I asked Yang Hanxue if they had found anything. He told us they had gone around the operations room but hadn't found anything special.
"Could it be that the Kwantung Army took the treasure with them when they retreated?" I asked.
Guan Zhenwan pondered for a moment. "It's not impossible, but if the Kwantung Army took those things back then, it would definitely have attracted some attention in Japan. If nothing else, there would surely be related reports about that "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" painting."
"Then is there a possibility that those things were secretly collected by someone?"
Guan Zhenwan dismissed my idea. "Impossible. That batch of items was extraordinary. They would usually be handed over to the state, and Japan would have registered them. Today, many of Japan's museums hold treasures from our China. They wouldn't hide those things, and no one would have the means to do so."
She paused here. "The people I sent to investigate in Japan have interviewed many individuals who were involved in the treasure activities back then. From their accounts, it's certain that the Kwantung Army did not carry a large amount of treasure and antiques when they left. This indicates that the treasure is still here."
I sighed and took out the map, spreading it on the ground. "This place is vast, and we've searched all the possible locations, but found nothing..."
Yang Hanxue stared at the map for a moment. "Perhaps the place where the treasure was stored wasn't marked on the map? After all, this map was made public, and everyone could see it. Frankly, this map was for ordinary soldiers..."
I nodded. "Highly likely... If that's the case, do we have to search this entire area?"
"It seems that's the only way," Yang Hanxue replied.
I felt a bit helpless. "We only have a few people here. To search this entire area will likely take some time, and there are many strange and bizarre things here. I'm afraid..."
Before I could finish speaking, a light flickered towards us from not far away.
Upon closer inspection, I realized it was Zheng Shuxuan, running towards us with a flashlight in her hand.
"Run!" she shouted at us, her face full of urgency.
Before I could figure out what was happening, a large, dense group of things was chasing her from behind.
As they got closer, I could see clearly that those chasing her were all the strange snakes we had seen before!
Song Bing had almost died after being bitten by one of those strange snakes. Now there were so many...
The thought gave me a headache. Just as I was about to escape, I saw Guan Zhenwan calmly put something into her mouth. Immediately after, I faintly heard a high-frequency sound.
Soon, the strange snakes that were chasing them all stopped in their tracks.
Before I could understand what was happening, Guan Zhenwan shook her head and waved her hand, and the snakes actually turned and left!
This scene stunned all of us.
I had been curious before about why Song Bing said those snakes wouldn't attack Guan Zhenwan, and that question had always been in my mind.
But hearing about it and seeing it with my own eyes were two very different things.
Guan Zhenwan took out something that looked like a metal piece from her mouth. Seeing everyone looking at her, she explained, "This is a way to drive away snakes. My yoga teacher taught me when I was in India many years ago."
"So the reason those snakes didn't attack you before was because of this?" I asked.
She nodded.
I hadn't expected this woman to have such a special skill. This surprised me quite a bit.
Zheng Shuxuan's appearance brought us all back together. She said she had found a deep pit over there, filled with many snakes. However, besides the snakes, there were also many boxes.
Upon hearing this, we all became curious and decided to go and investigate.
Soon, we arrived at the place she mentioned. This location was not marked on the map.
The pit was large, with a vertical ladder on the side.
Even before we went down, we could hear the rustling sound of the snake swarm, which made our scalps tingle.
Yang Hanxue took out a glow stick, lit it, and threw it down.
The pit was about six or seven meters deep, with many iron boxes at the bottom. Those iron boxes were all affixed with slips of paper.
Countless snakes wriggled back and forth on these boxes, as if they had made this place their nest.
"What's in those boxes?" Fatty asked.
I shook my head. "I don't know, but they're sealed, so they should be very important items."
"Then should we go down and take a look?" Fatty asked.
I glanced at everyone and saw that Guan Zhenwan had already walked towards the ladder.
She told us to stay above and that she would go down alone.
We had no objections, as she was the only one with the skill to drive away snakes, making her the most suitable person to go down.
As she descended into the pit, the snakes quickly parted, making a path for her. She walked unimpeded to an iron box and then used a shovel to break open the lock on the box.
When she opened the box, we saw it was filled with various kinds of gold, silver, and jewels, as well as many antiques and porcelain!
Seeing these, we couldn't help but feel a surge of joy!
We hadn't expected the Japanese to store the looted treasures here!
Perhaps they had intended to bury these things here back then?
But then their retreat was too rushed, so they didn't bury them.
Of course, this was just my speculation. It was also possible that when they were about to bury them, they discovered that this was a snake nest and decided to abandon the idea.
We couldn't clarify the exact situation now unless a witness was present.
Watching Guan Zhenwan open one iron box after another, Fatty also became restless. "Brother Xiang, how much are these things worth?"
I glanced around. "Never mind anything else, just taking one box out would probably be enough for us to live on for a lifetime."
Fatty licked his lips and winked at me. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go down and get them!"
"What? Can you drive away snakes now too?" I asked.
Fatty: "What do you mean?"
"What do I mean? Didn't you see all those snakes down there? If you went down, you'd probably be bitten to death before you could even get anything." I said sternly, "Don't get any funny ideas. If you get bitten by a snake, I won't care about you."
With my words, Fatty became very anxious. He wanted to go down but didn't dare, pacing back and forth impatiently.
"Boss Guan, look for the 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival' painting first!" I reminded her.
Guan Zhenwan looked up at me, nodded, and began to search for the painting.