Treasure

Sizzle!

Horses galloped along the official road.

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

As Deputy Envoys of Exorcism, they already had the duty to patrol all directions and suppress evil spirits, so this was essentially using their official capacity for personal gain.

Originally, Zhong Shenxiu could have gone alone to dig for treasure, making it more discreet. However, after some thought, he decided to bring others along.

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

It was normal to waver when faced with such a treasure. It was better to identify any wavering early on rather than have them betray him later when facing a major event.

Therefore, Zhong Shenxiu decided to bring Su Tang along this time. After returning, he planned to buy land and houses, and extensively employ members of the Su Family, to see how they would perform.

He didn't even care if they were corrupt.

The more this happened, the more it would consume their mutual affection. When he felt his responsibilities were fulfilled, he could leave anytime.

"We're here. This is the third location, San Cha Mountain, famous for its mountain range with a triple peak."

Huang Xie pointed to a small mountain not far away and said with a smile.

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

Behind him, Huang Xie and the others followed, carrying shovels and other tools, their faces looking somewhat miserable.

For some time now, Zhong Shenxiu had been taking them on trips, and as soon as they reached their destination, they would start digging.

They had to dig three zhang deep!

The result... they hadn't found anything.

This had left even Huang Xie completely bewildered.

"Found it."

Zhong Shenxiu ignored them and went straight up the mountain, like an old horse finding its way, locating a cave.

"Let's dig at the entrance first to see."

He thought for a moment and instructed.

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

Huang Xie sniffed the ground and said to Er Ha, "There's nothing in the cave for now. It might have gone hunting. Let's hurry!"

Er Ha swung his hoe with a miserable expression. Su Tang, though unsure what his cousin intended, could only follow orders.

The three of them worked together and soon dug a zhang deep, over three meters. At this point, Er Ha's hoe struck something, unearthing a skull. He quickly threw it aside in fright.

"It really is here."

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

He smiled and led the way, holding a torch, into the cave.

As for magic arrays and traps, he had thought too much.

The Felix Family back then was not a wealthy family, especially since they had just established their kingdom. Most of the treasure construction relied on manpower.

Besides, silencing people after killing them and burying them in a random spot would be much more discreet.

Setting up traps or even magic arrays would instead reveal flaws.

Moreover, the Felix Family couldn't possibly set up magic arrays that could automatically update and maintain themselves, or have hidden functions, and last for a hundred years. It might be possible for powerful Western nations, but not them.

A foul, fishy smell emanated from the cave. Zhong Shenxiu waved his hand and found a spot. "Here. Let's dig three zhang and see."

"You got it!"

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

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

At this moment, a black bear spotted him, stood on its hind legs, and roared, lunging forward.

"A delivery right to my doorstep."

Zhong Shenxiu rejoiced. He stepped forward, raised his right hand, and blocked the bear's paw.

His Black Tortoise Hundred Refinements Armor and Mighty Ox Tough Hide Skill had both been cultivated to great mastery. His current hardened defense could make any Xiantian expert vomit!

A mere wild beast was nothing to him.

Seeing the humanoid creature in front of it inexplicably grabbing one of its paws, the black bear became enraged and was about to bite down.

The next moment, a fist imbued with the immense strength of a dragon and elephant smashed heavily onto its head, and it knew no more.

"This bear hide is worth some money too."

Huang Xie happily stepped forward to skin the bear and said to Zhong Shenxiu.

"Sir, we've found something inside!"

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

"Oh?!"

Zhong Shenxiu wasn't too surprised, watching Su Tang and Er Ha move out a decaying wooden chest.

A Count's scattered treasures amount to this? They're making it out like a pirate's hoard.

He inwardly scoffed, telling the others to leave before he easily broke the half-rotted lock.

With a snap, the wooden chest opened, looking like it would fall apart at any moment.

There weren't many items inside, but the bottom was lined with a thick layer of silver coins, and on top were two small boxes.

Upon opening them, one contained several hundred gold coins, bearing the profile of a man with a prominent nose, crowned with a wreath of olive leaves.

The other box held a few magical items, most of which had lost their luster.

These were equivalent to low-grade magic tools, and with no one to maintain them for so long, it was normal for them to end up like this. Now, they were only worth their material cost.

"This is a treasure map I extracted from a remnant of the Felix Family I captured earlier. Its origins are clean. You guys can start by taking inventory..."

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

The brooch had a large ruby, its magical aura long since faded. The back was inscribed with a line of Western calligraphy.

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

"The Medici Family? That seems to be a prominent Western family. Was that legendary First Generation Count a collateral relative?"

He tapped his head, recalling a memory: "But that's none of my business. I wonder if any of these items can be combined into a magic tool."

Western magical items were vastly different from Eastern magic tools, but some of the materials could still be useful.

Last time, he had obtained a fragment of a magic tool refining technique from Wu Tong, and he was already considering it.

At this moment, Huang Xie also finished his inventory, his face beaming with excitement: "My lord, we have a total of five hundred and twenty-seven gold coins and six thousand three hundred and eighty-seven silver coins. These are all Western currency, slightly smaller than our White Emperor Coins. The gold coins also need to be melted down before they can be used. But even so, it's still worth over ten thousand White Emperor Coins."

Broke!

Zhong Shenxiu inwardly despised the Count. Although, as a Deputy Envoy of Exorcism of the ninth rank, his monthly salary was only ten White Emperor Coins, which was considered a generous stipend.

He looked at the three of them, pocketed the two small boxes, and said with a smile, "You can each take a hundred silver coins from here. We'll discuss the rest when we get back."