Chapter 158

The flagstones of the Baiyang Post ancient road were soaked in horse blood. Shen Xitang’s silver silk constricted around a cuneiform clay tablet left behind by a Persian caravan. As the tablet was suddenly washed by a flash flood, rolls of the *Assyrian Empire Ordnance Manual* spilled out—the lion relief on the corner of the clay tablet perfectly matched the hidden mark on the *Map of the Two Instruments and the Mysterious View* gifted by Matteo Ricci during the Wanli era! "Lord Thousand-Householder, examine this chariot axle." Her fingertips brushed over the spiral patterns of the bronze spokes. "This 'Nine Stars in a Row' bearing technique is a lost metallurgical masterpiece from Song Yingxing's *Exploitation of the Works of Nature*..." The sound of metal clashing suddenly erupted from the depths of the tea mountains. Twenty bronze war chariots flying Macedonian royal flags charged out of the mist; the sun-patterned round shields embedded in their shafts were actually engraved with cuneiform script reading "Recast in Babylon, Autumn 1652"! Shen Xitang’s crossbow bolt severed the reins of one chariot, revealing a fragment of the *Puer Tea Mountain Secret Pact*—the clause "Exchange the Six Great Tea Mountains for Two Rivers Basin bronze smelting techniques" bore the joint wax seal of Mu Tianbo and Ashurbanipal!