Mystery One, Toyotomi's Secret Order

The underground warehouse for various boxes is at least several times larger than the display room above.The four walls of the basement, like the stone house above, are also made of rocks.Judging from the texture and texture of the rock, it should be a stone similar to granite.Although it is impossible to determine how thick the walls of these rock blocks are.But it can be asserted that this kind of stone is not produced in Dallas or nearby, but should be shipped from other places.

Typically American houses have lower basement ceilings than typical interior roofs.This is because the basement is mostly used for storing tools, sundries or boiler rooms, and few people come in and out.But this is no ordinary basement, this is an underground palace.As a result, the height of the ceiling is similar to that of the upstairs living room, which is quite a rare design in Texas.

If Zhang Wei is currently in a mansion on the east coast of the United States, or in the underground wine cellar of a European aristocrat's castle, or in the hall of a museum, it would be no surprise.But this place is sparsely populated. Texas, the largest state in the continental United States, is located in a private real estate, which is quite special.In the basement, there are layers of large and small wooden boxes, neatly arranged, and there are no less than hundreds of them, which is dazzling.

When Zhang Wei was still fascinated, the voice of the old cowboy came from the front again.

"You know, the ancestors of our family are all explorers. All the way from the East Coast to the Midwest, to Texas, to New Orleans (New Orleans, Al), to Mexico... It is inevitable to bring some Souvenirs. Over time, boxes pile up..."

Austin is not exaggerating.Judging from the collection of these boxes and cabinets in the basement, even if they have not been opened, but judging from the status and contribution of this family in the history of the United States and Texas, just guessing is tempting enough.

"Son, you are the first outsider to enter this basement in these years."

Austin, who was standing in front of the wooden box, turned around and said these words to Zhang Wei.

"Thank you for your kindness to me, I am truly flattered."

After Austin finished speaking, he walked into the pile of wooden boxes without looking back, and began to rummage through the boxes, as if he didn't hear or care about Zhang Wei's compliment.

Each box in the basement has a number on it, such as A4, B5, etc.As for what treasures are inside, I am afraid even Austin himself is not very clear, because the number is too many and too complicated.Although Zhang Wei wanted to step forward to help the old cowboy.But the master kept silent.Therefore, he felt that it was better to just stay where he was and wait for the result.

Inner warehouse

PrestonHollow (PrestonHollow, TX) 1940

After a while, Austin finally sprang out from the pile of boxes, and took out two boxes, one large and one small, in his hand.The larger one is a dark yellow-brown wooden box, about the size of an adult's arm, about 30-40 centimeters, and it looks solid and heavy.The small box is about the size of a palm, and Austin holds it in the palm of his hand.

Austin returned to the table in the center of the basement and placed the large wooden box on the table.He pulled out the chair and signaled Zhang Wei to sit down, and the two of them stared at the two wooden boxes.

The wooden box looks so weird, no matter who takes a look at it, they will never forget it.The exterior and surroundings look primitive and rough, full of the style of primitive tribes; but there are two intertwined oriental dragons carved on it, competing for a pair of high-hanging sun and moon.The surrounding area of ​​Shuanglongzhuzhuzhu is full of primitive jungle-like waterfall cloud totems.The whole wooden box is mixed with oriental mythology and tropical rainforest style, which is neither awkward nor very weird; in addition, there is a metal keyhole on the right side of the wooden box that looks like a crocodile-like tooth.

Austin's left hand also moved to the table at this time, holding a flat metal box the size of a palm.Open the box, inside is a very special key.Judging from the slightly dark color on the outside, it should be a metal alloy key that has not been used for a long time.

The totem design of the wooden box is already very weird and abrupt; but it is far less eye-catching than this key.Because this is a "Dragon Key", a key in the shape of a dragon.This dragon is not an aggressive Western fire dragon that breathes flames, flies with wings, and is full of aggressiveness in Western legends; it is similar to Eastern China and Japan. It has no wings but can ride clouds and fog. , an oriental auspicious beast that spouts water instead of fire.No one can imagine keeping them together in this strange and weird wooden box and key combination.

Seeing Zhang Wei's surprised expression, the cowboy broke the silence and said, "This is the key to this box."

Zhang Wei's face was full of confusion, as if telling the master.

"Are you kidding me?"

"I'm not kidding."

Austin pushed the key to Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei carefully put the key in his hand and took a closer look.The top of this key is carved as a dragon's head and ends with a dragon's tail.On both sides of the spoon body, there are a pair of serrated teeth like dragon fins on the top and bottom, but they are not symmetrical.The left sawtooth is located at the back of the key, extending to the dragon's tail, and the teeth are less than one centimeter long.The body of the dragon is delicately turned upside down, and the serrations are turned to the right, which is also about the same length. Then it connects to the body of the dragon, which is inlaid with slender scales, which is nearly ten centimeters long, and finally is the dragon head, which is full of teeth and claws.While admiring the ingenuity of the carving, Zhang Wei inspected the details of the key.

Just as Zhang Wei was looking at the key intoxicatedly, he suddenly found a line of Chinese characters engraved on the middle of the key body, which read: "Forbidden Palace Internal Shipping Depot" in six small characters.At first sight of these six characters, Zhang Wei almost jumped up from his seat as if he had received an electric shock.

"Son, what's wrong. What did you see?"

Zhang Jianshi pointed to the text on the key body, and replied in a trembling voice, "This key...maybe...from the Forbidden City...the Imperial Palace of China."

The cowboy was surprised when he heard this.

"Chinese Imperial Palace? Kid, are you kidding me?"

"Jason, why would I joke with you about this? In fact, I'm also very...surprised! If..."

"what if?"

"If this key really came from a Chinese imperial palace, the contents of the box must have also come from... the inner transport warehouse... the inner transport warehouse." Zhang Wei repeated the last four words.

The cowboy stared at Zhang Wei, puzzled and asked, "What does that mean? Son."

"This is the name of the imperial treasury during the Ming Dynasty in China."

"China? Ming Dynasty? I have no idea about China."

The cowboy's face was full of confusion, Zhang Wei immediately opened his mouth to explain.

"The Ming Dynasty is the penultimate dynasty in Chinese history, about 300 to 600 years ago. This dynasty lasted from 1368 to 1644 AD."

"Three hundred... 600 years ago? Isn't that much older than our America."

The old cowboy blurted out the answer.Zhang Wei wrinkled his face unknowingly, and suppressed his smile because of politeness.The old cowboy immediately noticed Zhang Wei's reaction, but he didn't take it seriously. He realized that he had lost his word, so he spoke up immediately.

"You're kidding. I know...our country is young...just like me. Young...isn't it?"

The master's self-mockery made Zhang Wei momentarily at a loss as to how to respond.But one thing is certain: the old cowboy is not a stubborn old man who never admits his mistakes.

At the same time, another question arose in Zhang Wei's mind.

"Why, didn't those experts tell you this before?"

The old cowboy paused for half a second.

"Oh! They? No... no, they didn't tell me anything."

This made Zhang Wei even more puzzled, what exactly did those experts see in Austin's house.

"So, this thing is really an antique?" The cowboy's face was full of curiosity.

"This... needs further research. If it is true... it has a history of at least 300 years."

Zhang Wei's explanation, called Austin Dayue, blurted out: "Son, since you know the origin of this key, you must know how to open this lock?"

Austin's nonsensical words made Zhang Wei speechless for a while, and he didn't know how to respond, and looked at his master with confusion.

"Unlock? Jason. I don't understand...what does this mean. What, you... don't know how to open this lock?"

The old cowboy nodded.

"Then how do you know that it contains... a map and a compass?"

Zhang Wei replied directly, at the moment Zhang Wei felt that the rhetorical question just now was too direct and disrespectful, and he was afraid of hurting the face of the master, but the words had already been spoken, and it was hard to take back the water.He could only hope that the old cowboy didn't care.

The cowboy waved his left hand in the air, took a breath and shook his head.

"Honestly... I've never opened this lock."

unlock task

PrestonHollow (PrestonHollow, TX) 1940

The old cowboy raised his hand and caressed his chin, his brows were slightly furrowed, the wrinkles around his eyes became deeper and deeper, and he began to recall the past...

"It was opened by my mother... When I was a child, I saw the contents inside, an old map and a flat wooden board. There was a round metal iron plate in the middle of the board, and there were some strange characters and patterns on it. At that time, I was interested in the inside. The piece of wood was very curious, so my mother asked what it was? She told me that the board was called a "compass", which was a tool used by sailors to guide the direction in the sea. I then asked my mother what was written on the metal piece? My mother replied , probably in Japanese!"

The cowboy's face sank, loss was all over his face

.

"Later, I completely forgot about it. It wasn't until last year when I reorganized the belongings at home that I found this box again. Although I found the key, I wanted to open it and regain my childhood memories. But... for some reason... I just couldn't open it Open! I also found a locksmith. They couldn't open it either. The locksmith told me that he had never seen such a