The ant fell from the stone statue and landed in front of Ian.
Thud!"
It landed on the sand from a high altitude.
After it landed on the ground, a team member stepped on it and crushed it with a soft thud.
"Strange, why is it so hard?"
The team member who crushed the ant felt a little strange. The body of this large ant was much harder than that of an ordinary ant.
"Where did such a large ant come from?" a team member asked in a low voice.
Ian only stared at the traces of the ant being trampled to death, his brows slightly furrowed.
At that moment, many people were squatting in front of the Sphinx, preparing to take a photo together.
Many people used their spades and brushes to slowly clear out the excess sand.
After a short while, the base of the stone statue was cleared out.
It was the first time that everyone had seen such a huge stone statue. In addition to the human head and lion body that could be seen from afar, many patterns were carved on its body, like some kind of spell.
This kind of symbol and code was something that the archaeological world had never seen before.
It immediately aroused their interest.
These symbols that recorded the ancient culture, why were they carved on the body of the stone statue?
What did these symbols mean?
The archaeological team had no way of knowing.
These ancient characters could only be found in out-of-print documents.
"I've heard of an ancient religion that worshipped aliens. They thought that they were gods, so they created statues to worship them. The symbols carved on the statues were a form of language."
One team member asked Ian if he was asking for advice because they knew that Ian had read some of his uncle's out-of-print documents.
"That's why you don't work hard when you study. You just like to use your brain in crooked ways. Where is all this alien talk coming out? Professor Schubert said that we should treat history and archaeology seriously!"
Aika stood beside Ian and could not help but retort when she heard the team members' ridiculous words.
However, Ian did not retort when he heard such a statement. Instead, he praised him with a smile.
"It's a good thing to have imagination. If we, who write novels, don't have imagination, then I guess no one will read them.
"However, we are making bold assumptions and are careful when verifying it. Imagination must be based on the basis of reality. Take this Sphinx for example. The ancient Egyptians liked to emphasize the entire concept of the soul. They believed that every night was the time when the soul left the body, so they wanted to preserve the body and wait for the soul to return before they became a mummy. When they created the Sphinx, did they do it with that thought in mind? I think it's possible. Every totem and every symbol is the ancient people's expression of their desire to explore."
These words impressed not only Aika but also all the archaeologists present.
Everyone could not help but sigh in admiration. Not only was he talented, but his words were also good. If he did not use the title of leader to oppress others, the level that Ian had displayed would be enough to make them respect him.
Ian paused before continuing. "The aliens that you mentioned are not impossible. In fact, the earliest records of aliens appeared in ancient Chinese murals. The image of astronauts wearing spacesuits appeared in the murals of the primitive tribes of Helan Mountain 7,500 years ago. They walked out of a large disc, and the surrounding animals and residents fled in all directions. These were probably not things that humans could imagine back then. Similar situations were recorded in some out-of-print documents and ancient books..."
Everyone listened in a daze. Some people sat down cross-legged and took out pens and notebooks to make notes.
This knowledge was something they had never heard of.
These out-of-print things only existed in Ian's brain now.
Everyone, including Aika, wanted to absorb this knowledge as much as possible.
All of a sudden, this place seemed to have become a classroom in some university.
Ian's deep and simple explanation made many people's eyes shine with excitement.
This was the charm of archaeology.
One could dig out the truth of history with their own hands and become a witness of history.
This scene was broadcasted live on Aika's phone.
Many bullet comments expressed how mesmerized they were.
"Looks like my poor grades are not because of my problems! It's because I don't have a good teacher like Ian to teach me!"
"Teacher Ian is so handsome when he's lecturing! I actually understood everything!"
"This Ian seems to be really capable. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people listening to him."
"Previously, I said that Ian relied on his connections to get in! He can seriously teach an archaeology major. Just based on this point alone, you can't slander him!"
"What's wrong with a novelist making up some information? China's Helan Mountain is 7,500 years old. The pyramid hasn't even been excavated yet, and he's already bragging?"
There were still people who firmly believed that Ian was a liar.
This group of people would not believe what Ian said before there was solid evidence.
After he finished speaking, Ian looked at the Sphinx alone. He touched these strange symbols and felt that something was wrong.
There was no detailed description of the marks on his map, which meant that the map was only used as a guide.
As for what exactly was there, he still needed to dig it out himself.
Just as everyone was sitting on the ground and eating energy bars to replenish their energy after the lecture, they suddenly stopped.
"F*ck! Big ants!"
Someone also shouted, "Aiyo! I have some here too!"
The few people who were sitting around the Sphinx screamed in unison and jumped back.
"Look!"
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw the large hole that had been excavated in the north of the pyramid.
Countless large ants emerged like a fountain. The ants that kept emerging were like a pitch-black black river.
It completely separated Ian's team from the base.
The densely packed group made people's scalps tighten.
Ian saw that every one of them had a pitch-black body, a red tail, and red and black. Looking at them made people's bodies shiver.
Ian immediately thought of something and immediately shouted at everyone, "Hurry up and leave! These are desert army ants! They are one of the most terrifying monsters in the desert. If you walk a little slower, you will be gnawed into bones!"
Tens of thousands of desert army ants began to search for prey impatiently after being disturbed by the excavation team.
Not only that but there was also a constant fear of more coming out of the ground.
They were crawling out of every nook and cranny.
Many of the team members were so frightened that their legs went soft. How could they still walk half a step forward?
Not to mention these archaeologists, even Ian was seeing his novel's creatures for the first time.
He felt his whole body trembling.
He knew how terrifying these desert army ants were. The countless white bones in the desert were their masterpieces.
As long as a person touched them, not a bit of flesh would be left!
"We must run now!"