Chapter 181: No Treasure Here? Disappointed Treasure Hunters, The Collapsed Duke Wuxi!
Due to the failure to find the treasure, some people have already left in disappointment. Recently, Duke Wuxi has been in a bad mood. He has dispatched a large number of troops to search the treasure location indicated by the treasure map meticulously, but still hasn’t found anything.
Afterall, one bad news after another keeps coming. He has already withdrawn most of his soldiers from Qinglong Mountain, avoiding conflicts with the people on the mountain.
However, casualties are still unavoidable, with thousands of people being injured or killed every day. It seems like there is a special organization targeting him. Every time he goes down the mountain in anger to find someone, he can never find them, which frustrates him to no end. In the past half a month, the number of casualties has reached a staggering 50,000!
Combined with previous losses, it has already reached 250,000! Many military supplies, rations, and more have also suffered severe losses.
Duke Wuxi is furious. His forces have already been weakened by 25%, and his reserves have also suffered heavy losses. With severe shortages of rations and supplies, how can he fight against the court? Maybe before even reaching Fenghuang Mountain, his troops will starve to death. He had initially wanted to seek aid from the Dayue Dynasty, but they have also suffered heavy losses and are unable to help themselves. Therefore, he now has all his hopes pinned on the treasure.
“As long as I find the Slanted Moon Treasures first, I can recover all my losses and even turn a profit!”
This is his thinking, somewhat similar to that of a gambler. If there is no treasure here…he doesn’t dare to even think about it.
At this moment, Mr. Fengchu walks in. Duke Wuxi’s eyes light up and he asks, “Strategist, do you have any news about the treasure?”
Mr. Fengchc bows and says, “Report to my lord, there is none!”
The light in Duke Wuxi’s eyes disappears and he scolds, “Keep searching until you find it!” Mr. Fengchu hesitates and says, “My lord, there is something I’m not sure whether to say or not.”
Duke Wuxi waves his hand, “Just say it, we don’t need to be so formal between us.” “Yes, my lord! Actually, I have always suspected that the rumors about the Slanted Moon treasure are fake!”
“Fake? How is that possible?” Duke Wuxi stands up excitedly, banging the table, “The legend of the Slanted Moon treasure has been passed down for over 200 years, countless people have already confirmed it, and you’re telling me it’s fake?” The powerful aura of a warrior is released along with his anger. Under this pressure, Mr. Fengchu trembles in fear, his face covered in sweat, and he almost collapses.
“My lord, what I mean is that the Slanted Moon treasure does indeed exist, but it is not hidden in the Qinglong Mountain Range! There are people spreading false information, intending to cause chaos and harm to the people!”
“You…” Duke Wuxi angrily lifts Mr. Fengchu, “Tell me everything in detail! If you say one wrong word, no matter how great your past achievements, I will definitely execute you!”
Saying that, he puts down Mr. Fengchu, his face still as dark as iron.
“Thank you, my lord, for sparing my life!”
Mr. Fengchu breathes a sigh of relief and humbly says, “My lord, all of us came here to search for the treasure because we heard that the Slanted Moon treasure is hidden in this area of Qinglong Mountain Range. But if we trace the origin, the information about this treasure all comes from a young child! All the clues and information come from his mouth! We believe whatever he says, but there is fundamentally no solid evidence!”
“For example, his father knew about this information but he died! The couple who stole the treasure map and killed the child’s father has disappeared without a trace. The young man who provided the treasure map also drowned! You can say that all the relevant individuals have died, and there is no proof that what the child said is true or false!”
“Now, even that child has disappeared, and the treasure map is gone too!”
Mr. Fengchu spreads his hands and says, “You can say that all the key clues are non-existent, only the words spoken by that child remain! My lord, don’t you think this situation is suspicious?”
Duke Wuxi remains silent, but his brow furrows.
Mr. Fengchu continues, “Later, I sent someone to investigate and discovered more problems! The bodies of the drowned young man and the murdered wealthy man have all disappeared, reportedly cremated! The pawnshop owner and his assistants who saw the treasure map have also disappeared! This whole matter reveals something suspicious and eerie from beginning to end!”
“Something out of the ordinary must have a supernatural cause! So, I have very strong suspicions that someone is pulling the strings behind the scenes!”
Duke Wuxi turns his head around and says, “Since you say someone is behind this, who are they? What is their purpose? To create such a large scheme, are they merely playing with the whole world?”
“My lord, I do not know who they are! But their purpose might be to deal with us, to weaken the power of the Wuxi Royal Court!” Mr. Fengchu sighs. “It is clear that they have achieved their goal!”
Duke Wuxi’s pupils contract, revealing disbelief and a hint of murderous intent.
“My lord, listen to my analysis!”
“The other side might have already known about our secret collusion with the Dayue Dynasty, and they have set the treasure location of the Slanted Moon treasure here after discovering the newly found secret passage we used to transport military supplies!”
“Then, based on historical legends, they fabricated a colossal lie to deceive everyone in the world to come here! In order to obtain the treasure, everyone is competing and fighting, resorting to extreme measures!”
“And as the King of Wuxi, with a million troops and the strongest power, you naturally become the target of everyone! As a result, you will undoubtedly suffer losses and decrease in strength! And the current situation is just that!”
Mr. Fengchu sighs, “Because of this treasure, in less than a month, we have lost 250,000 troops, a decrease of 25% in our strength! And there are countless other losses!”
Duke Wuxi clenches his fist, his eyes bloodshot, filled with killing intent.
Mr. Fengchu shakes his head in astonishment, “I have to say, the person who came up with this plan is truly formidable, every step is carefully calculated, with hidden killing intent, involving everyone in the world! Even if one knows the truth, they would still fall into the trap! It was only later that I realized this, but it was too late to change anything!”
“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”
Duke Wuxi lets out a resentful roar, “This is definitely not true, everything is just your speculation! The Slanted Moon treasure must be real, it must be hidden in the Qinglong Mountain Range!”
“My lord…” Mr. Fengchu tries to speak.
“You don’t need to say anymore!” Duke Wuxi angrily says, “Strategist, you must be too tired recently, that’s why you have these delusions, uttering nonsense! Now, I order you to go back and rest! Immediately, right now!”
“My lord, I…”
“If you don’t rest, I will chop off your head!” Duke Wuxi draws his sword and places it against Mr. Fengchu’s neck.
Fine beads of sweat emerge from his neck.
Mr. Fengchu feels that if he says anything unfavorable, the king might actually decapitate him.
That would be a great injustice!
“Please take care, My lord. I will go rest first!”
He bows, and exits the military tent.
In the next three days, Duke Wuxi sends out more troops to search…
They even set fires to burn the forest, destroying many trees and grass, but still found nothing.
As a result, more people leave in disappointment.
“It seems there really is no treasure here!”
“I told you, finding the Slanted Moon treasure is not that easy. It’s been over 200 years and still hasn’t been found!”
“I am also a lover of wealth, wasting my time coming here!”
“Let’s go, let’s go, this is not a place for humans to stay!”
…
However, Duke Wuxi still refuses to believe.
He sets aside his grievances and calls upon all the innate experts present.
“All the heroes here, we have all come for the Slanted Moon treasure! It has been a month already, and we still haven’t found any trace of the treasure. Are you all willing to just leave like this?”
Everyone calls out one after another.
“Duke Wuxi, what do you mean?”
“Don’t beat around the bush, just say it directly!”
…
Duke Wuxi says in a deep voice, “I have searched all the land here, nothing! So, the treasure is highly likely hidden within the cliffs! But these cliffs are tough, only with the use of innate qi can they be broken! Therefore, my idea is to gather everyone’s strength and sweep through the cliffs! After finding the treasure, we can rely on our own abilities, how about it?”
“This idea is good, worth a try!”
“Gathering our collective strength shouldn’t be difficult!”
“Finally, Duke Wuxi, you said something sensible!”
…
Everyone agrees one after another.
Since they have been trying for a month, they might as well give a final effort.
If they still can’t find it this way, they will give up.
“In that case, I’ll leave it to all the heroes!” Duke Wuxi bows and smiles.
Then, all the innate experts exert their efforts together, using innate qi to break through the rock layers of the cliffs.
“Boom”
“Boom”…
The sounds of explosions fill the air.
Fragments of rocks roll down.
But disappointing everyone, although they have broken through a couple of layers of rock walls, there is still no trace of the treasure.
This continues for three days, with the cliffs being scraped multiple times, the ground covered in debris.
But still, no trace of the treasure is found.
Duke Wuxi’s face is full of despair, “Why… why is there nothing…”
A person stands still in place, their eyes lifeless, looking ahead like a statue.
Mr. Fengchu watches from a distance and sighs.
And the other innate experts finally give up, leaving in disappointment.
“It seems there really is no Slanted Moon treasure here!”
“We wasted a month’s time. If we knew, we wouldn’t have come!”
“Let’s go, let’s go home!”
…
Just then, the mountain suddenly emits a rumbling sound.
“What’s happening? Why is there suddenly an earthquake?”
“What’s going on?”
…
Although everyone is alarmed, they still believe in their own abilities to solve everything.
Then, with a loud crash, a massive layer of the mountain suddenly collapses, crashing down towards the bottom, breaking into large pieces of rocks, rolling towards the lower parts of the Qinglong Mountain Range.
And below the Qinglong Mountain Range, there are currently 200,000 troops of the Wuxi Army.
Everyone, including Duke Wuxi, watches helplessly as this heap of rocks falls towards the army below.
Duke Wuxi’s eyes are filled with fury, “No!!!”
“Rumble”
Many soldiers don’t have time to escape and are swallowed by the rocks, sleeping in eternal rest with the earth.
