Free Web NovelChapter 137: Chapter 137: Underground Palace
Wang Hao was curious, so he asked Gao Shenglin.
"Didn’t you come to look for the Golden Dragon? How come they have also arrived? Could there really be a treasure?"
"The Golden Dragon?"
Gao Shenglin couldn’t help but laugh.
"You guys really don’t think there’s an actual dragon under this mountain, do you? In fact, that’s just a term in secret language. How could there be real dragons in this world."
In fact, even without Gao Shenglin’s explanation, Wang Hao knew that the Golden Dragon he spoke of was not a real dragon, but a treasure hidden within this mountain.
If there truly were a treasure, then all the previous questions would be answered.
The five desert camels had been hired by the Cheng Family to hunt for treasure, and it was upon encountering Cheng Lei in the muddy pit that they staged a heroic rescue, leading to the scene where Zhou Yingying was deceived into entering the mountain.
The disappearance of Gao Shenglin was also due to being kidnapped by the desert camels, and as for those strange phrases from Gao Shenglin’s mouth, they were the tricks to finding this treasure.
However, what piqued Wang Hao’s curiosity the most was that this treasure had been hidden in Chen Village’s mountain range all this time, yet he’d rarely heard about it from the locals.
Therefore, Wang Hao deduced that the treasure was of great antiquity, and that it must certainly contain a lot of valuable items.
"Since we can’t get out anyway, take me to them so we can steal their tools!"
Wang Hao suggested.
"We can go after them, but we must be cautious. There could be dangers hidden here, and besides, all five of those people are skilled. We need to proceed carefully,"
Gao Shenglin said, his face serious.
Then he led Wang Hao along the path taken by the five people.
"Eh, why is this path leading to the treasure so spacious? It seems like it was deliberately constructed for treasure hunters. Could they be worried treasure hunters wouldn’t find their way?"
Wang Hao asked curiously.
"Nonsense, this path was trodden by previous treasure hunters. With more people walking it, it naturally becomes wider,"
Gao Shenglin replied with a sigh.
"Those treasure hunters researched for a long time inside and opened up four of these paths, but they found nothing, so they left behind these ancient writings,"
Gao Shenglin continued. freewёbnoνel.com
"Legend has it that a long time ago, a pair of treasure hunters were forced back by the miasma inside, and many people died. They concluded from that experience that one could only avoid the miasma by finding the Dragon Spring and entering through it."
"Why didn’t they just release the miasma and then go in?"
Wang Hao asked, puzzled.
"At the time, there was a curse that said anyone who forced their way in without waiting for a certain phenomenon or person to appear would die," ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Gao Shenglin said with a mysterious look.
In truth, he did not know whether it was real or fake; he had just heard that no one had entered since then.
"That’s strange. Are there really such mystical things as curses in this world?"
Wang Hao was somewhat incredulous.
"Actually, that’s just the previous owner of the treasure wanting to protect the contents!"
Gao Shenglin thought and said.
"You have to think, if our ancestors spent so much effort and even after so many people died they didn’t give up, that means what’s inside must be extremely precious."
"What exactly is so precious? Could it be gold?"
Wang Hao still didn’t understand.
"This thing is worth much more than gold. It’s said that many emperors from past dynasties wanted to possess it,"
Gao Shenglin said with a look of pride.
Even emperors wanted to own it?
The entire world belonged to the emperors; what could they possibly lack? Could it be...
"It wouldn’t be the elixir of life, would it?"
Wang Hao blurted out, thinking of a plot he had seen on TV.
Gao Shenglin quickly covered Wang Hao’s mouth and gave him a fierce glare.
At that moment, Wang Hao’s heart was filled with unparalleled excitement as he whispered.
"Could this thing really exist?"
Gao Shenglin quickly waved his hand and looked around before saying.
"I’m not sure either. The ancient texts record it this way, and it’s said to be among this pile of treasure."
No sooner had the two finished speaking than they saw a small light ahead. Approaching it, they found themselves at the end of the road with a small hole just big enough for a person to crawl through—it appeared to have been freshly blasted open.
No wonder Wang Hao had felt a tremor from above; it was very likely caused by the Treasure Hunters blasting holes at this moment.
"We must be careful, they seem to have guns!"
Seeing the blasted hole, Gao Shenglin cautioned Wang Hao with care.
Currently, Wang Hao’s mind was fixated on the elixir of immortality, and he really wanted to witness it himself—securing it would be the best outcome.
Other people who heard about the elixir of immortality would definitely not believe it.
But ever since Wang Hao had experienced the anomaly of the nine dragon tattoos on his body, he tended to believe in such extraordinary events more than others.
Since he had come this far, he decided to explore and see for himself.
After listening to Gao Shenglin’s mystical description, Wang Hao was convinced that, aside from the elixir of immortality, there had to be other treasures within.
Even if he couldn’t get the elixir, taking some other treasures back would still be a huge profit!
The two crawled through the small hole, and upon entering, Wang Hao was stunned—the interior was constructed like a palace.
Directly in front was a grand palace, and there were six huge pillars of water shooting straight up to the mountain’s summit, striking the top before falling back into a pool, circulating continuously.
Wang Hao speculated that these water columns were part of the Dragon Pool Springs, and the one above was just a small portion seeping through the mountain crevices. The true mystery, it seemed, lay hidden beneath.
Astonished by the sight, Wang Hao felt fortunate to benefit from the discoveries of his ancestors.
The spring’s orifice above must have been carefully designed by them. If they hadn’t discovered the Dragon Pool Springs, he would never have encountered what transpired later.
Wang Hao looked up at the palace, which seemed different from those seen on television; it had no doors, and there was a majestic mythical beast statue standing boldly in front, commanding respect from all directions.
"This palace is so strange, why doesn’t it have any doors?"
Wang Hao asked with curiosity.
"This isn’t a palace; it’s a sarcophagus!"
Gao Shenglin’s eyes gleamed as he gazed at the mythical beast.
"No way, a palace for a sarcophagus? Could this be a tomb? Which dynasty would be so extravagant!"
Wang Hao exclaimed, taken aback.
Wang Hao did know something about sarcophagi; they had been introduced in history classes. A coffin, of course, was for the body, and a sarcophagus was the larger coffin placed around it.
These usually contained personal belongings and treasures meant to accompany the tomb’s occupant in the afterlife.
To protect their mortal remains from grave robbers after death, the ancients would design multiple layers of coffins.
But hearing of a palace-sized sarcophagus was certainly a first.
Considering its grandeur, it seemed even more prestigious than that of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
"Boss, how do we open this sarcophagus?"
A few of the desert camels had searched around and found no way inside. One of them asked.
Wang Hao and Gao Shenglin, hearing the voices, quickly hid behind a pillar to peek. The cave was vast, with six water pillars and an equal number of stone pillars for support.
"Bring that old man Gao over; he’s bound to know," declared the one called Boss with a stern expression.
Wang Hao and Gao Shenglin concealed themselves behind a pillar and snickered.
"What do we do now?"
Gao Shenglin asked worriedly.
"You wait here; I’m going to deal with the one looking for you. I might even snag some tools for us to climb up with!"
After finishing his sentence, Wang Hao stealthily followed behind the desert camel and slipped out...
