I thought it would be a pile of valuables, but they were actually some bronze artifacts. Some of them looked like the Gong that was popular in the Western Zhou Dynasty, that is, the wine vessel similar to a wine jug used for pouring and decanting wine in that period. The so-called Gongchou Jiaocuo means this. They are in the shape of four-legged birds and beasts. I don't know whether they are from the late Shang Dynasty or the Western Zhou Dynasty. In short, they are definitely valuable items.

The reason I recognized it was because I once did a guarding mission for a museum, guarding against theft of treasures. At that time, I heard the curator introduce it and had some impression of it.

Most of these bronze wares are gongs, jugs, horns and the like. If we call them that in modern terms, they are a bunch of cups. Ahem, it seems quite tragic to say this. They are just a set of utensils for drinking, nothing special. I can only imagine why they are so heavy. I wonder which museum those soldiers stole these from and put them here.

But I thought that I deserved to be swallowed by the snake for stealing these ancient famous artifacts. People who do this kind of things will surely suffer the consequences of their evil deeds.

The girls could not hide their disappointment. They had thought there would be some gold, silver and jewelry, but instead they turned out to be things from old friends. Their hopes were dashed.

"What! We spent so much effort and found these broken copper and iron. We are not archaeologists and now we are trapped and waiting to die. It would be nice if we could comfort ourselves with some gold, silver and jewelry. But we have nothing but these heavy and impractical things. We might as well leave it buried!" Song Yingchun said with a sad face.

"Forget it, let's take it back. After all, it is a cultural relic. If it can be rescued, we can hand it back. If it really can't be taken back, we can use it as a cooking utensil ourselves." I said.

"I think this is good news. At the very least, with so many treasures lost, someone in the country will definitely send people to look for them. If they have some skills, they will be able to find clues and maybe come ashore to find us. This will increase our chances of being rescued." Bai Lu said.

"Sister Bailu is right. If we always think positively about everything, bad things can turn into good things." Yunwen said.

Bai Lu smiled at Yunwen in response.

I took out all the items to see how many there were. There were only three in total. However, if they were put in a pawn shop or auction house by someone abroad, they might be sold for hundreds of millions. It was really a treasure.

At the end of the box, there was a piece of kraft paper. We took it out and found markings of east, south, west, north, and latitude and longitude on it. There was also a plane map, but the graphics were extremely simple, basically consisting of a few lines. It could be barely seen that it was an island, and some curved and sharp patterns represented mountains.

There is some English written near the lines, which also indicates some features.

"Yunwen, can you translate it for me? What is written on it? There is also a sentence written on the north side of the drawing." I said.

Yunwen took the paper and said, "It shows the directions of east, south, west, north, longitude and latitude, and the meaning of the lines, such as mountains, rivers, swamps, etc. It basically marks the island. It seems that he knows this island very well. On the back is a simple sentence, saying: 'Move towards the ultimate treasure.'"

"Treasure? What treasure? Could it be that the purpose of those soldiers coming to the island is to look for treasure, not to seek refuge?" I asked.

"It's possible. They came prepared and planned to stay for a long time to look for treasures. Otherwise, who would intentionally bring wheat seeds with them when fleeing? They must have expected that they would flee and escape to a deserted island, so they did this deliberately." Bai Lu said.

"It seems that these soldiers are from some organization that smuggles contraband. They are not part of a regular organization and deserve to be put to death," I said.

Now when I think about the process of how I discovered the treasure chest yesterday, I can infer something. Since the treasure and the map were placed in the box, and the treasure chest was roughly hidden, it means that the author of the diary hid it on a whim after knowing that he would not live long. Therefore, there are many loopholes in it, which I noticed keenly.

"This map is so detailed, it seems they have been here more than once." Yunwen said.

"No, that was made using a certain song map as a reference. It can be seen clearly at a glance. If you don't understand this, you are really a country bumpkin." Song Yingchun said.

In this way, we have roughly figured out the whole story, including the origins of those soldiers and the diary writer, as well as their purpose. The only thing we haven't figured out is the red dot on the map. What is inside it that made them go through so much trouble to come to this desolate land and even lose their lives.

However, apart from speculation and curiosity, we have no other way to verify it. After all, Bigfoot lives on that mountain. If we can't figure it out, we can explore it, but we want to live well and hold on until rescue, so those things can only be put on hold for the time being and we don't think about it. We all understand this deeply.

"Each of you takes a bronze artifact, and I'll carry the box and take the things back first. This wooden box can be used to store food. You can put fish and other things in it so that they won't be taken away by wild beasts at night. It'll provide an extra layer of protection," I said.

"Yes, that's right. I'll put some kneaded camphor leaf balls in it to prevent termites, insects and the like." Bai Lu said.

We worked right away and moved everything back to the Huoquan old house. We took a short break, tidied up, and waited for me to assign tasks.

"The matter of the treasure chest is settled for now. The next thing we have to do is to store food for the winter. The wind has been getting colder recently. I just went out and saw that the fallen leaves are getting more and more. It is already late autumn, so we have to prepare early. As the saying goes, 'once you step on frost, ice will form.' Only by making plans in advance can we prevent disasters before they happen." I said.

"That's right. Storing food for the winter is what we need to do now. We should shift our focus away from those treasure hunting games," said Song Bailu.

The other two girls also nodded in approval.

"Then I will arrange today's tasks. Yunwen and Yingchun, you will be responsible for watching the house, protecting the food, and preparing the dry firewood to be burned tonight. Bailu and I will be responsible for collecting food. If it is a little late, you will light a fire immediately to prevent wild beasts from invading. Surround the house with a fence. In case of emergency, blow the whistle immediately. Do you understand?" I asked.

So Song Bailu and I hurried out to find food, but the forest had become increasingly bleak, even more desolate than when we came here, with almost no life. Medicinal herbs and the like would be difficult to obtain, so we went to collect some wild jujubes and found very few wild vegetable roots. It was getting dark, and the day was about to be wasted, but there was very little food, so we felt very depressed.

"Brother Zhou Bo, those who should hibernate should prepare to hibernate, and those who should hide should hide. Winter is coming, and there is a shortage of supplies here. Even wild fruits may not grow. I did pick up some pine cones, wild chestnuts and the like a few days ago, but I just looked around and there are none left. What do you think we should do? Can we survive this winter?" Bai Lu asked.

"If all else fails, we can only go fishing in the sea, but it's a bit cold," I said.

"That won't work. Your legs will be damaged by the cold. If you get sick and lose your ability to move, there will be no hope for us." Bai Lu said.

Bai Lu and I were at a loss, but as we were walking, we were suddenly attracted by a tree, and it seemed to be our answer!

I saw small fan-shaped fungi growing in the tree, layered like black ears growing on the tree, emitting a familiar smell.

Bai Lu and I looked at each other and shouted at the same time: "Black fungus!"

And laughed at the same time.