Chapter 98: Chapter 96: What’s Behind the One Million Tip?

"Treasure? The Loulan Ruins might indeed hold something good, but it won’t be easy to get," Wen Ying said with a smile.

"Younan Pinming, you came here not just to look for treasure, but mainly because of a task passed down from your ancestors, didn’t you?"

When Younan Pinming heard this, a look of shock appeared on his face for the first time.

He had never told anyone about the ancestral matter. The people with him knew he often went on treasure hunts, but they had no idea why.

[Is he a Tomb Raider Captain???? Am I looking at a real, live Tomb Raider Captain?]

[The person above must read too many novels. How could there really be Tomb Raider Captains in this world? They’re just a bunch of tomb robbers!]

[An ancestral task? This whole Loulan Ancient City thing is starting to sound more and more like a TV show. This can’t be Younan Pinming’s script, can it? To be clear, when I say ’script,’ I’m not talking about Doctor Wen!]

[Hahaha! The survival instinct on that last commenter is strong! I can feel it through the screen!]

"He is indeed not a Tomb Raider Captain. My patient, Younan Pinming, has a deep-seated obsession. This task is the root of his psychological issues. Since we’re connected today, I will help him resolve them."

"Doctor Wen, really?" Younan Pinming asked, surprised.

His purpose in joining the stream was, in fact, related to this matter. After getting a sense of Wen Ying’s abilities, he had indeed wondered if Doctor Wen would help him.

After all, his business was a personal secret, and it concerned... well, it was no small matter. He would have understood if Doctor Wen had refused him.

So when he heard Doctor Wen say she would help him, Younan Pinming was both overjoyed and astonished.

"Of course. From the moment you paid, you became my patient."

"Then, about this matter..." Younan Pinming was clearly hesitant.

[No way! Is he planning to burn the bridge after crossing it? We just backed you up in the stream, and now you’re planning to take this offline?]

[Even if it’s a big secret, we’re curious too! Can’t you just talk about it on the stream?]

[If you really take this private, who’s going to compensate us viewers for our loss? Isn’t this kind of drama the reason we watch streams in the first place?]

[Doctor Wen probably won’t agree to take it private, right? Doctor Wen spoils her fans the most!]

"Before we discuss this, I want to warn everyone not to rush into the desert blindly. The desert is very dangerous. Without ample preparation and a rescue plan, do not go to the desert. Otherwise, you won’t be entering a bright future, but a hellish apocalypse."

"Younan Pinming is here not just because he’s a wealthy man; he brought an entire convoy with him. He has ample supplies and medical support, all of which is worth no less than tens of millions. For anyone still daydreaming, it’s time for a reality check!"

After addressing the viewers, Wen Ying turned back to Younan Pinming. "You don’t need to worry about someone else snatching what you’re looking for. You brought all these people with you and still haven’t found it, right? If I tell you now, you’ll be able to get it. Then you can make your arrangements in advance."

Younan Pinming nodded with a wry smile.

’That was a real wake-up call. The one involved is always lost, while the bystander sees clearly.’

[Thank you, Doctor Wen, for saving my life! I apologize to Doctor Wen for my earlier daydream! I’m just a poor schmuck!]

"Take out the ancestral book from your bag. Open to page 24 and find the 32nd character. Then turn to page 38 and find the fifth character on the third line. Then go to page 77 and find the eighth character on the third line and the 12th character on the second-to-last line. Finally, turn to the inside of the back cover and look at the single digit there."

Younan Pinming took a yellowed book out of his bag and, following Wen Ying’s instructions, found each character, number, or other mark and wrote them down.

However, this was all done off-camera.

The audience could only see the expression in his eyes slowly change, from confusion at the start to determination, and finally to a flash of understanding.

At last, a relaxed smile appeared on his face. He snapped the book shut and put it back in his bag.

"Thank you, Doctor Wen! You’ve helped me immensely!"

[Why’d he put the book away? I wanted to see what kind of book it was! Is it available anywhere? I want to buy a copy!]

[It seems like some kind of Morse code, doesn’t it? I can’t believe the answer was hidden in a book like that, with no discernible pattern! No wonder it was so hard to find! You could probably spend a lifetime trying to decipher that sequence and never figure it out!]

[Same as the person above, what book is it? You’re about to get your thing, can’t you at least let us see the book?]

[I just want it for my collection, I swear I won’t try to crack the code! Please, the title!]

Younan Pinming smiled. "Sorry, this book was passed down through my family. It’s not really suitable for showing everyone. To thank Doctor Wen, I’ll send a wave of gifts!"

The viewers were dissatisfied but helpless. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Younan Pinming sent gifts worth a hundred thousand! The stream was flooded with donation banners!

Ten times!

A full ten times!

The banners scrolled across the screen ten times in a row. That added up to a million!

Now that was what you call filthy rich!

The amount he just gifted in one go was more than what many people earn in a lifetime.

And the ten consecutive waves of top-tier gifts once again caused the stream’s traffic to surge, forcing the tech team to work emergency overtime.

[What’s the point of gifting so much? Doctor Wen probably only gets half of it, right? It would be better to just give the money to her directly.]

[That’s what I was thinking. Why should the platform take such a big cut?]

[Doctor Wen has so many fans now, didn’t the platform sign a new contract with her? The cut should be much smaller by now, right?]

"Don’t worry, everyone," Wen Ying explained directly on the stream. "My split with the platform is eighty-twenty; I get eighty percent. After taxes, that’s still quite a lot of money. Thank you, Younan Pinming."

"No, I should be thanking you, Doctor Wen. If it weren’t for you, I’m afraid I would never have been able to complete my ancestors’ task in this lifetime. I wouldn’t have been able to face them in the afterlife."

"Younan Pinming, you should end the stream soon. There might be a sandstorm in about two hours. Stay safe."

After the stream ended, Younan Pinming quickly gathered his men. Following the location Wen Ying had provided, they grabbed their tools and began to dig.

They encountered a collapse during the process, but the injuries were minor, and there were no fatalities.

Fortunately, after an hour, they excavated something that resembled a burial chamber. The space wasn’t large; it contained only a single, solid black coffin that was clearly ancient and covered in intricate patterns.

They opened the coffin. There was no body inside. In the large, empty space, there was only a small box.

The box didn’t appear to have a combination lock or anything of the sort.

After retrieving the box, Younan Pinming quickly disinfected it, then put on a gas mask and protective gloves to open it himself.

The lock mechanism had partially decayed, so it didn’t take much effort to open.

Seeing what was inside the box, Younan Pinming let out a long sigh of relief.

Inside was—