Wang Guan certainly wouldn't dare forget; even if he did, he figured Elder Zhou and the others would be right there to remind and urge him on.

"What do you mean?"

However, Elder Xu hadn't grasped the meaning of this coded language, or perhaps he had and needed clarification, so he wanted to ask clearly.

"Nothing much, keep reading."

At the same time, Elder Zhou chuckled, "A Bogu Tu from the Wanli period, rich in both text and illustration, and printed with remarkable clarity. Most importantly, it shows no signs of bookworms, missing pages, or creases—it truly deserves to be called a rare edition."

"It is a rare edition."

Seeing that Elder Zhou and the others were unwilling to elaborate, Elder Xu didn't press further. Instead, he smiled faintly, "But I never chase after rare editions, fine editions, or complete sets. As long as it's an ancient text, I'm happy to collect it. These ancient books, passed down through centuries, are incredibly precious, unlike modern books that can be mass-printed and published endlessly. For these ancient texts, of which there is one less every time one is lost, the economic value is secondary; protecting them is the crucial part."

"Precisely so."

For a moment, everyone deeply agreed, expressing full accord.

The reason Chinese civilization has been continuously passed down for millennia is precisely because of the reverence for history and the sheer volume of preserved texts, which allowed the nation's thoughts and cultural essence to be transmitted. One could say that ancient texts are the treasure trove of Chinese culture, and every single volume deserves meticulous study.

Some collect books to flaunt their extensive knowledge; others collect purely out of interest, to constantly consult them and draw deeper wisdom; yet others collect them for the sake of preservation and cultural inheritance. This represents a progression; certain tasks must be undertaken by someone, otherwise, the traditional culture of the Chinese nation would likely have been extinguished long ago.

After finishing with the Bogu Tu, Elder Xu brought out a set of comprehensive historical annals, recounting tales of history. Additionally, there were works like the Zhaoming Wenxuan and Romance of the Three Kingdoms—he collected everything from canonical literature to popular readings. After all, any ancient popular literature that managed to survive to the present day could be considered a masterwork.

The most salient example, naturally, was the Four Great Classical Novels. These works were once classified as proscribed books, but everyone understood human nature: the more something is forbidden, the faster it spreads. After centuries of sedimentation, they naturally accumulated immense popularity, to the extent that many people today rely on these few books for their livelihood.

Of course, Elder Xu's collection was not limited to these precious ancient texts; there were also some "Black Tigers" mixed in.

As mentioned before, the so-called "Black Tiger" is the common term for rubbings taken from stone inscriptions (Mòtuò). The main issue is that there are numerous methods for forging rubbings, making genuine identification difficult and prone to deception; a slight oversight can lead one to be fooled, as if bitten by a tiger. However, the rubbings Elder Xu collected held a certain peculiarity; they weren't just standard inscription rubbings, but rather rubbings of peculiar patterns.

"How strange, what is this?"

At this moment, Elder Zhou picked up a sheet of the rubbing, studying it closely for a moment, yet unable to decipher it. He frowned slightly, "The paper's color resembles yellow jade, and its texture is like a child's skin—it should be the gold-leaf paper often favored by high-ranking officials in the Ming Dynasty Inner Court. Furthermore, the ink on the rubbing is as thin as a cicada's wing, so it must be a 'Cicada Wing Rubbing,' no doubt. The question is, what was actually copied?"

"Brother Zhou, even you have moments when you don't understand something." Elder Xu smiled, clearly a bit smug.

"If I don't understand, then I don't understand," Elder Zhou stated calmly. "The world's knowledge is as vast as the stars; for ordinary people like us to spend our whole lives studying diligently and grasp even a small fraction is cause enough for joy. How could we presume to comprehend everything?"

"Indeed."

Elder Xu nodded in agreement, but he didn't rush to reveal the secret, instead inviting the others to observe and ponder.

Wang Guan and the others were naturally curious and gathered around to examine it. They saw that the rubbing ink was darkened, forming mottled traces. At first glance, these marks appeared chaotic, yet upon closer inspection, one felt there might be some underlying pattern.

After studying for a while, everyone felt deeply puzzled and shook their heads, admitting they had no idea what the object was.

"Brother Xu, stop keeping us in suspense," Elder Zhou prompted at the right moment. "Tell us, what kind of rubbing is this? Something printed on such precious gold-leaf paper must be significant, right?"

"Mhm, I think so too," Elder Xu conceded. "That's why I acquired it."

"Eh?"

In an instant, Elder Zhou seemed to realize something: "Listening to you, it sounds like you're not entirely sure what was copied either."

"Heh, you guessed correctly."

At this juncture, Elder Xu chuckled sheepishly, "When the great experts like you can't figure it out, how could I possibly know clearly? I just recognized the paper as Ming Dynasty Inner Court gold-leaf paper, so I bought it."

"No way..."

At once, Elder Zhou and the others shook their heads.

"If it were you, you would have done the same," Elder Xu boasted smugly. "The buyer didn't know it was gold-leaf paper, nor could they figure out what was being copied, so they let me have it at a very low price. Setting everything else aside, the value of the paper alone is enough for me to recoup my investment."

"No wonder..."

Everyone suddenly understood: it was a bargain find. Ancient paper already held immense potential for appreciation, let alone the extremely rare Ming Dynasty Inner Court paper, which was tribute paper supplied to the Imperial household—its value was certainly not low. Regardless of what was inscribed, the quality of the paper itself was valuable enough. Of course, if the copied subject matter proved exceptionally rare, the price would multiply several times over.

"Speaking of which, I think I've seen these rubbings somewhere before."

As the saying goes, there is strength in numbers. After researching for a while longer, one expert hesitated, "In the Palace Museum's archives, there might be something similar to this."

"Really?" Elder Xu's eyes lit up; he didn't doubt it. After all, the Palace Museum's collection of classics was vast, and finding something similar was not surprising.

"Probably," the expert replied uncertainly. "As you know, items that are inexplicable and lack clear categorization, when research yields no immediate result, are often shelved away for storage. I only stumbled upon it while organizing things, but I didn't pay it much mind."

"In that case, we'll look it up when we return," Elder Zhou said casually. "If we find anything definitive, I'll let you know."

"Good..."

Elder Xu nodded gently, feeling quite understanding toward Elder Zhou and the others. After all, the Palace Museum held too many items, and each expert specialized in different areas; it was normal not to be aware of every detail.

"Actually..."

At this point, Wang Guan hesitated, "Does no one else think these markings resemble the texture of a tortoise shell?"

"Tortoise shell texture?"

For a moment, everyone froze, then immediately looked again.

After a brief pause, Elder Zhou immediately shook his head, "No, tortoise shell textures are segmented, forming regular angular shapes. These, however, are lines, along with some inexplicable small dots—they are completely different from the patterns on a tortoise shell."

"Elder Zhou, I say this with a degree of confidence."

Just then, Wang Guan took several sheets of the rubbing and carefully laid them out, gesturing, "In my view, these few sheets are only parts of a whole. They were likely rubbed from one large tortoise shell and then separated onto individual sheets."

After Wang Guan arranged several sheets, two or three connected to reveal an outline—the outline of a single tortoise scute. This naturally confirmed he wasn't lying; the rubbing might indeed be from a tortoise shell.

"Oh!"

Glancing at the arrangement, Elder Zhou and the others were even more astonished.

Because judging by the outline, the tortoise shell that was copied was truly enormous; a single scute alone was the size of a dinner plate. This led to the inference that the entire shell must have been astonishingly large. Most importantly, since it could be confirmed that the object was a tortoise shell, the lines and small dots on the shell fragments must have been carved onto it later... "The River Chart and the Luo Book?"

Thinking of this, Elder Xu blurted out the possibility. For a moment, the others felt a sense of recognition. They couldn't help it; in the collective consciousness of the Chinese, anything carved with figures onto a tortoise shell was either Oracle Bone Script or the legendary Hetu Luoshu (River Chart and Luo Book).

What are the River Chart and Luo Book? They are mysteries that the Chinese have studied for millennia without ever fully deciphering.

The I Ching, Xi Ci states: "The River produced a chart, the Luo produced a book; the Sages took them as models."

Scholars usually interpret these words to mean that in antiquity, a Dragon-Horse bearing a diagram appeared from the Yellow River, and a Spirit Turtle bearing a diagram emerged from the Luo River. Fuxi used the diagram on the Dragon-Horse to draw the Eight Trigrams; Yu the Great used the diagram on the Spirit Turtle to establish the Nine Chapters, which were the Nine Fundamental Laws for governing the world, including methods for flood control.

Legend holds that even before the appearance of the Spirit Turtle in the Luo River, Yu the Great’s father, Gun, while carrying out Emperor Yao’s command to control the floods, saw a continuous line of turtles calling out and dragging their tails across the ground, leaving tracks. Gun devised a method for building dikes to repel the water based on these tracks. Although Gun's flood control ultimately failed because dredging proved superior to damming, the turtles played a crucial role.

There is also a myth that during the great ancient deluge, humanity was submerged, leaving only a brother and sister. It was a giant turtle that saved them, allowing the human race to multiply.

In summary, the River Chart and Luo Book are the origin points of Chinese mysticism.

Moreover, the ancients firmly believed that the secrets of Heaven and Earth were hidden within the tortoise shell. In the earliest literature concerning turtles, the upper carapace was likened to Heaven and the lower carapace to Earth, viewing the shell as a microcosm of the cosmos.

The turtle is a divine creature that corresponds to the celestial stars, hence its spiritual nature. The pattern on the turtle's back was believed by the ancients to be bestowed by Heaven's will, containing mysteries too profound to grasp, secrets only accessible to a Sage.

This is the concept of "Heaven showing the phenomena, the Divine Turtle bearing the chart." It is for this reason that among the Four Divine Beasts of ancient lore, the turtle is the only one that exists in reality. The Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Qilin, and others are all creatures of imagination.

A thousand years for a soft-shelled turtle, ten thousand years for a tortoise; living so long, the turtle naturally became a symbol of longevity. It was only later, due to Confucius's remark, "To grow old and not die is called a thief," being extended in interpretation, that the tortoise became a term of abuse.

"Young people are indeed sharper; their reaction time is quick," Elder Zhou remarked, looking at Wang Guan with an expression of profound approval.

"Exactly, young people's minds work faster," Elder Xu echoed the sentiment. The object had been in his possession for several years, yet he hadn't discerned anything. This young man, after only a brief glance, had reached a conclusion...

Youth, truly a wonderful thing!

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