Liang En and his group couldn't proceed to their target as planned since it was already lunchtime. They decided to have a simple meal at a nearby restaurant before heading to their destination. The lunch was a bit unusual, consisting of pasta, roasted chicken, and a vegetable salad, but at least it was enough to keep them warm for an afternoon of outdoor work as the weather turned colder.
Since the city wasn't very large, they quickly left the urban area and reached the outskirts. As the vehicle continued south, fields began to appear on both sides of the road.
"This place was a collective farm during the Soviet era. However, during its construction, they discovered some shells from the civil war, so for safety reasons, they didn't build any structures here," one of them explained as the car stopped by the roadside after driving less than 10 kilometers out of the city. The area was a large meadow with some cows grazing in the distance. Further away, farm buildings could be seen.
"This farm is now state-owned land in Russia, so if you want to dig here, it's best to get permission. Otherwise, the work ahead will be very troublesome."
"I understand. If I find anything, I'll apply to the authorities," Liang En nodded confidently. He believed that with his reputation, getting permission to excavate here wouldn't be too difficult.
"Where do you think we should start searching?" After saying goodbye to Sergey and agreeing to meet him at 7 PM, Liang En and Joan of Arc stepped onto the meadow. Joan of Arc curiously asked about the next steps as they began their search.
"We don't need to search the spot where the jade ornament was found. So many people have searched there over the years without success; I doubt the two of us will be able to find anything." Liang En replied as they walked toward a nearby hill.
"So, I think we should go to the highest point nearby and look around to see if there are any ruins or signs of ruins."
He made this judgment based on the items Sergey had mentioned that had been excavated earlier. Liang En realized that these objects weren't burial items but were meant for the living. This suggested that the place they were searching for was likely a special storage site.
Burying treasures was a common practice among nomadic tribes. However, unlike settled peoples, nomads could easily forget the locations of their buried treasures due to their constant movement. This is why jewelry, ornaments, and various finely crafted utensils are often unearthed on the plains—these valuable items, which are inconvenient to carry, were buried in emergencies and were never retrieved because the owners never returned.
To be honest, Liang En wouldn't have come if this treasure was like those others, as there would likely be nothing left to find, rendering the excavation pointless. However, this situation was different. After learning that the treasures had been exhibited, Liang En searched the internet for photos of the items and compared them to what had been found.
During this comparison, he unexpectedly discovered that one of the so-called gold items was actually gilded bronze, resembling a door knocker. The style was very similar to the beast-head door rings found in the Central Plains, suggesting it was likely a door ring from a Han-style building. Considering the item's uniqueness and weight, Liang En concluded that there might be a relic with Chinese characteristics nearby.
This would explain why such a heavy and low-value bronze door ring appeared here. Normally, the Xiongnu would have stripped the gold off and melted down the bronze to make weapons. As a nomadic tribe, the Xiongnu lacked both the metalworking skills and the metal resources of the Han people, so all metals were precious to them, making it unlikely they would discard such an item.
Moreover, removing such a large bronze door knocker from a door wasn't a difficult task. If they had the time and energy to remove it, they would have also had the time and energy to transport it to a safe place.
Therefore, the most plausible explanation for finding this item in a treasure trove is that it was removed from a building after it was abandoned, then temporarily hidden along with other items. However, like many other hidden items, this one was never retrieved by its owner for various reasons and was only discovered decades ago during road construction.
"Alright, let's get started." After climbing the small hill, Liang En summoned the three ravens that had been resting in his space and sent them out to scout the area, using himself as the center.
As the ravens flew higher and higher, the area they scouted expanded. Seven or eight minutes later, Liang En, through the ravens' eyes, saw several distinct straight lines on the ground, clearly not a natural formation.
"I think we should go take a look," Liang En said after the ravens completed their scouting. He quickly sketched a rough map of the surrounding area in his notebook.
"Although it's not very detailed, I can see from the aerial view that there's a large rectangular building trace here, resembling a wall. So I think it's worth checking out."
"Are you saying there's something like a wall here?" Joan of Arc perked up upon hearing this. "If that's the case, it could be a city. But why would anyone build a city here—"
Joan of Arc's confusion was understandable. For nomadic tribes, cities held little significance, especially in such a northern location. According to historical records, this area was over 1,000 kilometers from the Xiongnu capital during the Xiongnu era, making it a cold, desolate place even by Xiongnu standards, with little reason to build a city here.
"It might not be a city, but rather a settlement of Han people," Liang En calmly analyzed. "Both the Xiongnu and Han would place captives far from their borders."
"So this location, deep within Xiongnu territory, could have been a Han settlement. The building we're looking for might have belonged to them."
"If that's the case, then it makes sense. And if it's really as you say, the Han people here must have had high status; otherwise, such high-quality building materials wouldn't have been used," Joan of Arc snapped her fingers in agreement.
"So let's go check it out. If we can confirm the boundaries of the wall, we can conduct a thorough and comprehensive search of the entire site."
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