Liang Xiao, who was originally playing with the little bean sprouts in the courtyard, rushed to his room with the two shadow guard captains upon hearing the news, to inquire about the situation.
"It's really at Fierce Tiger River?" Liang Xiao sighed.
The treasure map depicted the Western Regions, the barren lands, and the area south of Yan Province. The treasure icon was too large. If it wasn't for the former Xiongnu King himself, finding the treasure would be extremely difficult.
"Thank you, Marquis, for your divine calculation!"
This shadow guard captain, Ye Chengxiu, was also a master personally trained by Ding Wuyi. He was now utterly impressed by Liang Xiao and deeply grateful.
The consequence of Liang Xiao taking in the barbarian tribesmen would mean that their shadow guards and the Imperial Guards might lose one to several years of treasure hunting time!
"Without further ado, I will make some arrangements and then I will accompany you immediately!"
Thus, Liang Xiao quickly wrote down the content and handed it to He Zizhang to notify and arrange. He then went to the courtyard to bid a temporary farewell to the girls, stating that he was going to assist Ding Wuyi in finding something.
"This young lady must also go!" Jian Qinwan urged.
"It's very dangerous there, and there might be miasma and such," Liang Xiao sighed.
"Are you questioning this young lady's martial arts?" Jian Qinwan looked at Liang Xiao pitifully, hmph-ing, "Besides, if you die an untimely death, my mother won't want me anymore!"
Liang Xiao's old face immediately turned red: "What a sufficient reason..."
Jian Qinwan, who was initially a little annoyed, saw Liang Xiao's reaction and finally felt a bit better.
As long as she followed this scoundrel, her pride didn't matter anymore!
Ye Chengxiu looked at Jian Qinwan with suspicion.
Liang Xiao understood and explained, "This is the daughter of the Medical Sage and Sword Sage, a highly skilled disciple of the Qin Sage, the current Qin Immortal. She can be trusted."
"So it's the wife of Marquis Anguo, my apologies, my apologies..." Ye Chengxiu quickly cupped his hands in a salute.
Jian Qinwan, who had been somewhat happy, blushed and dared not speak at the mention of the title.
Luo Qingxue also understood that Liang Xiao must be going on a secret and dangerous mission, and it was inconvenient to bring his family. She had no choice but to stay behind to protect Zhen Mi and Yue Lian, repeatedly reminding Liang Xiao to be careful.
Liang Xiao assembled a hundred Imperial Guards and ten Heavenly Mountain Swordsmen, brought Jian Qinwan, and rode day and night towards Fierce Tiger River.
He Zizhang personally went to the Northern Border Army camp to inform Lu Yi of the situation.
Lu Yi was overjoyed and suddenly stood up: "You actually found it?!"
He Zizhang informed him of the treasure hunting process, and Lu Yi couldn't help but sigh, "I never expected that my nephew would take the first credit again. He is truly a divine being! I understand, I will mobilize my personal guards now and be ready to go and provide support at any time!"
The contents of the treasure were extremely secret. Currently, only Liang Xiao, Xiao Qing, Christe, Ning Xuejun, Ding Wuyi, and Wang Canghai knew. Due to the risks of sending messages, Lu Yi, who was far away in Yan Province, could only get a slight understanding through the shadow guards.
However, Lu Yi also roughly understood the importance of the treasure, which required a large number of reliable personnel for escort!
The group rode at full speed and finally arrived at Fierce Tiger River after a day.
Liang Xiao had the Heavenly Mountain Swordsmen and the Imperial Guards be entertained by the local garrison, and he and Jian Qinwan followed Ye Chengxiu to see Ding Wuyi.
Ding Wuyi, who was patrolling around the cave, received the news and immediately went to meet them, his face full of worry.
In the military tent, Jian Qinwan sat behind Liang Xiao, quietly listening to their conversation, her eyes growing more and more shocked.
Just because he took in the barbarian tribesmen, this scoundrel unexpectedly learned about Fierce Tiger River from Yue Qingtian and reminded Ding Wuyi to pay attention...
And they actually found it?!
Ding Wuyi, who was originally worried, seemed much more relaxed due to Liang Xiao's arrival.
"Young Master Liang Er, the outer perimeter has been scouted. The real treasure site should be inside! However, the excavation is very difficult, and the only cave entrance is a stone gate. We dare not force it open rashly for fear of causing a collapse, unless absolutely necessary."
"Let's go and take a look," Liang Xiao urged.
The three of them walked out of the military tent, and Ding Wuyi immediately ordered men to prepare tools and equipment for Liang Xiao and Jian Qinwan.
The "Diamond Umbrella" for resisting crossbows and mechanisms. When opened, the iron umbrella surface could withstand a volley of powerful crossbow bolts. Liang Xiao and Jian Qinwan each carried one.
As for tools such as the whirlwind shovel, mountain-climbing ladder, and flying tiger claw, the shadow guards carried them for the two of them.
Among them, a crucial tool was a specially made simple "gas mask." This was also why Ding Wuyi firmly believed that Liang Xiao understood treasure hunting better than he did.
This simple gas mask was suggested and made by Liang Xiao. The surface resembled a helmet, but the inside had a layer of cotton to absorb impact. There was only an exhaust port covered by several layers of wet cloth. The wet cloth was also filled with a large amount of "activated carbon." Although it couldn't compare to real gas masks in later generations, it could protect the head while preventing poisoning from large particles, such as some "miasma" and poisonous smoke.
Small particles like chlorine gas were not something that ordinary people could produce in this era. Liang Xiao's gas mask was sufficient to deal with all kinds of situations here. The "activated carbon" inside the gas mask was also inferior to real activated carbon, but it was more practical than ordinary charcoal.
Ding Wuyi and Ning Xuejun didn't quite understand the principle, but out of trust in Liang Xiao, they also had people mass-produce some. Even the crude method of preparing activated carbon by heating burnt wood at high temperatures was learned from Liang Xiao.
After testing, Ding Wuyi found that this so-called "activated carbon" was indeed better at filtering large particles from water than charcoal, so he readily accepted it.
Because the props provided by Liang Xiao were very "professional" and he paid attention to the situation at Fierce Tiger River, Ding Wuyi even suspected that Liang Xiao had been a tomb raider in the past...
Ding Wuyi looked at the gas mask in his hand and became more certain of his thoughts.
Someone couldn't see Ding Wuyi's strange gaze, but he held Jian Qinwan's hand tightly and followed behind, with a cautious expression.
Jian Qinwan's heart was in a turmoil, but thinking that she had insisted on coming along, she remained silent to avoid troubling Liang Xiao, allowing him to hold her hand.
Liang Xiao wasn't actually trying to take advantage of Jian Qinwan, but due to his innate vigilance. When encountering danger during a mission, he would try his best to protect his companions, so that they wouldn't wander too far or get separated, and he wouldn't be able to rescue them in time.
Upon reaching the cave entrance, Liang Xiao looked at the dark wolf head emblem on the entrance, his heart pounding.
If they could really find a shocking amount of treasure here, many things could be resolved more quickly!
Since the founding of the Great Gan Kingdom, generations of accumulated chronic problems had created too many issues for him to assist Xiao Shuangzi with. The current Great Gan Kingdom was really too short of money!
Ahead, over a thousand shadow guards and Imperial Guards, wearing gas masks, were digging and exploring around the area, the ground in a mess.
"Commander, we've dug a zhang deep, but we still can't get inside..." a shadow guard captain reported.
Ding Wuyi nodded, then looked back at Liang Xiao, who had put on a gas mask with Jian Qinwan, "Young Master Liang Er, do you think we should continue digging, or smash the door directly?"
"Don't worry, let me take a look at this gate first," Liang Xiao responded calmly, walking alone to the cave entrance to inspect the wolf head gate.
A shadow guard said with a bitter smile, "Marquis Anguo, we've already checked the gate, there are no mechanisms..."