Chapter 119: 118, Diving To Scout The Path, Discovering Underground Treasure
A group of people landed on Akdamar Island.
It wasn’t far from the shoreline, located in the middle section of Lake Van.
At this time, it was late March, early spring in Turkey.
Snow had not yet melted on the distant mountains, but Akdamar Island was already full of spring vitality.
Those trees and blooming flowers were very similar to peach blossoms from China.
The treasure hunting team had no interest in appreciating this beautiful scenery and split up to explore the small island.
The small island wasn’t large, and the Holy Cross Church was located on the east side of the island.
There are many Holy Cross Churches around the world.
For example: the Holy Cross Church in Florence, Italy; the Holy Cross Church in Seville, Spain; the Holy Cross Church in Cologne, Germany.
Relatively speaking, the Holy Cross Church on Akdamar Island isn’t well known.
But it hides a shocking secret.
Fang Wen let the Weimar soldiers and American agents search the island.
He was certain that without his intervention, these people could not possibly find the treasure.
After all, after a thousand years, surely someone would have explored here, and since nothing has been discovered until now, it indicates the treasure is hidden in a very secretive place.
The German officer adopted a military action strategy, treating the entire island as a military position, dividing it into seven areas, each exploring separately, and notifying companions upon any discovery.
Indiana focused on the church, clearly believing the treasure should be hidden inside the church.
After they had been busy for a while, Fang Wen closed his eyes and tried to sense that mysterious energy fluctuation.
He could sense it, but it was somewhat unstable.
This energy fluctuation felt the same on the airplane as it did on the island.
But it was fixed only within the area of this small island; it disappeared when moving farther away.
What was going on?
Fang Wen simply walked around the small island, searching for the feeling.
He started from the church and circled the small island once from there.
This walk led to a new discovery.
When he reached the west side of the small island, he felt the energy weaken.
This meant the treasure was not on this side, but on the opposite side, the east side of the island.
Wasn’t the Holy Cross Church right there on the eastern part of Akdamar Island?
Could it be, as Indiana judged, that the treasure was right below the Holy Cross Church?
Then why, after more than a thousand years, had no one found it?
Fang Wen immediately walked back and directly entered the church.
The church wasn’t large; besides the main building, there were some houses where ancient priests lived and worked.
Fang Wen casually entered, seemingly appreciating the religious murals in the architecture, but actually searching for the source of the mysterious energy.
He closed his eyes, concentrated his spiritual power, and tried to establish a spatial sense in his imagination.
At this moment, he was immersed in his imagined Akdamar Island.
That mysterious energy source seemed to be very deep underground.
Connecting himself as a point to the energy source in a straight line, Fang Wen sensed it was directly below the church, at least 100 meters deep.
This was a rocky small island not far from the water surface; 100 meters deep would be in the underwater part of the small island.
Fang Wen exited the mechanical perception state and speculated in his mind.
1000 years ago, the Vaspurakan Kingdom built a church on this small island.
Why didn’t they build the church in nearby Van City, but instead on a not-very-large island?
This was clearly inconvenient for people to go to the church to pray; it wasn’t very practical.
It should be that when building the church at the time, they simultaneously dug an underground tunnel to bury the treasure.
Once the treasure was buried, the church above was the best cover.
100 meters deep, probably all stone below, and with the church covering above, no wonder no one found it in 1000 years.
But just digging a 100-meter-deep pit like that?
Clearly inconvenient.
The workload would be too great; even the explosives brought this time might not be enough.
It would also attract attention due to the loud noise.
Fang Wen thought again.
Although the person who buried the treasure back then likely met with misfortune later, when he buried it, he must have thought about retrieving it.
In that case, there should be a secret passage nearby allowing entry to the treasure hiding place to retrieve the treasure.
Where was that secret passage?
The day’s treasure hunting time ended.
The treasure hunting team, disguised as tourists, set up tents outside the church, pretending to be camping.
For this, they bought some ingredients in Van City to barbecue.
While grilling food, they discussed.
“There’s nothing special here except the church.”
“We explored the surroundings and found no other man-made traces.”
“It’s very likely inside the church.”
Fang Wen joined the discussion.
“It is in the church; I can confirm it’s directly below the church, but buried very deep, at least 100 meters.”
Indiana analyzed: “If it’s 100 meters deep, we need professional drilling equipment, but drilling a well inside the church is impossible; once locals discover it, they’ll stop us.”
His words made everyone fall into contemplation.
Lin Shuiwang suggested: “How about digging a slanted tunnel? Tomb robbers on our side dig slanted tunnels from beside the tomb to enter.”
“No, it’s all stone below; a vertical shaft might be possible, but a slanted tunnel would be even harder.” The English-speaking officer rejected the idea.
Fang Wen said: “Have you considered that the treasure hider from 1000 years ago, having buried the treasure, didn’t think about retrieving it? Perhaps he had a secret passage to the treasure point, but this secret passage shouldn’t be on the ground, as that would be easily discovered.”
“Right, underwater.” Lin Shuiwang said in surprise.
For this Fan Lake treasure hunt, they had prepared diving equipment, which could be used just right.
The next morning early, the treasure hunting team took a boat to the vicinity of the small island.
They started by swimming in the water; the early spring water temperature was a bit cold, and they couldn’t persist long before getting back on the boat one after another.
Unable to stay underwater for long, they couldn’t investigate the situation below.
They could only use the scuba gear.
The German officers took out the German army deep diving equipment specially prepared for this.
It was completely different from the scuba gear Fang Wen had used before.
A spherical enclosed helmet with a mesh window in front; the helmet and rubber diving suit were connected. It needed to be entered through the opening at the back.
With help from several people, a German officer completed suiting up.
He jumped into the water with an air tank on his back.
Ten minutes later, the signal rope was tugged, and everyone hurriedly pulled him out.
He shook his arm but couldn’t speak.
Only after removing the diving suit did he speak:
“It’s very dark below; I can’t see clearly. I must get close to the shoreline and feel my way bit by bit. Also, the water isn’t deep underwater; no need for an air tank. Extend the breathing tube above the water surface, and I can breathe.”
Yes, the freshwater lake has many microorganisms, so visibility isn’t high.
The small boat simply went to the island edge, and the diver with the extended breathing tube went underwater again.
Because he was using a breathing tube, he could stay underwater for a long time; people on the boat just needed to hold the tube and keep water from entering.
In this way, the small boat slowly circled the island on the water surface, while the diver underwater circled the island investigating the underwater situation.
Every hour, another Weimar officer would go down to continue.
The one coming up would carefully record the underwater section he had explored.
Thus, starting from the east side of the small island where the church was located, the circling exploration continued.
The underwater situation gradually became clear.
Below was a small slope, with the deepest point at 120 meters.
The divers followed the small slope around the island and finally made a discovery on the west side of the small island.
Underwater on the west side, there were some strange stone walls, similar to a city wall.
Definitely man-made.
This indicated the entrance should be on this side.
This surprised Fang Wen; the treasure was buried on the east side, but the secret passage was on the other side of the island, penetrating the entire small island—no wonder no one had discovered this secret.
But where was the entrance?
To find the entrance, several German army officers took turns diving to search.
Heaven rewards the diligent; following the man-made stone wall carefully, they discovered a strange device.
It was a rust-spotted metal pull ring embedded in the stone wall.
The diver tried to pull out the metal pull ring but couldn’t move it at all.
Obviously, after 1000 years of corrosion and rust, the metal pull ring was stuck inside.
Pulling this thing required more than manpower.
The diver tied the pull ring to a rope, then connected it to the small boat, trying to pull.
But the boat’s pulling force wasn’t enough.
For this, they rented a larger boat from Van City, and when night fell, they started the big boat.
The rope instantly went taut, splashing a water line on the surface.
Under the immense force, the underwater iron ring was pulled out.
Where was the secret passage entrance?
The group hurriedly went ashore and searched the west side of the small island.
After searching, they finally found a sunken pit.
That was the secret passage to the underground treasure hiding point.
With excited moods, everyone was about to enter.
“Wait,” Fang Wen spoke to stop them: “Below hasn’t been ventilated for 1000 years; there might be toxic gases. Don’t rush in.”
Subsequently, they waited two hours, and finally a German army officer took the lead into the treasure point.
Everyone entered with torches, proceeding through the downward-sloping tunnel.
“Watch ahead for traps.” Indiana reminded.
Lin Shuiwang and the English-speaking officer translated his words to the front.
Everyone agreed with this warning; the people at the very front were extremely cautious, stopping at any suspicious spot and using tools to probe.
There were indeed traps here, mainly spears hidden in the stone walls that would shoot out from holes in both side walls when triggered.
In ancient times, one careless step would pierce right through.
But after 1000 years, with the outside chains all rust-spotted, these wooden spears had rotted; even those better preserved lacked mechanism power support and could at most poke out a spearhead.
Time rendered the setups here useless; the treasure hunting team, encountering no danger, continued forward.
After the tunnel went down a distance, the road became level, heading straight east.
This matched Fang Wen’s judgment, pointing directly to the church location.
Everyone was excited; the payoff was finally coming after their efforts.
After walking several hundred meters, a stone door appeared ahead.
The stone door was engraved with strange patterns and text.
Unfortunately, no archaeology expert was brought this time; the text on it was like heavenly script to the treasure hunting team.
They were more concerned with how to open the stone door.
Everyone began discussing.
“There should be a mechanism that can be opened from outside.”
“Even if there’s a mechanism, the ones outside have rotted; this should be the same.”
“Then blow it open.”
The discussion quickly reached a conclusion; everyone agreed to use the fastest way to open the stone door.
But using explosives couldn’t be done carelessly; too much would collapse the tunnel, wasting everything.
Two officers proficient in explosives business drilled a hole in the lower right corner of the stone door, then put in gunpowder and detonated; this would have much less power, and if one time didn’t open it, a few more tries would do.
After loading the charge and installing the fuze, everyone hurriedly retreated.
Bang.
A light sound, the tunnel slightly shook, and powder and lime fell.
Fortunately, it was a small amount of explosives; this 1000-year-old secret passage was of dubious quality.
After the explosion, everyone went to check.
The lower right corner of the stone door was blasted open with a 0.3-meter gap; pushing hard on the stone door, it already showed signs of moving.
Obviously, one more blast would do.
Subsequently, the officer drilled and loaded on the left side of the stone door.
Another explosion light sound.
Followed by a dull impact sound.
The stone door fell.
Once the smoke and dust cleared, the treasure hunting team impatiently rushed in.
Lin Shuiwang wanted to follow but was held back by Fang Wen.
“Mister, we?”
Before Lin Shuiwang finished, Fang Wen shook his head and said lowly: “At a time like this, never be greedy; enter later.”
100 meters directly below the church was a hollowed-out stone room, about 40 square meters.
Inside were many wooden boxes.
Treasure right before their eyes, the 7 officers breathed heavily, their attention turning to the Americans.
Indiana and his assistant also kept their distance, cautiously alert.
No one was sure if at this moment someone would, driven by greed, attack their own people.
They soon discovered Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang hadn’t entered.
This instead became a buffer between the two sides.
Indiana said: “I have a suggestion: everyone hand over their weapons to Fang Wen; this way we can all relax and appreciate these treasures.”
The Weimar officers discussed, and the English-speaking officer spoke.
“We also think this is safer. Since the treasure is found, no one wants to die here, right?”
“Right.” Indiana unbuckled his gun belt and shouted outside: “Fang, come in; we have something to discuss with you.”
Fang Wen entered the treasure room, heard both sides’ words, and wasn’t surprised; this was indeed the best method. He, an Eastern foreigner, had no ability to swallow the treasure.
He had Lin Shuiwang go to Indiana’s side, while he went to the Weimar officers’ side, collecting both sides’ weapons together.
After this, both sides even invited each other to check, confirming no hidden weapons, before starting to open boxes and view the treasure.
One by one, the rotten boxes were opened; no need to pry locks— a light touch would make the boxes fall apart.
Revealing the treasures inside.
Inside,
there were once very precious weapons and equipment, but all rust-spotted.
There was also oxidized gold and silver: dark yellow gold coins, black silver jewelry.
The best preserved were large amounts of jewelry; these precious stones remained incomparably beautiful even after a millennium.
A king’s treasure was indeed plentiful; even with some damaged, it still held great value.
This delighted the treasure hunting team members.
Fang Wen, however, was searching for his own treasure.
He sensed it.
Right ahead.
On that wall.
He walked over and tapped the wall with the gun muzzle.
With a clatter.
The entire wall turned into fragments and collapsed.
It was a lime fake wall that couldn’t escape time’s ravages; a light touch shattered it.
Behind the fake wall was a huge cross.
Over a person’s height, inlaid with golden flower crowns.
Looking closely, there was a faint red on the cross.
As the lime wall collapsed, the others also came over.
Unlike Fang Wen, they showed surprised expressions upon seeing this thing.
“Is this the True Cross?”
“Oh my god, could it be real.”
“This is a miracle.”
One by one, they knelt before the cross, devoutly praying.
Lin Shuiwang said lowly: “Mister, is this what you wanted? Looking at their reactions, I’m afraid we can’t take it away.”
Fang Wen didn’t answer; the thing he sensed wasn’t this cross, but hidden in the lime wall fragments.
He walked over, pretending to pray, half-squatting, but placed his right hand on the ground, pocketing a small object.
That thing, though small, was also cross-shaped.
