After stroking away the dust, the color of the box shone with a faint light. It was neither wood nor iron. Even the knowledgeable Du Wei could not identify the texture of this box for a moment.

The killing mechanism that shoots two crossbow arrows from under the pull ring obviously has some hidden secrets. Du Wei casually put away the two crossbow arrows. He was still a little confused: this thing is obviously extremely powerful.

It is old, but there are no rust marks on it, and the poison smeared on the crossbow arrows still adheres to it and has not evaporated over time. This is definitely not something that can be done by ordinary craftsmanship. It can only be done with magic.

.

But... there are magical things in the astrology hall, which is a paradox in itself. Because there is such a strange situation on the mainland: magicians look down on the church, and the church does not like magicians. At the same time, the church and magic

Magicians all look down on astrologers, because astrologers are out-and-out magicians. The so-called prophecy is regarded by magicians as something that deceives people.

After pulling it, the box was tightly closed, and there seemed to be some kind of secret lock inside. Du Wei pondered for a while, and then he simply used his fingertips to pinch it gently, and with a click, the secret lock broke. He opened the box.

Later, I discovered that inside...

empty?

Du Wei was stunned.

This box is actually empty. The inside of the box is wrapped with a layer of brocade. As time goes by, this brocade has long rotted. When the wind blows gently, it turns into fly ash. However, it is indeed empty.

of.

"Could it be that... the things inside have been taken away?" Du Wei muttered to himself.

He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He was about to throw the box away, but when he remembered the texture of the box, he couldn't even recognize it for a moment, so he stuffed the box into his arms again. After losing the magic power, Du Wei's spirit

His strength is almost the same as that of ordinary people, so he no longer even dares to use the magic storage ring that he was used to.

Theoretically speaking, Du Wei can still use magic. He can spell, and his mental power and induction can also be used. However, his mental power is too low, and he cannot meditate to practice and grow. It cannot be said that Du Wei cannot use any magic now.

At least one or two of the simplest fireball techniques can still be done. However, his mental power is so low that it will dry up after almost using two fireball techniques.

Therefore, in order to save his little mental energy, he has tried his best to change his original living habits. He no longer dares to use the storage ring that he never left his hand because every time he uses the storage ring, it consumes magic power.

Although for Du Wei in the past, the magic power consumed by using the storage ring was almost negligible, but now, he can't do it anymore.

Du Wei walked out of the warehouse in disgrace. The guard knights outside and the people in the astrology hall waited all night. When they saw Du Wei coming out, they hurriedly greeted him. The owner of the astrology hall had changed into a formal astrologer.

He wore a black earth magician robe with a black base and countless star patterns on it. Seeing Du Wei come out, the owner wanted to get close to him, but was coldly blocked by Du Wei's loyal guard knight.

Outside.

"Don't be rude." Du Wei had a smile on his face. He waved to the guards to get out of the way, walked up to the owner of the museum, and smiled slightly: "Sir, please forgive me for being presumptuous. I was just in a hurry and came here to check some astrological information...

...You must also know that I am about to go on an expedition in the near future. Before the expedition, according to the tradition of our astrologers, I always have to do some divination."

The owner immediately felt happy. Duke Tulip was talking about "our astrologers". Since the other party recognized that he was also an astrologer, he was one of his own.

"Haha, you don't have to be polite, Your Majesty the Duke." The museum owner's face was full of smiles: "The Duke is about to go on an expedition, and I also know the news. How about it? If you need divination, I will bring someone to you in person tonight

The underworld will observe the stars for you and divine your fortune this time."

He is the chief astrologer of the palace. Usually, unless he is the royal family, he can be sent out. Other palace nobles just ask other senior astrologers in the astrology hall to go. This time he volunteered to serve Du

Wei divination can be considered as a naked favor.

But Du Wei laughed: "Thank you for your kindness, but no need...well, please don't mind, I am also an astrologer, so I don't dare to help you."

The owner of the museum immediately came back to his senses and knew that he had been reckless. He was excited for a moment and just wanted to please Du Wei, but he forgot that Du Wei was also an astrologer. Normally, an astrologer would never invite another person.

When an astrologer performs a divination for oneself, it is almost equivalent to admitting that the other party's level of astrology is far superior to one's own. Since he is a magician, he always does so with dignity.

"Haha, I was reckless." The owner quickly laughed: "I forgot that you are also the title of palace astrologer. Well, but the tools required for divination of astrology may not be available in your house. I will prepare a set today.

, send someone to deliver it to you."

Du Wei did not refuse the museum owner's kindness. Before leaving, he sighed deliberately: "As an astrologer, I have never come here to meet you, the museum owner. Today I came and saw our astrology museum...

Alas, it seems that many places are in disrepair. The warehouse seems to have not been repaired for some years. The funds in the museum must be tight. Although I am the Duke of the Empire, I am also an astrologer after all, so I am here.

The interruption last night was caused by me being rude, but I will find an opportunity to report it to His Highness the Regent and ask him to pay more attention to our museum, and it would be best to allocate a certain amount of funds."

After saying this, everyone in the astrology hall became happy, and they immediately felt that this young Duke was a very good person. Even last night, he was woken up from his bed in the middle of the night and waited outside all night.

All forgotten in an instant.

Du Wei randomly wrote a few bad checks and went out. People only thought that he was a dignified noble and would never tell such lies. Du Wei left the astrology hall with the respectful greetings of a group of astrologers.

Before leaving, he also said that he might come to check information from time to time, but he was busy with state affairs and might not be able to come in person.

"It doesn't matter." The curator immediately patted his chest: "Although there are rules that outsiders are not allowed to enter the museum, you are not an outsider. I know that you are busy with state affairs. It is impossible to come in person all the time. When needed, you can

Send someone to come with your warrant. The warehouses of the Astrology Hall are all at your disposal. Or, if you need to check something, send someone to send a message, and I will have someone search for it. Once everything is found, I will send it to you.

alright."

The owner of this museum is on the road like this, and he is indeed an old man who can enjoy himself in the palace. Du Wei smiled happily, and before saying goodbye to everyone, he even ordered people around him in public: "You don't have to go back with me. Go to Little Zac immediately.

Sir, tell me to send you 50 million gold coins, which will be used as a personal donation to the Astrology Museum to repair the warehouse."

Five thousand gold coins were enough to build a new building, not to mention a warehouse. Everyone in the hall was overjoyed and gave Du Wei thousands of coins as gifts.

Speaking of which, although the astrologers in this astrological hall have high status, they are not wealthy. They are also magicians. Naturally, there are countless believers from the mainland to support them in the temple. However, these astrologers can only rely on

The empire allocates a small amount of financial funds every year to survive. Occasionally, the nobles may come to ask astrologers for divination, but the reward is usually only a hundred or ten gold coins at most.

Moreover, when divination is needed every year, it is only on festivals or weddings and funerals. There are not many such things in a year. There are hundreds of astrologers in this hall, and there are countless more.

Ten servants, eating and drinking, just barely maintaining dignity. In addition, now that Prince Chen has come to power, the regent has been practicing magic since he was a child. According to the tradition of magicians, he doesn't think highly of astrology and has little regard for astrology.

The museum will not take more care of it. Although the funds have not been reduced, the rewards in daily life are far less than during the reign of the old emperor Augustine VI.

Gradually, even the chief astrologer of the palace seemed to be rarely called upon to perform divination.

The five thousand gold coins donated by Du Wei can be regarded as a windfall, so how can everyone be unhappy?

Du Wei casually rewarded him with thousands of gold coins. To him, it was just a trivial matter, but he didn't know that he had received a huge favor from everyone in the astrology hall, and that it would be a huge favor in the future.

There were some consequences that made Du Wei happy, which is naturally a story for another time.

Back at the Duke's Mansion, Du Wei didn't sleep all night and was a little sleepy. He was no better than before. It didn't matter if he didn't sleep for a few days. After his mental power atrophied, his need for sleep every day was even more than that of ordinary people.

But after returning to the study, someone brought some hot soup and tea, so he steeled himself and studied the box he brought back.

He took out the box, looked at it with a magnifying glass for a while, and knocked it again to make sure that there was no interlayer in the box and there was nothing else hidden in it.

He also took a sharp broken sword, gently cut a corner of the box, and checked the information, and then he found out the material of the box.

"Well, 'Wulimu' is a rare tree, as hard as iron, but lighter than ordinary wood. No wonder I haven't seen it before. It became extinct hundreds of years ago. So it seems like this

The age of the things is at least several hundred years old.”

Du Wei remembered that he had studied the military history of the Roland Continental Empire and knew that hundreds of years ago, when the empire was expanding its navy, someone had proposed the idea of ​​using this kind of black wood to build warships: this kind of wood also

It is hard, clear, and extremely corrosion-resistant. If used for shipbuilding, it is indeed a top-quality material.

However, that idea could not be realized, because at that time, Wulimu was already very rare, and its quantity was very small, so it could not be cut down in large quantities. This plant later became extinct and can no longer be found on the mainland.

Du Wei was familiar with various ancient books and documents from the Roland Empire. He boasted a photographic memory and was knowledgeable. He remembered this matter. Now that he had figured it out, he held the box in his hand and played with it for a while. His interest gradually faded away.

Then he threw it on the table, stretched, and got ready to go to bed.

Humph, there is no way this thing is like a moonlight treasure box. After opening it, holding it in your hand and shouting "Prajna Prajna Honey" a few times can you go back to five hundred years ago?

Ha ha ha ha……

Du Wei smiled and was about to give up and leave, but suddenly he saw the cotton cloth on the desk that he had just used to wipe the dust on the box. His eyes suddenly stopped! The cotton cloth was full of black, but it was from the box.

The stains wiped off from outside.

His eyes flashed, and he suddenly grabbed the piece of cotton cloth. He brought it to his nose and smelled it...

"Um!?"

A smile appeared on Du Wei's lips.

Although it has deteriorated, it still has a faint smell of ink! This is absolutely unmistakable! In addition, the ebony wood is naturally resistant to corrosion, and the box is extremely delicately made. After closing, there is no

It is ventilated and has been stored for so many years, but the smell of ink inside is still there!

Du Wei grabbed the box again and opened it. He reached out and touched the inner wall of the box again and again. Sure enough, he felt an uneven feeling. And the ink stain on the cotton cloth was left by him when he wiped the inside of the box before.

!

Taking the light, Du Wei looked carefully under the firelight, and saw that the inner wall of the box was covered with raised carvings. The lines were delicate, and each line was so clear...

I just looked at it for a while, but I was at a loss. I couldn't understand the meaning of these lines at all. There were also some faint words on some places on it, but those words looked as if the strokes were very familiar and I recognized them completely.

Du Wei closed his eyes and meditated for a while, his brows gradually relaxed!

Figured it out!

He smiled and laughed at himself: "No wonder I can't understand it. Because the patterns on it are all in reverse. The ink is painted on the inner wall just to print out the patterns inside!"

With a laugh, Du Wei immediately took out a bottle of ink, smeared it on the inner wall of the box with a brush, took out a piece of white paper, and printed on it carefully.

Open the white paper again and take a look! The patterns and words on it are immediately clear!!

This...this is actually a map!

There are drawings and twists on it, but they seem to be roads one by one. Occasionally, there are words marking the locations. The words are all written in the Roland Empire, but from the perspective of grammar, they are all ancient words and words.

.
To be continued...