120: Chapter 120 Unscrupulous Merchants at the Bazaar

Bactria is in northern Afghanistan, near Mazar-i-Sharif.

Li Xin drove over from Band-e Amir Lake, taking two full days.

The road was difficult, alternating between gravel roads, dirt tracks, and dry riverbeds.

There was a stretch where he had to cross a mountain at an altitude of nearly 3,000 meters; the air was thin, and the car was struggling to breathe.

He arrived in the evening. He didn't rush into the city, instead finding a small village on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif to stay in.

The next morning, he drove into the city.

Mazar-i-Sharif is the largest city in northern Afghanistan, much larger than Bamiyan.

The streets were crowded with people and vehicles, and dust filled the air.

Everywhere were those Toyota pickups, with people sitting in the truck beds and cargo tied to the roofs—it looked chaotic, but there was an order to the chaos.

Li Xin drove around the city and finally found a hotel near the bazaar to stay in.

The hotel wasn't large; it was three stories tall with earthy-yellow exterior walls and iron bars on the windows.

The owner was a fat man in his forties with greasy hair, revealing a gold tooth when he smiled.

"How long are you staying?" he asked in Dari.

"I'll stay for a week first. We'll see how it goes."

"Fifteen dollars a day."

Li Xin pulled 105 dollars from his pocket and handed it over. The owner counted it, tucked it into his pocket, and handed him a key. "Second floor, at the end of the hallway."

The room was small, with a bed, a table, a chair, and a window facing the street.

The street was noisy, with human voices, vehicle sounds, and honking horns all mixed together in a dull roar.

Li Xin put down his backpack, washed his face, sat on the bed, and opened the system panel.

There were still a few hours left on the cooldown.

The six treasures of Bactria were distributed throughout the Hindu Kush mountain range, spanning over a hundred kilometers.

His Scan radius was only twenty-eight kilometers, so he couldn't finish it in one go.

He had to find them one by one.

But he didn't plan on going straight into the mountains.

That would be too conspicuous; a foreigner wandering around the mountains would eventually be targeted.

He thought of another way—disguise himself as a gemstone merchant and set up a stall at the bazaar.

He would make some pocket money doing business while using the system to Scan the entire mountain range.

Sell goods during the day, Scan at night.

No one would suspect a Chinese merchant bargaining at the bazaar.

The next morning, Li Xin went to the bazaar and rented a stall.

The bazaar was in the center of Mazar-i-Sharif, a large area covered by makeshift sheds, selling everything—carpets, spices, dried fruits, gold and silver jewelry, gemstones, and antiques.

People came and went, noisy and bustling, like a giant vegetable market.

The person renting out the stalls was an old man, thin and dark-skinned, wearing an old hat. He looked Li Xin up and down.

"What business are you in?"

"Gemstones. Lapis lazuli."

"Oh! Where did you get this stock?"

"Hahaha~ I picked them up in the mountains myself," Li Xin laughed.

"No problem, there is one more stall at the very back," he said, pointing. "Look, it's that one over there. The rent is ten dollars a day. Can you accept that?"

Li Xin looked in the direction he pointed and nodded. "It looks fine to me. I'll take it."

He then paid the money and walked over to the stall.

The stall was small, just a platform made of wooden boards covered with a cloth, with a chair placed behind it.

He arranged the lapis lazuli one by one, laid out a piece of velvet next to them, and set up a small scale and a magnifying glass.

After tidying up, he really looked the part—a proper merchant setting up shop.

He had done his research on Afghanistan and knew that lapis lazuli was a local specialty; locals recognized it, and tourists bought it.

The lapis lazuli he took out from his space was of good quality—deep blue with golden flecks—it was good stuff.

The first day, he didn't make a sale. People came to ask the price, thought it was too expensive, and left. Some came to look, touched them, and also left.

Li Xin wasn't in a hurry. He sat in his chair, drank tea, and chatted with the merchant next to him.

The merchant next to him was a man in his forties who sold carpets; he was unshaven and liked to smile.

He asked Li Xin where he was from, and Li Xin said China. He asked where in China, and Li Xin said Shenzhen. He shook his head, indicating he hadn't heard of it.

"You came here to do business alone?"

"Yes. A small business."

"Aren't you afraid? It's chaotic here."

"What's there to be afraid of? When I was picking stones in the mountains, I saw wolves and bears. I haven't seen anything scarier than them."

The man laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

In the days that followed, Li Xin arrived at the bazaar at nine every morning and packed up at five in the afternoon.

He bargained with the locals, drank tea and chatted with them, and occasionally treated them to the candied dried fruits he had brought.

"Too expensive!"

"Make it cheaper!"

"No money today, I'll come back to buy it tomorrow."

He said these lines convincingly, just like the real deal.

His Dari became more and more fluent, and even his accent became indistinguishable from the locals.

But no one knew. This Chinese merchant, who haggled over every cent and argued until his face turned red over a few dollars at the bazaar, would go off to search for treasures every night after packing up.

He was looking for the six legendary treasures.

After searching for more than half a month, he had only found five.

The first was in Balkh, more than forty meters beneath the ruins of the ancient city.

It was a bronze chest filled with gold artifacts and silver coins.

The Extraction took more than three hours, and the system panel load remained stable at around sixty percent.

The second was in Samangan, inside a cave, at a depth of over twenty meters.

It was a stone chamber with a large rock blocking the entrance, making it inaccessible.

He used the system to extract it directly through the rock layer; there was quite a lot of gold, over three tons.

The third was in Kunduz, by the river, at a depth of less than ten meters.

It was a group of pottery jars, hundreds of them buried together, all filled with gold coins.

He performed the Extraction at noon; the bazaar was crowded, so he kept an eye on the system panel while selling gemstones, and no one noticed.

The fourth was in Badakhshan, on a mountain peak at an altitude of 4,000 meters.

He didn't go personally; the system could cover that location.

During the Extraction, the system load suddenly spiked to eighty-five percent. He quickly lowered the speed and extracted it slowly, taking an entire night.

The fifth was in Takhar, beneath a village water well.

The locals were still using that well, drawing water every day.

He waited until midnight when the village was asleep before starting the Extraction.

The well water rippled a few times, but it didn't collapse, and no one noticed.

The five treasures added up to nearly eight tons of gold and over three tons of gemstones, worth over 16 billion US dollars.

But the sixth one, he couldn't find it no matter what.

The system scanned the entire mountain range, covering every corner, spanning over a hundred kilometers, covering most of the Hindu Kush mountain range.

But there was simply no signal for the sixth treasure.

Li Xin began to doubt his judgment.

Was the intelligence wrong? Had the sixth treasure already been moved by someone? Did it not exist at all?

He didn't give up. After packing up every day, he continued to Scan.

He divided the scanning area into twenty-eight blocks and scanned two every day, taking turns. If one pass didn't work, he did two; if two didn't work, he did three.

Another half month passed. Still nothing.

One afternoon, there were fewer people at the bazaar.

Li Xin sat behind his stall, drinking tea and daydreaming.

Abdullah, who sold carpets next to him, chatted with him.

"Li, how has business been lately?" Abdullah asked.

"Not bad. I sold three pieces of lapis lazuli yesterday."

"That's not bad. I haven't made a sale in five days," Abdullah sighed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

The two chatted idly, one sentence after another.

They talked about the weather in Mazar-i-Sharif, said business was hard this year, and each talked about the situation back home.

Abdullah said his son was working in Iran and hadn't been home for two years; his wife had been in poor health; he also talked about how he had been to Pakistan when he was young.

Li Xin listened quietly, occasionally chiming in, his gaze fixed on the passersby on the street.

A White-bearded Elder walked over from the other end of the street, wearing an old robe, a headscarf, and leaning on a cane.

He walked slowly to Li Xin's stall, stopped, and lowered his head to examine the lapis lazuli.

"Young man, how much for this stone?" the old man's hoarse and rough voice rang out.

"Sir, this one is fifty dollars," Li Xin said, picking up a piece of lapis lazuli and handing it over.

The old man took it, examined it back and forth, and handed it back: "Too expensive. Will you sell it for thirty?"

"That's too low, I can't sell it. I'd be losing money at that price. You have to let me make a profit. Forty-five, that's the best price."

The old man shook his head: "I'll add a bit more for you. Forty. Will you sell?"

Li Xin pretended to ponder for a moment. "Add a little more, sir. How about this, forty-two and it's yours."

The old man shook his head and made as if to leave. "Forty, take it or leave it. If not, I'm leaving."

Li Xin thought for a moment, shrugged, and said with a helpless expression: "Sigh... fine, forty it is. Take it. I'll take the loss; consider it building a good connection with you."

Li Xin took the money, wrapped up the lapis lazuli, and handed it to the old man.

Just as the old man reached out to take it, the system panel suddenly flashed.

[AI System: Zhuzi... Zhuzi, I've found something. Hidden in the interlayer of this old man's pendant is a high-purity gold micro-carved map. It might be the clue to the sixth treasure.]

Li Xin's breathing quickened, but he quickly suppressed his excitement, keeping that merchant's smile on his face.

Li Xin carefully examined the pendant before him—it was a palm-sized, round brass pendant.

It was engraved with some strange symbols. Having been worn for a long time, the edges of the pendant had long been worn smooth and polished, with no sharp corners left.

At first glance, it was just an ordinary copper pendant, but who would have thought there was a treasure map inside?

Li Xin's hand trembled slightly, inadvertently. He handed over the lapis lazuli, staring at the pendant, and said: "Sir, your pendant is quite unique. Where did you buy it?"

The old man looked down at the pendant on his chest, gently stroked it with his rough hand, and there was a hint of indescribable attachment in his eyes.

"I didn't buy it. It was passed down from my ancestors."

"Oh? Passed down from your ancestors?" Li Xin expressed exactly the right amount of curiosity.

"Yes. My great-grandfather wore it when he was a child." The White-bearded Elder patted his chest, his tone carrying a hint of pride. "It has been passed down in our family for several hundred years."

Li Xin nodded, confirming once again in his heart that this item passed down for hundreds of years was highly likely related to the treasure. Looking at the old man's attire, it was clear that they probably had no idea what was hidden inside, merely wearing it as an ancestral amulet.

"Elder, I find your pendant quite interesting. I like collecting old items like this. Are you willing to sell it?" Li Xin said with a smile.

"Not for sale. I still need to pass this on to the next generation!" The old man shook his head repeatedly.

"Well, how about this: I'll trade you this gold necklace for it. Would you be willing to trade?"

Li Xin casually took a gold bracelet out of his bag and dangled it in front of the White-bearded Elder. It was something he had bought in Dubai; the craftsmanship was exquisite, and it shimmered in the sunlight.

Upon seeing the gold bracelet, the White-bearded Elder's eyes clearly lit up. He looked at the gold bracelet, then at his own pendant.

"What is this?"

"A gold bracelet. It's 18K gold, which I bought in Dubai a while ago. I just like your pendant too much, otherwise, I really wouldn't be willing to trade it."

Li Xin handed the bracelet over. "Take a look."

The White-bearded Elder took the bracelet, weighed it in his hand, and scratched it a few times with his fingernail.

The bracelet had a good weight, was entirely golden, and the craftsmanship was detailed.

The more the White-bearded Elder looked, the brighter his eyes became.

"How about it? Elder, will you trade?" Li Xin said, pretending to be casual. "I just happen to like collecting these special items."

The White-bearded Elder hesitated for a moment, looking at the pendant, then at the bracelet.

In the end, greed overcame everything. "Alright! I'll trade with you!"

After speaking, he still looked a bit embarrassed, feeling as though he had gotten the bargain of a lifetime.

Then, he reached up, took the pendant off his neck, and handed it to Li Xin.

Li Xin reached out and took the pendant calmly. Although he was incredibly excited inside, his face showed no sign of abnormality, still wearing that mercenary smile of a businessman.

"Thank you for your generosity, Elder. Take care, and come back again next time!"

The White-bearded Elder put the bracelet on his wrist, held it up to look at it, and then walked away happily.

Li Xin waited until the White-bearded Elder had walked far away before returning to sit behind his stall.

He looked down at the pendant. It was engraved with complex symbols; although some parts had been worn smooth, the overall pattern was still visible.

"AI System, Scan the inside of this pendant."

[Scanning... There is an interlayer inside the pendant, about 0.3 millimeters thick, containing a piece of gold foil. The gold foil is engraved with a miniature pattern at a scale of approximately 1:100,000. After cross-referencing, it is confirmed to be a topographical map of the Hindu Kush mountain range area, with specific location coordinates already marked.]

Li Xin opened the map, which had a red dot marked on it. It was near Kandahar at the southern foothills of the Hindu Kush mountain range, where there was a plain.

He closed the system panel and tucked the pendant into his pocket. Then he stood up and began to pack up his stall.

"Packing up so early today?" asked Abdullah, who sold carpets nearby.

"I have some business to attend to. I'll be back tomorrow."

Li Xin put the lapis lazuli into his backpack, packed up his small scale and magnifying glass, then walked to the entrance of the bazaar and got into a taxi.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"The hotel."

The car started and drove out of the bazaar. In the rearview mirror, the White-bearded Elder was already gone.

That night, Li Xin didn't sleep. He sat on the hotel bed, opened the system panel, and stared at the red dot. Kandahar, the largest city in southern Afghanistan, was the headquarters of the Taliban. It was a military stronghold and a restricted military zone; it was very dangerous for a foreigner to go there.

It would be difficult. Extremely difficult.

However, now that he had found it, things would be easier.

He calculated in his mind: the sixth treasure was underground in the Kandahar city area. It was a restricted military zone with army patrols, checkpoints, and surveillance. He couldn't get in, nor could he force his way through.

He had to think of another way.

He opened the map on his phone, zoomed in, and zoomed in again. Kandahar city center, the royal mausoleum area. The treasure was right under the royal mausoleum, at a depth of no more than fifty meters. His scanning radius was twenty-eight kilometers; he didn't need to enter the core area, as he could cover it by finding a spot on the periphery.

The key was finding cover. A foreigner wandering around Kandahar would definitely be targeted. He needed an identity—an identity that could allow him to stay in Kandahar without raising suspicion.

Li Xin thought for a long time. Finally, he came up with a solution—pretending to be an interpreter for an archaeological team. Many foreign archaeological teams had come to Afghanistan to excavate ruins over the years, and for him, a Chinese businessman who could speak Dari, to act as their interpreter was perfectly reasonable.

He opened his computer and searched for archaeological projects in Kandahar. There actually was one—a joint project between Kabul University and the Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture conducting exploration around the Kandahar royal mausoleum, and they needed an interpreter.

Thinking about the last twenty days in Bactria, he had emptied all five treasures one by one. Each treasure required twenty-four hours for Extraction and twelve hours for cooling down. He was in no rush; he would take it slowly.

During the day, he sold lapis lazuli at the bazaar, chatting and haggling with the locals. At night, he returned to the hotel, opened the system, and performed the Extraction of the treasures. When performing Extraction, he would stare at the system panel; if he felt sleepy, he drank Red Bull, and if he really couldn't hold on, he would nap for a while with an alarm set, continuing immediately as soon as the cooldown ended.

The largest treasure was in a cave in Badakhshan, containing over four tons of gold and two tons of gemstones. During the Extraction, the system load soared to eighty-nine percent, scaring him so much that his hands were shaking. He hurriedly reduced the speed, lowering it to half the normal rate, and it took him three days to finish.

The most dangerous one was under a village in Kunduz. He went to perform the Extraction in the middle of the night, and the dogs barked for the entire night. The villagers all woke up, and he hid behind a haystack, not daring to make a sound.

The smoothest one was at the ancient city ruins of Balkh. He extracted it in the afternoon when the bazaar was crowded; he sold gemstones while keeping an eye on the system panel, and no one noticed.

After all five treasures were emptied, he saw a long, detailed list.

[Total gold: 9.7 tons; various gemstones: 4.3 tons.]

[Top-tier precious artifacts: 21 pure gold sacrificial vessels from the Greco-Bactrian Dynasty, all inlaid with lapis lazuli; 3,000 intact ancient silver coins from the Greek period; 12 fragments of Han Dynasty silk, still bearing the era name of Emperor Wu of Han, exceptionally well-preserved; and 29 Indian ivory carved ornaments, all depicting Buddhist-related stories.]

[Common artifacts: Bronze utensils, pottery, gold and silver tableware, ancient weapons, religious sacrificial items, etc., totaling over 400 pieces.]

[Total value of this haul: 16.3 billion USD.]

[Current accumulated gold: 2798.1057 tons.]

Li Xin stared at these lists, incredibly excited.

The White-bearded Elder was still wearing the gold bracelet, showing it off to everyone: "Look, I traded a broken pendant for a real gold bracelet!"

Li Xin smiled.

He closed the system panel and began to pack up his things. Tomorrow, he would go to Kandahar.

To tackle the toughest nut to crack.

He glanced at the system panel. There were still a few hours left in the cooldown period. The next target was the Durrani treasure.

It was under the royal mausoleum in the center of Kandahar, but the surrounding area was a restricted military zone.

He looked up information about Kandahar online. The more he read, the tighter his brow furrowed.

Kandahar, the second-largest city in Afghanistan and the birthplace of the Taliban. It was a military stronghold, with checkpoints, Patrol Teams, and military vehicles everywhere. Foreigners needed special permits to enter the city; without one, they would be arrested as spies.

But he had to go. The Durrani treasure, tens of billions in gold, was right under that royal mausoleum.

He had to think of a way to get in.

Li Xin thought for a long time. Finally, he thought of a path—following an archaeological team. The archaeological team from Kabul University happened to be conducting exploration in Kandahar; he had experience as an interpreter and could blend in.

He sent an email to the person in charge of the archaeological team, saying he had done lapis lazuli business in Mazar-i-Sharif, could speak Dari, had an understanding of the local culture, and was willing to act as an interpreter.

The next day, he received a reply. "We are very sorry, but we have already found an interpreter."

"It seems I can only sneak in. Although it's dangerous, it's worth the risk."

Li Xin looked at the system panel; the cooldown time was almost over.

He shouldered his bag and went downstairs to check out. The owner was watching TV behind the counter, and seeing him come down, he looked up.

"Checking out?"

"Yes. Going to Kandahar."

"Kandahar?" The owner frowned. "It's very chaotic over there. Be careful going alone."

"I know. Thank you."

Li Xin left the hotel and got into his car. He started the engine, drove out of Mazar-i-Sharif, and got on the highway heading south.

After driving for half an hour, he took out his phone and sent a message to Chen Hu: "Going to Kandahar, might have to stay for a while. Don't worry about things here."

Chen Hu replied instantly: "Boss, Kandahar is very chaotic. Are you really sure you'll be okay on your own?"

"No problem. It's not my first time."

"Then make sure to contact me immediately if anything happens."

"Okay."

He tossed his phone onto the passenger seat and stepped on the gas.

Kandahar, three hundred kilometers away.

It would take a whole day to drive there.

In the rearview mirror, the houses of Mazar-i-Sharif grew more and more distant, finally becoming a small dot on the horizon.

Ahead was the vast Gobi desert, grayish-yellow and boundless. The road stretched straight into the distance, like a gray ribbon, disappearing into the distortion of the heat haze.

He took a deep breath.

The toughest nut to crack was just ahead.

He had to empty those tens of billions in gold, bit by bit, right under the noses of warlords and amidst a hail of bullets.