107: Chapter 107 The Legend of the Vault

Noon, east of Almaty.

Li Xin emerged from Calgary Canyon and drove east along the road for over two hours. The navigation showed that Issyk Valley was not far.

He was in no rush to enter the mountains, instead parking his car in front of a yurt by the roadside.

Outside the yurt, an old herdsman was squatting on a stone, basking in the sun. His face was weathered like old tree bark, and his eyes were narrowed into slits. Beside him lay an old sheepdog, too lazy to even open its eyes to look at Li Xin.

"Elder, could I borrow some water to drink?" Li Xin asked in Kazakh.

The old man glanced at him and shouted into the yurt. A young woman came out with a bowl of yogurt and handed it to Li Xin.

Li Xin took it, drank a mouthful, and frowned at the sourness. The old man grinned, revealing missing teeth.

"Are you Chinese?" the old man asked.

"Yes, I am here for tourism."

"Tourism?" The old man looked him up and down. "Coming to Issyk Valley alone for tourism?"

Li Xin smiled without explaining. He squatted down, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and handed one to the old man.

The old man took it, put it in his mouth, and Li Xin lit it for him.

"Elder, how long have you lived here?"

"I have spent my whole life here, herding sheep my entire life." The old man took a drag, squinting at the distant Tianshan Mountains, and said with a hint of nostalgia, "My father herded sheep here, my grandfather herded sheep here, and my grandfather's grandfather herded sheep here too."

"Then you must know many stories about these mountains?"

The old man looked at him, said nothing. He took another drag and exhaled slowly.

"You would not happen to be here to look for gold, would you?"

Li Xin was clearly stunned and denied it. "No, no!"

"Do not pretend." The old man flicked the ash, looking like he understood everything and thought Li Xin was trying to fool him. "Over the years, people come every few days. Chinese, Koreans, Americans, and Russians. Carrying instruments, wandering all over the mountains, all wanting to find the Scythians' vault."

Li Xin did not know how to respond.

The old man stared at the distant mountains, silent for a while. The old sheepdog beside him rolled over, yawned, and closed its eyes again.

"My ancestors have herded in this Chilik Valley for generations; this land at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains is as familiar as can be. The secret of the Scythians' royal gold has long been common knowledge." The old man's voice was hoarse, like wind blowing over a dry riverbed.

"The stories about the wartime treasury on the grasslands have been passed down from generation to generation, with many versions."

Li Xin squatted beside him, listening quietly.

The old man lightly flicked his cigarette, seemingly reminiscing: "If you want the oldest version, it would be the 'rockfall sealing the kingdom' story." He paused slightly, his cloudy eyes glancing at the door, before continuing: "In ancient times, the Scythians encountered a strong enemy, and the enemy army arrived at their doorstep. How could the royals just watch the gold they had accumulated for a thousand years fall into the hands of outsiders? They immediately gathered the best craftsmen of the tribe, forcibly carved out a mountain belly, and built a huge underground vault. Inside were the gold tributes from various tribes, the gold artifacts passed down by the royals for generations, and rare treasures obtained from wars."

"The night before the kingdom was about to fall, the Great Shaman began to offer sacrifices to the heavens and triggered a landslide." The old man sighed, took a deep drag, and continued.

"Rocks filled the sky, crashing down with a roar, blocking the entire valley entrance tightly. Just like that, they used the mountain stones as a lock, sealing the treasure underground forever, and even the souls of the fallen soldiers were locked inside along with it."

His voice grew deeper, carrying an indescribable sense of dread: "Later, the rumor of the 'souls guarding the gold' emerged. There were thousands of Scythians who voluntarily stayed behind to seal the vault; they sacrificed themselves, becoming immortal guardians after death, preventing others from obtaining the treasure."

"The elders in our mountains often tell us that when it is late at night and quiet, or on days when it is thundering and raining, vague sounds of horseshoes and clashing weapons often come from the bottom of the valley. They say that is the souls of the soldiers patrolling, just to warn those greedy intruders. Do not covet this gold; whoever dares to covet the gold will be buried forever in the pile of rocks, never to come out."

Li Xin, sitting opposite him, unconsciously clenched his fingers, his knuckles turning slightly white. His heart tightened: Is there really such a mystical thing? Is this seal truly so sinister?

The old man took another drag, letting the smoke drift slowly from his mouth and nose: "There is another theory, that there is a 'Thunder Seal' set by the Shaman in the mountains. It is said that the treasury is locked firmly by the power of the Thunder God, and only on nights of storms and lightning will that ancient seal loosen slightly, causing many lightning strikes. Because of this, we Kazakh herdsmen, from ancient times to this day, would not dare approach the Chilik rockfall restricted area during thunderstorms. That is the time when the gods are angry, and it is the most dangerous time for the vault; one must not take even half a step."

Speaking to this point, his cigarette butt had burned down to a small stub, burning his fingertips slightly, so he hurriedly snuffed it out on the stone platform beside him, his tone filled with a bit of sighing: "There is another legend, which claims this is the 'Traitor's Gold.' Rumor has it that there was a traitor in the Scythian tribe who secretly colluded with outside enemies, wanting to steal the royal gold reserves. The royal court discovered their conspiracy in advance and moved the true core treasury to the most secret cave deep in the mountains overnight, leaving only a shallow, empty vault as bait. Later, the traitor's clan was cursed, living in poverty for generations, never able to approach this golden mountain for the rest of their lives."

Li Xin's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Among the descendants of the old nobility, there is also the rumor of the 'Dual Vaults.' The Scythians had long prepared a backup plan; the shallow warehouse was used to deceive external enemies, while deep in the mountain belly lay the true wartime treasury containing massive amounts of pure gold, royal classics, and secret treasures for national restoration. When the dynasty collapsed, all the nobles who knew the secret were killed, and the whereabouts of the two vaults became an unsolvable legend from then on."

The old man snuffed out the cigarette butt on the stone, looked up, and stared at the grey, hazy sky in the distance. The dog had stood up at some point, ears pricked, staring in the direction of the mountains.

"Later, the Soviet Union came, and then new rumors emerged." The old man's voice lowered further. "It is said that the Soviet Union heard the legend of the Scythians' gold somewhere and sent troops and exploration teams into the mountains to detect it. Rumor has it that they did indeed detect massive amounts of gold underground. But after they dug to the ancient stone gate, strange things happened constantly: tunnels collapsed, soldiers went missing, instruments malfunctioned for no reason, until finally, no one dared to dig deeper."

"In the end, they simply secretly carved a mezzanine secret chamber above the ancient vault, sealed the gold and secret items they had looted, then used explosives and cement to block the tunnels, designating the entire valley as a military restricted zone."

The old man turned his head and stared into Li Xin's eyes.

"We people of the grasslands all know that beneath this Chilik Valley, there is the mezzanine secret treasure left by the Soviet Union above, and the wartime treasury of the Scythians sleeping for a thousand years below, with two layers of gold stacked in the same mountain belly. Passed down from our ancestors, the gold here is unimaginably vast; it is the wealth of the entire Scythian grassland, accumulated over hundreds of years."

Li Xin was silent for a long time.

"Elder, is it really that mystical? This is fake, right?"

The old man shook his head. "I do not know. I have not seen it. And I do not want to."

Having said that, he stood up, patted his dust-free trousers, and turned to walk into the yurt.

He walked a few steps, stopped, and said without looking back.

"Young man, I do not know what you are looking for here. Whether it is gold or something else, listen to an old man's advice: the things in these mountains, do not take what you should not. If your fortune is not enough, sooner or later, you will have to return it."

Then he entered the yurt and pulled down the curtain. The old sheepdog followed him in.

Li Xin sat there for a while, looking at the distant mountains, seemingly deep in thought!

At this moment, a gentle breeze brushed his face, carrying the unique scent of grass and the chill from the distant snow-capped mountains.

"AI System." He finally muttered in his heart,

[What is it~ Speak up if you have something to say, I am resting and recovering.]

"How much of what that old man said do you think is true?"

[How would I know? I am just a half-baked AI System clone. I am not omnipotent, okay~]

"Just help me analyze it! Please, okay?"

[Alright, alright~ Based on existing data, there is indeed a possibility of a large amount of gold beneath Issyk Valley. The rumor of the Scythians' royal vault has circulated locally for thousands of years, with multiple sources cross-verifying it, so the credibility is high. The Soviet Union did indeed conduct secret exploration activities in Chilik Valley between 1975 and 1982, and the relevant data has not been declassified to this day. The dual-vault structure—a shallow bait vault and a deep true gold vault—has similar records in many Central Asian ancient civilizations. The rumors of the Soviet mezzanine secret treasure have circulated in the border areas for a long time, and the time, place, and characters all have specific pointers; it does not look like it was fabricated out of thin air.]

Li Xin stood up, somewhat excited.

"AI System, can you Scan for the specific location?"

[I need to get closer to the core area of Issyk Valley. The system's stability is too poor right now, and the Scan range is not large either. Long-range scanning will not work; I suggest entering the mountains for an on-site investigation.]

"Alright! Then let us enter the mountains."

Li Xin did not hesitate any longer, started the car, and set off.

At this time, the smoke from the yurt swayed with the wind on the roof, and the old man's figure appeared and disappeared behind the curtain.

The car sped down the road, heading straight into the depths of Issyk Valley.