madnovel Chapter 10 Treasure and Hostages
Chapter 10 Treasure and Hostages
According to Dong Guotao, there used to be a thousand-year-old temple called Qinglian Temple here, which covered a vast area and was very popular with worshippers.
But now only charred ruins remain, with rubble and fragments scattered everywhere.
There are obvious signs of smoke and fire in many places, blending into the surrounding blackened forest that has also been licked by flames, like a painful scar on the earth.
Only a few thick, carbonized beams stubbornly and silently reach for the sky, outlining the magnificent silhouette of the ancient temple in its heyday.
The mountain wind whistles through the hollow stone cave and the dilapidated doorway, as if some unseen ghosts are still reminiscing about the glorious past.
At the easternmost corner of the site, only the base of a stone tower covered with lotus reliefs remains.
A dozen meters away from the stone pagoda is a pool that has long since dried up, with a ring of large, polished blue bricks built around its edge.
The dimensions of the blue brick are approximately 48 cm × 32 cm wide × 24 cm thick.
Most of the blue bricks bear traces of smoke, and the lime-based mortar that held them together was almost entirely burned.
More than half of the blue bricks have collapsed and been buried by newly grown ferns and weeds.
At that time, the Vermilion Bird that Dong Guotao sketched on the blue brick wall had its head facing the stone pagoda, because the Vermilion Bird is said to perch on a sacred tree in the east.
He easily located the target brick based on this location and memory, and immediately took out an iron hammer to strike the brick and its surroundings.
Sure enough, the sound coming from this blue brick was rather hollow.
He immediately braced his left foot on the ground and stomped hard on the top of the blue brick with his right foot.
"Bang!"
The heavy brick, weighing over 100 pounds, crashed onto the muddy, moss-covered pebbles in the pond, startling several birds in the nearby woods.
Dong Guanfei examined the bricks carefully and found that there were indeed subtle splicing marks on them. He then gently tapped the splicing area with a hammer.
Soon, a crack became clearly visible, and then a piece of brick fell off.
Dong Guanfei put away the hammer and took out a pair of iron tongs to remove the brick.
A cloth-wrapped item was clearly visible.
He immediately poked it a few times with the pliers—there was no problem. So he put away the pliers, put on a cotton glove on his right hand, placed it on the oilcloth wrapping, and put it into his spatial backpack.
Next, he stomped the blue brick into the pool and then quickly left.
A dozen minutes later, he found a suitable natural cave in the mountains, took out a teakwood stool and sat down at the entrance of the cave. Then he put on cotton gloves, took out an oilcloth wrapping, and untied the rope binding him.
Then, he hesitated for a moment, walked away more than a meter, and took out the pliers to open the two layers of oilcloth.
An old red sheepskin trunk immediately came into view.
The box wasn't locked, and once opened, its contents were fully revealed—twenty small porcelain bottles, a sheet of A4 paper, a mask, a short knife, two gold coins, and two bound A4 books.
A line of text was written on a sheet of white paper: "No need to go to the second place, it's empty."
The two books were typed and bound.
Dong Guanfei put everything except the two books into his spatial backpack, and then flipped through the books one by one.
About half an hour later, he put away the books and looked up.
The first book provides a fairly detailed introduction to the major powers in Shanghai, as well as the approximate power structure within the original territory of the Great An Dynasty.
This includes Dong Guotao's network of connections.
The second book describes the current martial arts world and the cultivation systems and methods of foreigners.
It is obvious that Dong Guotao had been preparing for the possibility of separating from Dong Guanfei for some time.
The final part of the second book is his advice, which can be summarized as follows:
First, his departure was not his own choice, as it involved a sacred artifact and a treasure map concerning the true god. In order to clear his name, he had to investigate on his own.
Secondly, once Dong Guanfei reaches the late stage of "True Qi" or "Spiritual Qi", he will naturally understand everything, so there is no need to look for him.
Third, his previous appearance was fake. If anyone approaches Dong Guanfei with this appearance, they must be an imposter or a fraudster.
Fourth, if Dong Guanfei found this place alone, he should not return to the mansion and the police station under his original identity; if Dong Guanfei was brought here under duress, please ask the detainees to be lenient, as he will personally come forward to confess after finding concrete clues.
The mask depicts an ordinary-looking Xia clansman in his thirties.
The ten porcelain bottles contain Nourishing Essence Pills, used to assist in the cultivation of "Foundation Building" and "True Strength".
The other ten porcelain bottles contain Spirit Nourishing Pills, used to assist in the cultivation of "Sensing" and "Transformation into Mortal Realm".
The short sword is a magical weapon called "Fire Feather Blade," which can cut through iron like mud and break through the defenses of a "True Strength" martial artist.
After reaching the "Transcendental" realm, Dong Guanfei can unleash a fire-type sword aura, which inflicts burning or even combustible damage and can break through the defenses of a "True Qi" beginner martial artist.
The two gold coins are tokens issued by the "Shadow Alliance," the most powerful bounty hunter organization in Shanghai, and can be used to purchase its services.
The services offered are extremely broad, including assassination, protection, aftermath handling, and espionage.
The Shadow Alliance has its own black market where various resources, including magical artifacts and magical weapons, can be traded.
One gold coin is worth the equivalent of ten thousand Indian dollars.
However, the Shadow Alliance only accepts transactions using the gold and silver coins they issue.
A single gold coin can often fetch 11,000 to 12,000 silver dollars on other black markets.
Dong Guanfei took out tap water to wash his hands, then took out a pot of hot soy milk and began to enjoy the flatbread and braised chicken.
The things Dong Guotao told him might not be true, because he had to consider the fact that the original owner of this body was kidnapped.
Therefore, he may not be innocent; he might actually have stolen the sacred artifact and the treasure map.
After all, even the appearance he had shared with Dong Guanfei for over a decade was fake.
Normally, Dong Guotao should have run away with the original owner of the body and then arranged for him to live in another secluded place.
Therefore, although Dong Guanfei was unaware of the inside story of the sacred artifact and treasure map incident, Dong Guotao was somewhat inclined to use the original body as a hostage.
Or perhaps Dong Guotao wasn't very confident that he would survive, so he simply separated from the original owner and made many arrangements for him.
Even if Dong Guotao passes away, this branch of the Dong family will not die out.
Of course, Dong Guotao may indeed have been forced into this situation, as he claims. After all, it's normal for people to have limited abilities; otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to run away.
As for the statement that "Dong Guanfei will naturally understand everything after reaching the late stage of 'True Qi' or 'Spiritual Qi'", Dong Guanfei suspects that there are still secrets hidden in that small space house, which will be revealed when he reaches the required level.
In "The Secret of the Spirit World", Dong Guanfei learned that there were six identical space keys for the Peace Lock, all of which were made by "Yuan".
The material of the peace lock appears to be silver, but it is actually a kind of magical material called "divine silver," which can soothe the wearer's mind and spirit and has a certain effect of warding off evil spirits.
That's why he was able to recover from the terrifying shock of the evil spirit yesterday.
But that's all. If the evil spirits pounce on him, Dong Guanfei will still die, just like the original owner of this body.
The most precious thing inside the safety lock is a spatial spirit crystal.
Without members of the Beast Clan, the spatial key cannot be activated.