At this point, William Carter felt a bit of anticipation, because the stone box was somewhat mysterious. He had picked it up at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, originally thinking it was just a stone, never expecting it to hold hidden secrets.

William Carter held the copper basin from the tent in front of him for defense, then carefully opened the stone box, widening the gap.

"Crack!"

The lid came off, but nothing unusual happened—no danger occurred.

William Carter relaxed and examined the inside of the stone box.

He had some hope—what exactly was sealed inside?

The interior space of the stone box was very small, with only a shallow groove, barely enough to hold anything. Clearly, it couldn't hide pearls or jade.

However, there was indeed something inside.

In that groove, there were three shriveled seeds, completely filling the space. Other than that, there was nothing else.

William Carter was quite disappointed. The stone box he found at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, which he thought might contain some secret treasure, turned out to hold only three seeds.

One seed was pitch black, already shriveled, seemingly a bit deformed, and severely lacking in vitality.

Another seed was purplish-brown, flat and round, as if it had been squashed. It was about the size of a fingernail.

The last seed was somewhat normal. Aside from its wrinkled surface, it was still plump—at least it wasn't shriveled. It was round overall, just a bit withered and yellow.

William Carter was stunned. Just these three seeds? Two of them were so dry and shriveled they barely looked like seeds. This was really... far from what he had imagined.

He had thought the stone box he picked up at the foot of Kunlun Mountain was mysterious, maybe sealing away something extraordinary, but it turned out to be so ordinary.

He placed the three seeds in his palm, examining them closely again and again, but truly found nothing remarkable about them.

How many years had these things been buried underground? It was hard to say, but judging by the age of the stone box, it was definitely ancient—the patterns and marks were all blurred.

Was this an artifact from ancient times?

Still, if it was an ancient relic, the fact that the three seeds hadn't rotted after being unearthed was already quite impressive.

Some ancient items sealed underground are destroyed as soon as they see the light of day.

William Carter looked again and again, but really couldn't tell what kind of seeds they were. He had never seen them before and had no idea what three plants they might belong to.

He was at a loss for words. Just moments ago, he had been burning with excitement at the thought of discovering a secret treasure, but now he was just staring blankly at three shriveled seeds!

"I'll find a chance to plant them and see what actually grows." William Carter mused.

But, the seeds had been through so many years, he was a bit worried—could they still sprout? Two of them were already shriveled.

"If they really grow, as long as they're not poisonous weeds, that's fine. If they turn out to be beans or some kind of vegetable, I guess they'd be ancient varieties." He laughed.

The starry sky over the plateau seemed very close to the ground, the starlight dazzling, the moonlight like water, spilling over this desolate and somewhat barren land.

Late at night, it was especially quiet.

In a daze, William Carter heard a tremendous beastly roar coming from the direction of Kunlun Mountain, echoing among the mountains, startling him awake from his dreams.

The place he was staying was very far from there, yet he could hear the muffled roar of a beast in the middle of the night—it was truly astonishing.

Clearly, something was happening in Kunlun Mountain. Judging by the sound, it wasn't the roar of that mastiff or the yak—some other fierce beast had appeared.

Vaguely, even the ground of that mountain range seemed to tremble slightly, the vibrations spreading over, making the night even less peaceful.

Some herders were awakened, praying devoutly, bowing to the holy mountain, murmuring something under their breath.

William Carter also got up and walked out of the tent. He heard an old herder speak.

"The living Buddha in the mountain has truly awakened."

William Carter was puzzled. Even if there were ancient monks, why would they be accompanied by beastly roars?

"You don't understand. This is a legend of our Tibetan land. You should leave early tomorrow morning," the old herder said.

"Are the holy beasts in the mountain about to come out?" another middle-aged man said.

Legend has it that deep in the plateau's holy mountains, several ancient beasts lie dormant. Some can rival deities, possessing immense strength and able to subdue demons. Others are extremely ferocious and can bring disaster.

Upon hearing this, William Carter pondered for a moment. Although he didn't fully believe it, he didn't think the Tibetans' words were baseless either.

After all, he had personally experienced the incident at the Bronze Mountain and had indeed seen some strange beasts.

For example, that golden ferocious bird, which was five or six meters long—if it had appeared in ancient times, it would probably have been called a Golden-Winged Roc.

That yak, pitch black and shiny all over, more than three meters long—even leopards and green wolves were afraid of it. It was immensely strong, and when it stepped, the top of the Bronze Mountain trembled slightly. In ancient times, it would probably have been called a Demon Ox.

Many ancient legends are exaggerated, becoming mythologized over time. Especially when ancient people recorded strange events, they often exaggerated, and it was probably the same here.

In the latter half of the night, the empty plateau finally quieted down, and the muffled beastly roars from the distant mountains disappeared.

The moonlight was like water, falling like a thin mist, as if this place was connected to the starry sky—hazy and peaceful.

The herders were no longer worried and breathed a sigh of relief.

William Carter also returned to the tent and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, William Carter set out early, then made his way to a giant city in the west, where he would board a train home.

In the post-civilization era, after reconstruction, although it wasn't as glorious as in the past, the difference wasn't too great, and all kinds of transportation were still fairly convenient.