Several hours after landing in Hainan, the team was being transported deep into a rural environment. Worn down buildings beside empty roads and vast rice fields were all that could be seen. The jeeps that transported them took them down dirt roads and through rough terrain leading up to a village surrounded by wetland and foliage.

Many villagers in simple clothing came of their homes to see who had come to visit them. As Grant stepped out of his jeep he noticed that some chickens were roaming about. Some large insects buzzed through the air and he was sure that if he peeked into the water trench that ran along the path through the village to allow rainwater to flow down, he would find a frog or two.

"The jeep driver they had hired began translating Frankie's words to a a village man. Grant unloaded their backpacks and equipment with Rourke's help.

"Anyone want some bug spray and sunscreen?" Monty asked, whipping out two different spray cans.

"I got my own," said Makenna, smiling.

Monty put on a dorky looking bucket hat. He seemed on edge around so much nature as if he was expecting a giant wasp to come and attack him at any moment.

"The village man said it will be a long trek to where we wanna go," said Frankie rejoining them. "He will use a machete to cut a shortcut through the jungle. The drivers said they will wait here. One of them lent me an electronic translator. Nifty huh?"

Some village children laughed and ran circles around Rourke, clearly amused or impressed by how tall and powerful he looked.

"Let's go," said Grant. "I wanna get as much done while the sun is still up."

"Ugh I didn't sleep so well on the plane," said Monty. "My breath smells like shit too. Oh and did I mention how hungry I am?"

"I have some bars for you, said Frankie. "I'll give them to you when we get there."

Their guide led them through the village which took several minutes to pass through into marshlands on either side of their path.

"Oh man my knees are killing me already," said Monty. "My skin itches too."

"That;s because you don't exercise and sweat enough," said Grant. "Your pores might be clogged."

"Why do we have to carry all this stuff," said Monty, pausing for breath.

"How about you Frankie?" Grant asked, turning to his skinny companion.

"I'm good," said Frankie, though Grant could hear the strain Frankie was hiding in his voice.

"I'm still debating if wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans was such a good idea," said Grant, taking a sip of water. "It's humid and hot but I figured a long sleeve would protect me from the elements."

Makenna poured a little water over herself. Unlike the boys she was dressed like it was summer and seemed to be keeping cool. Grant thought it was unwise to wear denim short shorts and orange crop top despite the humidity though since they were going to be walking through dense jungle forests.

"A spider or snake is probably going to bite you," Frankie teased.

"Well it’s either that or passing out from a heat stroke," said Makenna. "I hate getting sticky with sweat while wrapped up in lots of clothing. I chose the lesser of the two evils so to speak."

They walked a little further before the guide pointed at a dense clump of tall bushes and trees. 

"I'm guessing this is where we go off the road and into the wild," said Frankie. "Like I said he will cut as a path so follow closely and don't get left behind."

"Oh my gosh we gotta walk through that?" said Monty. "What if we step on something? Like poop from a wild animal or a deep puddle. Ugh I'm feeling sick just thinking about it."

"Monty come on you'll be fine," said Grant, walking up to him. "Do you want to transfer some things into my pack? Rourke can help too."

"We can leave you behind to rest if you'd like," said Rourke, standing over Monty, who had sat down on the path.

"Wait like all alone?" Monty asked, looking up nervously. 

Rourke said nothing.

Monty stood back up. "Actually on second thought I might have some steam left in the reserves. Yep I'm good!"

They continued on their journey, Grant lost track of time, concentrating too hard on minding his step, being aware of his jungle surroundings, and following close behind their guide who wacked at the brush in front of him nonstop. It was hard not to admire the village man's stamina.

"Imagine that a hundred and fifty years ago the Taiping marches through here!" Frankie exclaimed excitedly, panting as he moved along.

Grant swatted at a mosquito buzzing at his ear. "Frankie ask him how much further. I think Monty is going to end up as part of the jungle soon."

Frankie repeated the question to their guide and came back. "He says we are very close. Only a few minutes maybe."

"You hear that pal?" said Grant. 

"I think something long and many legged crawled into my shoe," Monty whimpered. "Ugh I itch all over and I'm so sweaty."

"Here," said Rourke, stopping Monty. He removed the backpack off Monty's shoulders and carried it with one hand. 

"Is Makenna still behind you Rourke?" Grant asked.

Rourke nodded. "She only lagged behind because she wanted to take pictures."

Grant backtracked a little and made a turn around a small tree before Makenna came into view. She was snapping photos of plants and a bird that was flapping about higher up.

"Hey hurry," said Grant. "You don't wanna get ditched in this place."

"Just a second," said Makenna, checking the quality of her photos. "You rarely get to see obscure parts of the world like this Grant. I want to show my friends as much of this experience as I can."

"There's more to see where we are headed. Cmon." Grant grabbed her forearm.

"Ok but take a picture of me first."

"Alright alright fine."

Makenna posed smiling as Grant took some pictures with her phone. After the sixth picture he looked up. A massive yellow and black spider was hanging from a branch just between them. The grotesque arachnid made Grant feel ill. He always hated spiders as a child. "Are we done here now?"

"Just one more I promise," said Makenna. "I'll tell you when."

She seemed hesitant as if unsure of what pose to strike for the last picture. Grant was starting to get upset. "This isn't a model's runway lady."

"How do I look?" said Makenna as she struck another pose which Grant barely noticed as most of his attention was on the spider. Fearful images of the spider shooting its disgusting webs at him to crawl towards his face made him break out in cold sweat.

Grant snapped the last picture with the best smile he could manage. "Yeah very nice.”

Makenna took back her phone and kissed him on the cheek. 

"Alright that's enough lets go," said Grant, turning away.

The guide hacked aside the last obstacle in their way to expose a sort of clearing in the jungle. Small stone structures were spread out before them, just about all of them covered with plants that had grown over them. They had at last come to the burial ground described in Jiang's journal.

Frankie began to unpack their excavation tools, small picks, collapsible shovels and brushes. "Let's get to work."

Many of the stone structures were tombstones, large cylinders with a half dome on top that had names carved into it. A few of the graves were simply covered with a massive slab of rock. Makenna took pictures of the remarkably well preserved miniature Chinese styled stone house that was like a scale down model.  Rourke cleared vines and jungle growth with their guide.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Grant swept away leaves using a thick branch like a broom. After a few minutes of sweeping around he uncovered what he could only describe as a manhole cover. A pentagonal stone disk covering up a hole of the same shape, wide enough only for a slim man to slip through.

"Hey Rourke give me a hand with this," said Grant, bending down. 

Rourke grabbed a crowbar from his pack and helped grant lift the heavy manhole cover off. Everyone gathered around the blackness of the pit they had revealed. Grant grabbed a flashlight and shined it down. He could see intricate designs, roofs and symbols carved into the rock. It was almost like someone had carved buildings and rooms into the walls of earth.

"I'm going down there," said Grant. "I can just barely squeeze through. "Tie a rope or something to one of the nearby tombstones or trees."

Their guide expertly tied some rope together and tightened it around one of the cylinder shapes tombstones. Grant lowered the rest of the rope down into the hole with a backpack tied to the end of it.

"Rourke and Frankie will come with me," said Grant. "Rest of you stay here watch the rope and see if you can more underground chambers like this."

"Be careful," said Makenna.

"I'll be back soon," Grant reassured her.

Grant descended a little more than forty feet down to the floor of the underground chamber. Before him stood an old fashioned Chinese temple structure that had been partly built and carved into the walls of the chamber. The wooden doors hung open to welcome him into the buildings dark interior. 

Frankie was the last to touch down into the chamber and was quick to being snapping pictures.

"Let's move," said Grant, signalling them forward. A sign above the door had Chinese character which Grant recognized from the Taiping museum in Nanjing. "I think it says Holy Treasures of Heaven," he said to Frankie.

The interior of the temple or whatever it was supposed to be was largely empty. Only a few overturned tables, broken pieces of pottery, and dusty pillars could be seen. There were no skeletons, artworks, or artifacts found within the initial scan of the interior.

They continued down a wide hallway and into a small chamber with a lower ceiling. Grant shined his flashlight at the end of the chamber to reveal an altar of Christianity he had seen in churches. A few dusty candelabras sat knocked over on the altar. A yellow banner of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with the white dragon facing them hung above on the wall. There was little fascinating beyond that however as the rest of the chamber only contained broken chairs, one or two pillows, and other common items piled into the corner that were of little interest beyond the fact that they had been sitting there since the mid-19th century.

"This place is quite a find," said Rourke. "But...."

"I don't see any Taiping coin the size of wheels like the broken one in the museum," Frankie finishes for him. "Maybe it’s in the altar. Maybe we got to break it open."

"That flag could be worth something," said Rourke. "Maybe it’s made of gold silk."

"Yeah could be," said Frankie.

"No I have a feeling this is it," said Grant. "I didn't see any doors or tunnels leading off to other places in the chamber we came from."

Frankie looked around. "Really? Because I don't see any treasure."

"Maybe someone already found it," said Grant, pacing around. "Maybe the villagers had poked around over the years and each took a piece of the treasure. Hey it could be sitting in their homes, distributed across the families."

"Grant your pulling my leg aren't you?" said Frankie.

"I don't know, why don't you do some thinking for yourself?" said Grant. "Go back and call the others. See if they found anything else. Maybe there’s another chamber like this one that isn't empty. This one looks like a church rather than a storage unit for riches."

"Yeah good idea," said Frankie, looking less distressed. "We only just started after all."

Grant sat down while Frankie left the room, propping his back up against the wall.

"What if this really is it?" Rourke asked, staring at the altar. "What if there was no treasure, or there was but it been destroyed or taken already."

Grant chuckled. "I'd be disappointing like any man. But hey look around you. When's the last time you found something like this digging in your neighborhood? A find like this, only existed in my childhood fantasies, playing in my backyard."

"This is a terrific find," said Rourke. "But your bet with the lady...."

Grant grinned at Rourke as the big buy turned to face him. "Maybe the candle holders on that altar are worth a couple thousand each."

Three hours after entering the underground chamber the team had failed to find anything else quite as intriguing. Makenna had gone down into the abandoned hole herself and arrived at the same conclusion Grant had. It was emptied of all valuables it might have once contained.

"I defiantly think there was a treasure here," said Grant to his companions. They had all joined him down in the altar room. Rourke set up a couple lamps to illuminate the place. "But it was moved. Must have been long ago maybe not long after they arrived. So the treasure sat here for a short period of time and then the Taiping rebels carried it off to the next hiding spot. The indigenous tribes kicked them off this site or something."

"What does Jiang's journal say?" Monty asked. 

"Well that's why were here," said Grant. "The journal stopped here. Jiang's last entries only briefly mention the conflicts they had with the locals in Hainan. This place isn't even in his journal. It's possible that Jiang met his end here. He didn't go with the treasure or leave behind a record of where it went in here because he ended up buried here."

"Or he simply stopped writing like some people do," said Frankie. 

They all stood or sat in silence for a while. Grant stepped out of the church to have a moment to himself near the only source of natural light. A minute later Makenna joined him.

"You really found it," she said, stepping up close. "I gotta say I'm impressed."

"Looks like I lost our bet," said Grant. "Treasures gone. Cars is yours."

"Well yes there aren't any coins here," said Makenna. "But you did prove that it might have existed. I mean look at this place!"

Grant looked back at the church. "It is pretty neat isn't it?"

Makenna put her hands on his cheeks and peered into his. "I'm glad I was able to come along on this ride Grant Foreman. The bets off. I was way out of line when I yelled at you and Abe, forcing you guys to pay for it and all that."

"I was a little soured by your attitude back then," Grant admitted with a smile. "But I'm glad you did. Otherwise I wouldn't have gotten to know you."

With her eye's close, Makenna's head came up and their lips met. Grant held her in a sweet embrace, pushing his tongue forward to meet her's. He could feel her soft chest pushing against his and loved how she trembled slightly as his fingers brushed against her thighs, glazed with sweat.

"There will be time later," said Grant gently. “I just had a thought.”

Makenna grinned. “You are onto something I can tell. Something good.”

They went back into the church together. Grant clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. 

"There is one thing that we forgot to ask," said Grant.

Frankie stood up, fast as lightning. "What is it?!"

Grant took the journal out of his satchel. "Where was this journal found?"

"Grant this is why you’re the leader," said Monty. "I was about this close to crying."

"You should be grateful we found anything at all," said Rourke sternly. "Ok so how do we find out?"

Grant took out a satellite phone. "I'm going to make a call."

After a few minutes of trying Grant finally got Lin on the line. He quickly explained to her the situation they were in before leading up to the main question.

"Lin did the police already clean out Boss Wu's collection?"

"Yes they did why?"

"I need to find out exactly where the journal of Jiang the Taiping rebel was found."

There was a long pause before she said, "Give me a moment."

Grant himself was so anxious and excited that he felt like he needed to shit. Judging by the expressions everyone was giving him as they watched him make the call, they were likely feeling the same way.

"Ok," said Lin after what felt like half an hour. "The journal was found in Vietnam by an anonymous person, eventually ended up in the hands of a dealer of antiques who sold it to Boss Wu about eight years ago."

Grant's eyes rolled over with his feelings of euphoria. "Lin you’re the best."

"I look forward to your next call Grant," she said playfully over the phone.

Grant put down the phone after hanging up and grinned at his team. "Vietnam. They took it to Vietnam."

"That makes sense!" Frankie exclaimed. "Vietnam saw a rise in Catholicism shortly after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom collapsed. The rebels must have established a small hidden colony in Vietnam while continuing to preach their Christian ideals. The Vietnamese were too busy with the Cochinchina Campaign during the mid-1800s to notice Taiping refugees slipping through their borders with the treasure."

"Back to the hotel to book tickets to Vietnam!" Monty shouted.

"Wait!" Grant barked and everyone froze.

"What now?" said Frankie, looking utterly bewildered.

"Before we leave we must have us some Hainan Chicken."

Everyone stared at him blankly. 

Rourke cleared his throat. "Well I suppose it couldn’t hurt."