Chapter 360

After the tomb sweeping, mcflynn was going to the market to get some fresh fish and vegetables. He said he would show them at noon and thank an Yizhi for helping him clear his grievances.

An Yi pointed out that they didn't follow this time. On the way to the tomb sweeping, he had learned the general layout of the town from mcflynn's mouth and was ready to collect information.

So the four separated after entering the town. Mcflynn ran to the market near the wharf. Ann pointed out that they went to the library on the left side of the town.

After all, the town used to be very prosperous and many hardware facilities were perfect. Mcflynn thought they wanted to go to the library to check the information about the mine, so he didn't think it was strange.

A tall building passed by on the road, and people came in and out from time to time.

Mcflynn mentioned that this place is a meeting place in the town. Generally, there are major events here, such as funerals or weddings.

Thinking of the two people who died on the ship, it is estimated that there is a funeral for them here.

Before they came to the library, they could see the traces of the baptism of time. Many places looked very dilapidated, but the town had no money to repair it again. It could only be so dilapidated.

Next to the library is a building of the same style. Mcflynn said that it was originally a school, but because there were few newborns and most newborns went outside with their parents, the school had long been closed.

What attracts people's attention is that there is a stone carving at the door of the library, which looks like a big disk with an iron pliers inserted in the middle, facing the sun like a sunflower.

This is a sundial. It can judge the time according to the shadow. It was relied on when there were no clocks and watches in ancient times.

An Yizhi went over and found a name engraved under the sundial.

'Locke Rupert'

The name should be father Locke who died when the chandelier fell. So the Oriental invention of the corona was made by father Locke?

The disk of the corona is usually engraved with the words indicating time, but the corona may be because the material is not qualified, or because it has been too long, the marking line has been blurred, and only a few rough straight lines can be extended from the iron rod in the center to the edge.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, just a little curious. How can the islands near the Mediterranean have our Chinese things?"

"What's strange about this? In the eyes of foreigners, sundials are a symbol of culture and wisdom. It's normal to put them at the door of the library."

As Tu Hongyu said, this is probably to catch up with fashion. For example, foreigners who like to walk all over the street wearing shirts printed with Chinese characters don't even know that they are actually "stupid foreigners"

–‐‐——–‐‐——

When I entered the library, it was not closed. There was a thin old man guarding the door with a pipe in his mouth.

Don't underestimate him. He is the mayor of the town. Because the town is too small and has no official business to do, he took a part-time job as a librarian, although no one has come to borrow books for a long time.

"Who are you? Tourists?"

The old man saw three players and asked vigilantly.

"Hello, Mr. Mayor, we are the geological experts sent by the government to explore whether the Houshan mine can still produce gemstones. We want to borrow the previous records before starting the exploration work."

An Yizhi still uses this set of words to deceive people, mainly because it is very effective for the villagers.

The mayor was happy. Of course, he also hoped that the mine could re mine gemstones, but he was still very vigilant. After all, his words were groundless.

"Where are your papers?"

To be punished, an Yi pointed out that they didn't have any documents.

However, since an Yizhi dares to say so, he must have thought of a back hand.

"The documents you want are on the way. You know, it's slow to follow the rules. The three of us came first as early-stage personnel."

Of course, the mayor will not be fooled by such a simple way. An Yi pointed to Qingfeng bazuka, exposed the police gun and said:

"She is the policeman who protects us. Even if you don't believe us, you should know this badge."

The old mayor still doesn't believe it, but the police guns can't be fake, and even if they are fake, what do they want? There are no precious books in the library. There's no need to deceive him.

After hesitating for a while, the old mayor said:

"What information do you want to consult?"

"Everything related to geology, especially the history of mines and towns"

"History, too? Geological exploration has nothing to do with the history of the town?"

"No, no, you may not know that many people who write history will write relevant major events. For chisa Island, mining is undoubtedly a major event. We need these materials for early judgment."

This speech was a little persuasive. The old mayor said wait a minute and went into the bookshelf to search. After a while, he brought several books and put them on the table:

"Everything related is here"

"So little?"

There are only less than 10 books, and they are very thin.

"I was not born when the town was mining. The town has been prosperous for decades. Only this information. Earlier, it was a problem for everyone to eat. Who would be free to write a book?"

Westerners are really not as good as Orientals. They don't have the habit of writing history. A short collection of poems Homer's epic is regarded as a history book by Western descendants. It can be seen how thin they are in describing history. It's like the Chinese dynasty. They have perfect history books to check early.

But it's not a big problem. Anyway, they just came to the library to take a chance. Now there is no news about the task objectives, and even the main task has not been updated. Generally speaking, there are clues in places such as the library. It's just a dead horse as a living horse doctor.

The three divided several books and read them respectively.

The book an Yizhi read is the development history of the town.

According to the book, the residents of the island can be traced back to the 16th century. Originally, it was the crew who were stranded on the desert island because of the shipwreck during the great navigation period. Later, they simply settled on the island, and gradually formed a small town.

For this part of history, the narration in the book can be described as a brush off. It can be seen that the author is not very sure. After all, the news comes from the story spread by residents from mouth to mouth.

Continue to turn down, and then it becomes more detailed.

March 1852. The first prospecting activity was organized in the town, which took two months and got nothing.

The next year, also in March, the town organized prospecting activities again. This time, they found an exposed coal mine deposit in Houshan. Experts said it was only a small coal mine and had little mining value.

In June of the same year, the then mayor felt that even the raw coal mined from small coal mines could improve the lives of residents, so he organized people to excavate the open-pit coal mines.

In August of the same year, after two months of excavation, the open-pit coal mine was gradually hollowed out. The islanders lacked experience in mining and did not dare to dig deep. However, the coal mines exported in these two months made everyone's money bag a little richer. The mayor decided to invite professional drillers to dig the mine. What if there is coal below?

July 1854. The mining work lasted three months. The Engineer in charge of mining found the mayor and said there was no coal below. It would be a waste of time to dig further.

March 1855. The mayor who took out all his savings and continued to dig finally paid off. The drillers dug a natural karst cave, which was connected to the underground lake, with a large number of raw stones and crystals of various colors.

This discovery made the whole town residents ecstatic, and attracted a large number of outsiders, and the town gradually prospered.

An Yi intended to skip the next paragraph, because that paragraph was written like "what new facilities have been built in the town", "what is the annual income" and so on.

Quickly turned two pages, which found different parts of the change.

In 1895, it was difficult to dig ore in the mine. For a month in a row, nothing was produced, which made everyone feel uneasy. Outsiders left one after another, and the town began to decline because of the loss of important pillar industries.

March 1899. Forced excavation without the help of professional engineers led to mine accidents. A total of 30 miners died.

This is the last record. Combined with the information obtained from mcflynn, the time of the mine accident was also the time when he lost his father.

In short, this history is just a record of a small town from ordinary to prosperity, and then from prosperity to decline. At first glance, there is nothing to doubt, but an Yizhi always feels that something is wrong.

Looking through it again, he found that whether he found the ore vein or the last accident, although the years were different, they all occurred in March.

Close your eyes and an Yizhi recalls the calendar in the detective office when he first entered the copy. Yes, the copy time is now march!

Major events often occur in March, and it is also the return day of migrant workers. Combined with the strange scenes seen last night, is there any connection between them?

An Yi pointed to put down the book and knocked his fingers on the table. At this time, he saw Tu Hongyu and Qingfeng bazuka also come back from the book. First, he nodded at them secretly, and then said to the mayor:

"Thank you. These materials are very useful. In the afternoon, we plan to go to the location of the mine. The materials say that the mine has collapsed. I don't know if we can go in there now?"

"Yes, not all of them collapsed. Only the bottom part collapsed, but we locked the gate because it was dangerous."

"Can I open it?"

"This..."

An embarrassment flashed across the old mayor's face:

"I don't know where the key is, but it doesn't matter. The lock is easy to open. You can find an axe to split it."

An Yizhi was speechless. In terms of time, the current mayor locked the door. As a result, he actually lost the key

–‐‐——–‐‐——

Saying goodbye to the old mayor, the three left the library. When they passed the sundial at the door again, Ann pointed out with a sudden flash of light, reached out and took out his pocket watch from his pocket.

"What are you doing with it? Can't you open it?"

"It really can't open, but that's because we didn't find the right way."

"Have you found it now?"

"Of course"

Ann smiled proudly, pointed to the sundial and said:

"This sundial is carved by father Locke, and the pocket watch is also father Locke's. both are not only related to him, but also timing tools, which is enough to remind me."

After listening, they suddenly realized that there was indeed a connection between the two that was difficult to ignore.

Touch the remaining engraved lines on the sundial, an Yi points to erect the pocket watch, align the round spring with himself, and turn the spring in turn according to the position on the engraved lines.

"Yes!"

With a click, the back cover of the pocket watch opened and the three looked inside.

As like as two peas in the crystal, Mike's three thumbs were placed in the purple flannelette and carefully protected by the stone that was shown by Flynn and before.

An Yizhi was a little disappointed and wondered. He thought there was something in his pocket watch, but it turned out to be this thing.

However, there is still a clue. The number of crystals is three. Among the people returning home on the ship, excluding father Locke with crystal around his neck, there are exactly three people without crystal.

This shows that the crystal was originally intended to give it to the three of them? But why? Do people on the island have to bring crystal when they return home?

Just wondering, the crystal suddenly floated out of thin air, which startled the three players, and they quickly dispersed.

But still a step slower, the crystal swished towards them. Ann reached out to catch it. Unexpectedly, the crystal passed through his palm like a virtual shadow without entity and hit his chest directly