Chapter 55: Valin Mangha

"Walin Mangha?" Old Master Chen narrowed his eyes and repeated the name.

"That's right!" Qi Lin nodded.

After pondering for a long time, Old Master Chen turned to look at me. "Sanqi, have you ever heard of it?"

I shook my head. "Never heard of it!"

"Neither have I!"

Qi Lin smiled faintly and began to explain to Old Master Chen and me, "When our team was in the capital, we accidentally acquired a piece of Qing Dynasty porcelain. After breaking the porcelain, we found a white silk scarf inside. Drawn on the scarf was a simple map along with text that recorded... Walin Mangha!"

"So what does Walin Mangha mean?" Old Master Chen asked.

"I've studied some Mongolian, so I know a bit. *Mangha* is Mongolian for sand dune, and *Walin* should be a place name or a title. So we suspect that Walin Mangha refers to a place called the Walin Sand Dunes. Furthermore, according to much of our research, this place not only features sand dunes but also canyons!"

"Sand dunes? Canyons?" Old Master Chen immediately frowned.

"Exactly!" Qi Lin nodded, guiding us step by step. "According to the account on the silk scarf, countless treasures of an ancient dynasty are buried in this place. In Walin Mangha, there is a magnificent stone hall nestled in a mountain hollow. In front of the hall stands a dry well, and inside the hall are countless gold and gemstones—so many that even if you used horse-drawn carriages, it would take a hundred days to haul them all away!"

Old Master Chen was astonished. With a trembling mouth, he asked, "A dynasty's treasure? Gold and gemstones?"

"Yes!"

"Then why are you being so frank with me? Shouldn't you keep such wealth for yourselves?"

Qi Lin answered without hesitation, "We are not familiar with the Greater Khingan Mountains! Therefore, after searching for a long time here, we haven't been able to find a place where both sand dunes and canyons exist. You are a veteran hunter; I believe you know the Greater Khingan Mountains much better than I do!"

Old Master Chen smiled. "So, you want me to help you find this Walin Mangha?"

"Yes! If it's possible, and you truly lead us there, I have the authority to give you thirty percent of the treasure in the stone hall..."

As she spoke, Qi Lin raised three fingers.

It was at that exact moment that Old Master Chen narrowed his eyes and fell into deep thought.

Of course, it wasn't just Old Master Chen. At that moment, I was also looking at Qi Lin, lost in thought.

Because...

During the story she had just told, she mentioned that she knew Mongolian. Subconsciously, one of my hands moved to touch my chest.

The sheepskin scroll.

That's right, the text recorded on the sheepskin scroll was also in Mongolian. So... could I ask this woman to help me interpret what was written on the sheepskin scroll?

However, this thought had barely lingered for three seconds before I quickly crushed it in its infancy.

After all...

I knew nothing about this Qi Lin. Handing the sheepskin scroll over to her just like that might lead to all sorts of unpredictable complications!

"What do you think?" Qi Lin asked for Old Master Chen's opinion.

Old Master Chen raised his head and smiled. "It's certainly quite tempting. However, for the next two months, both you and I will find it very difficult to leave this forest cabin! The heavy snow has sealed the mountains, and the difficulty of searching for sand dunes and canyons will skyrocket..."

"I'm not in a hurry! If necessary, I can stay here until next year," Qi Lin said slowly.

"Then we'll talk about it next year," Old Master Chen replied indifferently.

"Hmm!"

...

By this time, the aroma of the stewed meat in the pot and the roasted lamb leg had filled the entire room.

I quickly stood up and said, "Alright, let's eat first! A meal like this of ours would cost hundreds of yuan outside and still be hard to come by!"

With that, I picked up a ladle and began serving meat to the two of them.

The roasted venison leg had already turned a wine-red color. I brought it over and placed it right in the center of the bed platform.

After that, the three of us drank the venison broth and ate the roasted deer leg, thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

At some point, snow had started falling outside the forest cabin... Dahan stood on my shoulder, and I occasionally fed it small strips of meat.

Qi Lin's complexion began to flush after drinking the meat broth. Glancing sideways at Dahan on my shoulder, she asked softly, "This eagle... looks a bit different."

I smiled and asked, "How is it different?"

"It's a bit small!"

I couldn't help feeling speechless and rolled my eyes. "In your memory, do eagles have to be one or two meters long?"

"Yeah!" she nodded with absolute sincerity.

Seeing her react this way, I knew she was completely inexperienced—or rather, completely unfamiliar with raptors.

So, as I chewed on my meat, I began to explain to her, "Eagles and falcons are two different species. Although they both belong to the order Falconiformes in biological classification, they fall under the families Accipitridae and Falconidae respectively. The specific classification is quite complex, but you can generally think of eagles as being larger in size, while falcons are relatively smaller..."

After I finished explaining, Qi Lin let out a long, understanding "Oh."

I glanced at her, thinking to myself what a fool I was to explain sky-soaring eagles to a tomb raider who spent her life digging underground; it was like playing the lute to a cow.

Before long, the weather outside the window grew steadily dim, but the snow showed no signs of stopping—in fact, it was falling heavier and heavier.

Inside the cabin, due to the massive temperature difference with the outside, the air was hazy with mist, making it look like a fairyland.

Old Master Chen drank a mouthful of liquor and said, "Sanqi, open the door for a bit to let some fresh air in."

"Got it!" I got up and unlatched the cabin door.

The cold outside air instantly rushed toward my neck, making me shudder involuntarily, but the thick smoke inside the room quickly billowed out.

Old Master Chen looked at Qi Lin and asked, "So, the leeches on you two—did you fall into the river while searching for Walin Mangha?"

"That's right! To be honest, I never expected this old forest to be so bizarre. We encountered quite a few weird things along the way, but leeches? We honestly never saw that coming!"

Old Master Chen sneer. "You might be masters when it comes to exploring underground tombs, but out here in the old forest... you guys... still don't cut it!"

"Indeed we don't!" Qi Lin took a sip of the meat broth and candidly admitted, "Old Chen, but then again—in this life, as long as you're a master of one trade, that's enough!"

"Hmm," Old Master Chen grunted, taking another gulp of corn liquor.

...

Seeing that the mist in the room had mostly dissipated, I bit down on a cigarette and walked over to the doorway, ready to close the cabin door.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone standing rigidly by the small stream directly opposite us...

My heart skipped a beat, and I narrowed my eyes to look closer.

Only then did I realize—

The man who had clearly died completely and been washed away by the current had actually returned.

He was just standing there by the stream, staring at me expressionlessly.