Chapter 6, The Panlong Ring (Part 1)

The items within these ancient houses have long been thoroughly sought after by the ancestors of the Baruch family

The cleaning of the ancestral hall is indeed quite simple

Oh

Lin Lei turned around and looked at a large ancient house in the distance, "That one, the largest ancient house. Spend ten minutes searching; if nothing is found, immediately proceed to training"

Lin Lei made a decision and ran towards the largest ancient house.

Alas

First, search the ground

Upon entering the ancient house, Lin Lei detected a foul odor, and in the corner, there were dense cobwebs, with spiders visibly crawling upon them

On the ground, on the wooden frame, or check the walls for any hidden mechanisms

Lin Lei is only eight years old after all. Although his family upbringing has made him relatively mature for his age, there is still a significant gap between him and adults, and his thinking is not yet comprehensive enough.

Each and every ornament is on the verge of decay, and none of them hold any value

Lin Lei puffed his cheeks and looked around, "Ancestors of the family, please leave me something, even if it is just a small trinket."

The wooden rod struck solidly against the wooden frame

If I can find valuable items and then give them to my father, he will surely be very happy

The ancestral hall is cleaned and organized every month; in reality, within just a month, there is hardly any dirt in the hall, and a simple wipe is sufficient. Moreover, with nearly an hour until the evening training, what should be done?

Moreover, it is a very spacious and grand living room

This wooden frame has a long history, and after more than one hundred years of corrosion, it has long been unable to bear the weight. When the wooden pole struck down hard, it caused the frame to creak loudly.

Lin Lei coughed two or three times, waving his sleeve to disperse the dust

Bang

Lin Lei's gaze swept across the ancient house

"Puff, puff"

After checking the last drawer of the wooden frame, Lin Lei felt a wave of disappointment in his heart

Lin Lei stepped out of the first ancient house and then walked towards the second ancient house

Lin Lei greatly enjoys the feeling of 'treasure hunting in ancient houses,' but he forgets that if he can think of treasure hunting in ancient houses, his father, and even his grandfather, as well as the older generations of the Baruch family, would not be able to think of it

The ancient residence of Baruch has a history of over 5,000 years and a library.

Bored, Lin Lei looked around.

Lin Lei walked out of the ancestral hall, having to admit that he had prepared too thoroughly; a task he had originally planned to complete in one hour was finished in just fifteen minutes

The front yard is cleaned and organized every day, but the back garden, which is even more expansive, is covered in dust in all the buildings and courtyards except for the ancestral hall, and there are even cracks. Chaotic wild grasses and lush green moss have overgrown the corners and stone paths.

According to the account in the book, it is quite normal for walls to have mechanisms built into them

Lin Lei had already gained considerable experience while searching through several ancient houses, having previously broken some decorative items on the ground.

Lin Lei carefully tapped on the wall, listening to the sound

Look at the sky

Lin Lei waved his hand and walked towards the door of the ancient house

The wooden frame, as tall as Lin Lei and another person, ultimately collapsed with a loud "bang," crashing to the ground and shattering into seven or eight pieces, raising a cloud of dust in the ancient house. Amidst the swirling dust, Lin Lei failed to notice that, with the frame's destruction, a black ring, hidden within the frame's layers for an unknown period, also fell out and rolled onto the ground.

Lin Lei once again stepped out of another ancient house

Thinking of this, Lin Lei's heart couldn't help but race wildly.

Hmph, go back

This ancient house does not have it, the next one—

Lin Lei looked at himself and indeed found himself quite dirty. This made it somewhat difficult for him to calm his mind.

Hearing a sound, Lin Lei involuntarily turned to look behind him, and upon seeing it, he was greatly alarmed: "Not good, it's going to collapse"

It is truly unfortunate, I am covered in dust. I estimate that training will begin shortly, so I should quickly wash myself and change into a fresh set of clothes

Lin Lei shook his head helplessly and then continued to observe other things, using the wooden rod in his hand to clear away layers of spider webs, carefully examining each item.

Lin Lei quickly stepped aside

Begin searching the walls and various decorations, sigh, this is my last hope

Lin Lei took a deep breath and immediately began to walk towards the dilapidated house next to the ancestral hall, stepping carefully with each stride. In his hand, he picked up a sturdy wooden pole to sweep away the cobwebs, meticulously observing for any items.

After searching for so long, I surprisingly found not even a single valuable item from hetushu.com, leaving me exhausted and covered in sweat, with a layer of dust on me

Yes, there are approximately fifteen minutes until the evening training session

There are still quite a number of buildings in the back garden, after all, the front courtyard where Lin Lei and the others reside is only one-third of the entire estate. The area in the back is much larger. If he were to search everything thoroughly, Lin Lei estimates it would take a whole day.

If these ornaments are not decayed, are new, they should be worth quite a bit of money

From the decoration and layout of the ancient house, Lin Lei could also tell that this is the living room

Lin Lei carefully observed every corner, even looking behind the decayed decorations on the wall

As he gazed at these ancient, decaying buildings, Lin Lei's eyes gradually brightened. "The back garden has many areas that haven't been tidied or cleaned for over a hundred years. Could there be some ancient, valuable items inside?"

Lin Lei, feeling indignant, forcefully threw the wooden rod in his hand onto the nearby wooden rack, as if he wanted to vent the frustration and resentment of having wasted nearly an hour of effort in that one throw

On the continent of Yulan, there are 12 months in a year, each with 30 days, a day consists of 24 hours, and each hour is divided into 60 minutes. Generally, nobles possess clocks that allow them to know the precise time, while those who are extremely wealthy or of high status may even own very exquisite pocket watches.

By the wall of this ancient house, there is a wooden rack, and on the rack, there are drawers. Lin Lei immediately opened each drawer to examine them closely, but the drawers were very clean, completely empty. If there was anything, it was merely dust.

As the sun sets in the west, the fiery red clouds fill nearly half of the sky, casting a red hue over the entire earth

This ancient house covers a larger area than the living room of the front courtyard residence. Upon entering, Lin Lei observed carefully: "I estimate that several hundred years ago, this was the place where our Baruch family gathered for meals."

Numerous cobwebs cover the surfaces of some ornaments; upon closer inspection, the decorations on the walls of the ancient house are indeed very old. However, those ornaments have long since decayed, leaving only a faint outline of their original forms.

As per the usual practice, Lin Lei lowered his head and widened his eyes, meticulously searching every corner. Whenever he spotted something, he would poke it with a wooden stick a couple of times to examine it closely. If it turned out to be a stone, he would simply abandon it. As evening training was approaching, Lin Lei's searching speed increased significantly.