32: Tracing the Sichuan Map

"Wang Dalong! Get up! Time to work!"

The sky was just beginning to turn fish-belly white, and the first ray of sunlight hadn't even had time to shine into the bedroom before Wang Dalong was tossed out of bed by a sudden roar. The force was as if the panda he had been hugging in his dream had suddenly turned into a sumo wrestler and thrown him right off the mattress.

He curled up like a shrimp on the cold floor, his brain a chaotic mess. The hangover headache hadn't subsided yet, and his eyelids felt as heavy as if two bricks were hanging from them. Forcing them open a crack, he saw Lin Feng standing by the bed in full outdoor gear, his hair perfectly in place and looking full of energy. His posture was even more spirited than a PE teacher at morning exercises.

Wang Dalong rubbed his eyes and let out a groan of pain: "My dear brother, are you trying to start a rebellion? What time is it... let me stay dead for a bit longer, okay?"

Lin Feng didn't pay any attention to his whining and slapped a stiff outdoor jacket directly onto his face. The jacket carried the distinct smell of new fabric from an outdoor goods store, hitting Wang Dalong squarely.

"We're going to the Sichuan Provincial Library." Lin Feng's voice left no room for negotiation; every word was like a nail driven into a board, giving Wang Dalong no chance to bargain.

Half an hour later, with dark circles under his eyes and a face longer than a donkey's, Wang Dalong was dragged by Lin Feng to stand before the grand building of the Sichuan Provincial Library. The early morning sunlight hit the library's gray walls at an angle, making it look solemn and dignified, but Wang Dalong only felt cold—a chill that seeped from his bones.

"What are we doing here, Brother Feng? Didn't we agree to go treasure hunting? Is it possible the treasure is hidden in a book? If it's in a library, that Taiping Rebellion Leader fellow was way too refined." Wang Dalong let out a huge yawn, his complaints thick with morning grumpiness, keeping his voice low for fear of disturbing the morning silence.

Lin Feng ignored him and turned a corner, heading straight for the Local Chronicles Reading Room. Few people usually came here, and the thin light in the hall made the old books on the shelves look particularly lonely.

Looking at Lin Feng's uncompromising back, Wang Dalong could only follow behind while grumbling under his breath. He knew that the "nonsense" about the Taiping Rebellion Leader's treasure from last night had already taken root in Lin Feng's mind. Once Lin Feng set his mind on something, nine oxen couldn't pull him back. The string in his mind that had finally relaxed at the panda base was now not only pulled taut but had been set ablaze, burning brightly.

The reading room was empty except for a few elderly scholars hunched over as they moved between the shelves, with the occasional rustle of turning pages. The air was filled with a specific scent of old paper and ink that made one want to doze off. Wang Dalong felt like a bear about to hibernate, wanting nothing more than to find a corner and lie down.

Lin Feng, however, was like a precise scanner, heading straight for his target the moment he entered. His long fingers moved quickly across the bookshelves, his movements as sharp as a surgeon looking for a scalpel. Before long, he pulled several heavy volumes from different shelves—the Sichuan General Gazetteer, the Ya'an Prefecture Gazetteer, and several yellowed bound volumes of newspapers from the Republican era. These books were clearly treasures buried by history, much thicker and more mysterious than his school textbooks.

He chose a seat by the window, where the sunlight outlined him in gold. Then, at a staggering speed, he began to flip through the piles of old papers. His enhanced vision allowed him to stay on each page for an incredibly short time; a single glance was enough to process a page. His brain, modified by the genetic serum, could instantly grasp key information and store and analyze it like a computer.

He wasn't reading the books; he was practically devouring them.

Wang Dalong was stunned by this display. He sat idly to the side, scrolling through his social media feed. Occasionally looking up at Lin Feng, he felt that Brother Feng was a bit different today.

He used to be like this when focused, but today, that focus carried a near-fanatical persistence, like a precision machine running at full power, letting no external interference touch him in the slightest.

His lips were tightly pressed, his breathing steady. Though there were no beads of sweat on his forehead, the intensity made it seem as if every cell in his body was operating at high speed.

Time passed minute by minute, and the reading room grew quieter as even the few elderly scholars left one by one. Wang Dalong's phone battery was nearly drained, and he was almost falling asleep while playing games. He let out a massive yawn, his eyelids fighting to stay open, and was just about to collapse when Lin Feng suddenly looked up from the piles of old papers.

Lin Feng's face held a hint of uncontrollable excitement, as if he had discovered some shocking secret. He tapped his finger on a yellowed old newspaper from the Republican era and signaled for Wang Dalong to come over.

Wang Dalong jolted, his sleepiness vanishing instantly. He hurried over and saw a short news report printed on the old newspaper with a title in slightly larger font:

General Liu's Unit Discovers Qing Dynasty Hoard by the Dadu River

The report was very short, stating that the Chuan Army General Liu Xiang, believing the rumors of the Taiping Rebellion Leader Wing King's treasure at the Dadu River, had deployed over a thousand troops to conduct months of excavation in the Anshunchang area. However, the final result was "meager gains," with only a few scattered gold and silver items found, far from the massive treasure of legend.

"See? Doesn't this prove it's fake, Brother Feng?" Wang Dalong curled his lip, pointing at the words "meager gains." "The official report says they dug for ages and found nothing but some scraps of gold and silver. Where's the treasure?"

Lin Feng shook his head, his finger lightly tracing the words on the paper. His gaze was like two chisels, seemingly wanting to penetrate the paper and reach deep into history. He spoke with an unquestionable certainty that struck Wang Dalong's heart.

"No. On the contrary," Lin Feng said. "This short report actually proves three things."

"First," Lin Feng raised a finger, "the rumors of the treasure are true. Who was Liu Xiang? A marshal of the Sichuan Army, a veteran of the battlefield. If he didn't have solid leads, he would never have mobilized over a thousand troops and spent months on a military-level excavation. The resources he used far exceed any normal treasure hunt, which itself shows that his information source was verified and significant."

"Second," he raised a second finger, "the location of the treasure is near Anshunchang on the Dadu River. This perfectly matches what that fat drunk was bragging about last night. A drunkard's 'nonsense' combined with an official record—the two verify each other. The location is locked to the Anshunchang area of the Dadu River; there's no mistake."

"Third," Lin Feng raised a third finger, which was also the most important point, "Liu Xiang dug in the wrong place!"

Wang Dalong was dumbfounded.

"He used so much manpower and resources, conducted a carpet search, and even found some gold and silver, yet the result was 'meager gains.' What does that mean?" Lin Feng didn't wait for Wang Dalong's answer, continuing with a cold confidence, "It means the Taiping Rebellion Leader's method of hiding that treasure was far more sophisticated than just 'digging a hole and burying it'!"

"If it were just buried underground, with Liu Xiang's forces at the time, they would have turned the place upside down no matter how deep it was. The fact that they only found a fraction means only one thing—the true treasure was hidden in a more secretive place, one that even an army with powerful excavation capabilities couldn't easily reach. He either had the wrong spot or the wrong method!" By this point, all fatigue had vanished from Lin Feng's face, replaced by the excitement of a hunter catching the scent of prey.

After hearing this, Wang Dalong gaped for a long time before closing his mouth. He carefully considered Lin Feng's words... it actually made sense. He used to think treasure hunting was just digging holes, but Lin Feng's words had instantly elevated the scale of the hunt.

Lin Feng closed the old newspaper, a complete plan already formed in his mind. He took out his phone, logged into his Bilibili account, and directly started a text-based live update. Without any unnecessary words, his fingers flew across the screen, and he quickly edited a paragraph.

In the text editor, white words on a black background were simple and blunt:

"Thank you all for your attention.

Next stop: Dadu River, Sichuan.

Target: Taiping Rebellion Leader Wing King's Treasure.

See you in Anshunchang in three days."

He glanced at it, confirmed it was correct, and then without any hesitation, pressed the send button.

This update was like a massive boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly triggering a thousand waves.

The netizens who were still arguing about the whereabouts of Captain William Kidd's treasure were all stunned, and the bullet chat and comment sections exploded almost instantly.

"Holy crap! Am I seeing this right? God Feng is going to dig up the Taiping Rebellion Leader's treasure?!"

"What's going on? Is God Feng joking? This is a huge jump! He just got back from the Caribbean, his seat isn't even warm yet, and he's flying straight to Sichuan?"

"For real? Isn't the Taiping Rebellion Leader's treasure just a legend? Liu Xiang couldn't find it with an army back then, so Lin Feng can?"

"Waiting for the fail! He dares to live stream something so baseless; God Feng is going to crash this time! He got lucky in Qinling last time, but it's impossible this time!"

"The guy above knows nothing! When has God Feng ever done something he wasn't sure of? From the Qinling Grottoes to the deep Caribbean Sea, which time didn't he shock the world? I'll bet a box of spicy strips that God Feng wins! Someone give me a link, I'm going to wait in Anshunchang too!"

"Oh my god, I'm still watching yesterday's Qinling Ancient Tomb edit, and the progress is already updated? This live stream pace is too fast! I can't keep up!"

"Lin Feng, are you even human? Don't you sleep?!"

Public opinion exploded instantly, and Bilibili's servers were nearly crushed by the sudden surge in traffic. Supporters and skeptics argued in a mess, and various memes and 'popcorn and soda' reaction images flooded the comment section. Lin Feng's name, once again without suspense, dominated the trending searches on all major platforms.

Wang Dalong's palms were sweating as he watched the rapidly refreshing comments on his phone. He felt a tingling sensation in his scalp.

"Brother Feng, this is way too high-profile!" Wang Dalong's voice trembled slightly. "What if... what if we don't find it? Won't we become the laughingstock of the entire internet? Those anti-fans will eat us alive!"

Lin Feng turned off his phone and stood up. He walked to the window and looked out at the city shrouded in morning light. His face was expressionless, but his stillness carried an overwhelming power.

"If we don't find it, we'll just treat it as a trip to Sichuan. If we do, it's ours." His tone was as calm as if he were talking about the most ordinary thing.

Then, he turned around and patted Wang Dalong's shoulder with an uncompromising force.

Wang Dalong swallowed hard as he looked at Lin Feng's back, which was so confident it was almost arrogant.

His long vacation was officially over. The pandas, the hotpot, the ear-cleaning by beauties—it was all going to vanish into thin air.

He sighed, but then couldn't help but grin. This feeling of being dragged along by Lin Feng to take risks... it didn't seem so bad.

Wang Dalong grabbed his camera and hurried after him.