Buried

Matthew's gaze quickly swept over the neatly arranged layer of gold coins. Estimating their thickness and area, an astonishing figure rapidly formed in his mind.

A wave of shock welled up within him, which was quickly replaced by surging ecstasy and a sense of relief that things were indeed as he had expected.

“Close to... no, definitely more than a hundred gold coins in value!”

He reached this conclusion almost instantly.

The coins in this single layer alone were worth more than ten times the price he had paid!

That fellow Nathan...

The figure of the minor leader of the Blood Hand Gang rose in Matthew's mind once again.

He was actually quite generous when it came to his family.

“No wonder he went to such great lengths to hide it... This amount of money is enough to make anyone harbor malicious designs.”

Matthew mused to himself, feeling a mix of lingering dread and relief at his decision to decisively deal with Nathan and track down this treasure.

If he had hesitated or slipped up even slightly, missing out on this wealth would have been a true loss.

“With this, I won't have to worry about money for a while.”

Just as he was lost in thought, a faint fluctuation of mana slowly emanated from the bottom of the chest.

“Could it be...”

A trace of shock flashed through Matthew's heart as a sudden realization dawned on him.

He hurriedly pulled his gaze away from the coins and looked toward the very bottom.

Reaching out, he began to push aside the upper layers of gold and silver coins.

Sure enough, once Matthew cleared away the heavy gold coins, the area at the bottom of the chest, carefully wrapped in soft cloth, revealed what was hidden beneath.

Several magic stones lay there quietly.

Their size was similar to the standard magic stones he had encountered before. Each was a nearly perfect oval, their surfaces smooth and warm, without any signs of chips or wear.

In the dim light of the room, the magic stones did not emit a dazzling brilliance, but a deep, stable shimmer faintly circulated within them—a sign of highly condensed, pure mana.

Even more eye-catching was that these magic stones were spontaneously emitting faint but distinct fluctuations of mana into the surrounding environment.

These fluctuations were like ripples on the water's surface, on the verge of spreading outward—

“Hey, it's always best to be careful. It's better not to let this mana fluctuation leak out.”

Matthew muttered to himself almost instinctively.

With a slight thought, his Spirit, which had long surpassed that of ordinary people, instantly spread out like an invisible film. It precisely enveloped the area along with all the magic stones, firmly locking in all the escaping mana and ensuring not a single shred leaked outside the room.

Having set up this safeguard, his gaze fell back onto the magic stones, and a profound sense of pleasant surprise welled up in his eyes.

But a hint of doubt followed right after:

“A total of five! Plus the one he had on him before, that makes six!”

Buying them with money was obviously impossible—such a quantity of magic stones was worth a fortune, certainly not something a horse bandit leader could easily acquire through normal savings.

The only explanation was that during his years as a horse bandit, he had accumulated them through plundering or other shady means.

“What a pity...”

As soon as this thought surfaced, a trace of regret crossed Matthew's heart.

If he had known earlier that Nathan possessed such resources, perhaps he should have spared his life in the forest back then to slowly interrogate or trade with him. Who knew if he could have squeezed out even more valuable things?

But the world was unpredictable. The situation back then had been urgent—it was a matter of life and death, leaving no room to hold back.

He shook his head, quickly putting this meaningless regret behind him.

The man was dead, and the past could not be undone. Rather than dwelling on facts that could no longer be changed, it was better to make the most of his current harvest.

“Eight...”

A look of contemplation flashed in Matthew's eyes.

This amount was already enough to conduct some trials—for instance, attempting to absorb one to test the specific differences in its effectiveness for assisting cultivation or replenishing energy.

“However, there's no need to rush. For one, my Spirit hasn't reached a bottleneck in cultivation yet.”

“Secondly, after breaking through to the Silver Rank, although my life energy has surged and my bodily functions have leaped forward, I know very well that power must be tempered to be fully mastered. Rashly absorbing external mana might instead interfere with the energy cycle I've just stabilized.”

“Consolidate my realm and polish my skills first. The magic stones... can be saved for a critical moment.” Matthew made his decision.

He hesitated no longer, carefully gathering all the magic stones. He planned to find a suitable opportunity later to properly absorb this windfall.

Looking at the rich harvest in the wooden chest, which far exceeded his expectations, a trace of hesitation had crossed Matthew's mind: with such a massive harvest, should he give a bit more to that mother and daughter?

After all, the heavy gold and silver, along with the precious magic stones, each far exceeded the ten gold coins he had initially paid.

This windfall made him feel, for a fleeting moment, that perhaps giving them a bit more would be the only way to truly make up for their loss of support.

But with a turn of his thoughts, he suppressed the idea.

It would be entirely unnecessary.

This wealth was originally seized by Nathan through unscrupulous means, stained with blood and filth.

Taking it for himself carried no moral burden, and could even be considered a form of “returning it to its rightful owner”—returning it to the hands of someone who could put it to good use.

Furthermore, he was no bandit; he had left ten gold coins as real compensation.

To ordinary people, this sum was already a considerable fortune, enough to support their livelihood for a long time or serve as starting capital to begin anew.

At this thought, the last trace of hesitation in Matthew's heart vanished.

“But how should I handle these things?”

For a moment, Matthew was a bit stumped.

After all, carrying three magic stones on his person hadn't been much of a hassle, but carrying a total of eight would make traveling quite inconvenient.

Yet Matthew did not feel safe leaving them in the inn either...

“How about following Nathan's example?”

“Burying them underground?”

He murmured to himself, his gaze sweeping over the warm, glowing magic stones on the table. This was indeed the safest method. The fact that Nathan could bury his treasure for so many years without it being discovered showed that although this method was simple, it was highly effective.

Matthew walked to the window, parted a corner of the curtain, and looked out at the inn's backyard. There was a small, neglected corner overgrown with weeds, where people rarely went. He estimated the distance and level of concealment, then nodded slightly.

“Right there, then.”

Turning back to the table, he carefully wrapped the eight magic stones in soft cloth, then covered them with a layer of waterproof oilskin.

Afterward, he quietly pushed the door open, slipped out, and headed down the stairs to the backyard.

Stepping onto the dirt ground, Matthew muttered, “I hope nothing goes wrong.”

With that, he began to dig.

...

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