I created Qin Tianjian in modern times

However, soon after returning to the provincial department, the deputy director secretly issued an order: "From now on, all departments must strongly support, actively cooperate and assist all actions of the 788 Exploration Team. There must be no contempt!"

For a moment, many department leaders were puzzled by the order suddenly issued by the deputy director. This was not what you said before!

However, the deputy director did not give any explanation for this.

In any case, the missing body case of the Provincial Hospital has finally come to a successful conclusion. However, the heroes who solved the case are still rushing to the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang!

Mogao Grottoes, a treasure house of Buddhist art known as the Thousand Buddha Caves, is located in Dunhuang at the western end of the Hexi Corridor. It has been continuously rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Xuanzhao of the Former Qin Dynasty and many dynasties in later generations, and finally formed the grand scale we see today. However, unlike today's world cultural heritage with endless tourists, in that era, Mogao Grottoes was still closed, not widely known to the outside world, and not listed as a key cultural relic protection unit.

It was not until 1961 that Mogao Grottoes officially became a world-renowned cultural heritage. Before that, it was largely blocked off, and cultural relics protection personnel were busy here day after day, carefully protecting and repairing precious cultural relics such as murals and sculptures. This Buddhist holy place with more than 400 caves and more than 2400 colorful Buddha statues is undoubtedly a top priority for Gansu's cultural relics department.

At such a tense and orderly protection site, a military vehicle slowly drove up and stopped outside the cordon. As soon as Chen Tian got off the car, he was shocked by the spectacular scene in front of him and couldn't help but exclaimed in admiration. Although they were still outside the isolation line several meters away, the magnificence of Mogao Grottoes was already in full view.

At this time, the fat man came up and began to talk about the Mogao Grottoes. He knew everything about the distribution and size of the caves, as well as the artistic features of the murals and sculptures. Chen Tian was shocked and puzzled after listening, and couldn't help asking the fat man why he knew so much about this place. The fat man said with a playful smile that he was familiar with this place and could help, and insisted on going with them.

Zhuge Qing listened and asked the fat man with a smile how much he knew about Mogao Grottoes. The fat man proudly pointed out that the reason why Mogao Grottoes is called the Thousand Buddha Caves is because there are caves of all sizes, each of which houses a Buddha statue, and on both sides are sculptures of heavenly kings, disciples, and bodhisattvas. He also mentioned that the Maitreya Buddha statue in Cave 96 is the tallest and has the most treasures. In addition, he also revealed some secret spaces hidden behind the caves, which contain precious treasures left by the ancients.

These words made the team members look at Fatty with new eyes, and they also realized that he might really be able to help in the subsequent investigation. So, everyone stopped talking about asking him to leave, and continued to move forward, passing through the blockade and approaching the Mogao Grottoes.

As they went deeper, some staff members of the Cultural Relics Bureau who were repairing and protecting the cultural relics also noticed this team with different styles. They were dressed in different clothes, some in military uniforms, some in casual clothes, and there were Taoist priests and a big black dog, which naturally aroused a lot of curiosity.

At this moment, several police officers ran over and asked them to leave in a serious tone. The captain said bluntly that this was a blocked area and no one was allowed to enter. Zhuge Qing quickly explained that they were from the 788 Special Office and had a case to handle. But the captain was obviously unfamiliar with this name and his attitude remained tough.

Just when the atmosphere was tense, a police officer ran from the police station and told the captain that the city bureau had called him. After the captain answered the phone, his attitude suddenly eased a lot. It turned out that the director of the city bureau had just received a call from the provincial department, informing them that a team called the 788 Special Office might come to Mogao Grottoes to investigate the case, and asked them to let them pass and cooperate with the work. The captain then realized that this seemingly strange team was actually a regular army with a special mission.

Hearing Han Li's words, he immediately had some guesses in his mind. He looked out the window and saw Zhuge Qing and others who were talking with the police officers. He suddenly realized, could this be the 788 Special Office mentioned above?

Han Li quickly agreed. After hanging up the phone, he quickly walked up to the group and asked with a big smile, "Comrades, are you from the 788 Special Office?"

Zhuge Qing nodded, with a barely perceptible sense of majesty in his tone: "Now that you know, why don't you let us in?"

Han Li's heart trembled, but he immediately put on a more enthusiastic smile: "Oh, this is really a misunderstanding. Please come in, please come in! We are the second action team of the Dunhuang Municipal Bureau. We have been responsible for protection work here, so we are somewhat isolated from the news."

His explanation was obviously an excuse for his rude behavior. Although he didn't know what the 788 Special Office did, since it was a cooperative project between the provincial government and the war zone, it was definitely something he couldn't afford to offend.

Bai Wenzheng simply nodded, without saying anything more, and led his team members to the Mogao Grottoes. The police officers watched them leave, and gathered around Han Li, curiously asking about the origins of this team.

Han Li wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a low voice: "Even our director knows very little about it. He only said that this is a cooperative department between the provincial government and the war zone. Just now, the director called me personally and said that the deputy director of the provincial department personally gave the order and asked us to fully cooperate. In short, we can't afford to offend them!"

As Han Li expected, the reason why the director of the Municipal Bureau called at this time was because the deputy director attached great importance to this matter. After returning to the provincial department, the deputy director did not disclose the matter to anyone, but planned to discuss it in detail after the director returned from the meeting. However, after he realized the unusualness of this team, he became more concerned. Recalling that when they were by the Yellow River, the team members had discussed going to Mogao Grottoes, he immediately realized the timeliness of this call.

At this time, Bai Wenzheng had already led his team to the Mogao Grottoes. They saw scaffoldings set up in front of the grottoes of all sizes, and the staff of the Cultural Relics Bureau were busy working. Although they were curious about this sudden appearance of the team, they did not stop their work.

"Master Buddha, what should we do now? There are so many caves in the Thousand Buddha Caves. We can't check them one by one, right?" Ah Jing said helplessly, and looked at Fatty Wang, "Fatty, which cave is the mural you mentioned?"

The fat man looked around and shook his head helplessly after a moment: "At that time, I entered the Mogao Grottoes through a robber's hole, and I can't remember which cave it was. Now those robber's holes have been repaired, and it is difficult for me to tell them apart."

Hearing this, several people looked at the fat man. The fat man scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "It's all for a living, but I swear, I never took anything away from here. At that time, I only saw a few murals in a cave, and nothing else. Although I love money, I will never destroy cultural relics. I still have this bottom line."

At this time, the big black dog, who had been silent all the time, suddenly spoke: "Don't talk nonsense, a thief is a thief, and he is trying to flatter himself?" These words made several staff members who were working above their heads subconsciously look down, but they just thought that it was someone in the team who was talking, and did not expect that it was the big black dog who spoke.

Bai Wenzheng frowned after thinking for a moment, "At present, we must find the mural first, so as to determine the direction of the next investigation. Now our only clue is that there is no Buddha statue in the cave where Fatty saw the mural. This may be a direction for our search."

As he spoke, he looked at Han Li who was walking towards him and said, "Comrade, we need to know some details about the Mogao Grottoes. Do you have any professionals in this field? We have a few questions to ask."

Han Li immediately nodded in agreement, and soon ordered the police to find a person in charge of the Gansu Cultural Relics Bureau. He introduced Bai Wenzheng, "Master Buddha, this is the comrade in charge of the Mogao Grottoes project at the Gansu Cultural Relics Bureau. If you have any questions, just ask him directly."

Bai Wenzheng was not polite and asked directly: "Comrade, we want to know how many caves there are here with no Buddha statues but only murals? We are looking for a specific mural, can you provide any help?"

The person in charge was shocked when he heard this. He looked at Bai Wenzheng and said, "Comrade, are you kidding? So far, we haven't completely cleared the entire picture of Mogao Grottoes, let alone count the specific data. There are a large number of caves with no Buddha statues but only murals. How can we accurately find the murals you are looking for? We really can't help you with this matter."

Bai Wenzheng was not surprised by this. He nodded slightly and left with his team members. The person in charge looked at their backs, full of doubts. He turned to look at Han Li and asked, "Officer Han, who are these people?"

Han Li shook his head helplessly: "I don't know much either, but the higher-ups have ordered us to fully cooperate."

……

Mogao Grottoes is located on the Gobi Desert. Soon after driving down the road, you can see a section of broken wall running north-south. The grottoes are densely arranged like a honeycomb. A spring river flows in front of the grottoes, and a row of red willows and poplars are planted by the river.

The team members walked south along the river. Since the location of the murals could not be accurately located at present, Bai Wenzheng did not choose to lead the team members into the cave. After all, there were staff members inside. Although they had to investigate the case, they did not want to affect the normal work of these staff members because of their actions.

Although the case was urgent, this matter could not be rushed. Bai Wenzheng simply took the team members to walk around and appreciate the beauty of Mogao Grottoes. Since we are here, wouldn't it be a waste if we don't appreciate it properly?

There is a pagoda for the deceased by the river outside Mogao Grottoes. The pagoda is covered with white paint, which looks more solemn and desolate under the sunset in the desert. Next to the pagoda stands a stone tablet with the words "Tomb of Taoist Wang Yuanlu" written on it.

Seeing this stone tablet, Chen Tian couldn't help but frowned: "I have seen his introduction and photos on Wudang Mountain. He is not tall and has an ordinary appearance... It is said that he traveled around and finally settled down in Mogao Grottoes."

The curious team members gathered around and asked, "And then?"

Chen Tian sighed and said, "Master Wang can be said to be the first protector of Mogao Grottoes. However, due to the incompetence of the Qing government at that time and the limitations of Master Wang's own cultural level, he did not discover the amazing value of Mogao Grottoes in time. I was not interested in these things at the time, so I just took a quick look and knew that there was such a Taoist priest."

Several people walked forward aimlessly while chatting, waiting for night to fall so that they could conduct a comprehensive investigation.

As they walked, they saw a thatched house not far away. A middle-aged man in his 40s or 50s was squatting on the ground with a child, drawing. Next to the thatched house were a lot of carved Buddha heads and some semi-finished products.

This work is organized and uploaded by Liujiu Book Bar~~

Out of curiosity, the team members walked over here. When they got closer, they were surprised to find that the middle-aged man had actually drawn a lifelike painting on the ground. What was even more surprising was that after seeing the painting, Fatty Wang widened his eyes and exclaimed: "This... This is the mural I was talking about!"

Hearing the fat man's words, Bai Wenzhen and his group quickly moved a few steps closer.

When the middle-aged man saw the people suddenly approaching, he immediately protected the child behind him and asked cautiously:

"Who are you? What do you want to do?"

His eyes were full of vigilance and deep doubt.

The fat man pointed at the painting on the ground anxiously and asked:

"Where did you see this painting? Was it in the Thousand Buddha Caves?"

The fat man wanted to confirm his guess, which seemed a bit reckless. The middle-aged man was already on guard, so he naturally wouldn't answer easily.

"Who are you? What is your purpose?" the middle-aged man asked again.

Seeing this, Ah Jing stepped forward quickly, smiling and gently explaining:

"Don't be nervous, we are soldiers and have no bad intentions. We just came to Mogao Grottoes to investigate something. We accidentally saw you painting here and were curious, so we wanted to take a closer look.

We found that the painting you drew is exactly the mural we want to investigate, so we want to ask you..."

After Ah Jing and Bai Wenzheng's patient explanation, and seeing their military uniforms, the middle-aged man finally let down his guard. Through his self-introduction, the team members also understood his identity.

His name is Li Qi, and he is a restorer at the Dunhuang Research Institute.

The Dunhuang Research Institute was established in February 1944 and has several departments within it, including conservation, fine arts, and archaeology.

The institute has carried out large-scale repair and protection of the grottoes, conducted a comprehensive investigation of the grotto materials, and conducted research on grotto art, archaeology, and Buddhist content, achieving remarkable research results.

And Li Qi in front of him is a restorer in this research institute.

As the communication deepened, the team members gradually understood the story of the restorer.