Chapter 388: Chapter 220: Treasure Cave
Although these Weapons and Armor were long-rusted, there was still a considerable amount of them.
"Could these people have been soldiers from the Da Liang Court?"
Cheng Zongyang was puzzled, wondering who would have stored so much treasure here.
But there was no point in overthinking it. He followed the passage to the exit and found the way blocked by a stone door.
He tapped it gently, the sound of his palm slapping against it telling him it was quite thick.
"’That can’t be right,’ Cheng Zongyang frowned. ’If those men were Martial Artists of the Middle Third Grades or higher, they should have had enough Inner Strength to open the stone door, right?’"
With that thought, Cheng Zongyang abruptly circulated his True Qi and—BOOM!—he slammed a full-power Great Strength Vajra Palm into the stone door.
The cave instantly shook, and dust billowed down, leaving Cheng Zongyang covered in grime.
But looking at the unchanged stone door, Cheng Zongyang now understood why those men had been unable to escape and died here.
He had been able to leave a mark on granite before, yet this stone door didn’t even have a single one of his Palm Seals on it. That was proof enough of how hard and thick the door was!
"’This is definitely not the work of some ordinary faction,’ Cheng Zongyang thought, frowning as he walked back. He decided to deal with the things inside first before checking the outside again."
He moved all the gold and silver, jewelry, and ornaments into the Marketplace Hut. He didn’t let the Weapons and Armor go to waste either, taking them as well.
But then, he discovered an empty chest next to where the jewelry had been. It was hidden by scattered jewels and contained no treasure.
Searching carefully with his torch, he found over thirty small bottles and jars, along with more than a dozen books that had been eaten by insects and had rotted away. There were also some stone tablets, beast hides, and other items.
Suppressing his curiosity, Cheng Zongyang retrieved a small wooden box from the Marketplace Hut and packed everything inside to examine later. However, all the books and records had crumbled to dust, making them impossible to inspect.
After searching one more time and seeing that nothing was left, he walked over to the four skeletons.
He turned his head to the Mole Beast. "Dig four holes for me. I’m going to bury them."
Hearing Cheng Zongyang’s words, the Mole Beast started digging the holes without a second thought.
Cheng Zongyang then added, "After this, try digging at the main door, see if you can dig it out."
"SQUEAK SQUEAK..." The Mole Beast replied.
Cheng Zongyang turned back to the four skeletons. Based on his past experience, there ought to be something on them.
He had previously found good things on the two corpses in front of the Ghost-faced Spider’s cave.
He used his saber to pry the first skeleton aside. After removing its Armor, he saw something fall out.
He brought his torch closer and saw two small porcelain vials and a waist-token-like object.
Cheng Zongyang swept them to the side and searched carefully again. Finding nothing else, he set the first skeleton aside.
Next was the second skeleton.
This one yielded one porcelain vial, one waist token, and a small booklet that had long since turned to ash.
The third: two porcelain vials, one waist token, and this time, a dagger.
But in the next moment, his gaze fell upon the wall behind the third skeleton.
He moved closer with the torch and saw some carved words. Cheng Zongyang brushed them off, and the writing became clear.
Father, Mother, Second Brother, Third Sister, take care!
Looking at the line, Cheng Zongyang frowned.
’A Riddler? Couldn’t even bother to explain what happened.’
Dismissing the single, unimportant line as a final message, Cheng Zongyang paid it no mind and turned his attention to the fourth skeleton.
Cheng Zongyang noticed that the Armor on this skeleton was slightly different under the torchlight. There were no porcelain vials on this one, but there was a long Jade Box, a Beast Hide Scroll, and a Metal Key that had broken into two pieces.
After gathering the items, Cheng Zongyang looked at the Weapons on the ground.
He noticed that these four Weapons were still as bright as new, not rusted like the ones in the chests.
"’Must be good Weapons.’"
Cheng Zongyang smiled and stored them in the Marketplace Hut. His gaze then fell on the Armor on the skeletons, but he decided against it. ’Got to have some decency.’
Once the Mole Beast finished digging the four pits, Cheng Zongyang directed it to the entrance.
Cheng Zongyang buried all the skeletons, then glanced around the now-empty cave and smiled.
This was a massive score! Even better than discovering a gold mine!
Arriving at the stone door, he found that the gate he couldn’t open even with a full-force palm strike was, to the Mole Beast, merely a somewhat difficult rock to dig through.
It was like a person trying to dig the ground with iron claws—they could dig some, but not much, and not quickly.
The Mole Beast, however, was digging happily. It seemed that encountering such a difficult stone was like facing a challenge, or perhaps... a toy?
Cheng Zongyang didn’t disturb it, nor did he just stand around waiting. Instead, he entered the Wilderness World.
He appeared in the Marketplace Hut, where Luo Dingran was leading people in moving the items outside. They were in the process of cleaning and sorting everything.
At the hut’s entrance, Luo Dingran clasped his hands and bowed to Cheng Zongyang.
"My lord, where did you find all this? So much treasure!"
The items hadn’t been fully sorted yet, so Luo Dingran didn’t know the exact quantity. He was simply curious about the source.
Cheng Zongyang smiled. "Found it in Tianduan Mountain, a cave the Mole Beast located. There were also four skeletons, which I buried. Later, have someone appraise those bottles and jars, and take a look at those books and things. See if you can find any clues."
Hearing this, Luo Dingran suddenly grew thoughtful. A moment later, he murmured, "Could it be that the legend is true?"
"What?" Cheng Zongyang’s gaze shifted from the piles of gold and silver to Luo Dingran. "What’s true?"
"My lord," Luo Dingran said, "your words just now reminded me of an old legend. I would have forgotten all about it if you hadn’t brought it up."
