Chapter 450
The next day.
Luke was up early, he had a lot to do today.
After getting up, he checked his equipment for the adventure treasure hunt, and then drove his father to the airport bus.
Lee Siu Fung was returning to New York today, he still had work there and couldn’t stay in Los Angeles the whole time.
Luke pulled up to the stop sign, the airport bus hadn’t arrived yet, and father and son stood on the curb chatting.
Lee Zaofeng asked and answered, “Have you ever been to Colorado before?”
“No. I looked it up, it’s seventeen hundred kilometers from Los Angeles, and it’s about a ten-hour drive there.”
“Is that companion of yours reliable?”
“Yes, he is a judge, and treasure hunting is more for interest reasons.”
Li Zhaofeng nodded, although he did not have experience in treasure hunting, he had also watched quite a few treasure hunting related movies and TV dramas, the pre-treasure hunting hardships along the way are often not the biggest danger, the real danger is likely to come from the partner of the treasure hunter.
And the profession of a judge is inherently trustworthy.
“I’ll contact Zhang Brothers side, try to test their bottom price, however, the pressure can’t be too hard, always let people have a profit.
No one is stupid, if we press the price too low, people will also have crooked thoughts, it’s not guaranteed that they will cut corners in any part of the process, and it will backfire on them at that time.”
“You are right, I also have this worry. When I come back from this treasure hunt, I will invite the Zhang Brothers and that friend who knows the industry to talk together, as long as I can guarantee the quality of the construction, I won’t press the price down too low, and I will just offer some appropriate discounts within a reasonable range.”
In the middle of the conversation, an airport bus was traveling in the distance, Li Zhaofeng urged, “You must be careful this time when you go treasure hunting, the house can be built later, there is no need to work too hard.
And you still have stocks worth one million three hundred thousand dollars, you can still sell the stocks if you can’t.”
“I know, be safe on the road.” Luke put his father’s suitcase into the bottom compartment of the bus, “When you come to Los Angeles next time, you’ll have your own bedroom.”
Luke’s new house was planned to have five rooms, Li Zhaofeng didn’t have any real estate in Los Angeles, so naturally, he had to keep a room for him.
“Good.”
Li Zhaofeng revealed a pleased look, patted his son’s shoulder, and got on the bus.
After seeing his father off, Luke drove to Walker’s house.
The two of them met up and Luke carried his luggage into the RV, while the two of them drove to a nearby supermarket to do some shopping.
This time they were going to drive to Red Rock Canyon, Colorado, which was in the middle of nowhere near the canyon, and had to be prepared with enough water and food.
The two people bought the most is water, to the wild, hungry two days is fine, no water can not.
Next is beer, liquid bread, this thing is absolutely can not be missing, happy to drink beer chat, but also in times of crisis can be hunger.
There are also a variety of food, part of the refrigerated, part of the easy to save.
Red wine, whiskey also brought a lot.
After filling up with gas, the two men officially set out on their treasure hunt.
Walker, looking excited and still a bit in love with his new RV, drove and Luke sat in the passenger seat.
Luke had a beer in his hand and another brown map spread out, a treasure map to be exact.
“Luke, be careful not to spill your beer on the treasure map.” Walker warned.
Luke placed his beer on the water glass holder and looked closely at the treasure map, “How are you sure this is Red Rock Canyon, Colorado? I’m worried we might be looking in the wrong place?”
“Definitely not. I’ve been studying this treasure map for a long time, and there’s a tree in the upper right corner of the treasure map, do you know what kind of tree that is?”
Luke stared at the tree carefully, this treasure map was obtained by him first, he had an impression of the tree, but didn’t bother to study the species of the tree, “Looks like a spruce?”
Luke’s voice was a little uncertain.
“Yes, it’s a spruce.
Did you know that the spruce is the state tree of that state?”
“Colorado?”
“That’s right. The terrain on the treasure map is a canyon, and at the bottom of the canyon is a river, which would be the Colorado River, and the cliffs on both sides are red, which fits the Grand Canyon of the Colorado.”
Luke said, “I know the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, it’s a huge area, and if we can’t narrow it down, this is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
Walker said, “You’re right, at first I thought the same thing, then I found out one of the details and thought that the exact location of the hidden treasure should be in Red Rock Canyon.
This Red Rock Canyon is located in the western section of the Colorado Grand Canyon, a nature reserve that is much smaller in size.”
Luke once again scrutinized the map, looking for the details in Walker’s mouth, in which there was a distinctive rock, which was large at the top and only a small portion of the bottom was connected to the ground, but it formed an ingenious balance, “Is this what you’re talking about?”
“That’s right, the Balance Rock.
Over the long years of change, the narrow base that supports Balanced Rock has continued to weather, causing some of the harder red sandstone to break away from the softer rock formations, creating this shape.
And Red Rock Canyon is known for rocks with this shape.” Walker finished his explanation and asked rhetorically, “Still think we’ll find the wrong place now?”
Luke gave a thumbs up, “Good job.”
In this regard, Luke was indeed lacking, first of all, he was still young and hadn’t traveled to many places, he couldn’t compare to Walker’s decades of accumulation and insights.
Secondly, Luke was after all an outsider, his knowledge of the various states of the United States was limited, not to mention the topography of each state.
The car traveled all the way east, going through Nevada and Utah before reaching Colorado.
Once Walker’s novelty wore off, the two men began to take turns driving, and after 1:00 p.m., the two men ate lunch in Nevada.
At 8:00 p.m., the two parked at a roadside rest area, ate dinner, and returned to the RV to rest.
The two men were not tired, to say the least, but somewhat fatigued after a long day of driving.
Luke poured two glasses of whiskey and handed one to Walker while he video called his family.
Walker, on the other hand, closed the doors and windows tightly and turned on the car monitor, while then took out two guns from the cabinet, a silver revolver and a sniper rifle.
After Luke finished talking to his family, he looked at Walker fiddling with the sniper rifle, “Are you serious?”
Walker picks up the sniper rifle and plausibly aims it in the direction of the glass, “What’s the problem? What makes you think the judge doesn’t know how to use a gun?”
Luke spread his hands, “You’re right, I’m the lone one.”
Walker laughed and handed Luke the sniper rifle in his hand, “This one’s a little old, but the accuracy isn’t bad.”
Luke picked up the sniper rifle and looked out the window through the scope, he really hadn’t used a sniper rifle before, so he could just take advantage of this treasure hunt to practice.
Walker finished the wine in his glass in one gulp, “Get an early night, you’ll still get a good night’s sleep tonight.”
“Good night.” Luke yawned and climbed into the bed in the front of the car.
The night had been uneventful, except for the occasional passing car that could be heard.
The two men went to bed early and got up early.
After breakfast, departed for Red Rock Canyon.
The landscape on both sides of the highway was noticeably different as they entered Colorado, and the two men got out of the car to look around as they rested.
The Grand Canyon of the Colorado also has trees, but there are fewer of them, but you can see a lot of animals, and in the distance you can faintly see a long winding river, which should be the Colorado River.
The cliffs on both sides of the canyon were the kind of red sandstone, just like the Danxia landform, with the feeling of a burning volcano.
The two of them looked at the canyon and marveled at it, and continued to get in the car and drive.
After 2:00 PM, according to the map, the two finally arrived near the red rock canyon and stopped at the last rest area marked on the map to resupply.
The two had already driven into the vicinity of the canyon, which had very few vehicles left, hardly seeing a single car for almost an hour, and the rest area was very small, with only a gas station, a convenience store, and a restaurant.
The two parked the car and entered the restaurant one after the other.
The restaurant was small, with only a few tables.
Luke ordered a taco and fries and Walker ordered a chicken burger and apple pie.
While waiting for his meal, Luke observed the interior of the restaurant.
Seated against the window were two white men, their clothes grease-stained and dusty-looking, occasionally looking up at the window where a large truck was parked outside.
Luke guessed that the two men were probably passing truckers.
In fact, Luke’s two men came to the restaurant to eat and had another purpose to explore some of Red Rock Canyon.
This was the closest rest area to Red Rock Canyon, and it was also a must pass through, so if there were any other treasure hunters, it was likely that they had come here as well.
Perhaps because there were fewer customers, the food was served quickly.
An older white woman with a ponytail came out with a tray, “Your tacos, fries, and your chicken burger, apple pie will have to wait.”
Luke was also a little hungry and took a big bite, the burrito tasted good, just slightly salty, Luke asked for another coke.
Walker, on the other hand, complained outright, “The chicken on the burger is too woodsy, I bet the chef of this restaurant is the owner.”
The older white woman who was wiping down the table straightened up and said, “Trust me, he’s the best cook around for miles.”
The truck driver on the side laughed, “Unless you can find a second chef within a couple dozen miles, haha.”
Just then, the door to the restaurant was pushed open.
A Chicano wearing a cowboy hat walked in, taking off his hat and signaling, “Hi, good afternoon.”
“Hi, what would you like to eat?” The older white woman asked.
“The usual.”
“A taco and a beer?”
“That’s right.”
Luke sized up the man of Mexican descent; from the tone of his voice he didn’t think it was his first time here, but from the attitude of the white amah, the two didn’t seem to know each other too well.
Luke couldn’t guess what he did for a moment and didn’t greet the other man hastily.
On the way, he and Walker had been studying the treasure map.
Although the location of the treasure was determined to be in Red Rock Canyon, the Red Rock Canyon was still very large, and the exact location of the treasure was not marked on the treasure map.
The two had studied it for a long time, but neither of them had found the key point.
Associated with the last treasure hunting experience, Luke had a guess that this was probably not a complete treasure map, or that the person who buried the treasure had intentionally divided the treasure map into two parts, and only by getting the other piece of the treasure map could he lock the location of the treasure.
Don’t doubt the treasure hider’s bad taste, Luke and Walker have known the old man who buried the treasure, he buried the treasure not for future generations to dig, but for his own interest.
He wasn’t short of money, and a few million dollars was a drop in the bucket for his family.
He himself loved treasure hunting and exploring, it was only because he was too old to continue this hobby that he turned from a treasure hunter to a treasure hider, with the purpose of attracting many treasure hunters to find his buried treasure.
As far as Walker knew he had divided his treasure into several locations, with more than one treasure map for each location, but instead put the map into his autobiography and spread it around in order to attract more people to search for the treasure.
It wouldn’t be much fun if the treasure was too easy to find, and he likely split the map into two copies, and the only way to determine the location of the treasure was to find two different copies of the treasure map.
In other words, there may be other treasure hunters in Red Rock Canyon, like the single mother, Alena Pruitt, who was encountered on the last treasure hunt.
Without that treasure map from Alena Pruitt, there is no way they could have found the exact location of the treasure.
Speaking of Alena Pruitt, she technically had a piece of this treasure map, but the two didn’t have her contact information.
Let’s just leave it at that.
There was no need to force some things.
Luke and his group would likely encounter other treasure hunters on this treasure hunt, and Luke not only had to identify people he could work with, but also be wary of those who might snatch the treasure map.
Not many people could keep their cool in front of the treasure.
The people in the restaurant were rather miscellaneous, Luke’s two men didn’t make any trouble, finished their meal, rested for a while and left the restaurant.
The two had just gotten into the car when the man of Mexican descent in the cowboy hat also came out of the restaurant and walked over to the car to say hello, “Hey, you guys have a beautiful home.”
“Thanks, it’s not big, but it’s cozy.” Walker responded casually.
The Chicano cowboy asked, “Where are you guys planning on going?”
“Red Rock Canyon.” Walker didn’t hide it, and couldn’t.
“Going on a trip?”
“Yes, I hear the scenery is great, any questions?”
The Chicano cowboy said, “Uh …… it’s been rough there lately, I suggest you guys travel somewhere else.”
Walker sized up the other man, “What are you? Why are you warning us?”
“I’m the janitor of Red Rock Canyon, just call me Carlos.”
“So Red Rock Canyon can’t be visited now?”
“No, it’s your freedom to go or not, I’m just kindly reminding you that some tourists went missing a while ago.”
Luke pressed, “How many people went missing? Was it an accident or man-made?”
“Sorry, it’s not convenient to reveal too much.” Carlos gave a you-know-what look.
“I’m too old to wait for the next time, but thanks for the heads up.” Walker laughed, “If I come back and run into you again, I’ll buy you a drink then.”
Carlos pulled out a business card and handed it to Luke in the passenger side, “You can contact me if you run into trouble.”
“I will.” Luke took the card, which not only had a cell phone number on it, but a radio channel as well.
“Have a good trip and a good time!”