After settling the accounts with Jin Xin's father at the entrance, his face turned black as could be. He checked the figures several times, refusing to approve them, but when he saw my expression darken, he was so frightened that he hurriedly signed the confirmation document.
All that remained was to visit the Qiongtian Cave Repository on Xianlai Island. Just as I had predicted, it was located in the Jin Household's most mysterious place: beneath an ice lake inside a cavern at the heart of the island. The ice lake was enormous, and the golden surface gave off an incredibly rich fragrance. Combined with the low temperature, it was practically the perfect place to store Qiong Pulp.
Of course, seeing the Qiongtian Cave Repository did not mean the Jin Household would let me enter it. I could see the ice lake beneath the karst cave from a distance, but I was not allowed to dive in. Instead, the Jin Household's old madam personally oversaw the matter. After checking how much of the debt remained, she took out a document and unfolded it, revealing a whole collection of storage records.
"There's only half a jar of thousand-year Qiong Pulp left, weighing three pounds... There are three and a half jars of nine-hundred-and-fifty-year Qiong Pulp left, weighing fifteen pounds." I glanced over it and converted the figures into the system of measurement I was accustomed to. The document started with several dozen pounds and later calculated the amounts in hundreds of jars at most; apparently, the pulp was brewed and stored every fifty years. As for how it was maintained and preserved in everyday use, the old madam certainly would not tell me.
The prices were basically written on it as well. The pulp older than five hundred years was practically priceless,