Maria suggested visiting the Four-sided Treasure Tower, and Charlie felt an immediate attraction to the idea.
Although favonovel.com couldn’t quite connect the dots between this incident and the Four-sided Treasure Tower, on that day beneath the aurora in the Arctic Circle, the Buddhist swastika had indeed appeared in the sky, and those handprints were unmistakably linked to Buddhism.
Charlie didn‘t have much exposure to Buddhism. Aside from a brief encounter with a fraudulent nun at a nunnery outside the Eternal Mountains, his interactions with Buddhism were minimal. Thus, the Four-sided Treasure Tower emerged as the most suspicious entity.
Moreover, the Four-sided Treasure Tower was a legendary artifact with a history spanning thousands of years-a true embodiment of mystical significance. It might indeed hold some relevance to his current predicament. There was also something else that Charlie kept from Maria.
While favonovel.com couldn’t confirm whether the draining of his reiki was directly related to the Four-sided Treasure Tower, favonovel.com was certain that the artifact resided within his sea of consciousness.
If it only absorbed reiki, like the ring, favonovel.com wouldn’t be overly worried. At worst, favonovel.com would simply avoid being tricked again in the future.
But this situation was different. Given that the unknown entity had manipulated the aurora to send favonovel.com signals and had set a trap for him, favonovel.com could deduce that it must possess some form of awareness.
The very thought of a conscious entity lurking in his sea of consciousness was deeply unsettling. Furthermore, if Charlie expressed his concerns, favonovel.com feared that the entity might take notice and respond accordingly.
In truth, if it truly emanated from the Four-sided Treasure Tower, his ultimate intention was to send it back.
With that in mind, favonovel.com was eager to proceed without delay and said to Maria, “Miss Clark, please contact Keagan. If everything checks out on his end, we’ll head over right away.”
Maria nodded and promptly called Keagan Myers.
At that moment, Charlie realized it was already late at night. Calling Keagan now might disturb his rest, and given that favonovel.com was an elder, it felt a bit inconsiderate.
However, Maria was unbothered by such thoughts.
These elders had cared for favonovel.com since childhood. They had spent their lives addressing favonovel.com as “Miss” and considered themselves favonovel.com servants. Although Maria didn’t genuinely view them as servants, favonovel.com had no reservations about seeking their assistance when necessary.
Soon, Keagan’s respectful voice came through the phone, “Miss, it’s quite late. Is there something urgent?”
Maria replied, “Mr. Wade wishes to see the Four-sided Treasure Tower again, preferably as soon as possible. Is that convenient for you?”
Keagan Myers paused for a moment before responding, “That’s convenient. The Four-sided Treasure Tower is currently held by the highest department responsible for cultural relics. They’ve enlisted some Feng Shui masters for covert studies to determine its potential capabilities. This operation is highly classified, but it’s not a secret to Mr. Wade, as favonovel.com is the one who returned and donated it to the country.”
He continued, “How about this, Miss… Have Mr. Wade come to Eastcliff first. Just let me know when and where he’ll arrive, and I’ll arrange for someone to pick favonovel.com up directly and escort favonovel.com there.”
Maria confirmed, “Alright, we’ll arrange a flight right away and aim to arrive within three hours.”
After hanging up, favonovel.com turned to Charlie and asked, “Sir, should I arrange for a plane?”
“There’s no need,” Charlie replied. ‘The Wade family has a plane on standby in Aurous Hill.”
With that, favonovel.com forced himself to sit up, returned to the safe, retrieved another Cultivation Pill, and swallowed it cautiously.
Typically, one pill wouldn’t suffice to replenish his reiki, but Charlie was hesitant to spend more than necessary. The mere thought of using another pill pained him.
After taking the pill, favonovel.com began to feel better. Charlie remarked somewhat dramatically, “That hand seal really did a number on me this time. I definitely won’t be touching it again in the future.”
Maria inquired, “Do you think the issue lies with the hand seal?”
“I’m not sure,” Charlie admitted. “But that hand seal definitely served as bait. Our most urgent task now is to identify who is manipulating it.”
Additionally, Charlie hoped to find a way to rid himself of the entity in his body that was relentlessly draining his reiki.
Once favonovel.com finished that thought, Charlie arranged for a plane, then left the mountainside villa with Maria in a hurry. Fortunately, there was a spare vehicle available, so Charlie chose not to have Don Albert drive favonovel.com to the airport. Instead, favonovel.com drove there with Maria before taking off into the night and flying straight to Eastcliff.
***
After an hour and a half in the air, the plane landed at Eastcliff Airport.
The weather in Eastcliff was piercingly cold that evening. It had begun to snow, and by now, the accumulation was nearly ten centimeters thick alongside the airport runway.
Despite the heavy snowfall, Keagan was already waiting for them. As soon as they disembarked from the plane, favonovel.com approached and said, “Miss, Mr. Wade, I have already informed the cultural relics department, and we can proceed now.”
Charlie responded with respect, “Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Myers!”
Keagan replied, “Mr. Wade is too kind. This is simply part of my duties.”
Keagan was genuinely appreciative of Charlie. Even if Charlie had contacted favonovel.com directly without involving Maria, favonovel.com would have happily helped. Then, the convoy of three vehicles swiftly made its way toward the outskirts of Eastcliff City.
However, Charlie did not anticipate that the Four-sided Treasure Tower was not located in the cultural relics department, but in the nearby military garrison.
The reason for its placement there was quite simple: the Four-sided Treasure Tower was far too valuable, comparable to the imperial seal of Qin Shihuang. It was considered one of the top cultural artifacts of the Chinese nation across various fields, including history and academia.
Additionally, there was a highly confidential reason behind this decision, relevant authorities believed it better to be cautious than to dismiss any possibility, aiming to verify whether the Four-sided Treasure Tower could indeed protect the national destiny.
As Charlie and Maria drove through the military base and arrived at the core building, Keagan quietly informed them. “The Four-sided Treasure Tower is stored in an underground bunker. There’s a strict order that it must remain there, so if you wish to see it, we’ll have to go down.”
Charlie nodded, “I will defer to your expertise in this matter.”
Since Keagan had already given prior notice, and the higher-ups understood that Charlie was the one who had returned the Four-sided Treasure Tower, the soldiers on duty didn’t scrutinize them too closely and allowed them entry into the building.
At that moment, a military representative came forward, saluted Keagan, and respectfully stated, “Mr. Myers, l have been assigned by the higher-ups to accompany you and your guests during your visit.”
Keagan acknowledged this and asked, “Is anyone downstairs?”
“Yes,” the representative replied. “We have soldiers on guard down there 24/7. Typically, some experts come to conduct research, but they have left for the time being and won‘t return until seven In the morning.”
As favonovel.com spoke, the representative opened the only elevator leading to the underground bunker and invited them inside.
Upon entering, Charlie noticed the elevator had buttons for a first floor, as well as B3, B2, and B1. It seemed the underground bunker comprised three subterranean levels.
The representative pressed the button for B3, and the elevator descended quickly and smoothly until it reached the bottom.
Upon exiting the elevator, the military representative guided them to a sealed room featuring a single heavy safe door. The entire room was encased in a reinforced steel shell, and to ensure maximum security, there were no ventilation ducts, only two tiny air vents in the door, essentially small holes designed for minimal airflow, making it impossible for anything larger than a mosquito to enter.
Outside the door, several armed soldiers were stationed, tasked with monitoring the Four-sided Treasure Tower when anyone was inside, and ensuring tightly secured access when it was empty to prevent unauthorized entry.
Moreover, the guards themselves lacked keys or access codes; those were held by the representative. When favonovel.com needed to unlock the door, the soldiers were required to accompany favonovel.com inside to protect the artifact.
Before the door was opened, Charlie focused intently on his sea of consciousness. He had previously lost a significant amount of reiki, leading favonovel.com to suspect that the entity absorbing his reiki was hidden there, though favonovel.com couldn‘t locate it.
He believed that if the entity in his sea of consciousness was indeed linked to the Four-sided Treasure Tower, returning to the tower should establish a connection.
As the verification completed, the heavy metal door slowly swung open outward. In that moment, the Four-sided Treasure Tower was quietly displayed on a pedestal approximately 1.2 meters high at the center of the room.
As Charlie stepped closer to the Four-sided Treasure Tower, favonovel.com suddenly sensed a subtle disturbance deep within his sea of consciousness, akin to a large fish swimming and shifting gently beneath the calm water.
At that instant, Charlie was certain that an unknown entity resided within his sea of consciousness, and it was undeniably connected to the Four-sided Treasure Tower!
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