. The guide, Rokasha, relied on the position of the sun to discern the direction, but the more they went, the more confused the expedition became, they did not follow the established route, they were walking into the unknown distance, they did not know if the remaining water could hold on until the source of the water was found, they were not even sure if they could find the source of water.

Rokasha told Lin Feng in private that the situation they encountered was much more severe than he had imagined. Lin Feng recorded in his notes: "Luo Kasha took into account the feelings of the other people in the team, and did not say it explicitly, but found me in private and told me: 'Mr. Lin, the current situation is like this, this terrible black sandstorm has made it impossible for me to lead the team to the right place, let alone find the original destination, I can't even find my way back. Let me tell you the truth, I have already discovered this afternoon, although the place we are walking in is very similar to the place I remember, but you must know that there are many similar places in the desert, and although they are similar, they are not the same place, and they are even very likely to be far apart. In the afternoon, I can be sure that this is a place I have never been, I can only barely discern the direction, if you can still trust me, I will lead you on, but I hope you can be mentally prepared that we are on a journey into the unknown, and it is likely that death awaits us. ’”

Lin Feng didn't hesitate for too long, and explained the situation to everyone in the expedition team. Even if there is a young girl in her early twenties.

On the 15th day of the expedition, the water in the expedition was completely exhausted.

On the night of the 16th day of the expedition, people with low-grade fever appeared in the expedition team one after another.

On the 17th day of the expedition, 2 members of the expedition team were dehydrated.

And the expedition team finally ushered in hope, when the expedition team was crumbling, on the 18th day of the expedition, the expedition team saw - an oasis.

- Lin Hainan closed his notes with some annoyance, and Lin Feng's notes came to an abrupt end on the day the expedition team met the oasis.

In the first eighteen days of the notes, Lin Feng not only recorded the various situations encountered by the expedition team, but also sorted out and recorded the conversations of the members of the expedition team. But what did the expedition encounter in the oasis and what happened?

The second half of the note was torn off, and I don't know who tore it off, I don't know what was torn off, I don't know where that part is. However, after the notes, the last work record remained, but only a scribbled sentence read: "On May 3, 2001, the expedition was suspended. All returned. ”

It can be seen that the integrity of the work notes from the beginning is beyond doubt. Someone tore half of the note off.

So, the question is, did Lin Hainan's father, Lin Feng, tear it off by himself? If not, did this half of the notebook be torn up before it reached his mother Wang Xiuzhu, or was it torn up after it reached Wang Xiuzhu's hands? Could it be Wang Xiuzhu who tore it up?

Countless questions lingered in Lin Hainan's heart, and the geography was inextricably clear.

At this moment, sitting in the human resources office of the Forbidden City, facing Cheng Pengju's question, Lin Hainan's inner doubts increased instead of decreasing. After only two seconds of hesitation, Lin Hainan calmly admitted that he knew about the existence of the note. When the inextricable threads could not be solved, Lin Hainan desperately hoped that Cheng Pengju could uncover the veil of the mystery.

Cheng Pengju was not too surprised, when he heard the news of the death of Lin's mother Wang Xiuzhu, he already had a premonition. Cheng Pengju just nodded and told Lin Hainan: "In 01, your father and I went to the Sahara together. ”

Lin Hainan nodded, in his father Lin Feng's work notes, the information recorded on the members of the expedition team was indeed Cheng Pengju's name in the list.

In the face of Lin Hainan's knowledge, Cheng Pengju also knew it, as if he knew the content of the notebook that Lin Hainan was reading.

Sure enough, Cheng Pengju next opened the locked drawer at the bottom of the desk, and took out a stack of vacuum-packed and plastic-sealed papers from inside, which were the same as the paper of Lin Feng's notes in Lin Hainan's hand.

Lin Hainan realized in an instant that Cheng Pengju was undoubtedly in the know of Lin Feng's notes. Lin Hainan recalled that the packaging of the first half of the notebook was also with the logo of the Forbidden City. At that time, Lin Hainan didn't think much about it, but it was indeed because of this inspiration that Lin Hainan immediately chose to go to the Forbidden City, where his father worked.

"You should only have half of the notes in your hand, and this is the other half. This half of the notebook records what happened in the oasis of the Saharan hinterland at that time for our expedition. It's just that for so many years, it has been your father Lin Feng who has been mediating with them, I know you may be very confused, but I can't explain too much for you in detail......"

"Who are 'they'?'" Lin Hainan asked the same question as his mother Wang Xiuzhu back then.

"Well......", Cheng Peng opened his mouth after consideration: "This group of them works for an organization called 'Oriental Artifact'. We don't know who is behind them. At first, I noticed them in a case of reselling cultural relics. It was in 1993, Lin Feng went to India to investigate, and met the people of the Oriental artifact. At first, we all thought it was just an ordinary case, but as we found their presence in many cases of cultural relics restoration and resale, Lin Feng gradually realized the seriousness of the problem, perhaps because of some kind of coincidence, Lin Feng always matched their people. Cheng Pengju smiled bitterly, "Although Lin Feng always said that this was an inevitable fate, I still don't quite understand what he meant. ”

"So. The so-called oriental artifact is a criminal gang that resells cultural relics by means of restoring cultural relics?"

"You're not wrong to define it that way. It's just," Cheng Pengju looked at Lin Hainan's eyes very seriously: "You must realize that the discipline of this criminal gang is so strict and the scale is beyond imagination. Although they do the resale of cultural relics, but their technology to restore cultural relics is very advanced, and even walk in the forefront of the world, in recent years, in their confrontation, we have become more and more difficult, although I do not want to admit it, but from the technical level of cultural relics restoration, they are ahead of us. ”

Lin Hainan was stunned, if the other party's technology was so superb, then it meant that the other party's repair of the inferior goods was full, and they could not identify it, or there was no sufficient evidence. This is harmful to the protection of ancient cultural relics.

"They have so many powerful cultural relics restorers?" Lin Hainan was a little puzzled, if it was out of love for cultural relics, he believed that anyone who thought that cultural relics restorers would not do anything to resell cultural relics. For cultural relics, Lin Hainan is almost stubborn about the sense of justice, this point, Lin Hainan is very similar to his father Lin Feng. But who's to say that anyone working around artifacts isn't such a righteous warrior?

"This is the most hateful thing about them, and it is also the root of their crime - not only out of thirst for money, although this is already terrible, but although the oriental artifacts are resold and restored, they are also high imitations. And behind this, they took away a large number of genuine products, their purpose is not only money, but also to seek ancient secrets, they are like a group of crazy people, believing that the disappeared ancient civilization has immeasurable cosmic power, what they want is the power to master the world, subvert the world, and destroy the world!"

How ridiculous. But Lin Hainan couldn't laugh. Such a group of people are pursuing an unattainable and ethereal goal, but they have sacrificed many people, and even hurt many people.

"Hainan, their goal may sound ridiculous, but you should also know that there are many things that cannot be explained with current science. Cheng Pengju pointed at the table with his index finger, "Judging from the information we have so far, the Oriental Artifact has strong financial strength, and they seem to have found a lot of things." We don't know exactly where they went, but what if, I mean, their goal was achieved? If an ancient civilization disappeared into a highly sensitive virus, and the Oriental artifact succeeded in researching this virus, what would disappear at that time? The consequences would be unimaginable, and the most outrageous thing about the Oriental artifact was their indifference to human feelings. They can brutally kill anyone without hesitation. In their eyes, human life is not much more valuable than those dead things. Your father, for example. We have also cooperated with many international organizations and individuals, but at present, our progress is too slow, and the Oriental artifact side is unexpectedly smooth. ”

Lin Hainan was silent.

Since his father left, he has always thought that it was just an accident during the investigation, the truth that his mother told him before leaving, Lin Hainan has not digested it well, these days, he is supported by one breath, and now, he must cheer up, because what he has to face is not a simple job, but a criminal gang that took his father's life.

"Now, Hainan, Uncle Cheng asks you, do you still want to follow your father's path?"

"Of course. Lin Hainan was extremely firm and did not hesitate, not only because he was curious about the Oriental artifact, but also because he was angry about the Oriental artifact. Lin Hainan wanted to know what happened to his father back then, he knew that his mother Wang Xiuzhu had always wanted to know the truth, which was her regret.

Lin Hainan wants to adhere to the justice of cultural relics work, wants to fulfill his father's will, and wants to make up for his mother's regrets.

"Of course, I want to bring the Eastern artifact to justice. I'm sure my dad will support me in doing the same. ”

"Even in the face of them the possibility of losing their lives?"

"Yes. ”

Facing Lin Hainan's resolute expression, Cheng Pengju sighed softly, Lin Hainan was still too young to know what the so-called danger of losing his life would be. However, even if he knew, he would not hesitate to choose the same path as his father. Their father and son have the same blood in their bones.

Cheng Pengju, who had figured it out, no longer hesitated, his expression was solemn, and his tone was resolute and decisive, revealing the aura he had gradually grinded over the years, and he became as decisive as a general commanding the Quartet on the battlefield: "From today on, you will officially work in the Forbidden City Cultural Relics Restoration Team, I will give you three days to sort out your own affairs, and after three days, you will devote yourself to the tug-of-war against the Oriental artifact." I want you to put your heart and soul into it, and don't disgrace your father's face. ”

"Understood. In less than three days, I will be able to sort out everything at home and go to work tomorrow. ”

"Okay!" Cheng Pengju nodded with satisfaction.

At this moment, there was a sharp knock on the door. "Come in!" Before Cheng Pengju's words fell, the people outside the door pushed the door in, and when they saw Lin Hainan, they couldn't help but be stunned.

Lin Hainan was also very surprised, and a familiar feeling came to his heart little by little.

--The person who came was none other than Feng Jianfei, who used to be the childhood sweetheart with whom Lin Hainan had the best relationship.

"Jianfei......" Lin Hainan stood up and looked at Feng Jianfei, but Feng Jianfei just glanced at him and nodded politely and distantly.

"Uncle Cheng, I'll ...... first" Feeling Feng Jianfei's coldness, Lin Hainan couldn't help but smile bitterly. A few years ago, as my mother moved out of Beijing, I had contact with Feng Jianfei at first, but the busier I was, the contact was broken, and now it has been five years, but I didn't expect to meet in the Forbidden City today.

Time is so fast, Lin Hainan thought in a trance, seeing that Feng Jianfei had something to say, and seemed to be working in the Forbidden City, Lin Hainan planned to leave first, but Cheng Pengju waved his hand indifferently to stop him, and said to Feng Jianfei: "It's okay, just say it, Lin Hainan will also be one of us in the future." You should be familiar with it, I'll introduce it to you later, and now you can tell you what to do. ”

Feng Jianfei was stunned for a moment, then came back to his senses and handed Cheng Peng a letter: "The Interstellar Development Group will hold a cultural relics restoration competition in the hinterland of the Sahara Desert next month, and among the entries provided are what the Oriental artifact wants. There is still one week left until the registration deadline. This is the tournament charter and an invitation to the event from Interstellar Development Group. ”

Cheng Pengju took the information in Feng Jianfei's hand, and after a brief browsing, he faced the two of them, "Hainan, cultural relics restoration competition, you, as the captain, lead the team to participate." Jianfei, fully cooperate with Hainan, and then organize a few people to form a reliable group. Within three days, the small group was assembled. ”

"Yes. Lin Hainan and Feng Jianfei agreed together.

Cultural relics restoration--Lin Hainan secretly thought, after all, I still embarked on the same fate as my father, perhaps, this is my path, not a peaceful and boring life.