"Mother..."
A gentle feminine figure lingered in his mind: helping him dress, feeding him meals. Gentle reprimands, worry during illness, simple education. And the pain of her sudden departure.
Alka took a deep breath, trying to stabilize his emotions as much as possible. The shadows of the two memories merged, revealing so many similarities. For some reason, the fear in his heart dissipated, and the bones at his feet no longer seemed so gruesome.
Suddenly, he thought of something. Alka quickly grabbed the bag from nearby, tucked the stubby Mountain-Cutting Saber into his waistband, and stuffed the flint into his pocket. He picked up the bones at his feet, gently placing them one by one into the cloth bag, carefully stacking them and occasionally brushing away dust, tree roots, and rotten leaves. Small patches of dampness appeared on the dry cloth bag. Alka didn't mind the growing dampness; it was merely his body being affected by memories.
As he stored the bones, Alka became more certain that the wound was on her back. Some fragments of clothing wrapped around the bones were not completely decayed, and he could faintly make out some colors and patterns, matching his memories. After completely packing the bones into the cloth bag until it was bulging, he sealed it carefully and placed it by the stone wall.
Picking up the torch beside him, Alka continued to venture deeper inside. He hadn't forgotten his true purpose for coming here. Though, after just a few more steps, it couldn't really be called venturing deep. At the very end of the cave, he could see wooden Treasure Chests, one after another, all forced open. Inside, they were empty, with only some scattered Silver Coins lying around.
"Just as I thought, someone beat me to it." Alka wasn't surprised by the sight. Mother died here, most likely ambushed from behind. That alone indicated someone else had reached this place, so of course, the treasure wouldn't have been left untouched. However, it's clear whoever came here was in a hurry and didn't conduct a thorough search. The Silver Coins left on the ground, and the two chests furthest inside, still showed faint golden glints, indicating that, at least, there were some dregs left of the treasure.
Alka immediately started collecting: one Golden Sail, one Golden Leaf, and six Silver Snakes. Apart from these most obvious forms of currency, there were also two red Rubies, each about the size of a fingernail. This was the residue left behind by the first group of people.
The Golden Sail was a gold coin about half the size of a palm, with a sailboat carved on one side and a cross mark on the other. Alka had never touched a real one before, not even in his memories; he hadn't even seen one, only heard descriptions. It was said that only prominent merchants used this type of currency for settling accounts. One Golden Sail was worth approximately 25 Silver Snakes, an exchange rate that reportedly almost never fluctuated.
There was also a Golden Leaf. This currency was more than a full size smaller than the Golden Sail and much thinner, truly resembling a leaf. Alka had seen this type of Golden Leaf before; his family had even possessed one once. As an intermediate currency between the Golden Sail and the Silver Snake, the approximate conversion was:
1 Golden Sail = 5 Golden Leafs = 25 Silver Snakes.
This meant his haul from this trip amounted to 36 Silver Snakes.
This could definitely be called a fortune! At this moment, Alka could truly say he'd struck it rich. An ordinary family could never produce this much wealth. Hmm... Aunt Macy's family might be able to, though.
Alka suddenly thought of something and froze. He hurriedly took out the manual from an inner pocket of his clothing and turned to the map page.
"I knew it," he muttered to himself. "My emotions were so affected by the scene earlier that my thinking became muddled."
The blue dot representing his current location on the map had neither disappeared nor dimmed.
If I had collected the treasure, the dot would dim, and clicking on it would show different information. But there's nothing like that now, which means the treasure is still here.
Alka pondered. Although I don't know the difference between blue and white dots, logically, blue should be better than white. I initially thought that 36 Silver Snakes plus two small Gemstones would qualify as a 'blue' treasure. But now it seems that might not be the case. Perhaps even the first group of treasure hunters who came here didn't find the real treasure. This is already the bottom of the cave. Besides these chests, if anything else is hidden, it must be in a secret compartment!
Alka raised his torch and began to inspect the stone wall closely. He inverted the shovel in his hand and used the handle to gently slide and tap along the wall. He started by checking at what would be the chest height of an average adult. As he moved, he would also lightly stomp his feet, checking for any hollow spots beneath him.
He continued his search until he reached the stone wall at the very back of the cave. When he tapped a head-sized section, it produced a clear, hollow sound. Looking closely, he could also see a small, rectangular-like symbol on it. Perhaps due to the passage of time, it appeared very blurry and inconspicuous, completely invisible without a close look. It was Jack's Treasure Hunting Team emblem: a plum blossom mark.
"This is it!" Alka's voice was tinged with excitement. He grabbed the shovel and struck the spot fiercely. Two heavy blows created a few cracks, and then two clumps of dried mud fell away, revealing darkness within. He quickly struck it a few more times, completely exposing the hidden compartment.
The faint, glowing outline of a box shape appeared in Alka's vision. His expression was already thrilled.
The last time I found the Gold Coin Bag, there was a similar glowing outline highlighting it, indicating that this was the treasure!
As he mulled this over, he brought the torch closer. It was a rectangular iron box with extremely crude patterns on its surface. The front was engraved with the image of a playing card, upon which was a tall top hat, representing its owner. Once he confirmed there were no traps, Akka reached out and took the box.
"So heavy!"
This iron box had a staggering weight. It didn't feel like a heavy, hollow box, but a solid block of iron! With effort, he pulled it out. It must weigh at least fifty to sixty pounds! This isn't a box at all; it's definitely a solid iron block. There are no seams on it whatsoever; it's a specially forged piece of iron with patterns carved onto it.
But the glowing outline had clearly told Alka that this was the treasure—worth more than the 36 Silver Snakes and two Rubies combined. Yet, its outward appearance revealed nothing about its contents.
Just as Alka was about to open the map to check his harvest, voices called out:
"Little Alka! Alka, where are you?"
"Alka~"
...