Thousand-Year Cold Jade

Buying a mansion, getting a secret chamber for free!

Lin Fei had never imagined such a good deal.

The wealthy merchant from back then had been quite famous in Nanli City. He had people capture many Savage Beasts from the Southern Wilds and raise them in his mansion.

Some of the Savage Beasts had been sold to the Capital City of the Dragon Abyss Dynasty. Many wealthy and noble families liked to keep fierce beasts as pets.

There were also special venues where people fought Savage Beasts, or Savage Beasts fought one another, all to draw a crowd and rake in gold.

That wealthy merchant had kept many Savage Beasts. He had never expected that one of them would accidentally break through and become a demon beast.

A demon beast was the equivalent of a human cultivator.

Most demon beasts had powerful bodies. Even an ordinary demon beast was no opponent for a common cultivator.

That was why the wealthy merchant had been killed by a demon beast back then. His entire family had nearly been wiped out.

The merchant had quite a few children, but only one son survived.

If that son didn't know the secret chamber existed, then there might be quite a few treasures hidden inside.

Lin Fei couldn't help wanting to investigate, but he was also afraid there might be danger.

The reason Steward Bai hadn't acted rashly was that he, too, feared hidden mechanisms and concealed arrows.

"Master, we could send some servants in first to scout the way."

Lin Fei had naturally considered Steward Bai's suggestion, but he didn't want to send people to their deaths.

"No rush. I'll make some preparations first, then we'll investigate this secret chamber."

Steward Bai's suggestion gave Lin Fei an idea.

If he sent people in to scout the way, no one would be willing to go and die. Even if they didn't say it aloud, they'd resent Lin Fei in their hearts.

If people wouldn't do, then animals would.

Lin Fei sent Steward Bai to buy a dozen or so fat pigs, along with some thick wooden planks.

While he had time, Lin Fei returned to Earth. He had a few preparations of his own to make.

By the time Lin Fei came back, the fat pigs and wooden planks had all been bought.

Lin Fei opened his backpack and took out several handles. He nailed them to the planks, making simple wooden shields.

"Steward Bai, drive the fat pigs into the secret chamber first and let them scout the way."

"Guards, take the shields. You'll come in with us in a moment."

One fat pig after another was driven into the secret chamber. Before long, shrill squeals suddenly rang out from inside.

The sound made Lin Fei's scalp go numb. Just as he'd expected, there were traps in the secret chamber.

Only after the squealing stopped did Lin Fei have the guards go in with the wooden planks raised to scout the way.

The guards carried torches and went in cautiously.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a bright light flared. Lin Fei walked in, holding a powerful flashlight.

Steward Bai and the guards had never seen a flashlight before, and they were all astonished.

"Master, what kind of treasure is this? It shines as bright as daylight!"

"Just a little magical artifact."

The flashlight beam shone straight ahead, lighting up a distance of more than ten meters.

The fat pigs lay across the secret chamber's passage, their bodies bristling with arrows and blood pooling all around them.

After being attacked, the pigs had run and crashed about wildly in the dark, leaving blood everywhere.

Lin Fei noticed that the blood flowing from their wounds was black. Clearly, the arrows had been coated with poison.

"Everyone, be careful. We don't know if there are any other traps."

Lin Fei and Steward Bai walked in the middle of the guards. With the flashlight lighting the way, the guards were cautious, but not too frightened.

The passage sloped downward. After walking more than ten meters, they came upon a stone door.

"There's another door!"

Several fat pigs had crashed into it, but the stone door hadn't been damaged. It was clearly sturdy, and brute force probably wouldn't open it.

On either side of the stone door stood a human-shaped bronze statue, each holding an oil lamp.

"Light the lamps!"

Steward Bai called out. A guard near the front was about to light one.

Lin Fei sensed something was off and shouted, "Wait!"

"What is it, Master?"

"Why do you think there are two oil lamps here?"

Steward Bai replied as a matter of course, "Oil lamps are obviously for lighting."

Lin Fei countered, "But we came down with torches. Why do we need to light the oil lamps too?"

"If the merchant used to enter the secret chamber, he would definitely have brought a torch or an oil lamp. He wouldn't have groped his way down in the dark. Don't you think these two lamps are a little redundant?"

Steward Bai quickly understood what Lin Fei meant.

"You're saying there's something wrong with the lamps."

Lin Fei examined them carefully and saw that the oil was still in both lamps, barely used at all.

The secret chamber had been built underground. After years upon years, bronze would rust.

But one arm of the bronze statue to the left of the stone door was brighter than the statue on the right, with less rust.

"See if the statue on the left can be turned!"

A guard stepped forward, grabbed the left statue's arm, and twisted hard. To their surprise, the statue moved.

As the statue turned, the stone door shuddered and creaked, as if a mechanism had been triggered.

Lin Fei quickly had two guards raise their wooden shields in front of him.

The stone door slowly opened. Nothing dangerous happened.

But a wave of chilliness poured out of the secret chamber, making everyone shiver.

"It's so cold!"

"Could this be an ice cellar?"

Nanli City was hot all year round, and ordinary people could only endure it in silence.

But some wealthy families found ways to cool down. A Lineage like the Li Family, which had Cultivators, could set up a formation and build an ice cavern where ice was available all year round.

Wealthy families without Cultivators would spend a fortune buying ice from families like the Li Family, then build their own ice cellars.

Selling ice was a business monopolized by the Three Great Families: the Li Family, the Zhao Family, and the Zhou Family.

Lin Fei shone his flashlight into the secret chamber, taking in the whole room at a glance.

Several chests stood inside, and frost coated the walls all around.

A bed stood in the center of the secret chamber.

The chill filling the entire room came from that bed.

Lin Fei didn't let his guard down or send anyone else away.

"Steward Bai, what's the story with this bed?"

Steward Bai stepped forward and touched it, but immediately pulled his hand back.

"So cold! The whole bed is icy, and it gives off a chill. It also feels like jade. Could it be a Millennium Cold Jade Bed?"

"I once heard someone mention it. Millennium Cold Jade is a rare heavenly treasure, highly prized by Cultivators. They say that if someone dies and is laid on it, their corpse can remain uncorrupted for a thousand years."

Lin Fei's brows furrowed at once.

A rare heavenly treasure prized by Cultivators was bound to be valuable.

But it wasn't much use to him!

"Does it have any other uses besides preserving corpses?"

Steward Bai shook his head. "I'm not sure. I only happened to hear someone mention it once. For ordinary people, the greatest use of Millennium Cold Jade is probably keeping things cool."

"My guess is that the merchant bought this piece of Millennium Cold Jade to keep cool. The Millennium Cold Jade itself is priceless."

Just then, a guard opened one of the chests.

"So many gold coins!"

"These chests are full of gold coins, and there are gold notes too."

"This chest is full of jewelry..."