Our sole purpose for coming down this time was to find the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival."
Of course, this was the objective for everyone except Fatty and me.
As for Fatty, let's not discuss his motives; he simply wants whatever is valuable.
As for me, I'm here to search for clues about the Suihou Pearl.
No one present knows my true objective, so I'm more eager to descend into the pit than Fatty.
Although I advised Guan Zhenwan to look for "Along the River During the Qingming Festival," my mind was actually preoccupied with finding any leads on the Suihou Pearl.
After Guan Zhenwan opened three iron chests, she eventually grew weary, and the fourth chest remained stubbornly shut despite her efforts to pry it open.
I pondered for a moment and then asked, "Boss Guan, may I go down?"
Upon hearing my words, she looked up at me, nodded, and said, "You come down. However, it would be best if you went alone. My snake-charming abilities cannot control too many snakes."
Hearing her response, I nodded and glanced at Zheng Shuxuan and Yang Hanxue. "I'll go down and take a look."
They gave me a slight nod and didn't say much more.
As I descended the ladder, the ground, teeming with snakes, quickly parted to create a path for me.
Arriving beside Guan Zhenwan, I took the entrenching tool from her hand and began to pry open the lock on the iron chest.
The lock was soon forced open. The contents inside were, as before, a collection of gold and silver treasures. Although I didn't scrutinize the specific dynasties, judging by the craftsmanship, the items in the chests were a mixed assortment, with artifacts from the Tang and Ming dynasties both present.
It seemed that when the Kwantung Army collected these items, they categorized them by material.
The chests that were opened contained exclusively gold, silver, and porcelain.
There were more than ten chests in total. After I opened seven or eight, a chest filled with calligraphy and paintings soon appeared.
As the chest had not undergone any special preservation treatment, the calligraphy and paintings within had already rotted. Many of them were moldy, emitting a foul odor.
Furthermore, many of the artworks were stuck together, and when handled, they could easily tear with a slight mishap.
Finding "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" among these items would not be a swift endeavor. With several more chests yet to be opened and so many snakes present, it was proving quite difficult.
I felt it would be best to find a way to hoist these chests up. Then, we could find a spacious area, sort them properly, and search at our leisure.
I scanned the surroundings and noticed some iron chains not far away. Looking up, I saw some movable hoisting chains attached to the ceiling.
I pointed upwards, and everyone followed my gaze. "Brother Yang, can you see if the hoisting chains on the ceiling are still usable?"
He quickly understood my intention, agreed, and began to inspect the surrounding area.
After about ten minutes, a "kaka ka" sound suddenly echoed. Following that, I saw the hoisting chains above begin to move, and my heart leaped with joy.
Guan Zhenwan also understood my intentions. I quickly instructed Fatty to prepare more illumination sticks.
Once the hoisting chains were lowered from above, we attached the iron chests to them. Under Yang Hanxue's operation, one iron chest was swiftly hoisted up.
Over the next few hours, we managed to hoist all the chests.
By the time we climbed out of the pit, I was utterly exhausted, and Guan Zhenwan was also panting heavily.
Fatty, circling the hoisted iron chests, was incredibly excited, muttering continuously, "This time, my friend, I'm going to strike it rich!"
The others seemed indifferent to the treasures within these chests.
It made sense; none of them were lacking in money.
I told Fatty to stop acting so undignified. He nonchalantly replied, "Brother Xiang, just one of these items taken out could keep us living lavishly for quite some time..."
I sighed helplessly, "You incorrigible fatty, stop acting like you've never seen money before. We didn't come here for these things."
"Then what did we come for?" Fatty asked, looking bewildered.
I had no recourse with him. I leaned in and whispered, "We have a mission this time. Don't ask too many questions. Just listen to me, and there will be plenty of money later."
Hearing this, Fatty's eyes lit up, and he nodded incessantly, "Alright! Brother Xiang, I'll listen to you."
"Think about it, if you were to take these things out, putting aside everything else, what would Professor Zhang and the others think? Moreover, these items are difficult to sell. If things go south and you get caught, will you have the opportunity to spend it?" I tried to scare Fatty.
I knew that mere words wouldn't be enough to fool him. So, I told him that Director Wu had assigned me a more important task, and if this mission succeeded, the money she promised would be more than enough for us.
Indeed, after hearing this, Fatty's interest in these items significantly diminished.
Yang Hanxue found the backup power source and then located the switch for the fluorescent lights. Soon, as the fluorescent lights above flickered to life, the chests before us lost much of their allure.
Although they were filled with gold and silver treasures, having been stored for so long, they were covered in dust, appearing like discarded scrap from a garbage heap.
Before the lights were turned on, the occasional glint of light could spark the imagination, but once the lights were on, desire waned considerably.
Guan Zhenwan was frantically searching through the paintings and calligraphy, while Zheng Shuxuan calmly and methodically flipped through the items in the chests.
Seeing everyone busy, I didn't stand idle either. I quickly began searching for any clues related to the Suihou Pearl.
After about half an hour, Guan Zhenwan finally found "Along the River During the Qingming Festival."
I watched as she carefully unfurled the scroll. After confirming it was indeed "Along the River During the Qingming Festival," just as she was about to put it away, Yang Hanxue walked over and asked her to hand the painting over to him.
I suddenly felt a shift in the atmosphere. Guan Zhenwan looked at Yang Hanxue with confusion, then at me. "Mr. Xiang, what does this mean?"
It seemed she considered Yang Hanxue to be one of my people. I hadn't had the chance to explain the backgrounds of Yang Hanxue and Zheng Shuxuan along the way. Seeing them with me, she likely assumed they were my associates.
I walked over and looked at Yang Hanxue. He said expressionlessly, "Brother Xiang, I can keep this painting."
My brow furrowed. I glanced at Zheng Shuxuan, who walked over, looked at me, and said nothing.
For a moment, I didn't know what to say, so I finally said, "Boss Guan, let him keep the painting for now..."
"No!" Guan Zhenwan directly refused.
With that, she put the painting away and, without another word, placed it into her backpack.
At that very moment, Yang Hanxue reached out to snatch her backpack.
Before I could even react, Guan Zhenwan produced a pistol from somewhere and pointed it at Yang Hanxue, saying coldly, "Let go!"