Imperial Treasure
Chapter 377 - 260: Loulan_2

Chapter 377: Chapter 260: Loulan_2

Guns were twitching in anticipation.

"The map is here with me," Sui Yi clenched the map as if slowly squeezing the hearts of Wei Feng and the others, "but I’m not giving it to you."

Naughty!

Liang Qing really wanted to poke Sui Yi’s delicate skin with her little finger...

"If you want to know the way forward, it’s about time you gave something away," Sui Yi’s words made Wei Feng burst into a carefree laugh.

"Of course, this was the cooperation we agreed on from the beginning."

Pausing, Wei Feng bit into a compressed biscuit and said, "I won’t mention the incident at your school since you already know about it. Moving on, we didn’t initially know about this map; we simply followed someone’s clues into this desert for a project."

Still about that project...

Gong Jiu pursed his lips: "It’s just looking for a treasure location, name the place."

Liang Qing glanced at Gong Jiu, "With your level of geographical and cultural knowledge, you wouldn’t understand even if I told you..."

The downside of having lived together was that they were acutely aware of each other’s weaknesses.

Gong Jiu glared angrily.

"Loulan."

The word that Wei Feng suddenly spoke made the expressions of Sui Yi and the others change dramatically in an instant.

"The Ancient City of Loulan? I know that one! But hasn’t it already been discovered? There are even photos of the ruins of the ancient city... "

Indeed, it had long been reported in the news; many ancient artifacts had already been sent to museums.

Wei Feng’s expression deepened: "How do you know that the one found is indeed the real Ancient City of Loulan?"

Could it be a fake?

Sui Yi frowned: "You must have learned from some channel that the Ancient City of Loulan that’s been discovered is a fake, which is why you’re determined to find the real Ancient City of Loulan?"

Wei Feng smiled: "Yes, the Loulan that’s been found is just a part of it—the Guardian City. The real Ancient City of Loulan isn’t there. There are four Guardian Cities for the ancient city, and only one has been discovered so far. It’s laughable that this one is mistaken as the true Ancient City of Loulan."

Gong Jiu was clueless, but people like Sui Yi and Flower Demon were quick-witted. After some thought, Feng Sha said, "Considering the trajectory as we move forward and its location relative to the Guardian City of Loulan, we are approximately on the same horizontal plane. If we need to get there from behind Black Water River, then we should head forty-five degrees northwest—inner-direction. Ancient times often followed the concept of cardinal and central directions, so if we follow this path to the intersection, we should be able to find the real ancient city."

"Correct," Wei Feng glanced at Feng Sha, knowing this man was a capable lieutenant under Gong Jiu. Indeed, he was adept.

Gong Jiu might seem careless, but his luck was always explosive. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have so many capable and loyal subordinates.

"If that’s the case, why do you still need the map from Sui Yi?" Flower Demon didn’t quite believe Wei Feng’s words.

"People only see the many treasures and artifacts excavated from a Guardian City, but they don’t know about the tremendous efforts and deaths Chinese Academy of Sciences and those treasure hunters have expended just to find and conquer one Guardian City... These are things ordinary people don’t know, but we in Ghost Teeth are well aware. If a Guardian City is like that, how much more so the real ancient city?"

Wei Feng’s eyes narrowed to slits, "Although the Chinese Academy of Sciences is said to be full of frail archaeologists, whenever they set out, they’re accompanied by the government’s masters. At the very least, they hire knowledgeable civilians and with top-notch equipment, their capabilities might not be inferior to ours at all..."

As he spoke, his gaze locked onto Sui Yi, more precisely, the map in Sui Yi’s hands.

"What you’re holding is the strategic map of the entire ancient city. With it, we can avoid many mechanisms and secret passages, taking the safest shortcuts."

So that was it... Gong Jiu and the others suddenly understood.

"Then how do you know it’s a strategic map, and how do you know where this map is?" Sui Yi’s question came.

In order to share the map, Wei Feng had to pay a price, so he answered: "Someone in our organization just happens to know... "

"He’s also one of the last remaining members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences team that set out for the Ancient City of Loulan, isn’t he?"

Sui Yi’s sudden remark made Liang Qing and Xiao’s pupils shrink.

Wei Feng smiled silently, but his eyes were cold.

"So well-informed about the Chinese Academy of Sciences and so confidently trusting in the correctness of all this, I can think of no other possibility than a member embedded in the Chinese Academy of Sciences... Perhaps it’s even likely that he has a significant connection with the family of the map’s owner... maybe he is one of their family members."

Sui Yi’s reasoning had no solid evidence, but the reactions of Wei Feng and the others seemed to validate it all.

Perhaps because there was no need to refute it.

"Right, did you check that student’s family?"

"Hmm," Sui Yi’s expression was calm, "The student’s great-grandfather once participated in the 1900 Swedish expedition, joining that year’s archaeological work. He later returned to settle in his ancestral Provincial City. It seems this strategic map was acquired by him and never handed over. Perhaps because the expedition was led by a Swede, for some reason, he didn’t hand it over... He kept it hidden in that ordinary porcelain vase. Unless there was another partner who was aware of his actions at the time, the only other possibility is his own descendants..."

"And that descendant is now a member of Ghost Teeth, probably working in the archaeological team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences..."

If before there was a hint of wariness in Wei Feng’s people for Sui Yi due to her map and abilities, now they felt like they had a fishbone stuck in their throat.

Wu Gu inwardly lamented, knowing this woman was not easy to deal with... and now...

Click!

Wu Gu’s pistol raised, "You woman, even if you’ve guessed everything, so what... Now that the map is in your hands, it would be better for us to concentrate our firepower and take you out, right, boss?..."

Wei Feng remained silent, raising his hand, and Xiao and the others also gripped their pistols tightly...

Pop! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)