Indeed, these cracks were quite unusual. The entire figurine looked as if it had been forcefully shattered, with the left chest as the source point radiating outward, the whole body covered with spider web-like cracks. Strangely, even cracked like this, this figurine hadn’t crumbled but still stood stubbornly upright.

“Uncle, this person… I think we’ve seen him before…” Tang Yuan pointed at the figurine’s face, indicating for the doctor to take a closer look.

Upon looking, the doctor’s face, which had just regained some color, turned pale again.

This figurine was very thin, with a kind of sickly handsomeness—it was exactly Cheng Xiao, whom the nurses had affectionately nicknamed “Program Bamboo Pole”! The doctor had handled his surgical case before. This person had been in and out of the hospital for ten years—how could the doctor not recognize his face!

“This Cheng Xiao… hasn’t died yet?” Tang Yuan scratched his head. The little white snake had clearly eaten the silver fish talisman he’d used to steal others’ life force—it was impossible for him to still be alive!

“…After emergency surgery, he never woke up.” The doctor wiped his face, his hand covered in cold sweat. Why did this brat have an expression like “why isn’t he dead yet, this isn’t scientific?” Was he questioning his abilities?

“Oh…” Tang Yuan curved his little mouth corners, drawing out the sound meaningfully.

“Oh what oh!” The doctor patted the brat’s head and sighed helplessly. “Say whatever you’re thinking. Uncle’s heart is stronger than this Program Bamboo Pole’s—it can handle it.”

“Oh, then I’ll say it!” Tang Yuan immediately raised his eyebrows, putting his small hands behind his back and speaking seriously: “Uncle, do you know what Tang sancai is?”

“A type of pottery, from the Tang Dynasty.” The doctor instinctively wanted to search with his phone, but seeing the cracked screen with no signal, he gave up reluctantly.

“Tang sancai is a type of low-temperature lead-glazed pottery. Never mind, that’s not the point. The point is, because Tang sancai has a loose, brittle body with poor waterproof performance, its practicality is far inferior to the celadon and white porcelain that had already appeared at that time. So it wasn’t made for daily use at all.” Tang Yuan tilted his head and smiled lightly. “Uncle, have you seen Tang sancai plates, bowls, or basins?”

“Indeed very few. Most of the Tang sancai I’ve seen are human figurines or animal figurines.” The doctor recalled, thinking he hadn’t seen many antiques, but actually a surprising number of images flooded his mind.

“Yes, that’s because Tang sancai was actually used as burial objects—for accompanying the dead.” Tang Yuan said with a smile.

The doctor gasped. Tang Yuan’s clear child’s voice should have sounded very pleasant, but in this situation, it carried a bone-deep chill. “You’re saying… these Tang sancai figurines were made by someone for burial use?”

“The arrangement of these Tang sancai figurines also has significance. They look chaotic and disorderly, even facing different directions, but they’re actually arranged according to a secret formation.”

“Speak human language.”

“This formation is powerful—I haven’t learned it.”

Looking at the dejected Tang Yuan, the doctor actually laughed: “We’ve got our priorities wrong! We shouldn’t be studying Tang sancai—we should be getting out of here quickly.”

“This Cheng Xiao probably had a health examination at this school’s hospital.” Tang Yuan continued analyzing unwillingly.

“Possible. After all, this school’s hospital has their old professor presiding. Though the old man’s hands shake too much to continue surgery due to age, his vision and experience remain.” The doctor paused here because he suddenly remembered that today he had also impulsively gotten a health check.

But… haha, he was probably worrying unnecessarily! The doctor comforted himself.

“Uncle, do you think if I pushed this figurine over, Cheng Xiao would immediately die?” Tang Yuan fantasized wildly.

“Don’t mess around!” The doctor quickly pulled Tang Yuan away from Cheng Xiao’s Tang sancai figurine.

“Haha, I was just joking!” Tang Yuan laughed.

“Crack—”

A clear sound of breaking pottery came, and Tang Yuan’s laughter stopped abruptly.

The doctor and Tang Yuan stared dumbfounded as Cheng Xiao’s figurine crumbled to powder without anyone touching it.

“This wasn’t my doing!” Tang Yuan started, immediately raising both hands to show his innocence. But he spoke somewhat guiltily because since entering this building, the little white snake in his pocket had disappeared.

“Of course I know it wasn’t you, unless you know word magic.” The doctor glared at him, no longer wasting words, focusing intently on finding an exit in this underground room.

Tang Yuan was also somewhat afraid—not of these eerie Tang sancai figurines, but of being abandoned by the doctor. Though this doctor uncle was strict, he cared for and protected him meticulously. This was the best treatment he’d received since leaving his master.

So when he saw a Tang sancai that was obviously different from other figurines in glaze luster, color, and form, he hesitated and didn’t speak up. This Tang sancai had a thin layer of silver light over its entire glaze surface, as if illuminated by moonlight, emitting a faint silver halo. This was the lead return phenomenon in glazes—it took over a hundred years to form a small silver spot, accumulating over time to develop into large-scale silver patches. This Tang sancai had silver light all over, showing its extremely ancient age.

Tang Yuan couldn’t help but curiously want to walk over and see this Tang sancai clearly, but just as he lifted his foot, a large hand firmly grabbed him.

“You brat, wanting to run around again? Here, I found the exit.” Without explanation, the doctor directly pulled Tang Yuan toward the exit he’d found.

They passed through a long secret passage, and when they finally opened a large door, they found themselves in the main hall they’d entered earlier. Ye Qianqian was holding her phone, anxiously pacing back and forth in the hall.

“Where on earth did you go? I just went upstairs to get something, and when I turned around, you were both gone! Do you know how scary that was? I even called the police!” Ye Qianqian seemed furious, delivering a rapid-fire lecture, then calling the school security to say they didn’t need to come—the people had been found.

Tang Yuan felt a coolness on his wrist as a slippery little snake skillfully tied itself around his wrist, contentedly rubbing its head against Tang Yuan’s hand.

“By the way, where exactly did you go?” Seeing that people were found, Ye Qianqian calmed down, her tone dropping eight degrees, returning to normal.

“We…” The doctor and Tang Yuan looked at each other, both feeling their minds were blank. “Seems like we just wandered around the house…”

Ye Qianqian furrowed her delicate brows, beginning to suspect this big one and little one were deliberately scaring her for fun, her expression darkening.

Seeing this, the doctor knew his junior colleague was definitely thinking wrong and hurried to explain, but his phone rang with a notification sound.

He looked and immediately felt heartbroken.

“Damn! When did my phone screen crack? My new iPhone 6 Plus!” The doctor wailed.

“Serves you right.” Ye Qianqian pursed her lips, gloating.

But Tang Yuan kept his small face tightly scrunched, his heart in turmoil. He must have encountered something strange! All his memories after entering the building were completely gone! Asking the little white snake was useless—this guy had slipped away faster than anyone as soon as they entered!

The doctor looked heartbrokenly at Chun Ge’s WeChat message on his cracked screen, his expression immediately becoming melancholy.

Cheng Xiao, the patient with restrictive cardiomyopathy, had finally been declared brain dead.

The doctor had seen life and death countless times over the years and had long anticipated Cheng Xiao’s outcome, but inevitably felt some unwillingness.

No one could escape Death’s scythe.

“Let’s go.” Seeing the doctor didn’t even offer an explanation, Ye Qianqian’s delicate brows stood on end. She spoke stiffly and headed outside.

“Ah? Ah, okay.” The doctor hurried to follow.

Well… seems like something was forgotten… forget it, don’t think about it.

At this very moment, in the underground room beneath their feet.

Above the fragments of Cheng Xiao’s figurine, a Tang sancai figurine identical to the doctor slowly formed in the darkness…

Mini Theater:

One day, the doctor received several boxes of express delivery from Mingde University. Upon opening, they were all various clothing items.

There were zhongshan suits, hanfu, riding attire, tailcoats, military uniforms… even dozens of pairs of matching shoes…

A note was attached:

“Since the uniforms were already made according to your body measurements, we’re sending them all to you for free!”

Being wealthy beyond explanation!