The little star from the Gobi Desert, handed over to the state, is hailed as a national treasure.

A few minutes later, the rolling sand dunes came to an abrupt end, and a completely different scene appeared before everyone's eyes.

A long earthen wall is half-buried under the yellow sand, revealing the outline of the ground eroded by wind and sand. Even so, it is still majestic and magnificent, like a giant beast that has been sleeping for thousands of years, waiting for people to awaken it.

Walking along the earthen wall, the city gate in the middle has long since disappeared, leaving only a huge gap, like a silent mouth, telling the story of thousands of years of vicissitudes and suffering.

Looking through the gap, there was a straight street with houses on both sides, all of which were now covered in yellow sand.

This must be the ancient city where the Li Tang royal family hid their treasures, according to legend.

The convoy stopped in front of the city gate. Professor Zheng Hong was the first to jump out of the car, holding up the map in his hand and comparing it with everything he saw.

"This is it!" He clapped his hands excitedly. "Commander, look at the rammed earth layers and the brickwork on the city wall. It's at least a thousand years old! But look at these houses. They're clearly Japanese style! It seems the Japanese devils mobilized quite a few troops back then. They not only cleared out the ancient city but also stationed themselves here for a long time."

"Isn't this going a bit too far?" Chief Designer Wang adjusted his glasses, seemingly lost in thought. "How many treasures must the Tang Dynasty have left behind to warrant such a grand undertaking?"

Everyone shook their heads, convinced that the treasure they were about to discover would far exceed their expectations. Commander Bai gave the order, "Set up guard, proceed into the city!"

Engineers led the way with mine detectors, followed closely by combat teams, their guns pointed at the unknown shadows ahead.

Commander Liu and his entourage walked in the middle of the procession. As soon as they entered the city, an atmosphere mixed with the weight of history and the desolation of time enveloped them.

The street layout was roughly discernible, with rotten wood and rusted metal parts scattered everywhere. Pushing open a few relatively intact houses at random, one could see water cups, low tables, and other daily necessities discarded on the Japanese tatami mats, a testament to the haste and panic of the Japanese retreat.

At the end of the street stood a temple-like building, the patterns on the stone pillars in front of the porch long since blurred, and the plaque on it had disappeared.

Commander Bai gave the tactical hand signals, and two soldiers silently approached the side of the door, while another gently pushed open the slightly ajar wooden door. After a moment of silence, a few seconds later, an excited report came from inside: "Sir, we've found something!"

"Enter!"

The door was pushed open, and sunlight streamed in through the opening, illuminating the scene inside the hall. In the center stood a clay sculpture of Guan Yu, painted and seated. Although the colors had faded, his divine power remained, with Zhou Cang standing guard to one side, holding a sword.

The altar and prayer mats under the statue are complete and well-preserved, as if time has stood still here.

Perhaps because the Japanese invaders also deeply revered Guan Yu, they did not destroy this place, allowing everything to be preserved intact.

Behind the statue, several soldiers were surrounding something, their eyes gleaming green. Commander Liu and the others hurried over, and upon seeing the scene before them, they were all utterly shocked!

There were five rows of wooden crates neatly stacked on the ground, four in each row, for a total of twenty.

The wooden crate is sturdy and well-made, clearly not from the Tang Dynasty, but rather equipment used by the Japanese invaders to transport supplies. Clear Japanese markings can still be seen on it.

"Commander, the legendary treasure should be inside!"

The wooden crate was covered with nails and tightly bound with chains, showing that the Japanese invaders had put a lot of effort into protecting these treasures.

No one expected the treasure to be discovered so easily, and some doubts inevitably arose in their hearts—things were going too smoothly, making it seem somewhat unreal.

Commander Bai's eyes narrowed, and he quietly gave the engineering squad leader next to him a wink.

The sapper squad leader immediately understood, took the detection equipment, and carefully scanned each wooden crate. Then he shook his head and said, "Brigade Commander, no explosives or detonating devices were found. It's safe."

"Commander," Brigade Commander Bai inquired, "Shall we open fire?"

Commander Liu hesitated for two seconds, then decisively waved his hand, "Open!"

The soldiers immediately sprang into action, grabbing tools such as crowbars and winches to first break the chain, and then pry open the nails one by one.

Everyone's heart was in their throat with each movement, even Tian Tian craned her little neck, watching intently.

"Crunch, crunch..."

As more and more nails were added, the first box was freed from all its restraints.

Song Dazhuang stepped forward and forcefully pushed open the heavy lid—

In an instant, a golden light shone out, so bright that everyone could hardly open their eyes!

"Wow..." Exclamations, gasps, and incredulous whispers echoed throughout the hall.

Inside the deep and wide box were neatly stacked gold ingots and silver bars. Each gold ingot weighed about one jin (500 grams) and was stamped with the coin pattern of "Kaiyuan Tongbao". The silver bars were mostly large boat-shaped bars weighing "fifty liang" and had inscriptions and ink marks indicating that they were tributes.

This box alone is priceless.

Song Dazhuang stared in disbelief, and it took him a while to recover before he hurriedly opened the second box.

Equally dazzling, this box contained gold and silver utensils, various cups, plates, and bowls. Among them were eight exquisitely crafted small gold bowls, with clearly defined and delicate lotus petals, their tips curled upwards, and intricately engraved with peony flowers, clearly indicating that they were for royal use.

The same dazzling light shone forth once more, but this time the box contained gold and silver utensils—cups, plates, bowls, and goblets, all exquisitely crafted. Among them were eight small gold bowls, with clear and delicate lotus petal patterns, the petal tips curling upwards, and finely engraved lotus flowers, clearly indicating that they were items used by the imperial family.

The third box contained all sorts of jade artifacts: a white jade flying apsara pendant, a green jade camel, a black jade scepter... Each piece was warm and translucent, and at the bottom were several uncarved mutton fat jade pebbles with thick skin and warm texture, truly top-quality.

The fourth box was filled with coins, including neatly arranged Kaiyuan Tongbao coins, as well as silver coins from the Japanese imperial era, and coins from ancient Persia and Rome, which are testaments to the pilgrimage of all nations along the Silk Road.

The other boxes contained a dazzling array of porcelain, jewelry, ornaments, calligraphy and paintings, and countless other items. Except for one box of silk, which had lost its original color due to age and severe oxidation, all the other treasures were in excellent condition.

Looking at the room full of jewels, everyone felt their hearts race and their lips go dry.

Many of the soldiers present came from impoverished backgrounds. Let alone so many precious treasures, even just one of them would be enough to broaden their horizons and leave an unforgettable impression.

When the last wooden crate was opened, everyone was once again stunned—it was filled with colorful gemstones: pigeon-blood red agate, sky-blue turquoise, emerald green jade, shimmering purple crystal, and translucent rubies… Most of them were just rough stones, all piled together.

Zheng Hong stepped forward, picked up a dark gray, hard stone, and examined it carefully in the light, seemingly lost in thought.

"This is incredibly rare! To find a associated mineral rich in multiple mineral elements here! This kind of ore is extremely rare. If we could find such a deposit in our country, it would be a huge boost to the improvement of industrial materials and the development of national defense technology. Its value is no less than that of gold and silver jewelry!"

Professor Qian and Chief Designer Wang also gathered around, carefully examining the raw stone in Zheng Hong's hand.

Sweetie nestled on her father's shoulder, watching the grandfathers' focused expressions, and whispered in Liang Zhe's ear, "Daddy, do the grandfathers really like these stones?"

"That stone is a very important resource, and of course the grandfathers like it."

"Then... if Sweetie could find lots and lots of stones like these, wouldn't the grandpas be even happier?" the little girl asked innocently.

"Of course I will." Liang Zhe smiled and patted her head. "However, these kinds of stones are very rare. They are usually buried deep in the mountains or very deep underground, and they are very hard to find. When we have the chance in the future, Dad will take you to see all over the country, and maybe we can find one there."

Sweetie bit her finger and thought seriously to herself: If we wait that long, the grandpas will be worried for a long time. Sweetie wants to find lots and lots of stones for the grandpas right now.

Commander Liu stepped forward, looked at the boxes of jewels before him, and sighed, "I never imagined these national treasures actually existed! These are precious treasures left to our nation. Fortunately, they weren't looted by the Japanese devils; otherwise, it would have been a deep regret for all of us in Great Xia!"

As Chief Designer Wang made a rough count, he was puzzled. "It's strange. The Japanese devils built roads and sealed boxes for these treasures, but in the end, they didn't take a single item. That doesn't make sense."

This statement also voiced everyone's question.