Chapter 522 (2/2)

“Right underneath here.”

After making eye contact, Robber Eleven and Robber Twelve jumped in first.

The cave was quite deep but it wasn’t long. There were around seventy or eighty square meters to store things but it was very sturdy as they were stone pillars to hold it up.

Hence, just a few steps in, Shao Xuan could see the entirety of the cave.

Robber Twelve used a water moon stone to light up the cave and pointed to three skeletons leaning against the wall of the cave.

“We got the item from them.”

They didn’t call the longevity leaf by its name in case Shao Xuan hadn't figured out what it was. They used words like item or treasure to be vague about it. They were sincerely regretting hiding the item in the Flaming Horn tribe. They could have used it to get into the top ten.

Would those barbarians from Flaming Horn know the true value of the longevity leaf? It would be best if they didn’t. If there was a chance, they should sneak back into Flaming Horn to steal it back. Unfortunately, they could not figure out what Shao Xuan’s intentions were.

Shao Xuan walked towards the skeletons and noticed their clothes were rotted beyond recognition. There was nothing on their bodies to signify their status but from their strong skeletons, these people were strong warriors back in the day.

Shao Xuan still remembered the faded wooden tube he found the longevity leaf in. The colour had changed but the wood didn’t rot at all, it may have even stayed in that state for a thousand years as it was a very high-quality wood. The longevity leaf inside looked as fresh as a leaf just plucked from a leaf.

The enchantments for knot divination written on the leaf were made by the Yi tribe a long time ago. That was confirmed during Shao Xuan’s trip to King City. Since it appeared on this side of the sea, it should have been brought over by the people from a thousand years ago.

Looking at the position the skeletons were left in, Shao Xuan asked the two robbers, “Did you touch them when you came over?”

The two that were exchanging glances were shocked by Shao Xuan’s sudden question.

“No! We flipped them over to check for things but we put back them to their original position.” Although they were here to steal, they still treated these bodies that were preserved for many years with somewhat respect.

The three skeletons were left facing in the same direction as if they were looking at something.

Shao Xuan followed the empty eye sockets and found the answer on a stone pillar.

There were many words and patterns engraved on it. It could have been left by the small tribe that originally lived here. The patterns looked like a mixture of words and drawings which made no sense to them, which was the reason why Robber Eleven and Robber Twelve didn’t pay attention to it. Robber Eleven and Robber Twelve didn’t investigate much about this small tribe that left no trace in any written history so the engraving on the pillar was left untouched.

The patterns looked like a certain type of plant which was shocking to Shao Xuan that had seen this exact pattern before.

This was the tribe pattern of King city’s Ji family! This was the totem tattoo of the early Ji tribe!

While the Ji family and Yi family were among the first people that arrived at the other side of the sea, the Mu family was there too. However, the Mu family has since changed their name to Shi and took over the deserts while the Ji family died off. Between the people that arrived there, there were many internal fights. What were the three Ji family members here planning to do after stealing the leaf from the Yi family?

A thousand years had passed, Shao Xuan had no way of figuring it out.

Shao Xuan looked around some more but couldn’t find any hints. The patterns were the clues about the three skeletons.

As they walked out of the cave, Shao Xuan ignored all of the questions that Robber Eleven asked him. He only released them as he promised.

When they got their freedom, Robber Eleven and Robber Twelve didn’t bother asking more questions and slipped away.

Shao Xuan saw the two figures running away and headed back into the cave.

The Ji family had another tradition. They would place grains in their graves. Looking at the three skeletons, it seemed that they were prepared for their deaths. Would they have followed their tribe’s tradition? Maybe they still had strong ties for their tribe seeing that they had the tribe’s patterns engraved.

Shao Xuan checked the rest of the cave but couldn’t find any millets. Maybe they had long turned into dust or maybe they were eaten by some animal but Shao Xuan felt that those weren’t the case. According to Ji family tradition, the grains would be placed nearby in a vase or any sort of container but nothing was there.