บท 292: The Treasure

At that moment, Ethan noticed something crucial: a hole had been made in the ceiling above the stone case in the chamber. 

Clearly, this hole, now filled with dirt, had been there for some time. 

The sight of it brought sudden clarity to Ethan. 

Evidently, someone had dug down into this chamber from above, entered through this hole, and taken the treasure, all without triggering the stone man mechanisms.

Ethan hadn't expected to arrive too late, to find the treasure already taken by someone else. 

Though there was nothing he could do about it, he felt a pang of regret at not being able to at least see or know what the treasure was. 

Even if he couldn't possess it, just a glimpse or an understanding of what it was would have been better than this void of unknowing.

Thus, Ethan began to examine the indentation on the stone case more closely, hoping to deduce what the object might have been from its shape.