108: Chapter 108 Issyk-Kul Vault

Forty minutes later, he arrived at the foot of the mountain, and now he could only walk up on foot.

Issyk Valley was wider than Calgary and flatter than Chilik Valley. Wild grass grew in abundance in the valley, and grasshoppers hopped around his feet. In the distance, the Tianshan Mountains stretched across the skyline, their snow-capped peaks glistening white in the sunlight.

After walking for half an hour, he reached a hillside. Standing on high ground and looking down, the entire Issyk Valley came into view—the valley was vast, with cattle and sheep scattered across the pasture, and occasionally, a few Kazakh yurts could be seen with wisps of smoke rising from them.

"AI System, have we arrived?"

[Head towards the eastern side of the valley floor; you need to get within fifty meters to pinpoint the location accurately.]

Li Xin walked downward. At the bottom of the valley, there was a slightly raised mound covered in wild grass. It showed no signs of anything unusual or traces of human activity. Perhaps it had been too long, and all traces had been erased by the forces of nature.

Li Xin looked around, found a clean spot to sit down, placed his hand naturally on the ground, and silently thought,

"System, start the Scan. Let's see what kind of surprises are waiting for us."

[Received, performing Scan...]

[Ding... Scan complete. Large quantities of gold discovered, suspected to be the main treasury of the Scythians royal family in Issyk Valley. Two treasure vaults at different depths were found: one 20 meters from the surface, the other 55 meters from the surface. Based on legend, the shallow vault is likely the upper-level decoy vault discovered during the Soviet Union era, while the deeper vault is the true Scythians royal treasury. The total gold reserve of the two vaults is approximately 233 tons, with a total weight of 240 tons including gold artifacts. Of this, the original state treasury portion contains about 163 tons of pure gold, and the Soviet Union secret interlayer cache contains about 70 tons of pure gold. This is ownerless treasure; you can extract all finished gold and artifacts. Extraction time is approximately 15 minutes, and it will not overload.]

Li Xin jumped up in excitement and couldn't help but laugh up at the sky.

240 tons. That was nearly three times what he had previously estimated.

"System, start the Extraction."

Suddenly, only Li Xin could see a pale blue light surging outward and rapidly seeping into the soil. At the same time, the Extraction progress bar jumped rapidly.

In just a moment, the progress jumped to about one-third.

Suddenly, the clouds and wind in the sky changed drastically.

The sky, which had been clear just a moment ago, was instantly engulfed by thick black clouds surging from the direction of the Tianshan Mountains. They moved with incredible speed, instantly swallowing the sun.

The entire valley visibly darkened and turned black. It had just been midday, but in an instant, it felt like dusk. The strong wind howled, rushing violently into the valley entrance; the howling sound was like thousands of wild beasts roaring in unison.

Li Xin's jacket flapped loudly in the wind, and he instinctively lowered his body.

At this moment, the progress was at fifty-one percent.

As the temperature plummeted, a bone-chilling cold rose from the ground, rushed in from all directions, and seeped out from the rock crevices, as if the entire valley were exhaling cold air. The breath Li Xin exhaled instantly turned into white mist.

At this moment, he remembered what the old herdsman had said.

The current scene seemed somewhat like the mysterious rumor he had told about the wandering souls guarding the gold—

"In the dead of night or during thunderstorms, the sound of hoofbeats and clashing weapons can vaguely be heard from the bottom of the valley. Could this be the wandering souls patrolling?" Li Xin felt a bit nervous; wandering souls, oh my.

As if to confirm his hypothesis, he seemed to hear a different kind of sound.

Although it wasn't the sound of hoofbeats, there really was a sound coming from underground—a buzzing, like metal resonance, like gold artifacts from thousands of years ago vibrating slightly deep beneath the earth.

Li Xin couldn't help but feel his hair stand on end.

"System, what is going on? Is it possible that there are really spirits guarding this treasure here?"

[Don't scare yourself. Last time you almost got yourself killed. The abnormal vibration underground! It's a chain reaction caused by the Extraction! Because the System is unstable, the control during the Extraction wasn't perfect, and some energy leaked, causing the ground to vibrate. Don't make a fuss about nothing.]

"Alright~ as long as it's not those creepy things, that's good." Li Xin let out a sigh of relief,

Progress: sixty-seven percent.

"Boom..." A rumble of thunder came from the distance without warning, causing the entire valley to shake. Gravel on the slope was shaken loose, making a "clatter, clatter..." sound.

Before he could even catch his breath, "Crackle..." another bolt of lightning struck the ridge without warning, less than three hundred meters from Li Xin. A white light flashed instantly, and for a moment he couldn't see anything; the whole world was left in a pale white.

Then, with a "Boom...", the thunder exploded. His ears were ringing, and he was completely dazed.

He instinctively crouched down, curled into a ball, shivering, and was almost crying. "Damn it... I almost got struck by lightning again! Who did I offend?"

In just a few minutes, the rain came down as if it were free. No, it wasn't falling; it was smashing down. Those raindrops hit Li Xin's head, back, and the back of his hands like pebbles, making him wince in pain. More of it smashed into the ground, splashing mud all over him.

Before he could recover, another bolt of lightning struck, this time even closer. In the instant the white light exploded, he saw a golden arc of electricity strike down from the clouds, hitting a boulder on the other side of the valley. The stone shattered, gravel flew, and a dull explosion sounded.

A burnt smell permeated the air. Li Xin was terrified, his scalp tingling.

"This really is damn similar to that legend of the 'Heavenly Thunder Seal'!" Li Xin couldn't believe it, feeling bitter inside.

The old herdsman's words surfaced in his mind once again: "The state treasury is locked by the power of the Thunder God. On nights with strong winds and thunderstorms, the ancient seal underground will loosen slightly. This will be the moment of the Heavenly God's wrath, and also the most dangerous time for the treasury."

"Faster... faster..." he gritted his teeth, staring intently at the system panel.

Progress: eighty-seven percent.

Just then, he saw car headlights.

"Damn, it seems someone is coming." Li Xin's mentality collapsed; it was truly when it rains, it pours,

He saw that in the heavy rain, a car was slowly driving toward him from the foot of the mountain, its headlights swaying back and forth in the rain.

[Unknown vehicle approaching! Distance approximately 1200 meters! Possibly artifact smugglers; their target may be the Soviet Union secret cache.]

Li Xin's heart sank.

They were coming for the very thing he was currently taking.

At this time, the Extraction progress was only ninety percent.

Not long after, the car stopped, and three figures climbed out. They were wearing dark raincoats and holding flashlights and metal detectors. One person shone the light up the hillside, the beam swaying back and forth in the rain, getting closer and closer to Li Xin, yet he could do nothing.

Five hundred meters. Four hundred meters. Three hundred and fifty meters.

"It's in this area! The Soviet Union marker is right here!" A hoarse Russian voice pierced through the rain curtain, clear and distinct.

Progress: ninety-three percent.

The flashlight beam swept over the rock crevice above his head. He crouched down, shrinking his entire body behind a protruding rock.

"Is there someone over there?" A voice suddenly became tense.

Li Xin's heart stopped.

"Where do you see a shadow of a person? You see everyone as a person, damn it."

"I clearly saw—"

"Your eyes are playing tricks on you. In this kind of hellish weather, who would be on the mountain?"

Feet stepped into the mud, making a "splat, splat..." sound, getting closer and closer. Three hundred meters. Two hundred and fifty meters. Two hundred meters.

Li Xin's hand reached for the folding knife at his waist.

One hundred and fifty meters.

The footsteps stopped.

"Freezing to death. Can't dig now anyway; let's come back tomorrow when it's not raining."

"But the captain said we must find the entrance tonight."

"Find my ass. In this hellish weather, we can't even see the damn road."

Silence for a few seconds.

"Let's go, let's go, back to the car. We'll see when the rain lets up."

The footsteps turned in the other direction, getting further and further away. Car doors closed. Engine started. Headlights turned around.

Li Xin waited until the light from the headlights completely disappeared from the rock wall before he dared to exhale.

Progress: ninety-six percent. Ninety-seven. Ninety-eight.

[Ding—Extraction complete.]

Li Xin did not hesitate. He stood up, turned around, and slid down along the rock wall on the other side of the hillside. His feet stepped on the wet and slippery gravel, and he almost fell several times; he used his hands to brace against the ground, his fingernails digging into the mud, and continued to rush down.

The wind chased behind him, the rain smashed into his face, and he couldn't see anything. The howling sound in the valley grew louder and louder, as if something were roaring underground.

Reaching the foot of the mountain, he took the car out of his space, started it, and slammed his foot on the accelerator. The wheels spun in the mud, the car fishtailed, he jerked the steering wheel to steady it, and rushed onto the road.

He drove for over ten minutes before stopping. He slumped over the steering wheel, panting heavily. The windshield wipers were still swinging crazily, slap, slap. His fingers were still trembling.

He panted heavily, checked the System inventory, and lines of harvest details instantly popped up before his eyes.

Scythians Royal Main Treasury:

Gold and gold jewelry alone amounted to nearly 168 tons,

A complete set of golden armor,

Seven golden crowns, including one sun-and-moon golden crown embedded with rubies and sapphires,

Twenty-two gold swords with gold scabbards,

About two hundred gold ornaments of mythical beasts in the shapes of lions, eagles, deer, wolves, and snow leopards,

Nine royal gold seals engraved with ancient Scythians script,

Twelve full sets of gold horse tack for warhorses,

About one hundred and fifty gold bowls, gold pots, gold cups, gold plates, and gold chalices for sacrificial use,

Gold coins, gold cakes, and hoof-shaped gold added up to 3 tons,

Eight royal belts woven from gold thread,

A large pile of remaining gold foil, gold beads, and gold thread,

The most significant part, gold ingots and gold blocks, totaled 160 tons.

In addition to gold, there were quite a few artifacts:

Twelve bronze idols, three shamanic gold staffs, nearly five thousand turquoise and agate gemstone beads,

Eighty silver vessels for sacrificial use, about three hundred weapons such as iron knives, iron swords, iron spears, and arrowheads,

About one hundred bone carvings and wood carvings, mostly totems, idols, and chariot parts,

And quite a few ancient silk fragments, which could be considered physical evidence of the ancient Silk Road trade,

Carbonized leather armor, saddles, and other leather items, as well as about two hundred pieces of pottery.

Next was the Soviet Union secret cache, which had been sealed here from 1975 to 1982,

Gold and gold jewelry amounted to 72 tons, with seventy tons being standard Soviet gold bars, and the remaining two tons being Scythians gold artifacts that the Soviet Union had previously dug up from the surface layer;

The artifacts included about fifty Scythians bronze items, two ancient Turkic stone statues, as well as exploration instruments, document archives left behind by the Soviet Union back then, and some remaining military supplies.

In the end:

A total of 233 tons of pure gold, 163 tons from the Scythians' side and 70 tons hidden by the Soviet Union;

Including all gold artifacts, the total weight was nearly 240 tons;

Various artifacts added up to about 1500 items;

The total valuation reached as high as 10.8 billion USD—the 233 tons of gold alone were worth 9.32 billion USD, and the artifacts were worth 1.48 billion USD.

Li Xin stared fixedly at the words "10.8 billion USD" on the screen, his throat feeling tight and dry; he couldn't even swallow his saliva.

233 tons of gold, nearly three times more than he had previously estimated!

The rain gradually eased. The windshield wipers slowed down.

He raised his head, looking through the rain at the Tianshan Mountains looming in the distance.

Kyrgyzstan was just on the other side of the mountains.

Next, it was time to go over there.

The car rushed into the rain curtain, heading west all the way.