After digging up the big man's corpse, though it had been buried for several days and carried a faint stench of decay, both men's eyes gleamed as brightly as Zhang Xiaohua's had when he saw the Luminous Pearl.
Bai Yonggui glanced at Chai Feng, then said to Zhang Xiaohua with a smile, "Brother Ren, the two of us will tidy up my senior brother's remains. Go pack up the cave. Once you're done, we'll return to the ship and send you back to land."
Zhang Xiaohua smiled. "All right, Great Hero Bai. That was exactly what I had in mind. We were in too much of a hurry earlier, and there are still things in the cave I haven't packed."
With that, he cupped his hands, carried the long sword in one hand, and headed toward the cave.
Bai Yonggui and Chai Feng could barely restrain themselves. Only after Zhang Xiaohua vanished from sight did they hurriedly turn the big man over. Pinching their noses, they found a money pouch and an iron box in his clothes, then searched him all over to make sure nothing had been missed. Only then did they inspect the pouch. When they saw that the iron box no longer had its lock, both froze, their expressions turning tense. It was not until they opened the box and saw the sheepskin scroll lying safely inside that their faces broke into wild delight. Bai Yonggui reached in, took it out, and examined it carefully before saying to Chai Feng, "Junior Brother Chai, it seems this really is the item. But why has the box been opened? Tan Qi said that Tan Wen and Tan Wu each held one part—the iron box and the key. So where did the iron lock go?"
Chai Feng smiled. "Maybe Tan