Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Boss, how did you know there was a cave?” Lu Guan asked curiously.
Li Du rolled his eyes and said, “Isn’t it marked on the map? It made sense to look for a cave here. It’s not like we’re looking for a needle in a haystack.”
There were some notes on the map. This was a very detailed satellite map. Li Du has already marked the map by comparing the scenes shown in the film. This way, things would not look suspicious.
He fixed Lu Guan with a stern gaze and said impatiently, “Never mind that. If you have too much time on your hands, you had better enter the hole and check if there is any danger.”
Lu Guan smiled, took the torch and went into the cave.
This was the last of the caves which stretched through the mountain into the red oak forest.
Red oak trees were common on the Blue Ridge, and it was easy to see them in the photographs, but they’re so common that people couldn’t use them as landmarks while looking for the treasure.
From another opening in the cave, they saw the red oak forest. Li Du stood at the edge of the woods and let Lu Guan take a picture of him, then beckoned, “Let’s go back.”
Lu Guan was shocked. “Go back? Aren’t we going to keep looking for that treasure? Are we going home empty-handed?”
Li Du hummed and said, “Who said we are going back empty-handed?”
He went into the cave and followed its passage. There was a lot of humidity inside, and moss was growing on the gables. He dug out some of the moss with the shovel and found a crack.
This cave was a letter hole. It had a passage that connected two caves, and the gold was hidden deep inside!
After storing the gold, the chief sealed the cave passage with stone and camouflaged the seal with a mossy wall.
In this way, even if someone went into the cave, they could not find the treasure unless they knew its exact location and found the passage by removing all the stones blocking it.
Chief Alisena made his map based on the terrain above the ground, stepping on the rocks above the cave. Many people thought he was hiding the treasure in the red oak forest.
The conditions in the cave were similar to those of Ah Bai’s home, except that one tunnel collapsed naturally and a man blocked the other.
There was an echo in the hole as a stone fell with a loud banging sound.
“Here, boss,” said Godzilla. He was the one who dug out the stone. He found the location of the treasure tunnel.
Li Du went over to have a look. He did not really need to look because he knew that the passage was there. However, he had to put on a little show. He studied the spot, waved his hand, and said, “Move it away!”
The group swung their arms and began to work. They set up an assembly line, with Godzilla at the head, carrying stones one by one and piling them up.
Finally, all the stones blocking the passage were removed and a new passage appeared.
In the time when the treasure was buried, there was little oxygen in the cave, as only a little air flowed through the cracks in the rocks.
Li Du lit a torch and threw it in. The fire was extinguished very quickly.
They opened both holes completely. The wind from the mountain blew in and a part of it flowed into the deeper division of the cave.
Li Du and the others were chatting and waiting outside the cave. Ah Ow suddenly shook her ears and looked suspiciously towards the mountains behind her.
Seeing this, Brother Wolf raised his gun and signaled everyone to hide. He took Ah Ow and made a circle in the woods. After a while, Ah Ow appeared with a fat rabbit.
Li Du asked, “Ah Ow found a rabbit just now?”
Brother Wolf nodded. “She has a keen sense of smell.”
Li Du smiled and brought back the space-time bug he released just now.
After an hour or two of waiting, they went back and threw another torch into the cave. The fire was weaker but it did not get extinguished immediately like before. It meant there was enough air in the cave to support people.
Li Du took the lead in bending into the small cave. The cave was not big, its highest point barely reaching two meters. Solid wood boxes were piled up inside.
He took out an engineer’s shovel and broke open a wooden box. Then, in the light of the fire, a blaze of gold appeared!
Seeing this, the group of people gasped.
The box contained a block of gold ingots. The surface of the ingots was rough, and they looked like they also contained some gravel or other metals.
Nevertheless, these were gold ingots, and each piece was as big as an adult’s palm. Li Du reached into the box and picked up a piece. It was very heavy, as much as five or even six kilograms.
Brother Wolf exclaimed, “My God, is this all gold? Native gold? Have we found an Indian treasure trove?”
Li Du went to break the rusty wire of another chest, which turned out to contain not gold, but swords and pistols made of gold.
Of course, these weapons were not used for actual fighting. They probably had spiritual or decorative value.
He opened another box. Inside were twenty or thirty golden masks, some as thick as helmets, others as light as cards.
Anyway, weapons or masks, they were worth more than bullion!
Driver, Lu Guan, and Firecracker stood outside the hole. Li Du only took Brother Wolf and Godzilla in. He had seen the general situation of the hidden treasure with the help of the space-time bugs. The value of the things inside was very high. They had to guard the treasure against anyone who might be greedy.
Li Du could bring Brother Wolf and Godzilla in because he trusted them.
Even people as strong-minded as they were crazy to see so much gold at once. They were breathing fast as they went up to grab the gold items and examined them carefully.
This was the charm of gold. Many people questioned whether gold was just a pretty, shiny metal. How did it become a universal trading item?
Based on archaeological discoveries, gold has been of high value since the birth of civilizations around the world. At that time, these civilizations did not have the possibility of communication, which meant that people everywhere agreed on the value of gold.
Li Du believed that gold was endowed with this charm. He didn’t usually come in contact with gold, and now he was mesmerized.
Brother Wolf and Godzilla were both extremely restrained people, but their performance showed that they, too, have been overcome by the charm of gold!
Closing the box, Li Du said, “Pack it up and seal it. Call big Ivan, give him our coordinates, and ask him to send a helicopter to pick up the treasure!”
There was so much gold, twelve boxes in all, and each box contained at least a hundred to two hundred kilograms of gold. Therefore, they had two tons in total.
Two tons of gold was no trifle to take away, especially when trouble was waiting for them outside!
