Volume 1: The Treasure of China Chapter 71: The Secret of the Treasure

  Qing Ming seemed to be very pleased with the expressions of Xiao Wu and Yan Hao, but he was even more impressed by the two. After all, he had cultivated his Taoist skills for over a decade, yet when he looked at Xiao Wu and Yan Hao, he could clearly feel that if they were to join forces, he might not be their match. This realization sparked a desire in Qing Ming to engage in a contest with the two, as it was increasingly rare to encounter pure martial arts masters in this day and age. Most people had come to rely on science and supernatural abilities, losing interest in traditional martial arts, unaware that true ancient martial arts were the key to China's 5,000-year history.

  However, Qing Meng still wanted to know what the two young people had in mind by bringing themselves and the leader of the Red Gang over, so he decided to wait and see, observe the changes.

  Xiao Wu and Yan Hao only sighed in their hearts, without making any excessive moves. The two of them secretly analyzed the situation in their minds, wondering if they could win against this Green Gang leader if they joined forces. After a brief consideration, they shared a tacit smile, for they both knew each other's strengths and weaknesses well. If one person were to face him alone, it was uncertain who would emerge victorious, but if the two of them teamed up, the outcome might be entirely different.

  Xiao Wu smiled and said, "Well, you two are busy people, so I'll get straight to the point. The main reason I invited you both out today is that I want to merge your two gangs into my Huálóng gang... Oh, don't rush to object just yet. Currently, I believe either of your gangs could take down my Huálóng gang, given your years of activity in Haicheng and your considerable resources. So, my request isn't too high: if you can send out someone formidable who can beat both of us, then we'll consider this conversation never happened. But if you can't... well, I think you two should understand what happened to the leader of the Dúshé gang last time..." Xiao Wu finished speaking in one breath, and although his words didn't sound too harsh, they still carried a high level of threat, with a hint of savagery that the other two could sense.

  Qing Ming first felt that it was somewhat unbelievable, this kid actually dared to openly challenge the two gangs, and today he brought the two of them out to issue a challenge. But did this kid have such a big nerve to dare to confront the two gangs? Wasn't he afraid of being destroyed?

  But Qing Meng just thought about it, and judging from the two people's appearance, they were definitely much stronger than the magician in their own guild, and they didn't have the confidence to win against them.

  Thinking of this, Qing Ming looked at the Red Gang leader in front of him. He knew that the other side also didn't have any powerful figures left. What was regrettable was that during the previous period, one of his high-level ninjas and an ability user were killed by a group of unknown people, making him feel deeply sorry. He believed that the Red Gang was the same, still remembering when he himself sent out the order to unite the three gangs to find the guy who had caused trouble in their own gang.

  The current leader of the Red Guards is also very smooth in his dealings. He hasn't made any statement either, it seems like he's waiting for himself too.

  Finally, Qingming temporarily pulled the boss of the Red Gang to one side and began discussing the future of the two gangs. However, he never quite believed what Wuzhuo said about merging the two major gangs under the name of Huálóng Gang. He was well aware that with only over a thousand members in Huálóng Gang, it was questionable whether they could control the nearly ten-thousand-strong combined forces of their own gang and the Red Gang. This made him very skeptical, and he also didn't quite believe that Wuzhuo and Yanhao had such a big appetite.

  Anyway, Qing Ming himself is indifferent, and the gang he created is also just for fun. Who knows, maybe one day when his mood isn't good, he'll disband this gang, it's not impossible.

  After discussing with each other for a while, they started discussing the matter between the three gangs with Xiao Wu Yanhao and the others. They were deciding whether to fight against Wu Yanhao and the others or surrender to the Huálóng gang.

  It was still the same nightclub as before, Xiao Wu pulled out Han Feng with an unbelievable face: "These two old foxes are really hard to deal with, and I didn't say they had to be my subordinates, just borrowing their people for a while. Why make such a big circle, and chattered for half a day?" Xiao Wu complained, looking at Yan Hao with some amusement.

  This guy finally couldn't hold on during the negotiation, and insisted on fighting a match with Qing Ming, not allowing himself to intervene. As a result, Yan Hao, who was slightly inferior, lost to Qing Ming. After the two finished fighting, Yan Hao still had some anger in his eyes as he looked at Qing Ming and the other Red Gang leader, asking if they could send out any more high-level experts like Qing Ming. He also asked if even if they could send out such a high-level expert, whether they could withstand the attack of himself and Xiao Wu's two people. Yan Hao also slightly revealed that there were four more high-level experts in his gang who were not as good as him but not much worse, using this to threaten the two to surrender to the Hu Long Gang.

  Finally, Yan Hao revealed a bit of news that he needed manpower, and also promised to help the two gangs select and train thousands of people in their own hard qigong skills. In the end, it was only with Yan Hao's coercion and temptation that the two men agreed to join the Huálóng gang, while the two old bosses still led their own subordinates, but would listen to Xiao Wu's command when needed.

  Looking at Yan Hao, Xiao Wu couldn't help but want to smile. This guy was too stubborn, doing things completely differently from himself, yet being meticulous amidst his determination, he was a rare talent.

  It wasn't until he dragged away Han Feng that Xiao Wu realized he had been bringing this beautiful female bartender along, and even beat up her boyfriend. Most importantly, he probably ruined her job as well. In the end, Xiao Wu thought for half a day before somewhat tyrannically taking the female bartender back to his Huálóng Gang headquarters. He then called over Xiaohuo and Xiaobei, telling them to accompany Yan Hao to Qīng Bāng and Hóng Bāng to pick people, while he himself went with the female bartender to develop their relationship.

  Xiao Wu really made a fortune this time. Not only did he bring the two major gangs of Hai City under his own name, but he also brought back the female bartender he had always liked. He had been unable to find an excuse to break up the loving couple, and now her boyfriend finally gave him an opportunity, how could Xiao Wu not be happy? However, it seems that the love on the surface was also non-existent.

  The headquarters of the Huaguojing City's Dark Shadow, or rather, the previous office, was now filled with people who had changed from discussing to listening to Su Rui's reasoning. Even Long Xing was quietly listening to Su Rui's deduction.

  Su Rui is now walking in circles inside the office, speaking her inner conjectures, and the content of these conjectures is why Japan once buried all the treasures that invaded China in the territory of Goryeo.

  According to the materials found by Su Rui in his notes and what he has learned through years of research, which was also guessed by the original owner of the notes, at the end of the war of aggression against China, Japan's national strength could no longer support this war. Therefore, they handed over the wealth they had plundered from China to a small unit to secretly transport back to their home country from Northeast China, with the purpose of using this wealth to support the entire war effort.

  As for how the Japanese collected China's treasures, it has to do with the Nationalist government during the War of Resistance. At that time, the Nationalist government was in power, and its capital was Nanjing, which is where the Japanese captured the Nationalist capital on December 13, 1937, and subsequently carried out a brutal massacre.

  Imagine, at that time Nanjing was the gathering place of the National Government, where there were many treasures hidden in China. Why did the Japanese want to carry out a massacre? The purpose was to plunder China's wealth at that time and use it to maintain the consumption needed for Japan's war. They had targeted China's wealth from the very beginning.

  Thereafter, in the following years, the Japanese went on a rampage of massacres that annihilated human nature, seeking to plunder more treasures.

  At the end of the war, when Japan's national strength could no longer support the entire war, it was finally requested that this batch of treasures be secretly sent back to the country. It can be said that the Japanese army at that time did a very good job in keeping this action secret. Unfortunately, during their secret return home, they passed through the three eastern provinces of China and entered Korea, and then wanted to return home from within Korea. However, Korea was also at war at that time, so this small group of troops was repeatedly attacked by local armed forces after entering Korean territory.

  So in the end, the military suffered too much damage and was forced to stop at the nearest city to Japan, Busan, at that time. Then, using the last bit of military strength, they secretly arrested various craftsmen and farmers within the Goryeo border and built a treasure trove. Later, they had the people of Goryeo draw a complete treasure map on four steel plates. Finally, three people secretly brought it back to their home country. All those who participated in this secret treasure plan were silenced to prevent any information from leaking out.

  At that time, the three of them secretly returned home at the same time. Because two others were afraid to return home and be silenced, the last two each took a steel plate with them and went to other places in secret to protect themselves.

  Another person, out of loyalty to the country, brought back the last two steel plates and handed over the treasure map to the national collection after returning home. He himself never appeared again and probably died in some place.

  As a result, even the mechanisms and other traps they secretly used to move the treasure at that time are unknown now. After all, except for the three people at that time, others have ceased to exist. And another person had told the owner of the note about their deeds in those years before his death.

  The owner of this diary happened to be a Chinese, so he spent his whole life searching for the treasure of China, but ultimately could not resist the arrangement of fate and died an unjust death. It was also the last stroke of luck that I obtained this notebook by chance.

  The story has been explained up to now, Su Rui also let out a sigh of relief, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then sought Long Teng's opinion, asking him to find someone to think of a way to retrieve this batch of treasure.

  －－－－－－－－－－－－

  Sorry, I spent the whole afternoon researching a lot of materials for today's chapter, in order to make my story more reasonable and coherent, so I only managed to write this much now. My brain hurts from reading too much information, so there will only be one update today... Ah, finally, a call to action: bookmark, recommend, thank you!