Fortunately, there was no unpleasant smell like that of a badger. The cave was very dry, and there was a small crack where the hole was blocked, allowing for excellent air circulation.
"King Kong, push that rock aside, I need to go in..."
Zhuang Rui released his spiritual energy and glanced around two or three hundred meters from the cave entrance. He didn't see any decrease in spiritual energy, which meant that there were no living organisms inside the cave.
"Awoo!" King Kong gestured wildly with his arms, seemingly unwilling to let Zhuang Rui in, and stayed by the stone without making a move.
"King Kong, it's okay, I'll be right back out. Hmm... I'll grill some meat for you when I come out..."
Upon hearing about the roasted meat, King Kong's mouth watered. He immediately pounded his chest, moved the huge rock weighing four or five hundred pounds outwards, and revealed the cave entrance.
"King Kong, wait for me here, I'll be out in a bit..."
The hole was too small. Zhuang Rui could squeeze in without any problem, but King Kong couldn't. Fearing that King Kong would feel uncomfortable in the dark, Zhuang Rui simply left it outside and went in by himself.
The cave path on this side is the exact opposite of the upward path on the other side; instead, it leads downwards. After walking for about ten meters, the space opens up, and a series of caves appear in Zhuang Rui's spiritual energy.
Which way should we go?
After going a hundred meters deeper, Zhuang Rui stopped. He was now in a large cavern more than ten meters high. In the center of the cavern was a small pool of water, and the sound of dripping water was very clear in the empty cave.
"Damn it, could it be some kind of thousand-year-old stalactite?"
Zhuang Rui recalled stories from martial arts novels, where many heroes were forced into desperate situations by their enemies, then obtained a thousand-year-old stalactite to greatly enhance their power and avenge themselves.
Zhuang Rui shook his head with a smile at his own pointless thought, then looked up and saw a stalactite as thick as a child's arm hanging down from the top of the cave. If spotlights were installed here, it would definitely be an excellent tourist attraction.
There were six forks in the road around the cave, and Zhuang Rui hesitated, unsure which fork to take.
"Let's check again with our spiritual energy, make sure we don't crawl into the bat nest..."
Zhuang Rui calmed himself down, stood in the cave, and released his spiritual energy. Apart from the path he had come from, he planned to use his spiritual energy to check out the other forks in the road.
"This one doesn't work, this one isn't either, damn it, this one leads to the bat nest..."
Zhuang Rui looked at three forks in the road. One was blocked by rocks after about 200 meters, another led to the mountaintop above, and the third was probably on the other side of the mountain.
"What...what is this?"
When Zhuang Rui's gaze fell on the fourth fork in the road, it froze instantly, and his eyes seemed to flash with golden light. Well... it should be said that he saw a ball of golden light.
Chapter 837 The Pirate's Treasure (Part 2)
"Found it...found it..."
Although he had already guessed that this deserted island was where the pirates hid their treasure, Zhuang Rui was still overjoyed. The search for pirate treasure had been something that countless people had flocked to for hundreds of years, and he never expected to find one himself today.
The golden light that the spiritual energy touched came from a mountain of gold coins. The gold coins, each the size of a coin, were piled up on the ground like trash. Next to them were various currencies and jewelry.
These objects were all brimming with spiritual energy. As Zhuang Rui's spiritual energy entered them, he was immediately enveloped by a warm feeling, which was very comforting.
"About 300 meters, no problem..."
Zhuang Rui estimated the distance between his location and the treasure to be about three or four hundred meters. Although the route was winding, it was nothing to Zhuang Rui, who could see in the dark.
After carefully examining the cave he was in and memorizing it, Zhuang Rui entered the fourth fork in the road and headed towards the treasure's hiding place along the winding path.
Suddenly, a sound like thunder boomed from afar.
"Damn, this is way too much..."
The enormous sound waves, like ocean waves, crashed against Zhuang Rui's eardrums, making him sway precariously. It wasn't that King Kong had a loud voice; it was just that the echo in the cave was too loud.
Moreover, the sound came so suddenly that Zhuang Rui was completely unprepared, like someone who was sleeping being struck in the ear with a gong.
Four or five minutes passed before the echoes in the cave gradually subsided. Zhuang Rui knew that King Kong was probably getting impatient waiting outside, and since the cave entrance was too small for it to squeeze in, it had started roaring in frustration.
After Zhuang Rui felt the buzzing in his head stop, he quickly covered his ears and called out in the direction from which he had come, word by word, "Jin... Gang... I... will... be... out... in... a... while." That's the bad thing about being in a cave; any sound will be amplified infinitely, as if someone is shouting into your ear with a megaphone.
After shouting, Zhuang Rui used his spiritual energy to look back and saw that King Kong was indeed sticking its big head into the hole and looking around. However, because of its large size, it couldn't squeeze in no matter what it did, and the guy was so anxious that it kept howling.
Zhuang Rui used his spiritual energy to circle around the Vajra body, and the big guys heard Zhuang Rui's reply. Finally, they quieted down, pulled their heads back, and lay sprawled on the ground, actually falling asleep comfortably.
Unbeknownst to Zhuang Rui, his conversation with King Kong had thrown the bat nest on the other side of the mountain into complete chaos, causing countless bats to stir as the enormous echo disrupted their sonic systems.
Thousands upon thousands of bats fell to the ground with a "plop, plop" sound, like dumplings being dropped into a pot. Many more flew around aimlessly like headless flies, and it's unknown how many bats crashed into the walls and died unjustly.
Fortunately, although the two sides of the mountain are connected, the roads are extremely complicated and winding, so the swarm of bats did not manage to get to this side. Otherwise, Zhuang Rui might have been driven out of the cave by these local bullies, just like when Jin Gang was a child.
Of course, Zhuang Rui didn't care whether the bat lived or died. After comforting King Kong, he continued walking towards the place where the treasure was hidden.
Because the roads inside the mountain were rugged and uneven, with some protruding rocks that stuck to the ground like sharp thorns, Zhuang Rui was not moving fast; he was practically walking on his feet.
After walking for nearly half an hour, Zhuang Rui was still more than 100 meters away from the place where the treasure was hidden.
The terrain is now much more complex in the area where Zhuang Rui is now. There is a fork in the road almost every few steps. If Zhuang Rui could not see through the rock walls, he would probably have been lost in the mountain by now.
A crisp "snap" sound reached Zhuang Rui's ears from beneath his feet, causing him to stop in his tracks. Looking down, he saw what appeared to be a stone, emitting a soft, white light.
"Damn, it's a dead man's bone..."
After Zhuang Rui bent down and picked it up, he realized that it was actually a human bone. No wonder it felt so light when he kicked it.
After looking around, Zhuang Rui found several more bones on the road not far ahead. The bones were scattered, and Zhuang Rui guessed that they had been destroyed by animals that had accidentally crawled into the mountain.
"Huh? A parchment scroll?" Next to the skull, Zhuang Rui found another parchment scroll. Its craftsmanship was exactly the same as the one he had found in the wooden house before, and it was also decorated with intricate patterns.
Zhuang Rui gathered his spiritual energy and stood still to examine the sheepskin. After a while, his brows furrowed slightly.
The starting point of this mountain map should be where I entered. The first hundred meters are correct, but after that, it becomes chaotic and disorganized, and it's not the path I've taken at all.
"Dude, you're out of luck, you got a fake image..."
Even without thinking, it's obvious that the person who died here must have been trapped inside and starved to death. The only thing this guy didn't know was that he was only a little over a hundred meters away from what he was looking for.
Zhuang Rui folded the map and stuffed it into his boot. He had no choice; he couldn't exactly put it in his crotch, could he? It was the only place on his body where he could put things.
After this little incident on the road, Zhuang Rui walked for about twenty more minutes and finally entered a side path that was only a little over two meters high and a meter wide. The treasure was hidden about five or six meters ahead.
However, in front of Zhuang Rui, there was a pile of rubble, completely blocking the road ahead.
Zhuang Rui used his spiritual energy to take a look. The pile of rubble extended three or four meters inward, and behind the rubble was the secret chamber where the treasure was hidden.
Despite being called a secret room, it was actually just a natural cave with its path blocked. Hundreds of years ago, the pirates who roamed the seas did not seem to have mastered the technology of explosives.
"Damn it, foreigners just lack creativity, and pirates are still an uncultured group..."
Looking at the pile of stones, Zhuang Rui was both amused and exasperated. These Westerners have such a short history and lack of knowledge. They should at least have some skill in setting up a secret room. They just used broken stones to block the way.
If the Chinese were to do this, it would be a trap-filled scheme, full of pitfalls, and guaranteed to kill as many people as possible.
If an Egyptian guy were to take on this job, the walls would definitely be covered in mysterious patterns, cursing any treasure hunters who come after him to die—either they'd kill them or scare them to death.
But that was all the pirates of the 16th and 17th centuries could do; they couldn't handle anything more advanced.
Anyway, Zhuang Rui had plenty of strength and wasn't afraid of hard work. He immediately started moving stones one by one, and threw the stones he moved into the cave outside, otherwise they would block his own way.
This busy work lasted four or five hours. When Zhuang Rui moved a stone, he saw a dazzling light, not something he sensed with his spiritual energy, but something he actually saw with his own eyes.
"This...this is a luminous pearl." Zhuang Rui rubbed his eyes hard. Ordinary jewelry, no matter how precious, can only shine when light is reflected. Only a luminous pearl can glow in the dark, which has been scientifically proven.
Looking through the crack that had been opened, three beads, each the size of a baby's fist, were placed in three different positions on the protruding rock wall of the secret chamber, radiating a soft white, green, and yellow light.
The three different colors of light shone on the gold and jewels on the ground, enveloping the entire secret room in a dazzling glow, giving Zhuang Rui an unreal feeling. This scene seemed to have only been seen in movies.
"Damn, pirates are fucking rich..."
After Zhuang Rui clearly saw several luminous pearls, he became excited and hurriedly threw the remaining stones out one by one.
It is important to know that in ancient China, luminous pearls were known by various names such as "Sui Zhu," "Xuan Zhu," "Chui Ji," and "Ming Yue Zhu." However, most of the luminous pearls that have been discovered are actually just ordinary "fluorite," which requires light to make it glow.
True luminous pearls are those that can be clearly seen by the human eye in the dark. They are extremely rare. Throughout China's five-thousand-year history, luminous pearls have always been the most mysterious, rare, and precious treasures, and were generally the private property of the imperial court.
The luminous pearl was originally extracted from minerals, but its distribution on Earth is extremely rare and mining is very difficult. In ancient Greece and Rome, some emperors inlaid it in palaces or wore it on their crowns, using it as a national treasure to promote and praise it.
A luminous pearl with high luminescence intensity allows people to clearly see the text on printed materials from half a foot away in the dark. A luminous pearl that can achieve this effect is truly a rare treasure.
The old woman from the late Qing Dynasty had a precious luminous pearl in her mouth after she died. Sun Dianying once described it as follows: "This pearl is divided into two pieces, and when put together, it is a sphere. When separated, it is transparent and without light, but when put together, it emits a cold green light that can illuminate hair within a hundred paces at night."
In an attempt to exonerate himself, Sun Dianying gave the luminous pearl to Soong Mei-ling, who then set it into her shoe. It later ended up in private hands and was not discovered and recovered by the state until 1964.
In 1997, at a London jewel auction, a luminous pearl with a diameter of twelve centimeters was sold for $65 million to an unknown millionaire.
These luminous pearls are no less large than the one that was auctioned, and may even be larger. If they were to appear on the market, I'm afraid all the world's richest people would be tempted by them.
So, putting everything else aside, Zhuang Rui would have made the trip worthwhile even if he had just taken these few luminous pearls with him.
Chapter 838 The Pirate's Treasure (Part 2)
After a great deal of effort, Zhuang Rui finally cleared the passage. If it were someone else, it would have taken at least one or two days.
With a mix of excitement and apprehension, Zhuang Rui stepped softly into the treasure room, as if even the slightest movement would cause the treasures to be lost.
Zhuang Rui's actions can be understood as a collector of antiques and an archaeology student's respect for history. People can learn from history, understand the rise and fall of dynasties, and through these treasures left over from hundreds of years ago, they can also get a glimpse of the social structure at that time.
However, Zhuang Rui's respect lasted only a few seconds before his attention was completely drawn to the gold in the secret room. Looking at all this gold, it would be really strange if someone still had time to reminisce about history.
This natural cave is about fifteen or sixteen square meters in size, roughly the size of a bedroom, and the walls around it clearly show signs of having been carved.
In the very center of the secret room, there was a mountain of gold and silver coins, covering an area of about six or seven square meters, reaching Zhuang Rui's chest in height.
The piles of gold and silver alone, like small mountains, occupied almost half of the secret room.
In one corner of the cave, there were two boxes, one large and one small. The larger box was decayed in many places, and the jewelry inside had rolled onto the ground, emitting a shimmering, precious glow.
The smaller boxes, however, were made of pure sheet metal and wrapped in deerskin. They looked brand new, without any damage, except for the lock on them, which was covered in rust.
"Damn, I'd better be careful..."
Influenced by the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Zhuang Rui was about to leap into the pile of gold when he suddenly remembered the curse the pirates in the movie suffered. Zhuang Rui immediately stopped. He didn't want to turn into a skeleton every night and lose his appetite.
To be honest, Zhuang Rui didn't believe that he was cursed to become a skeleton.
However, there are still many things in this world that science cannot explain, such as the people who died inside the ancient Egyptian pyramids, for whom a reasonable explanation still cannot be given.
There's also the Miao Gu, a legendary myth that has been circulating in the Miao region of China for a long time. It's said to be incredibly powerful, capable of planting controlled worms inside the human body. Zhuang Rui shudders at the thought.
Taking a deep breath, Zhuang Rui calmed himself down. He prepared to use his spiritual energy to carefully examine these objects to see if there was anything strange about them.
The two boxes could be examined slowly. Zhuang Rui's attention was first drawn to the gold coins. He wanted to see if there was anything else underneath them.