Chapter 2

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"Bang bang bang... creak!"

First, Jifeng knocked on the huge vermilion gate, but after waiting for a long time, no one responded. So, he pushed the door with both hands. To his surprise, the massive gate, which looked to be about three meters high, opened with a push.

As the gate opened, a fragrant aroma immediately filled the air. Looking up, he saw that the courtyard was filled with various unknown flowers and plants, all in full bloom, and even a dozen fruit trees were laden with sweet, juicy fruits.

Apples, pears, large red dates, longans, and lychees—almost no variety was repeated. Although there was only one tree of each kind, the trunks, which required at least one person to encircle, clearly indicated that these fruit trees had been growing for at least a hundred years.

"Is anyone here?"

Jifeng, seeing the courtyard full of flowers and plants, knew that the residents of such a grand mansion would not be pleased by a stranger's intrusion. However, after waiting for a long time, no one responded to his inquiry.

It's not that I wanted to barge in; I asked first, but no one answered. With this thought in mind, Jifeng stepped into the courtyard, admiring the exotic flowers and plants on both sides of the path while continuing to ask if anyone was home.

After several minutes, Jifeng had to sadly realize that there seemed to be no one around.

The entire courtyard, except for the gatehouse next to the entrance, was surrounded by side rooms. On the right side, there was an additional area that looked like a stable, with a few lonely horse posts in front and some dry hay inside.

Directly ahead was a massive building that resembled a palace, three stories high, with dozens of rooms lined up in a row. Jifeng couldn't determine its architectural style, as he had no expertise in this area; he had only occasionally watched historical dramas.

After a few minutes, he finally reached the main hall. This time, Jifeng didn't bother to ask and pushed the door open. Inside, there were clear signs that no human had been there for a long time. Stepping onto the large bluestone floor, Jifeng entered the hall.

In the center stood a tall armchair, with a square table on each side and a long coffee table in front. On both sides of the hall, there were about a dozen smaller chairs. Each square table had a matching set of teacups.

Glancing around, Jifeng's eyes lit up when he saw a letter on the coffee table in front of the armchair. He quickly walked over.

Circling around to the front of the coffee table, he looked down and saw that the letter was written in small, neat penmanship: "To the Descendants of the Ji Family."

A hint of surprise crossed Jifeng's eyes. How did the owner know that the person entering would be a Ji? Could it be that this place wasn't left by his ancestors?

Jifeng shook his head in disbelief, picked up the envelope, and opened it. The paper looked old, slightly yellowed, but the content made his eyes light up.

"Ji Family Son, since you have entered here, it means you have opened the Divine Dragon Jade Pendant. I am Ji Fu, the 42nd generation descendant of the Ji Family."

Jifeng felt a surge of respect. If he remembered correctly, his grandfather had mentioned that Ji Fu was his great-grandfather. However, he didn't know why his great-grandfather had left this letter here. He quickly continued reading.

After a moment, he understood. The so-called Ji Family heirloom, the jade pendant around his neck, contained a different world.

His great-grandfather, who lived at the end of the Qing Dynasty, had become a high-ranking official at a young age and was the seventh owner of the Divine Dragon Jade Pendant. The entire space within the jade pendant was gradually built by his great-grandfather and the six generations before him.

In the late Qing Dynasty, as the situation became unstable, the Ji Family descendants fled to this place. However, this violated the implicit rules of the jade pendant, resulting in a near extinction of the Ji Family. As his great-grandfather felt his time was near, he wrote this letter and placed it here, hoping that if any Ji Family descendant entered, they would remember not to let anyone else in, as doing so would cause the jade pendant's space to turn them to ashes and erase them from existence.

He also described the layout of the space. Despite the dozens of doors, each led to a different era, such as the Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty, Republic of China, and even more distant future times.

The main hall was for entertaining guests, and the door behind it connected to a comprehensive market. Occasionally, guests would come with the owner to sit, drink tea, and chat, but they were limited to the hall and couldn't leave it. The hall and market were integrated.

The market had everything one could need, allowing a person to live comfortably without ever leaving. Of course, one would have to endure the loneliness.

Because the last time his great-grandfather led the family into the jade pendant's space, it nearly led to the family's extinction, the new space rules dictated that anyone other than the owner would be destroyed upon entering. Jifeng was warned to remember this and never bring anyone else into the space.

Finally, the letter stated that everything in the space was left for the descendants, and it might be the only remaining descendants of the Ji Family. When his great-grandfather wrote this letter, it was already the late 1960s. Jifeng now understood why his grandfather always mentioned his great-grandfather, as he was a late-born child. His great-grandfather looked to be in his seventies but was said to be over a hundred years old, with no one knowing his exact age.

Jifeng sighed and carefully put away the letter, deciding to first explore the legendary market. However, when he pushed the door behind the hall, it didn't budge, no matter how hard he tried.

With no success, Jifeng gave up and, holding his great-grandfather's letter, walked towards the study on the right.

This time, the door opened with a light push. Inside was a study covering over a hundred square meters, with bookshelves lining the walls and bluestone floor. Most of the bookshelves were filled with books, with only a few having some empty spaces.

Jifeng was once again surprised. There must be thousands of books in this room.

As he walked past the rows of bookshelves, he found many bamboo scrolls in the innermost row. He didn't dare touch them, fearing they would scatter. The pictographic writing on them made Jifeng's eyes blur; he knew he wouldn't be able to understand them.

At most, he could read about half of the books, but he couldn't grasp their meanings.

Walking to the desk by the window, he touched the empty surface, which was surprisingly free of dust. Jifeng was puzzled; this place hadn't been entered for decades, so how could it be so clean?

He sat down in the chair behind the desk, looking at the only piece of furniture in the entire space that had a modern feel, and a smile appeared on his lips.

His great-grandfather had left him quite a lot, not to mention the value of the large trees outside, which could be worth a fortune if cut and sold, let alone the more valuable books.

The desk's drawers were not locked. He casually opened the central large drawer and found a file folder. Opening it, he was shocked to his core, his eyes nearly falling out of their sockets. His hands trembled as he read the words: "Jeju Island Ownership Transfer Agreement."

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