# Chapter 3: The General's Treasure (Part 3)
The statues spoke in a strange, melodic tone. Their diction was labored, yet beneath it lay a faint thread of doting fondness and nostalgia.
Qi An looked at Zhang Zhaoqi and the others who had arrived after confirming it was safe, his gaze confused and lost, like a child who had wandered astray.
[All of you, help me look into something.]
The statues stared intently at Qi An. When they saw his frightened expression, they immediately backed away from him—but not without glancing back three times, shuffling their broad feet back to their original positions. From a distance, they watched the slender youth again. When they saw his thick lashes fluttering like butterfly wings, they dropped the weapons in their hands.
Sharp blades and swords clanged to the ground with a heavy sound.
Their metallic faces held no expression, yet somehow conveyed a pitiful, forlorn quality as they gazed at Qi An with pleading eyes.
Qi An took a tentative step forward.
The statues remained in place, but everyone present felt as if something had brightened in their eyes, surrounded by bubbles of happiness and joy.
Qi An took another step forward.
This inexplicable sensation only grew stronger. They felt the stern expressions of the statues had relaxed, and the previously tense atmosphere suddenly turned cheerful.
"Um... I'll go in first." Qi An was still slightly breathless from running earlier. He blinked curiously, his dark eyes gentle and obedient. "They don't seem to want to hurt us."
With that, he walked toward the door.
The statues realized Qi An's intention and immediately raised the arms they had乖乖 kept at their sides. They proactively opened the grand door before he reached it. Throughout the entire process, they watched Qi An as before, as if seeking praise.
"Thank you." Qi An's brows curved with a slight smile. "Then I'll go in."
The statues nodded frantically.
Once Qi An had entered, Zhang Zhaoqi watched the two statues whose expressions had instantly turned cold. They clearly had no intention of opening the door for anyone else. The moment the youth's figure disappeared, they pulled their hands back from the door.
The great door creaked, nearly closing.
Wang Xiangqun rushed forward first, trying to push the door open wider. His face flushed red in an instant, veins bulging on the hand pushing the door. Gasping for breath, he shouted, "Hurry up! This door is incredibly hard to open!"
Hearing this, everyone else ran inside at almost sprinting speed, squeezing through at the last second. Everyone except Qi An faintly heard the statues snort hostile remarks before the door closed.
"..."
[What what~]
[Go to headquarters and check this world's positioning. See if I've been here before. If I have, pull up my work report.]
Qi An thought for a moment, then continued asking, [How long will it take?]
[Pretty long. All the data is in the Quick Transmigration Bureau. To go check it, you need to first report to the Transmigration Bureau, then the Transmigration Bureau reports to the General Administration. You can only check after receiving approval from the Quick Transmigration Bureau.]
[Mm, let me know once you find out.] Qi An responded coolly.
"Qi An, do you know what those statues are? And what they said earlier?" Jin Huijuan adjusted her breathing and looked at Qi An with a scrutinizing gaze.
The statues' behavior was far too strange. Just moments ago, they had been trying to kill them—that killing intent that pierced the marrow, Jin Huijuan had encountered countless times and was confident she wouldn't misidentify. But the statues' ferocious actions had been abandoned because of Qi An.
"I... I..." Caught off guard by the sudden question, Qi An hastily tried to answer, but what came out was fragmented and halting. Clearly, he didn't know what to say either. "I really don't know. I truly don't. Just now... I really thought I was going to die."
"They... suddenly stopped..." Terror dyed Qi An's beautiful eyes. It was as if he were recalling the earlier scene, his frail body trembling involuntarily. Seeing the distrustful gazes of the others, Qi An could only repeat helplessly, "I really don't know."
He was like a small animal whose territory had been invaded, huddling timidly in a dark corner, too delicate to survive without others' care.
"Let's leave it at that." Zhang Zhaoqi said flatly.
Jin Huijuan disagreed, but ultimately relented. Qi An's performance fit the character she knew perfectly—nearly flawless. No matter howsecretively they questioned him, they couldn't extract anything.
Wang Xiangqun remained silent too. Instead, Lin Jiajia wore a somewhat malicious expression.
When this matter was settled, Zhang Zhaoqi and the others began examining the scene beyond the door. Their expressions all changed.
Inside was an underground palace.
The floor space was enormous, the craftsmanship exquisite, beyond what even modern technology could achieve.
Most importantly, the layout inside was identical to the palace they had seen in the earlier frescoes.
Zhang Zhaoqi's indifferent expression suddenly turned serious. A talisman appeared in his hand out of nowhere. The bright yellow paper talisman bore strange patterns drawn in red cinnabar ink.
At this moment, the talisman began burning from bottom to top. The ashes fell silently to the ground. He asked coldly, "Who are you?"
"So someone actually managed to get past the guards?" The speaker laughed lightly. Jin Huijuan戒备着 surrounded the area. A ghostly figure suddenly appeared in the main hall.
He had a body of normal human height, dressed in ancient robes, appearing gentle and refined overall, yet his form was translucent. "Don't worry, I won't harm you. In your terms, I'm probably just a... butler?"
The butler's words didn't dispel Qi An and the others' vigilance.
After the incident with the statues, they had already accepted that this ancient tomb held existence beyond the realm of science.
Seeing their hostile, on-edge appearance, the butler showed no anger. Instead, he casually yawned in a humanized manner. "You've broken into someone else's tomb. Even if I don't act, the master will. This place doesn't welcome uninvited guests."
"Master?" Jin Huijuan asked.
"Right. The General is still sleeping. When he awakens..." The butler smiled with a hint of ill intent.
The General.
These two words struck like thunder for the transmigrators.
This quest's main mission was to find the General's treasure. But after transmigrating in, none of them had received any useful information. Even the system hadn't provided a single hint of background.
One could say the entire mission lacked any clear direction.
And now the General had actually appeared.
"May we pay respects to the General?" Jin Huijuan asked cautiously.
"You want to pay respects to him?" The butler seemed surprised. "Paying respects means death, but... it's not completely impossible. As long as..."
"You find the General's treasure."
"The General's treasure? What is it?" Jin Huijuan asked urgently.
"I wouldn't know. All the ghosts here have lost their memories. We only remember that the General has a treasure he cherishes above all else. There might be clues scattered throughout this palace." The butler said lazily. "So, do you want to go look?"
"May we go?" Jin Huijuan hesitated.
"Mm... keeping strangers from trespassing on the master's home falls within my authority." The butler looked at them with an ambiguous smile. His face was very young, indicating he had died at a young age. "But if you're going to search for the treasure, that's permissible."
His gaze swept across the group before him, carrying a probing quality. Everyone in this tomb was searching for that treasure, including... himself.
"However, there's one condition. Each of you must name one characteristic of this treasure every single day. There will be punishment for those who can't or who get it wrong."
"Aren't you the one who lost your memories? How can you judge right from wrong?" Zhang Zhaoqi asked calmly.
"If you say the right thing, I'll remember." The butler smiled, not at all thinking this condition was too subjective.
"What do you all think?" Jin Huijuan really wanted to agree, but she still asked for the others' choices. Their current situation could be described as extremely unfavorable.
"May I ask one question?" Qi An didn't answer her. Instead, he posed another question. "Why do you speak our language? The speech from your time shouldn't be quite the same as ours now, right?"
Once he said this, the others also realized this person spoke differently from the statues. Most likely, this tomb still maintained some kind of connection with the outside world.
"Why?" The butler paused momentarily on Qi An's face, his gaze flickering with deeper meaning. He leisurely laughed without hurry. "We naturally have our own methods. If you find clues about the treasure, I'll tell you."
Zhang Zhaoqi and the others ultimately agreed to this requirement. Jin Huijuan looked around at Qi An, Lin Jiajia, and Wang Xiangqun, then had Zhang Zhaoqi take out some food they had prepared from the large backpack. From the moment they stepped into the ancient tomb, quite some time had already passed. After hours of walking and running, everyone looked haggard.
To ensure sufficient food supplies, Jin Huijuan had bought compressed biscuits—small in size but high in energy. She and Zhang Zhaoqi ate with neutral expressions, as if they were no strangers to such fare.
Qi An's expression also showed no change. He quietly opened the packaging and took small bites, his cheeks puffed out like a little squirrel hoarding nuts.
It was Wang Xiangqun and Lin Jiajia who wore uneasy expressions. Wang Xiangqun had been raised delicately since childhood and disliked food that looked like it came from cheap packaging. But considering their circumstances, he grit his teeth and ate anyway.
Lin Jiajia's slender fingers crumpled the wrapper. "I want my canned meat."
Their supplies had been purchased separately, but earlier, for convenience, Lin Jiajia had everyone place their things in Zhang Zhaoqi's tall backpack.
She had thought everyone would get their own food, but never imagined it would be evenly distributed compressed biscuits.
Zhang Zhaoqi didn't even glance at Lin Jiajia. Finishing his meal, he closed his eyes to rest. Jin Huijuan, however, was deep in thought, studying Lin Jiajia repeatedly as if hesitating over something.
"If you don't like it, don't eat." Zhang Zhaoqi said coldly, glancing at Jin Huijuan as he spoke.
Their team appeared to be led by Jin Huijuan, but in reality, Zhang Zhaoqi was the true backbone. The moment he spoke, the hesitation in Jin Huijuan's eyes vanished. She continued dutifully, "I don't recommend the team splitting up to search for clues. That would be too slow."
"Split up?" Wang Xiangqun exclaimed. He swallowed hard. "Wouldn't that be extremely dangerous?"
Based on what the butler had described, this palace contained numerous ghosts. They had all lost their memories. Some, like the butler, retained their intellect, while others had completely lost their sanity. But without exception, they all despised humans who dared intrude upon this tomb.
If they were unlucky enough to encounter these ghosts while searching for clues, they could easily be killed.
"If we can't find enough clues, we'll still be penalized for not being able to name enough distinct characteristics." Jin Huijuan's expression was cold and stern. "Don't look at that butler seeming so eager to talk. Who knows what he's really thinking inside. He's able to be a respected butler in this tomb—he's no simple character. And clearly, he's using us."