Liang En's destination was a village located in a mountain basin. From all angles, it seemed like a very ordinary small village nestled in a valley.
The entire village mainly relied on pastoralism, with many small mountain pastures covered in lush green grass surrounding it, where goats and cows grazed.
Perhaps because of its remoteness, most of the villagers were middle-aged or elderly, as the younger generation had almost all left for the big cities nearby.
Rural depopulation is a global issue, especially in countries with significant income disparities between different regions.
Liang En and his companions had passed many such depopulated villages along their journey, and this village was just another one among the countless ordinary ones.
Fortunately, this village, named Oak Village, was not far from the nearby city. The surrounding lakes and mountains also had some scenic and touristic value, so its degree of depopulation was lighter compared to the surrounding areas.
The inn where Liang En and his companions stayed was run by a local young person. It was the only inn among the surrounding villages, and after checking in, Liang En found that the situation there was different from what he had imagined.
The inn had very clean rooms, and the dinner provided was delicious, far exceeding Liang En's previous expectations.
During dinner, Liang En learned that the inn's owner was a local who had worked in a city's hotel industry and even became a manager at a five-star hotel.
After working in the city for a few years, he missed his hometown and pondered his future, eventually deciding to return home with his savings to open an inn.
Judging by the dinner, the overall condition of this small inn was genuinely good. Despite it not being peak season, the occupancy rate had already reached 60%.
The inn was not very large, so the staff were not extremely busy. After paying a small tip, Liang En quickly gathered information about his target.
"The place you're referring to should be Eagle's Beak Rock," said a local young man with black curly hair after Liang En briefly described his goal.
"I don't know how you found out about this place, as it's a small spot only known to locals. The scenery is good, but walking three hours of mountain roads to get there is not worth it. I've only been there once when I was very young—"
According to the local server, Eagle's Beak Rock was actually the site of an ancient watchtower. Since this area used to be near the border between Hungary and Bohemia, having some outposts was normal.
However, after the Habsburgs unified the two countries, most of the outposts were abandoned, except for a few used for tax collection.
Eagle's Beak Rock's outpost was abandoned under such circumstances. Originally, the watchtower on the high ground could monitor a large area and prevent enemy infiltration, but it lost its purpose once the border became internal territory.
Moreover, the location of this outpost was too remote, so it was among the first to be abandoned. After all, no one wanted to be stationed in such a remote place or supply those stationed there.
After years of disrepair, the stone watchtower was completely destroyed by time. Now, it was just a heap of rubble covered with a layer of vegetation.
Interestingly, Liang En's target was near this outpost. If there were no surprises, the target was likely related to the watchtower.
The next morning, Liang En and his companions left the inn after breakfast, carrying their bags as they climbed towards Eagle's Beak Rock. Three ravens took flight, circling around them for reconnaissance.
In such places, reconnaissance was not to prevent human attacks but to avoid wild animals. The sparse vegetation on the rocky mountain aided aerial reconnaissance.
However, due to the lack of vegetation, the ravens found only a few wild rabbits and small birds, without any larger creatures.
Under these circumstances, Liang En and his companion soon arrived at Eagle's Beak Rock, carrying their bags. As expected, there were several heaps of rubble, some as tall as two stories.
The reason for counting by heaps was that the ancient defensive structure had completely collapsed. Except for a few walls still standing over a meter high, all other buildings had been utterly destroyed.
However, the scenery here was indeed as excellent as the inn's server had described. Standing there, they could take in the entire surrounding view, making it a great spot for photography.
"This place hasn't seen much activity for at least two hundred years," Liang En said after inspecting the old outpost.
Based on the architectural style and overall layout, the building was originally a medieval fortress. Later, it was modified during the gunpowder era.
However, this modification had created significant structural vulnerabilities. Judging by its current state, the modification compromised the building's integrity.
As a result, the structure, though barely usable during its active period, collapsed much faster than usual after losing maintenance.
Liang En suspected that this ancient defensive facility was abandoned so quickly because it had become a dangerous building by the end of its use, making it unfit for occupation.
"What should we do next? Do we need to find our target in this pile of rubble?" Jeanne d'Arc asked, looking at the heap of ruins before her.
"If so, it might take us a long time, especially since we can't use any machinery here and must dig manually."
"No, this ruin is just a landmark for locating our target," Liang En shook his head and pointed to an area behind the rubble that looked no different from its surroundings.
In his current vision, he saw a soft white light beneath the ground, indicating the target with a card's light only visible to him.
"It looks no different from the surrounding area," Jeanne said, scratching her head. But she quickly took a shovel from her bag and started digging with Liang En at the indicated spot.
Fortunately, the treasure wasn't buried too deeply, and after more than an hour of digging, they uncovered a wooden box buried 50 cm deep.
However, the box was not well-preserved. The iron strips reinforcing it had detached and rusted, and the wooden planks were almost falling apart.
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