There Were Already Pioneers

He Chunhua added, "I recall ancient texts mentioning that the Chipa Plateau is a Double-Layer Plain, meaning two plains stacked one atop the other, with the second layer higher than the first. The second layer, where the Ancient Coiling Dragon City sits, has fertile soil and receives meltwater from the high mountains. With its dense network of waterways, it is a rare highland water town within the entire Coiling Dragon Wilderness!"

This was only natural; without a constant, abundant water supply, Coiling Dragon City could never have endured.

"How shall we proceed now?" Nian Songyu asked the State Preceptor. "It's almost dark."

In two quarters of an hour at most, the sun would sink below the distant mountains. The light within the ancient city was fading rapidly.

"First, establish a base camp and set up defensive talisman arrays," Sun Fuping had already planned this. "Dismissed. Everyone, go find a suitable location."

"Dismissed?" He Lingchuan immediately urged him to wait. "This is a massive ruin, and the risks haven't even been cleared!"

"Unnecessary," Sun Fuping said, confident in his chest. "At the very least, the outskirts of the city are relatively safe. You don't think we are the first group to enter Coiling Dragon City in over a hundred years, do you?"

So that's what he thinks. Am I being naive? He Lingchuan chuckled. "So there were pioneers before us. It's a pity they all returned empty-handed."

If they had found the treasure, why would they be coming to Coiling Dragon City at all?

"Not necessarily. They weren't all here for the Great Square Pot; such ruins often attract treasure hunters. They also recorded their findings here, which can serve as references for us." Although the mutated creatures and Three-Corpse Insects in the Coiling Dragon Desert were terrifying, to be honest, they weren't unsolvable problems as long as one did their homework beforehand.

Thus, the Coiling Dragon Ruins had long had visitors, each arriving with their own ulterior motives.

Just like this very team.

After searching for a while, the two hundred-plus men found an open space to settle down.

This appeared to be the marketplace of Coiling Dragon City. Two full rows of buildings lined the riverbank, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, none exceeding two stories in height.

Naturally, the facades of most houses had been destroyed, and at least a third had clearly suffered from fire, but a few still had plaques hanging above their doors. The most intact one had characters that were already blurred.

The script differed slightly from the modern style, and it took He Lingchuan some effort to barely make out two characters: "Frost... Wine."

It was likely a tavern.

The houses here were low and squat, huddled together, making them well-suited for a temporary camp. As the team settled in, Sun Fuping ordered a two-hour rest on the spot, and Zeng Feixiong hurried off to assign the buildings. The leaders claimed the tavern with the best view and the most shelter from the wind, and began to deliberate on the long-term plan.

After two days of rushing, everyone finally had a moment to wash their faces and refresh themselves.

In the heart of a desert where every drop of water was precious, this was a privilege reserved for the leaders. He Lingchuan lifted his waterskin, took a few hearty gulps, and poured the rest over his face. "What a hellish place—hot enough to kill you by day, cold enough to freeze you by night!"

The typical climate of a desert region involved extreme temperature fluctuations; places that hit over forty degrees at noon would be covered in frost by nightfall. The sun had already set, and the temperature plummeted. Putting on cotton-padded jackets wasn't enough; the men had to dismantle wooden parts from the ruins to build fires for warmth.

He shook his head like a dog shedding water. Nian Songyu frowned and dodged the spray, saying:

"Time is precious, and we cannot waste the night. But this ruin is too vast; even if we split up our manpower, it would take at least several days to search. Does the State Preceptor have any ideas?"

They weren't here for a field trip, and the food and water the team brought were limited. Every minute needed to be put to good use.

After brushing off the yellow sand and tidying his appearance, Sun Fuping regained the demeanor of a State Preceptor and spoke eloquently.

"Rummaging through boxes and cabinets or digging three feet into the ground—the Baling-Xianyou coalition forces of the past, and the treasure hunters who followed, have already done all that. We cannot possibly do better than them. Therefore, these buildings and houses in the city are rarely worth searching."

After Coiling Dragon City was breached in the past, it suffered a massacre; both people and livestock were slaughtered, and all valuables were looted. The enemy kingdom had spent over thirty years toppling it and harbored deep-seated hatred for this thorn in their side. If they hadn't looted it to their heart's content, they wouldn't have been able to vent their rage.

Moreover, they had plenty of time and likely scraped the very ground clean, yet the Great Square Pot was never found. Thus, from mansions to humble dwellings, none were its hiding place.

Hearing this, He Lingchuan breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good." Otherwise, with their limited manpower and the sheer size of Coiling Dragon City, searching would be like looking for a needle in an ocean. "In other words, the State Preceptor already knows where the pot is?"

If those before them had returned in defeat, why would Sun Fuping travel thousands of miles to eat sand here if he didn't have absolute certainty?

"I don't know the exact location, but I can narrow the scope," Sun Fuping mused. "I once visited Grandmaster Zhu Gen of the Baling Kingdom. He visited Coiling Dragon City four times; the earliest was sixty years ago, and the latest was forty years ago. It could be said that he was the force that searched the Coiling Dragon Ruins most thoroughly after the coalition."

"Force?" He Chunhua caught the keyword.

"In my view, the Baling Kingdom always harbored some suspicions about the Coiling Dragon Ruins. Grandmaster Zhu Gen himself was also quite obsessed with it. When he came here to investigate for the last time, he was already seventy-five, and he stayed the longest—a full fifteen days—bringing the most people, reportedly over a thousand."

The more people and the longer the stay, the more meticulous the search of Coiling Dragon City would be. It was just hard to imagine how they managed their logistics.

It became clear to everyone that the coalition and Grandmaster Zhu Gen had already done the homework and cleared the mines for them; a carpet-style search was no longer necessary.

"Nearly a thousand people were perfectly fine and didn't encounter any accidents?" He Lingchuan interjected. "That in itself is very abnormal."

He Chunhua suddenly said, "It's already dark, and I haven't seen any Three-Corpse Insects."

He could still see the three flames on others' shoulders, so the effect of the Soul-Suppressing Powder had clearly not worn off. This state was similar to what was commonly known as "opening the heavenly eye," which allowed one to see Three-Corpse Insects as well.

But from crossing the bridge to entering the city, he hadn't spotted a single Three-Corpse Insect.

That was quite strange, wasn't it?

"Indeed. Not only are there no Three-Corpse Insects in the city, but there are no other evil spirits either. This is the consensus among previous treasure hunters, so as long as we don't stir up any massive commotion here, we are likely safe." Sun Fuping took out a military naan bread and began to toast it over the fire.

The military naan was made of unleavened dough and was as large as a human face; it made a "clink" sound when dropped on the ground—it was incredibly tough. Its only advantage was that it kept one full and didn't spoil easily. Even after it was toasted soft, He Lingchuan found the bread coarse and astringent, scraping his throat as he swallowed it. He could only soak it in hot water to eat, yet Sun Fuping broke it into small pieces and chewed it without changing his expression.

This State Preceptor was grounded; he could handle a life of luxury, but he could also handle coarse tea and hard bread.

"Much of the data I collected came from Zhu Gen. After studying it for half his life, he told me personally that the Great Square Pot was never found because, in all likelihood, everyone went at the wrong time."