Chapter 429: Ning Fei's Astonishing Discovery!

There was light in the underground world.

The viewers in the live stream were all incredibly surprised.

Ning Fei also found it bizarre.

"There's actually light down here!"

"The light is coming from ahead."

"It's natural light, not from a fire or a lamp!"

"An underground world that can draw down light—how did they do it?"

Ning Fei muttered.

Everything about this place was truly miraculous.

Many more houses appeared in front of him. In the distance beyond the buildings, a shaft of light fell. There was even a water source there, and he could see plenty of green plants.

"Whoa!"

Right at that moment, Ning Fei suddenly jumped back.

His movement startled the viewers.

"What's going on?"

"Did Temple Master Ning discover something?"

Everyone looked closely and realized a massive locust had flown straight at Ning Fei, who easily dodged it.

"It seems Temple Master Ning hates insects the most."

"He's not just being squeamish. I have entomophobia too; seeing bugs makes my skin crawl."

"+1, I really think these creatures are disgusting."

"I'm actually drooling. A grasshopper that big—imagine how good it would taste deep-fried!"

Ning Fei looked at the grasshopper, which was five or six centimeters long.

"To think there are grasshoppers this large in the underground world."

"I heard before that Lop Nur once suffered a locust plague. The locusts blotted out the sky, packed densely together."

"I suspect it might be inextricably linked to this place."

"I need to go see where this underground light is coming from. Could the people of Peacock City really have created a sun?"

The scene before him was extremely bizarre.

The ambient light wasn't too bright, but it wasn't dark either. It felt somewhat like dusk.

Regardless, this completely defied science.

Because underground, it should be pitch black.

Ning Fei hurried through the houses, heading straight for the source of the light.

The viewers watched the scene nervously.

On the live stream, amid the slightly darkened ancient city from over two thousand years ago, Ning Fei walked forward fearlessly in his Daoist Robe, his face completely calm.

"Isn't Temple Master Ning afraid?"

"A pitch-black underground ancient city, terrifying ape-men that could jump out at any moment—a normal person would have been scared to death in this environment long ago!"

"Is this the courage of a Daoist cultivator?"

"The seas change to mulberry fields, and the brave remain silent. This is probably that kind of feeling."

The ancient city was much larger than expected.

Ning Fei walked for nearly twenty minutes before finally passing through the old town and arriving at the city outskirts.

"Something isn't right!"

"As I walked here, the city was perfectly symmetrical."

"If I'm not mistaken, this must be a miniature Bagua city!"

"The foundation of Peacock City was actually based on the Bagua?"

Ning Fei murmured as he walked past the main district of the ancient city.

The viewers were astounded when they heard this.

"A Bagua city? There's a Bagua city in reality, right in Xinjiang!"

"No way, we already had one over two thousand years ago? That's amazing!"

"What did Temple Master Ning mean by something not being right?"

"Look at his expression, he seems really confused."

"Yeah, that's a rare sight."

At this moment, Ning Fei explained:

"Logically speaking, during the Loulan era, the people here should have believed in Western Buddhism or local sects."

"The Bagua is a Daoism concept."

"To think that Peacock City actually has Daoist origins!"

"That's why I find it so surprising."

Ning Fei explained softly.

Hearing Ning Fei's words, the viewers finally understood.

The culture of the Western Regions in that era contained very few Daoist elements. So, if Peacock City was truly a Bagua city, then everything became much more mysterious.

Ning Fei had reached the perimeter of the city.

Several walls stood here, densely covered in vines that bore numerous wild fruits.

Walking further, he could see the walls were damp. Water continuously flowed down them, forming something like a water curtain.

Then, Ning Fei looked up.

The drone followed, filming the scene above.

As soon as he looked up, everyone was stunned.

"How is this possible!"

"What is that?"

"Holy shit! What am I looking at!"

The viewers were dumbfounded, their eyes wide as they stared in speechless shock.

Directly above Ning Fei, light was actually piercing through the soil and spilling down!

Beams of light slipped through the cracks. Though faint, they were clearly visible to the naked eye.

Ning Fei's expression shifted!

He inspected it closely and soon realized what was going on.

"That's a special kind of glass!"

"The world's earliest glass appeared in ancient Egypt around 3700 BCE. In Egyptian ruins from four thousand years ago, glass beads were produced."

"I never expected that a small border nation of Huaxia from two thousand years ago would also possess the ability to forge glass."

"This glass is buried beneath the sand. From the outside, it looks just like dirt, but when the wind blows the sand away, light can pour down."

"Looking at it this way, Peacock City wasn't forced underground!"

"Instead, someone undertook a massive engineering project, using the power of the entire city to voluntarily sink Peacock City beneath the earth!"

"This is a city that willingly buried itself!"

Staring at the faint light overhead, Ning Fei finally understood.

He said in a distant tone:

"Over two thousand years ago, Loulan annihilated the surrounding small nations to achieve unification, and that included Peacock City."

"Following that, the Peacock River dried up. With no water source around Loulan, desertification grew increasingly severe."

"The people of Loulan were forced to relocate their capital. Everyone had to leave this land and head to the outside world to survive."

"But the people of Peacock City didn't go with them."

"Someone predicted that this place would be buried by sand. Thus, with the strength of their entire nation, they made an astonishing decision!"

"To let Peacock City sink underground."

"This was an epic undertaking. In terms of difficulty, the scope of this project was no less than that of the Great Wall."

"Furthermore, there must have been an incredible genius among them—someone who understood both glassmaking and engineering."

"They built a roof over Peacock City!"

"This right here is the skylight!"

Hearing Ning Fei's words, everyone was shocked.

They still hadn't processed what he'd just said.

"How is this possible?"

"What is Temple Master Ning saying?"

"I think I understand what Temple Master Ning means. Back then at Lop Nur, the lake vanished and sandstorms filled the sky. A thick layer of sand piled up over Peacock City."

"Then, the people of Peacock City began a massive project, constructing walls and a roof above and around their city."

"After that, the sandstorms grew worse and worse, until they completely buried the city."

"But... is that even possible?"

The viewers were caught in a wave of disbelief.

At that moment, Ning Fei looked into the pitch-black ancient city.

He actually felt a bit nervous right then.

It was a rare feeling for him.

Then, Ning Fei spoke softly.

"It's very simple to verify this theory."

"If the people of Peacock City truly didn't leave and willingly buried themselves alongside this city..."

"...Then I'm afraid that inside every single one of those hundreds of houses, there will be several skeletons!"

Hearing this, the hairs on the viewers' bodies stood on end as if they'd been electrocuted!

Even though it was the peak of spring, everyone felt a bone-deep chill sweep from head to toe!

Hundreds of houses, thousands of skeletons!

This was a true hell on earth!