A Great Harvest! (1)

Matthew suppressed the excitement in his heart, his face still maintaining a degree of caution.

He could not afford to be hasty. The more it was a moment like this, the more he could not let it show too clearly.

He watched Barton and the others take out the stone box and watched Sutton inspect those magic stones, while his mind already began to rapidly recall the map in his head.

There was one behind the stone pillar on the left.

There was one beside the damaged relief carving in the southeast corner.

Near the entrance to the lower-level passage, there were two more adjacent markings.

If the map was correct, there were at least a dozen similar storage compartments.

A dozen...

Thinking of this number, Matthew’s heart could not help but skip a beat.

Even if each location only held a small amount of magic stones, the total would definitely not be a small sum. Moreover, no one could guarantee that every location only stored ordinary magic stones. What if one of them hid something even more important?

Potions?

Wizardry materials?

Demonized metal?

Perhaps even notes or low-level legacies left behind by the tomb owner?

These thoughts surfaced one after another, making Matthew’s gaze darken slightly.

Soon, Herbert finished inventorying the items in that secret room.

The quantity was indeed not staggering, but it was enough to cause a shift in everyone’s emotions.

The fear that originally permeated the burial chamber seemed to have been diluted significantly by the glow of the magic stones. The group no longer just stared warily at the main sarcophagus, nor did they only worry about whether deadly mechanisms were hidden nearby. They began to actively observe the walls, floor, stone pillars, and relief carvings, a certain urgency appearing in their eyes.

It was a form of greed, but also a form of hope.

As long as there were gains, danger was no longer just danger.

“Split up,” Herbert finally said. “But don’t go too far. Pair up in groups of two. If you find anything unusual, call out first. No one is allowed to act on their own.”

Sutton added, “Especially mechanisms that require Spirit to open—don’t force them. You saw the method just now; if you can’t open it, call for someone. Don’t destroy the items just to save time.”

Barton gave a chuckle. “Understood.”

The others nodded one after another.

Matthew stood to the side, his heart feeling even more at ease.

Splitting up.

This was exactly the result he wanted.

If everyone stayed together the whole time, even if he knew the locations of the secret rooms, it would be difficult to stand out too much. But now it was different; the burial chamber was so wide, with stone pillars, the sarcophagus platform, relief carvings, and damaged statues scattered everywhere, naturally obstructing their lines of sight. As long as his movements were natural enough, he could entirely use the excuse of searching to open those storage compartments marked on the map.

Furthermore, the contract explicitly stated that the discoverer would receive an extra share.

As long as he wasn't forcibly taking someone else's things, the secret rooms he discovered should count as his own gains. Even if others were envious, they would have no reason to fight over it on the spot.

Thinking of this, Matthew only gave a low response on the surface, then followed the group as they dispersed.

He did not rush toward the nearest marking immediately. Instead, he intentionally took a detour, pretending to inspect the bases of the surrounding stone statues, slowly approaching a row of damaged relief carvings on the left.

The light there was dim. When the cold-light stone shone over, one could only see the blurred beast-face patterns on the reliefs. Those patterns were mostly worn away due to age, but the position of one of the beast's eyes overlapped with a marking on the map.

Matthew stopped his footsteps and reached out to gently feel along the edge of the relief carving.

Sure enough.

Below the beast's eye, there was an extremely shallow indentation.

If he hadn't known beforehand that there was something here, he would never have noticed this spot.

Matthew took a deep breath, recalling Sutton's operations from earlier in his mind.

Spirit cannot be rushed.

First, stabilize the node.

Then, find the sequence of the mechanism.

He closed his eyes and carefully extended his Spirit, letting it seep into the indentation like a fine thread.

At first, there was no reaction inside the stone wall.

Matthew was not in a hurry.

He adjusted the strength of his Spirit bit by bit until, at a certain moment, his fingertips suddenly felt a very light spiritual feedback.

Found it.

Matthew felt a surge of joy but immediately suppressed his emotions.

He continued to follow that feedback to search, and soon found two other nodes on both sides of the relief carving. Although he was not as practiced as Sutton, with the demonstration from earlier, he at least knew which direction to try.

A moment later, he raised his hand and pressed a small stone sliver beside the beast's eye on the relief.

A light sound was heard.

Matthew’s gaze narrowed slightly. He withdrew a portion of his Spirit, then gently turned a protruding stone pattern beneath the beast's mouth.

The stone wall behind the relief carving slowly loosened, revealing a storage compartment less than half a person wide.

The noise was not loud, but in the quiet burial chamber, it still drew several gazes.

“Another one opened?”

Someone nearby called out in surprise.

Barton snapped his head around. Seeing that Matthew had opened it, the smile on his face stiffened for a moment before he couldn't help but say, “Your luck is pretty good too!”

Matthew did not rush to take the items inside. Instead, he turned to look at Herbert.

Herbert only swept a glance over, confirming that he had not approached the main sarcophagus or triggered any large-scale mechanisms, then said indifferently, “Check for danger first.”

Matthew nodded. “Understood.”

Sutton also looked over, a trace of surprise flashing in his single eye.

“You understood what I did just now?”

Matthew’s heart tightened, but his face showed no abnormality. He only said somewhat humbly, “I understood a little. I just tried following the method from earlier, and I didn't expect it to actually work.”

Sutton stared at him for two breaths, then gave a laugh.

“You learn fast.”

It was hard to tell if this sentence was praise or a probe.

Matthew only smiled and did not explain further.

He knew that in a place like this, the more one explained, the easier it was to arouse suspicion. It was better to just admit he learned fast. Since everyone had seen the opening method just now, it wasn't entirely implausible for him to copy the moves and open one.

After confirming there was no danger, Matthew reached in and took out the stone boxes from the compartment.

This compartment was smaller than the one Barton had found. Inside were only two stone boxes and a shriveled leather pouch. After the stone boxes were opened, they contained a dozen or so ordinary magic stones and three medium magic stones with a slightly deeper color. Inside the leather pouch was some grayish-white powder that had already lost its magical essence, clearly long since unusable.

But Matthew was not disappointed.

On the contrary, he grew increasingly invigorated.

Because this proved one thing once again.

The markings on the map were real.

These compartments did indeed hide things.

He gathered the magic stones and placed them into the temporary inventory bag according to the rules, his expression remaining calm throughout. But only he knew how fast his heart was beating at this moment.

Seeing that Matthew also had some gains, the envy in the eyes of the others was almost impossible to hide.

But no one came forward to snatch them.

First, Herbert was watching from the center of the burial chamber; second, the contract constraints were still in place; and third, they quickly realized that rather than being envious of Matthew, it was better to speed up their own search.

Since Barton could find one and Matthew could find one, they might not necessarily be unable to find a third or fourth.

Thus, the group, which had still been somewhat hesitant, suddenly moved much faster.

Some began tapping the bases of stone pillars, some held cold-light stones to carefully inspect gaps in the walls, and others simply lay on the ground to check for height differences between the stone bricks. The caution and fear they felt when they first entered the burial chamber still existed, but it had been suppressed by the excitement brought by the gains.

Watching this scene, Matthew’s heart instead settled.

This was for the best.

With everyone busy, no one would keep their eyes fixed on him.

He lowered his head to put away the magic stones in his hand, his gaze inadvertently sweeping toward another shadow.

There, too, was a marking.

And according to the map in his mind, it was not far from his current position.

Matthew slowly exhaled, suppressing the smile that was almost surfacing at the corners of his mouth.

Originally, he only wanted to gain some benefits from this operation and verify the map in his head along the way. But now it seemed the value this map brought him was far greater than he had anticipated.

Previously, these secret rooms were just incomprehensible lines and symbols in his eyes.

Now, they had all turned into clearly visible magic stones, resources, and opportunities.

“I can't be slow,” Matthew said silently to himself.

“While they haven't figured out the patterns yet, and while Herbert doesn't plan to move the main sarcophagus, I must open as many of these places as possible.”

He looked up, his face still bearing a cautious and calm expression, but deep within his eyes, there was already a flicker of heat that was hard to suppress.

This burial chamber was very large.

So large that it was impossible for others to pay attention to him at every moment.

And the secrets within this burial chamber were far more than just what was before them.

Matthew gripped the cold-light stone in his hand, pretending to continue his search, and walked slowly toward the next shadow.

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