After packing up all the loot and completing the handover with the lawyer, Liang En bid a temporary farewell to Pierce. Since Pierce had managed to gather everything he needed in one go, he was eager to return to London to finalize the deal.
"I'm truly sorry, but this deal is just too important," Pierce said to Liang En in a parking lot by the highway. "So, I must sell off our batch of goods before others do."
"So, it looks like I'll be treasure hunting on my own from now on. However, I promise you that I'll try my best to sell these furniture and findings at a high price and give you your share," Liang En replied.
"Well, it seems it's just me from now on," Liang En sounded a bit resigned. After all, while they were close friends, both had their own careers to attend to, often keeping them busy with their own affairs.
After a mutual embrace, they each started their cars and drove off in different directions. Pierce headed south back to London, while Liang En continued northward.
Liang En's destination this time was the Isle of Lewis in the northern part of the Scottish Hebrides. In his memory, there was a famous treasure that had been unearthed there in a previous world, a treasure undiscovered in this world.
Of course, a significant reason for this pursuit was the associations that emerged after he obtained the "Harry Potter" book series.
An even more fascinating aspect was that, following his research online, he found that his desired destination was well-suited for treasure hunting from a policy perspective.
Both the UK and the US had traditions of regional autonomy, leading to different laws in different areas.
For example, under the treasure laws of England, the finder and landowner should equally share the acquisition or reward money. But under the treasure laws of Scotland, the distribution amount is determined by the finder.
Of course, following conventions, most treasure finders in Scotland would still share at least half of the treasure with the landowner, if not a bit more. This incentivized more landowners to allow treasure hunters onto their property.
Moreover, the place Liang En was headed to was even more interesting. As a private estate, the owner directly opened up their land to all treasure seekers and allowed them to take away anything they found on the property.
However, there was a corresponding requirement – each treasure seeker entering the estate had to purchase a treasure hunting ticket from the owner. A ticket cost £120, and if you brought a metal detector, it was an additional £60.
Furthermore, these tickets had a time limit. A single ticket allowed someone to explore the estate for two days, and if they wanted to continue, they'd need to buy another ticket.
However, none of this deterred Liang En from choosing the Isle of Lewis as his search target. So, after a journey of over four hours from Edinburgh, he arrived at the harbor town in the northwest Scottish Highlands: Stornoway.
This town was one of the remotest in Cromartyshire, but it was also a vital port for traveling to the Outer Hebrides. If you wished to drive to Stornoway, the largest city on the Isle of Lewis, you had to pass through this place.
As soon as Liang En arrived at the shore of Stornoway, he was stunned by the beautiful sight before him. Surrounded by mountains, the blue lake was dotted with numerous yachts. The surroundings were quiet, with only clouds drifting low across the sky, creating an almost ethereal atmosphere.
By the time he reached the town, it was already after 5 pm, so Liang En decided to stay at a youth hostel. Comparatively, accommodation and prices here were only slightly more than half of what they were on the island.
After settling in, and with some time left until darkness fell, Liang En decided to take his phone and power bank to explore the town.
Since it was a seaside town, the wind was quite strong. Therefore, most of the town's buildings were characterized by thick stone walls, narrow windows, and double-glazed glass. However, the flowers hung on the walls and planted around houses gave the town a lively atmosphere.
Upon reaching the seaside, Liang En discovered that the town was nestled within a bay. Seagulls circled the harbor, unafraid of humans, occasionally swooping down to snatch food from people's hands.
The bay was surrounded by tall mountains, attracting climbers from all over the UK every winter. That's why the town had several good family inns, and there was also a large campsite by the beach.
After wandering for a while, feeling a bit hungry, Liang En headed to the town's only supermarket to buy some cold food for dinner by the beach. To his surprise, he saw a number of fellow travelers who were heading to the same destination tomorrow.
Though there was no visible difference between them and regular tourists, after nearly three months in this line of work, Liang En could sense something distinct about them.
Many people sat on benches along the beach, and a few were playing guitars and singing.
While buying groceries earlier, Liang En learned that a guitar music festival had taken place here a few days ago. So, these people were likely the artists who had been here before.
"I'm going to sing a song now, in memory of Ron who sacrificed himself in the final Battle of Hogwarts," a voice came from not far away along the beach.
"What the...?" Looking at the guitarist dressed in Gryffindor robes, Liang En suddenly felt a bit dumbfounded, as if his brain had gotten stuck, because he instinctively thought this was nonsense.
However, after thinking for a while, he realized that this was one of the many differences between the two worlds.
For example, in this world, the first six parts of "Harry Potter" were mostly the same as what Liang En had seen in the previous world. But in this world's seventh part, Ron had died in the final battle at Hogwarts.
When Liang En returned to the youth hostel and opened the set of "Harry Potter" books he had found earlier, he turned to the last book and its final chapter. Sure enough, in this chapter set nineteen years later, he saw a scene where Harry and his wife Hermione were sending their child off to school. Their son was named James Ronald Potter.
"It truly is another world," Liang En sighed softly after reading the line "The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well." Then, he turned off the light and went to sleep.
The next morning, he boarded the first ferry to the Isle of Lewis and headed in a northwesterly direction.
After a two-hour and forty-minute boat ride, Liang En arrived at Stornoway, the largest city on the Isle of Lewis. It was a charming town, but he didn't waste much time there.
After quickly obtaining the excavation permit for the island, paying £180, and receiving a GPS locator about the size of a car key, he drove straight to the beach where he would begin his search.
The roads on the island were very narrow, often only one lane wide, with passing points specially designated. Luckily, there weren't many vehicles, so he smoothly drove for over ten kilometers to reach his destination.
Seeing the sea, Liang En also saw the small hill that he had read about in a travel magazine before. However, unlike the photos of the hill with its chess piece sculptures in the magazine, the hill he saw now was just an ordinary slope covered in tall grass.
"Alright, I've finally made it," Liang En sighed in relief as he arrived at the beach amidst a light drizzle. "Time to get to work."
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