Beside him stood several animal-shaped stone statues. The walls were covered with oil paintings. One depicted an old man leading a large black dog, which, for some reason, reminded me of my deceased big black dog.
From the finger of the old man in the painting, we discovered a blue gem. If my eyesight hadn't been so sharp to notice and remove it, everyone would have surely overlooked this detail.
After taking the gem, I compared it with the green emerald passed down in my family. They looked similar, only differing in color. He Xin then said, "How could this be? Is this a coincidence?"
I didn't know how to answer, swallowing hard. What was this place?
Could it be that our ancestors had been here before?
Who was that old man in the painting?
I examined the man in the painting closely. The old man had long white hair and held a dragon-headed cane, the dragon head sculpted with lifelike detail. The old man's clothes were very ancient, blue and green, and he wore black cloth shoes.
Seeing He Xiaoyu suddenly recognize him, she exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't that the clan elder?"
"You mean the He family clan elder?"
"That's right. This place is a bit strange. Could this be..."
"He Jia Bao!" He Jinghui seemed to answer our question deliberately.
Speaking of this name, I had actually seen it in my grandfather's secret manual. It was said that there were many He Jia Bao scattered across China. This place was once land bought by our He family. You must know that our He family was a prominent clan back then, only beginning to decline in modern times.
He Jinghui told me, "That's right, I remember that all He Jia Bao have such a layout. How could I forget? Perhaps it's because I haven't been back in too long."
"Brother, you're really something. The clan elder has been thinking of you for a long time. After this, why don't we go back and see everyone with the young master? Otherwise, everyone will forget about us!"
"Let's talk about it after we leave here. I don't know why E Xuehai wants us to come here; I haven't heard his voice yet."
E Xuehai was different from the other managers of the Lost Valley; he seemed mysterious. After taking the gem, we left the room and continued forward, walking through the deep corridor on the smooth floor. The footsteps of everyone seemed quiet, as if not wanting to attract attention from the surroundings. He Jinghui walked ahead of us, clearing the way like a bodyguard.
Junzi Jian held his sword horizontally, like a machine gun braced in front of him. I held He Xin's gun; although half the bullets were gone, it could still last for a while.
He Xiaoyu was at the rear, and with the two of us in the middle, it felt much safer.
Exiting the corridor, we found ourselves in another room of He Jia Bao. This place had many windows and quite a few mud troughs. He Jinghui touched the surrounding layout, which resembled ruins, and his eyes deepened. With a hint of nostalgia, he told us, "This place should have been a sniper post in the past. The He family would ambush here and snipe at approaching enemies."
"Was He Jia Bao only used to defend against enemies?" I asked.
"That's right. The family established many such ancient forts, each manned by a certain number of people, usually around 500."
"That sounds quite impressive. Our He family was truly a prominent clan in the past!" He Xin said proudly.
No one answered her. Everyone's attention was on the marks on the ground. As soon as I saw a deep scratch on the ground, I knew that machine guns had been placed here. Faintly, I could still see scattered bullet casings on the ground, along with some gunpowder particles. This made me inevitably recall the scenes of the He family fighting enemies in the past.
He Xiaoyu told me, "These people should be members of the organization. Our He family and they have been enemies for many years. Even in this generation, we cannot escape this fate."
"That's why I must take the time to go back and see the clan elder. He will surely give me some information."
"That's right. I'll take you back to He Jia Zhai then."
We chatted as we left the sniper post and exited through a door, arriving in another large hall of He Jia Bao. Here, many smashed stone statues appeared. Combining this with the previous statue of Jesus, I realized that after He Jia Bao was occupied, it had been remodeled. This place should have contained many treasures of our He family. Looking at the ancient artifacts in this hall, the marks on the walls where they were smashed, and the scattered bottles and boxes on the floor, the containers that once held things. We walked through these chaotic objects and suddenly discovered several skeletons leaning against a pillar made of white jade.
He Jinghui squatted down and examined them, finding that the person had died many years ago. He was still wearing the He family's green emerald. It was only then that I realized this heirloom was treated like cheap goods here; several skeletons could be found with them.
Don't even mention me; even He Xin was shocked at that moment: "Dad, this..."
I shook my head without saying much. He Xiaoyu explained, "Your father gave this to your mother back then. He didn't know these were treasures that all He family members possessed, as your grandfather didn't explicitly state it."
"But these green emeralds don't look cheap, do they!"
"They are made of cold jade, perhaps very precious."
As we were discussing, we suddenly heard the sound of stone doors being sealed and locked around the hall. He Jinghui was the first to react and said, "There's movement!"
I thought E Xuehai was about to appear. Sure enough, in the next second, we heard his voice: "My dear old friends, I never expected you to finally arrive at He Jia Bao, hahaha. This mountain was indeed He family territory in the past, but I never thought that in these years, we, the North Star, would occupy it. A portion of our people have been living here in seclusion, and no one discovered that we had established a stronghold here. Until it gradually developed and increased its defenses, no one could find this place anymore. Even if one could reach here, it would only be a dead end."
"E Xuehai, you can't escape! Do you think locking us in here is enough? We will definitely find you!" I retorted.
"Ahahaha, Detective He, don't think you're so great just because you have two experts by your side. In this He Jia Bao, there are traps set by us, the North Star, everywhere. If I press just one button, you will all be pierced by ten thousand arrows and die. Even the most powerful masters can only await their death obediently here. However, dying in the fort where your ancestors once lived might not be a bad thing, right?"