The mountain trail was not easy to walk, but it was clear someone had passed through it. Governor Duan examined it carefully and thought that if he were to search, he would certainly not suspect anything about this trail.

There were many such trails in the mountains, rarely used but occasionally walked on. Now, because of Zhou Man and Bai Shan’s speculations, he couldn’t help but be suspicious as he examined it.

Once they arrived at the spot designated by Bai Shan, everyone began to search all around. The soldiers became much more alert, not only searching through the bushes but also tapping and stomping the ground with swords, hoping to find a cave entrance from somewhere.

Bai Shan couldn’t help but look towards the vine-covered mountain wall beside them.

Governor Duan, who had been watching him, immediately looked up, only to see Zhou Man also looking up at the mountain wall.

Keke and Manbao said, "It’s inside. There’s a cave behind the vines, just pull them aside and you’ll see."

Manbao took two steps forward to pull the vines aside. Bai Shan immediately rolled up his sleeves to help, while Bai Erlang was still looking around. Upon seeing it, he couldn’t help but rush over, "How is it, how is it? Have we found it?"

He reached out to help with the vines, but Governor Duan found it difficult, so he directly drew his sword, saying, "Let me handle it."

The three of them stepped aside to give him space, and with two swipes of the sword, the vines were scattered on the ground, revealing a dark cave entrance behind.

Governor Duan was no longer surprised. Naturally, he didn’t enter immediately but had the soldiers go ahead to scout the way.

Soon, signals came from inside indicating no danger, so everyone went inside.

The cave was quite dark, and Manbao took a torch as they proceeded further inside. Only after walking in for a while did they see some things placed against the wall, covered with oilcloth.

A soldier stepped forward and lifted the oilcloth. Underneath were piles of burlap sacks and boxes.

One of the soldiers pulled at a burlap sack, intending to drag it out and open it. As he pulled, the sack tore open, and a heap of copper coins came pouring out noisily.

Everyone looked down at the pile of copper coins tumbling to the ground and making a delightful clinking sound. After a momentary pause, they raised their heads to look at the other burlap sacks.

Manbao: "Are they all copper coins?"

Quickly, the soldiers pulled down the stacked burlap sacks and opened them for everyone to see. Sure enough, they were filled with strings of copper coins, some were loose, and the ones at the very bottom were somewhat decayed; their ropes were fragile, and just pulling at them would break them, causing the coins to tumble out.

Compared to silver and gold, copper coins were more commonly used. Ordinary people might not see silver and gold several times in their lifetimes.

Military pay in the camps was also distributed in copper coins and cloth, with very little silver and gold involved. Thus, when they saw the copper coins, their eyes gleamed. As they carried them out, they would scoop up the scattered copper coins from the ground and occasionally tuck a few into their pockets.

Not only Manbao and the others noticed this, but Governor Duan did too. However, he turned a blind eye to it all, only fixing his gaze sharply on anyone who took excessive amounts, which prompted the soldiers to behave honestly.

Once the burlap sacks piled outside were carried out, the boxes behind them were revealed. A soldier moved forward and opened them, revealing neatly stacked silver bars inside, though not many; only one box, with even less than what was in the tree cave.

But other boxes contained mostly gold and silver items, such as silver bowls, gold-tipped chopsticks, and golden Buddhas, along with gold-crafted ornaments.

Years of exposure had caused them to tarnish, but Governor Duan knew that these items would shine brightly with a little polish and surely sell at a high price.

A soldier dragged out one box and opened it to reveal it was filled with fabrics.

Governor Duan felt heartache at the sight, "These are all top-quality silks. They should have been brought from the Central Plains by merchants heading to the Western Regions."

Bai Shan picked up a piece for inspection. Although stored in the cave and a bit damp, even though not damaged, the colors of the fabrics were still not as bright as those outside.

Fabric is a hard currency but needs good preservation. Now, the price of these silks would likely plummet.

Several boxes of fabric were evidently chosen with good judgment by the merchants, all vibrant in color, soft, and skin-friendly. Unfortunately, they ended up in the hands of bandits who didn’t recognize their value or know how to preserve them.

The soldiers carried out the boxes one after another.

The last, somewhat smaller box was opened, dazzling everyone for a moment, and Manbao rushed over with an exclamation, crouching by the box to look inside, "So beautiful!"

It was filled with jewelry made of gold, silver, and gems, piled together in an array of colors and exceptionally beautiful.

Manbao grabbed a handful of bracelets made of pearls, tourmaline, amber, and crystal. Not just Manbao, but Bai Shan and Bai Erlang were also enamored, squeezing in to reach out and touch the shimmering gems inside. "Such wastefulness, they were all piled together without separate preservation."

Governor Duan held his heart as he stepped forward, viewed them for a while, and said, "This box is quite new; although placed against the wall, it was at the edge, possibly placed there recently."

Manbao really adored the shiny gems, hugging them tightly and refusing to let go.

Bai Shan thought about it—since they weren’t desperate for money and carrying it wouldn’t be very convenient—and straightforwardly said to Governor Duan, "Lord Duan, how about we trade three-tenths of the fabrics for three-tenths of the jewelry?"

Governor Duan: ...Not a great deal, he also liked these gold and silver gems.

Just as they were speaking, Bai Erlang fished out a blue stone from the box, held it up towards the torch, and asked in an enchanted tone, "Look at this, what do you think it is?"

Manbao glanced at it, not particularly interested, "Cat’s eye stone, right."

She preferred amber, pearls, and these rubies and sapphires.

However, Governor Duan’s eyes were fixed on the cat’s eye stone. He reached out to take it from Bai Erlang’s hand, feigned inspection, and nodded affirmatively, "Indeed, it’s a cat’s eye stone. Look, it changes color; it should be a chrysoberyl cat’s eye."

After speaking, he blew on the gemstone and then tucked it into his chest, leaving Bai Erlang stunned while saying to Bai Shan, "Alright, if you like these jewels, I’ll let you have more of them."

Bai Erlang widened his eyes, opening his mouth to speak, but Bai Shan covered it, nodded, and said, "Thank you, Lord Duan."

Governor Duan smiled broadly, "Happy to help, happy to help, mutual assistance is key."

Bai Erlang was very unwilling, asking, "Why give it to him?"

Bai Shan: "He gets seventy percent, and we only thirty percent. Even in division, he takes the lead."

Bai Erlang couldn’t help but grumble, "It was me who found it..."

Bai Shan said, "It’s Lord Duan who led the troops to exterminate the mountain bandits; although without us they might not have found these items, without him leading troops to subdue the bandits, we wouldn’t be able to pass through at all. If you like the cat’s eye stone, we can find one for you in the Western Regions."

Bai Erlang mumbled, "It’s not so much I like it, I just wanted to give it to someone."