Treasures

Boom!

Several fine horses galloped along the official road.

Zhong Shenxiu rode at the head, with Huang Xie, Er Ha, and Su Tang beside him.

As a Deputy Envoy of Exorcism, he was duty-bound to inspect the land in all directions and suppress evil spirits. This could be considered using public office for private gain.

Originally, Zhong Shenxiu could have come alone to dig up the treasure, making it even less conspicuous. But after thinking it over, he still chose to bring the others along.

The first reason was to train them and demonstrate his trust. The second was to test them.

It was perfectly normal to waver in the face of such treasure. It was better to see it early than to have them betray him after encountering some major event in the future.

Thus, Zhong Shenxiu had decided to bring Su Tang along this time. After returning, he would buy land and houses, then make extensive use of the Su Family's people to see what they were really made of.

Even if they embezzled something or whatever, he did not care.

The more he did this, the more he would wear down their mutual affection. Once he felt he had fulfilled his responsibilities, he could pat his bottom and leave at any time.

"We're here. This is the third location, Three-Pronged Mountain, named for the mountain range with its three-tiered peak."

Huang Xie pointed at a small mountain in the distance and smiled.

Zhong Shenxiu gazed at this landmark, which overlapped with a fragment of memory in his mind. He nodded and dismounted.

Behind him, Huang Xie and the others followed with shovels and other tools on their shoulders, all of them looking utterly miserable.

During this period, Zhong Shenxiu had dragged them all over the place, starting to dig as soon as they reached each site.

They had to dig a full three zhang deep!

Yet... they had not seen even a single hair of anything.

By now, even Huang Xie was completely baffled.

"We found it."

Zhong Shenxiu ignored them and went straight up the mountain. Like an old horse knowing the way, he found a cave.

"Let's dig around the entrance first and see."

He thought for a moment before giving the order.

"This seems to be a wild beast's lair."

Huang Xie sniffed the ground, then said to Er Ha, "There's nothing inside for now. It may have gone hunting. Get to work quickly!"

Er Ha swung his hoe with a miserable expression. Although Su Tang had no idea what this younger cousin of his wanted to do, all he could do was obey.

The three of them worked together. Soon, they had dug one zhang—over three meters deep. At that moment, Er Ha's hoe caught on something and dug out a skull, startling him into throwing it aside.

"So it really is here."

Zhong Shenxiu nodded, knowing that these were laborers who had been silenced.

He smiled, then led the way into the cave with a torch.

As for magic arrays and traps—he really had been overthinking it.

The Felix Family had not been wealthy back then. The nation had only just been founded, and constructing a treasure vault had mostly relied on manpower.

Besides, killing the workers and silencing them, then casually digging a pit somewhere to bury them, was actually the most secretive method.

Once traps or magic arrays were set up, they might instead leave clues.

Moreover, the kind of magic array that could automatically renew and maintain itself, while also possessing concealment functions and lasting for over a century, was beyond the Felix Family's ability to create. Perhaps those Western powers might have managed it.

The cave reeked of a foul, fishy stench. Zhong Shenxiu waved his hand and found a spot. "Here. Dig three zhang first and see."

"Right away."

Su Tang readily agreed and called Er Ha over to dig.

Zhong Shenxiu, however, sensed something and walked outside the cave.

At that moment, a black bear also spotted him. It reared up and charged with a roar.

"Food delivery to my door."

Zhong Shenxiu was delighted. He stepped forward, raised his right hand, and caught the bear's paw.

His Black Tortoise Hundred Refinements Armor and Mighty Ox Tough Hide Skill had both reached perfection. His body-protecting hard skills were now so formidable that even any Xiantian expert would beat themselves bloody against him!

A mere wild beast was nothing in his eyes.

Seeing the humanoid creature casually seize one of its paws, the black bear flew into a rage and opened its jaws to bite down.

In the next instant, a fist carrying the colossal strength of a dragon and elephant smashed into its head, and it knew nothing more.

"This bear hide should be worth a little money."

Huang Xie happily came forward to skin the bear and spoke to Zhong Shenxiu.

"My lord, we found something inside!"

While Huang Xie was dealing with the black bear, Su Tang ran out, excitement on his face.

"Oh?!"

Zhong Shenxiu was not very surprised. He watched as Su Tang and Er Ha carried out a rotten wooden chest.

The scattered treasure of a count's country amounts to only this much. They made it sound like pirate treasure.

He complained inwardly, then sent the others away and tore off the half-rotten lock with one hand.

With a snap, the wooden chest opened, seemingly about to fall apart the next moment.

There was not much inside, but a thick layer of silver coins covered the bottom, with two small boxes on top.

After opening them, he found several hundred gold coins in one. Their surfaces bore the portrait of a man with a high, prominent nose and a crown woven from olive leaves.

The other box contained several magic items, though their radiance had mostly vanished.

These were equivalent to low-grade magical artifacts. They had not been maintained for a long time, so it was normal for them to end up like this. Now, they were only worth the materials.

"This is a treasure map I obtained earlier after capturing a remnant of the Felix Family and forcing the information out of him. Its origins are clean. Count everything first..."

Zhong Shenxiu looked at the box of magic items and picked up a brooch.

A huge ruby was set into the brooch. The spell-light within it had long since dimmed, and a line had been written on the back in Western cursive letters.

Zhong Shenxiu recognized it as a sentence—"For the glory of the Medici Family!"

"The Medici Family... this seems to be a major Western family. Was that legendary First Generation Count a collateral branch of theirs?"

He tapped his head and recalled a fragment of memory. "But that has nothing to do with me. I wonder if these things can be put together into one magical artifact."

Western magic items were completely different from Eastern magical artifacts, but some of the materials could still be put to use.

Last time, he had obtained a fragmentary manual on refining magical artifacts from that Wu Tong fellow, so he began to take an interest.

At that moment, Huang Xie had also finished counting the spoils, excitement on his face. "My lord, there are five hundred and twenty-seven gold coins and six thousand three hundred and eighty-seven silver coins in total. These are all Western currencies. They're a little smaller than our White Emperor Coins, and the gold coins will have to be melted down before they can be used. But however you calculate it, there should still be over ten thousand White Emperor Coins' worth."

What a poor bastard!

Zhong Shenxiu viciously looked down on that count in his heart. Of course, as a Deputy Envoy of Exorcism of the Subordinate Ninth Rank, his monthly salary was only ten White Emperor Coins, which was already considered generous treatment.

He looked at the three of them, put away the two small boxes, and smiled. "Each of you can take one hundred silver coins from here for now. We'll discuss the rest after we return."