Golden House

I'm okay?

This was the first thought that surfaced in Gao Jing's mind when he awoke from unconsciousness.

Other than his head still feeling a little heavy, he found nothing unusual about his body. His hands and feet could all move.

I'm back?

As he slowly opened his eyes, Gao Jing realized that he had not returned to the Main World.

This was an entirely unfamiliar place.

Thick logs supported a towering vaulted ceiling. The straight crossbeams were five or six meters in diameter, their style rugged and primitive.

Mounted at irregular intervals along the walls, which were likewise built of round logs, were sheep-head and bull-head specimens.

A tapestry hung on another wall.

Its patterns were rather simple and abstract, apparently depicting scenes of hunting and sacrifice.

The setting sun streamed through the open windows into this enormous wooden house, and a faint scent of sandalwood permeated the air.

Gao Jing sprang to his feet.

His clothes and backpack were still on him, while the Mountain-Cleaving Saber and dagger remained hanging at his waist.

Most importantly, Gao Jing was neither bound nor imprisoned.

His hiking watch showed 5:27 p.m. He had been unconscious for roughly two hours.

Gao Jing warily surveyed his surroundings.

If he had guessed correctly, this should have been a Giant's dwelling.

The home of the Giant who had hunted bison!

Gao Jing had no idea how the Giant had discovered him and then brought him here.

Nor did he know why he had suddenly lost consciousness.

But he had not been locked in a cage or directly crushed into meat paste by the Giant.

Both were good things.

Although every aspect of Gao Jing's body was now showing signs of becoming superhuman, compared with those twenty-meter-tall Giants...

He was truly far too tiny.

Woof!

Before Gao Jing could finish taking in the wooden house, the sudden bark gave him a tremendous fright.

What the hell was that?!

Gao Jing steadied himself and walked forward more than a dozen steps.

He leaned over the edge and looked down.

On the ground below crouched a huge dog three or four meters long. It had a tiger-like head, a sturdy build, pale yellow fur, and a pair of lively, intelligent eyes.

It raised its head at Gao Jing, baring its teeth and growling low in its throat.

It seemed to be warning him: I'm fierce and scary, so don't even think about running away!

Ha!

Gao Jing nearly laughed.

This yellow dog looked very much like a Chinese village dog. It was enormous by ordinary standards, but by the standards of the Great World...

It was just a little milk puppy!

Gao Jing immediately relaxed and abandoned the idea of returning to the Main World at once.

He whistled at the little yellow dog.

The puppy, which had been adorably fierce just moments ago, instinctively began wagging its tail.

After a few wags, it seemed to realize something was wrong. Tilting its head, it wore a thoroughly bewildered expression.

Gao Jing chuckled and withdrew his gaze, continuing to inspect his surroundings.

The place where he stood was a table.

A wooden table fifteen or sixteen meters long and wide, and over ten meters high!

When Gao Jing had looked down at the little yellow dog just now, it had been like standing at a fourth-floor windowsill and looking below.

Gao Jing's gaze suddenly sharpened.

He crouched down and carefully examined the tabletop.

This enormous wooden table looked as though it had been made not long ago. Its surface bore obvious marks of splitting, chopping, and carving. The craftsmanship was exceedingly crude, though the materials used were extravagantly solid.

But that was not the important part.

What mattered was the beautiful grain and color of the wood, which easily stirred Gao Jing's memories.

This, this, this...

This was fucking Purple Sandalwood!

And top-grade Purple Sandalwood at that!!

Gao Jing knew a steel-trading boss who was obsessed with Purple Sandalwood and was also an expert at collecting sandalwood.

His two favorite treasures were, first, a Full Golden-Star Grain Little-Leaf Red Sandalwood bracelet that he wore on his wrist and polished all day long.

The other was an old Ming- and Qing-style sandalwood desk in his study, two meters long.

It was said to be worth several million.

Gao Jing had once been fortunate enough to see that boss's collection and had learned quite a bit of knowledge related to Purple Sandalwood.

In recent years, the price of Purple Sandalwood had been rising steadily. India, which produced Little-Leaf Red Sandalwood, had long since banned the export of raw materials.

At present, a ton of high-quality Purple Sandalwood logs sold for anywhere from several hundred thousand to over a million.

A top-grade Purple Sandalwood bracelet could sell for several thousand, or even tens of thousands!

The tabletop beneath Gao Jing's feet measured fifteen meters by fifteen meters, giving it a total area of 225 square meters.

The house Gao Jing rented was only around fifteen square meters.

He had looked down earlier. While he had not paid special attention to the tabletop's thickness, he estimated it to be more than two meters.

At two meters, that came to 450 cubic meters!

Purple Sandalwood was denser than water. For instance, Little-Leaf Red Sandalwood generally had a density between 1.05 and 1.34.

That meant this Purple Sandalwood tabletop weighed more than five hundred tons!

Its market value was several hundred million!!!

This was insane!

After doing a quick calculation, Gao Jing found it utterly unbelievable, simply impossible to accept.

He calculated it again.

There was no mistake.

Gao Jing was truly stunned.

What he stood upon was not a wooden tabletop at all. It was clearly stack upon stack of banknotes!

And as he looked around, the muscles in Gao Jing's face stiffened.

Could these thick round logs, too large for even three or four people to wrap their arms around, all be the same Purple Sandalwood?

Gao Jing's heart trembled.

A wooden house?

A golden house!!

At that moment, a powerful impulse suddenly rose within Gao Jing.

He wanted to clear out every last bit of junk from the Copper Anchor's storage space, then stuff this sandalwood table inside.

And return to the Main World immediately.

Then he could eat and drink without end for the rest of his life, living the carefree days of financial freedom!

It took immense willpower for Gao Jing to suppress the impulse in his heart.

Calm down, calm down!

With the Copper Anchor capable of storing items in his hands, making money was never going to be a problem. He could not lose his bearings over this.

He was no longer the person he had once been. His life should have higher goals!

He absolutely could not let the profits before his eyes rush blood to his head.

Gao Jing took a deep breath and truly calmed himself down.

Creak~

Just then, the wooden door in front of him was suddenly opened from outside.

Woof woof!

The little yellow dog lying in front of the table immediately ran over with joyous barks, its tail wagging like an electric fan.

Gao Jing's expression turned grave.

He saw a "little Giant" step over the threshold and bounce into the room.

The other party was around ten meters tall, with her head roughly level with the height of the wooden table.

This "little Giant" wore a leopard-print beast-hide skirt, with her shoulders, arms, and legs all exposed.

Her skin was a little dark, but considerably fairer than the hunters Gao Jing had seen before.

She was clearly a little girl of the Primitive Giant Tribe!

With a round face, big eyes, and a messy bird's nest of hair atop her head, the Giant Race girl had black eyes and hair. A few brown freckles dotted her rosy cheeks.

She looked utterly adorable.

"Akula!"

The little girl bent down, spread her arms, and scooped the little yellow dog into her embrace.

After kissing the little milk puppy, she lifted her head, and her gaze met Gao Jing's.

"Ah!"

The little girl's eyes instantly widened round. "Gulasa!"

Gao Jing could not understand a word she was saying. Her voice was so loud that it made his eardrums ache.

Still, as long as she was not shouting about killing or fighting, it was fine.

"Hello."

Gao Jing revealed a kindly smile and tried to communicate with her amicably.

Perhaps his smile made him look like a creepy uncle. The little girl hugged the yellow dog and backed toward the doorway, then turned her head and shouted, "Sasa, Lusina Gaseda!"

After shouting, she turned back around and stared at Gao Jing with wary eyes!

How could they communicate when their languages were different?

Gao Jing did not immediately think of fleeing.

Everything here felt extraordinarily fresh and exciting to him.

Gao Jing spread his arms toward the little girl, his palms facing upward.

This indicated that he had no weapons and meant peace.

But the little girl remained wary and did not approach the wooden table.

After a moment, a tall figure appeared at the doorway of the wooden house.

The little girl delightedly tugged at the newcomer, then pointed at Gao Jing on the table and rattled off a long string of words.

The newcomer patted her head and softly said a couple of sentences.

The little girl obediently stepped aside.

As Gao Jing looked at the other party, a trace of vigilance inevitably rose in his heart.

One must not harbor the intent to harm others, but one must guard against being harmed.

Although Gao Jing, since awakening, had not encountered any danger so far.

And the Giant Race girl who had just appeared had not made any dangerous move against him.

That did not mean he was completely safe.

If these Giants had ulterior motives or concealed sinister intentions, Gao Jing could not possibly jump down like a fool.

He watched the Giant walking toward him.

He was prepared to return at any moment!

First update delivered.

P.S. People keep bringing up viruses. It is not that I failed to consider the issue, but it is inconvenient to write about in detail. The setting is that traveling between worlds will not carry them over, and there is no impact whatsoever.

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