43: The sealed entrance

Lin Feng stood beneath the cliff wall, looking up at the shadow shrouded by vines.

The golden cursor flickered quietly at the edge of his vision, like the only lighthouse in the dark night, incredibly precise.

"Dalong, wait down here." He took off his backpack, pulled out a climbing rope, and skillfully tied a figure-eight knot around his waist.

"Brother Feng, be careful!" Wang Dalong held the camera high, the lens firmly aimed at Lin Feng. "The brothers in the livestream are all watching! They're sending you Cloud-Piercing Arrows!"

Lin Feng didn't respond. He just did a final check of his equipment, grabbed the first indentation on the cliff wall, exerted force with his arms, and began climbing upward like a nimble ape.

Those indentations were clearly man-made, with even spacing and moderate depth.

Even after a hundred years of wind and rain, they could still steadily bear the weight of an adult man.

Lin Feng's movements were clean and efficient, without a single trace of unnecessary swaying.

His physical fitness, enhanced by the Gene Serum, was fully displayed at this moment. For a vertical height of ten meters, he only took less than three minutes to easily reach the top.

Grabbing the edge of the platform, he flipped himself up and stood steadily.

Only then did he realize that this platform was much narrower than imagined, barely two meters square, surrounded by mountains on three sides with only the front suspended in mid-air.

Before him was a wall of vines so thick that not even air could pass through.

The thickest vines were as wide as an arm, twisted and tangled, with roots firmly embedded in the rock crevices, completely obscuring the scene behind them.

Lin Feng reached out and grabbed one, his muscles tensing as he pulled hard.

*Rip—*

The dried vines snapped at the sound, kicking up a large cloud of choking dust.

He didn't stop, using both hands to start a violent clearing. One, two, three... soon, his gloves were covered in brown sap and debris.

Five minutes later, a huge gap was torn into the wall of vines.

The true face of the cliff wall was finally exposed.

That wasn't natural rock at all!

It was a wall built by force using irregular stones!

The stones were of different sizes but fitted together seamlessly, with the gaps filled with thick yellow mud. The surface of the mud layer had long since weathered and cracked, but the sturdiness of yesteryear was still visible.

This was a cave entrance that had been artificially sealed shut!

Lin Feng's heartbeat quickened instantly.

"Dalong!" he shouted down. "Come up!"

"Coming, coming!"

Wang Dalong hurriedly hung the camera around his neck and grabbed the climbing rope to scramble up. His movements were much more clumsy; he almost lost his footing halfway, causing the livestream screen to be filled with "Holy shit" comments.

Having finally climbed onto the platform, Wang Dalong leaned on his knees, exhausted like a dead dog.

"I... I'll be... Brother Feng... you're... you're like a monkey... climbing so fast..."

Lin Feng didn't bother with him and simply pointed his chin at the stone wall.

"Look at that."

Wang Dalong looked up, and in the next second, his eyes nearly popped out.

"This... this is..."

"A sealed cave entrance." Lin Feng's voice was heavy. "And it was sealed from the outside."

He reached out and tapped the stones, producing a dull *thud-thud* sound.

"Look at how these stones are stacked; they were all stuffed in from the outside. The mud was also smeared on from the outside." Lin Feng pointed to the faint, blurred finger marks remaining on the mud layer. "What does this mean?"

Wang Dalong swallowed hard, his voice trembling: "It means... there's something inside?"

"More than that." Lin Feng's eyes were startlingly bright. "This means the people who sealed the cave had no intention of ever coming back."

He paused, lowering his voice even further, as if stating a cold fact.

"This was a one-time closure. A complete, resolute sealing."

The livestream comments exploded instantly.

[Holy crap! They really found it?! Feng God is awesome (voice cracking)!]

[This reasoning ability is amazing! The logic chain is perfect!]

[Open it! Open it! I can't wait to see what treasures are inside!]

[I'll bet a pack of spicy strips that there's definitely something big inside!]

Wang Dalong held up the camera and took a series of close-up shots of the stone wall. Suddenly, he remembered something and pulled a small metal detector out of his backpack.

"Brother Feng, I brought this thing. Should we..."

"Useless." Lin Feng shook his head. "The wall is too thick. Besides, this entire mountain is magnetite; the signal will be interfered with."

"Alright then! Let's make a hole first to see what's going on. If it's really related to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Treasure, we'll call the police immediately!"

"Good! Everyone in the livestream, be our witnesses! We are law-abiding citizens."

As he spoke, he pulled an Entrenching Tool from his waist, found a spot on the edge of the stone wall that looked relatively loose, and pried hard!

The stones were very hard, and although the mud layer was weathered, its stickiness was incredible. Lin Feng held his breath and exerted a lot of effort before prying off the first stone.

*Thud—*

The stone hit the platform, making a heavy, dull sound.

Behind the gap was a deathly, pitch-black void.

Lin Feng turned on his headlamp, and a piercing beam of light shot inside. He could see that it was indeed a cave, but it was bottomless, and the light could not reach the end at all.

"Continue."

The two immediately worked together to dismantle the wall.

This work was both exhausting and dangerous; the platform was narrow, and one slip could mean falling off the cliff. But Lin Feng's movements were extremely steady; every time he pried off a stone, he made sure his footing was secure before continuing.

Half an hour later, the entrance was finally enlarged enough for one person to enter and exit.

Lin Feng stood up, shook his aching wrists, and was about to peek inside when Wang Dalong suddenly let out a surprised sound.

"Brother Feng, look, there seems to be something reflecting light over there?"

Lin Feng looked in the direction he was pointing. In a pile of rubble at the corner of the platform, there was indeed a small object reflecting a faint light.

Wang Dalong's curiosity was instantly piqued, and without thinking, he stepped toward it.

"Let me see what it is..."

"Watch your step!"

Lin Feng had just shouted when it was already too late.

Wang Dalong stepped on a loose piece of rubble and instantly lost his balance!

"Holy shit—"

He let out a startled cry, and his two-hundred-pound body fell uncontrollably to the side, stiff as a board.

*Bang!*

With a loud crash, he slammed solidly into the stone wall that had just been loosened.

The wall was already teetering, and with his impact, it collapsed on the spot with a *clatter*!

Dust rose everywhere as stones tumbled down.

When the dust settled, a dark cave entrance wide enough for two people to pass side by side was exposed without reservation before their eyes.

And that reflecting object also rolled out during the collision, clinking and clattering to Lin Feng's feet with a crisp sound.

Lin Feng looked down.

It was a round metal object.

He bent down to pick it up, feeling a heavy weight in his palm; its density was extremely high.

With the help of the headlamp's light, Lin Feng saw its true face.

It was a coin.

But not an ordinary circulating currency.

On the front of the coin were four powerful regular script characters—'Heavenly Kingdom Holy Treasure.'

The back featured complex cloud patterns and floral designs, with fine carving that clearly marked it as a high-spec item produced by officials.

Moreover, it was gold.

Pure gold!

Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat.

This was a gold Flower Coin of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom!

Flower Coins were not currency but special items used for commemoration or rewards. In the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, gold Flower Coins were extremely rare, and only princes and generals who had achieved great military merit were eligible to receive them.

What did the appearance of this gold coin here mean?

It meant that the subordinates of the Taiping Rebellion Leader had really been here!

It meant they had completed that treasure-hiding operation here, one sufficient to change history!

It meant... this time, they had hit the jackpot!

*Ding—*

At that very moment, a cold mechanical voice exploded in his mind.

[Main Quest Completed: The Wing King's Legacy]

[Quest Description: Before the defeat of the Taiping Rebellion Leader, Wing King Shi Dakai buried a vast amount of wealth carried by the army in the land of Chuan-Shu, leaving behind an eight-character secret message: "Facing the water, leaning on the mountain, the treasure lies within." Please follow the clues to find this lost treasure.]

[Quest Rewards Issued: Reputation +100,000, Skill - Combat Mastery (Intermediate)!]

Lin Feng's vision blurred instantly.

Segments of unfamiliar illusions, like a flood with its gates opened, savagely overwhelmed his consciousness.