Chapter 184: You Deserved It

"How can it be worse than death?" Song Qinglan grew interested.

Afterward, the two of them began discussing it with great enthusiasm.

Later on, the porcelain bottle was taken by Song Qinglan. Over the years, by putting on an act with that woman, she had managed to find opportunities to get close.

It would be best to leave her directly paralyzed on one side.

If possible, she should also slip some into the old man's food; as a married couple, they should naturally share the same fate.

Neither Lin Jingyue nor Rong Zhen knew of her internal plans, but even if they did, they would only approve.

Compared to that vicious old woman, Old Man Song was equally utterly disgusting.

"Aunt, are there any other hiding places for the Song family's treasures?" Lin Jingyue finally asked the question she cared about most.

"I will figure out a way to get my hands on them, and I'll save a share for you when the time comes."

Song Zhen and Song Qinglan exchanged glances...

"Can you guarantee you won't get caught?" Compared to anything else, the two of them naturally cared far more about her safety.

"Of course, I have people working under me," Lin Jingyue said without the slightest trace of guilt.

The two exchanged a look, and then Song Qinglan took pen and paper and began to sketch. "I can't be entirely certain, but the antiques and illicit items they've accumulated over the years are bound to be hidden in these places..."

She drew five locations in a row. Having spent years near that woman, she wasn't completely blind and had managed to uncover a few clues.

Originally, times were bad, and she couldn't afford to alert the enemy, but now, as long as Jingyue could quietly take the things away, why let those dogs have them?

"No matter how much you get, keep it for yourself. Your uncle and I have our own." She and Song Zhen had managed to use their wits and means to secretly acquire some good things from the old man.

They had their own savings and lacked nothing.

Lin Jingyue remained silent. Whatever belonged to them, she would give it to them in the future.

"Still, you must proceed with extreme caution. No matter what happens, your safety is paramount. The authorities haven't moved against that woman, which proves her identity is questionable. You know what that implies, right?" Song Zhen still felt uneasy and reminded Lin Jingyue once more.

"Mm-hmm, you can rest assured. I handle things very properly." Lin Jingyue looked at the locations marked by Song Qinglan, a corner of her mouth curling upward.

"Don't wander around aimlessly in Kyoto, lest you catch the eye of someone with ulterior motives."

"Mm-hmm, I know."

No matter what they said, Lin Jingyue obediently nodded and agreed to everything.

Seeing this, the two of them still couldn't completely set their minds at ease, feeling that things wouldn't be so simple.

In the days that followed, Lin Jingyue disguised herself, leaving late and returning early every day. Out of the five locations, she had dug up four and harvested a bountiful amount. Tonight, she was going to the final location.

The reason she had left this one for last was entirely because of its special nature: it was the home of Old Man Song's younger biological brother.

This was a courtyard house with one and a half courtyards. If the Second Song family hadn't had so many members, they would never have secured such a fine place.

Song Qinglan had once inadvertently learned from Old Man Song that the bulk of the Song family's fortune was hidden in this residence, though she did not know the exact location.

Old Man Song never mentioned it again afterward.

This only stirred up Lin Jingyue's desire for a challenge—after all, treasure hunting was thrilling.

In the dead of night, Lin Jingyue arrived at this residence. The surrounding households were entirely silent.

They must have all fallen asleep.

She tiptoed and hopped over the courtyard wall.

"Damn it, they're still not sleeping at this hour?" Seeing that the light in the west side room was still faintly glowing, Lin Jingyue cursed inwardly.

Hearing the muttering coming from inside, she crept stealthily closer.

"I'm telling you, if you dare go behind my back with money to visit people, don't blame me for falling out with you!" The woman's sharp voice was deliberately lowered, sounding somewhat strange.

Yet Lin Jingyue immediately recognized whose voice it was.

Her brows shot up high, and out of curiosity, she inched even closer.

"Why are you so unreasonable? That is my eldest aunt! Once she recovers, will we be left out of the benefits?!" The man suppressed his anger.

"She got beaten up for no reason, and it's my fault? I got beaten up too, did anyone come to check on me? That money is what I'm saving to get our son a wife!" The woman clearly had a miserly, money-obsessed personality.

"You deserved it!"

"She deserved it even more! If she hadn't done so many wicked things, why would anyone have put a sack over her head?!"

"..."

Listening to the bickering between the two, Lin Jingyue laughed almost to the point of dying. Serves them right!

The woman who had bumped into her that day turned out to be the daughter-in-law of the Second Song household.

Truly, people of the same kind belong in the same family.

They were both equally annoying.

No matter what the man said, Xu Huijuan refused to budge. Finally, driven past his breaking point, the man snapped, "You short-sighted fool! I heard there are good things hidden right here in our courtyard, you—"

"What? Good things? Who did you hear that from?" Xu Huijuan's interest was instantly piqued.

"Never mind who I heard it from. Just give me the money."

"Hah, don't try to fool me. If there were good things here, would that eldest aunt of yours have let us live here in peace?" Xu Huijuan mocked.

"Right under the kitchen stove. If you don't believe me, wait until there's no one home one day and go check."

Well!

Both Xu Huijuan and Lin Jingyue grew excited.

Without a moment's hesitation, Lin Jingyue took out a smoke bomb and lit it. After the time it took to burn a stick of incense, she swaggered into the kitchen.

The kitchen was quite spacious; apart from the stove and a cabinet, a large area was left vacant. Lin Jingyue swept her gaze around and finally let her eyes land on the large water vat in the back.

Her eyes flickered. She walked over and directly shoved the immensely heavy water vat aside.

Then, she calmly pulled out a shovel and began to dig.

This time, she didn't have to dig very deep before hitting a hard object. A smile flashed in her eyes, and she sped up.

Before long, she unearthed a box measuring only about thirty centimeters in length, width, and height.

Digging further down yielded nothing more.

Frowning slightly, she didn't disdain it; she packed away the box, filled the hole back in, and surveyed the kitchen once more.

There probably wasn't anything left in the other areas.

The good things the couple had talked about were most likely just this box.

However, Old Man Song had once claimed that the core of the Song family's fortune was concealed here, so there certainly had to be more than just this small chest.

Most likely... there was a cellar or a secret room here.

Perhaps the Second Master Song knew, or perhaps... Lin Jingyue's gaze suddenly shifted toward the main room.

Old Man Song giving this residence to his younger brother to live in surely wasn't simply out of brotherly affection.

Perhaps Second Song was guarding something for him after all.

Lin Jingyue first circled the courtyard and indeed discovered a cellar.

However, it was just an ordinary cellar used for storing some grain.

She took a flashlight down into the cellar, fumbled around for a bit, and then came back up.

There was nothing of note in the cellar.

Yet, she had discovered an interesting detail: the wall at the very front of the cellar seemed to be hollow.

A secret room, just as expected.

She paced around, locked down the coordinates, and brazenly pushed open the door to the main room.

The Second Song couple had long since passed out from the smoke.

Lin Jingyue first searched the periphery of the room and found no entrance. She then moved to the brick bed, even lifting up the two unconscious people to check underneath, but found nothing.

She pondered for a moment, and her gaze finally settled on the wardrobe beside the bed.

Opening the cabinet and groping around inside, her eyebrows arched—the entrance was actually at the bottom of the wardrobe!