I became the Counterpart of the Winner in a Period Novel-Chapter 315 - 289: Night Visit to Qiong Bamboo Temple 3
Jiang Ming’an: "See, your Brother Xie’s side skills are quite formidable."
"Ahem... What bad things are you two saying about me? Don’t think my hearing’s bad; I can hear just fine."
Jiang Ming’an, not at all embarrassed about being caught, laughed and replied, "No, we’re praising you!"
"We’re here. Hold on, I’ll light a torch before we go down."
Making a torch isn’t easy; you need the right materials, but Xie Yunhai just picked one up and lit it, probably left behind when someone previously moved things around.
The wood soaked in diesel ignited easily; in the darkness, it instantly flared up, the flames dancing joyfully.
"Alright, brother, you hold it, and I’ll find the mechanism."
"You seem familiar."
"Brother, I left home when I was fourteen. I’ve crawled through countless dog holes, so finding a place like this is no big deal. It’s not like we’re robbing an Emperor’s Mausoleum, now that’s out of my league, full of traps where one misstep would get you stuck."
"Enough, talk less. If this place is really related to Liu Chu and his group, there are probably traps too."
"Alright, I’ll listen to you, brother!"
Jiang Mingyue: "..." Fine, seems like there’s nothing for her to do; she just needs to be a quiet background.
The arhat statues in the main hall were rarely spared from destruction and still stood intact. Xie Yunhai circled them a few times, his gaze falling on the Palm Leaf Fan of the Bajiao Arhat. The reason? It was clean while other parts were covered in dust. As the torchlight illuminated it, Xie Yunhai grabbed the fan handle and fanned it, making the fan move.
The second time, the fan moved more.
The third time, "boom," the entire statue moved. Jiang Ming’an, quick-eyed and swift, pulled everyone aside, revealing a cannon barrel mounted atop the main hall door. However, the barrel was loaded with arrows. The fan triggered the mechanism, transmitting the action to several smaller linked mechanisms that reached the barrel’s pivot point. The fuel previously loaded at the barrel’s base self-ignited, converting into kinetic energy that pushed the shaft, ultimately activating the mechanism. The arrow shot out in a pre-set direction.
"One, two... ten arrows. Tsk tsk! This is meant to kill from all directions! If you hadn’t pulled me, brother, I’d be dead here. A life-saving grace, I have nothing to repay, only..."
"Shut up! Even if I hadn’t pulled you, wouldn’t you dodge yourself? Stop talking and be careful."
It seems spiritual power detection isn’t omnipotent; it didn’t detect this lethal mechanism just now.
If Brother Xie had been struck, he would’ve fallen into the cellar below, where another trap awaited, capturing him alive if not killing him.
"Looks like we need to find another entrance."
Xie Yunhai mused, "I said, that Liu Chu didn’t seem foolish enough to leave such a flaw."
After that, everyone searched more meticulously.
Jiang Ming’an noticed a casually thrown bunch of divination sticks in the corner, casually picked them up, and shook them a few times, about to let them fall when he noticed something amiss.
"Huh?"
"What’s up?"
Jiang Ming’an went through all twenty-four sticks and found the texts identical on each.
"’Diligence is the first of a hundred virtues; laziness is the chief of all evils.’ Supreme stick, how come it’s engraved with Liang Gong’s words, what the heck?"
Xie Yunhai came over, grabbed one stick, and recalled a story.
"When I was young, my dad often took me to Wuliuxiang whenever he had free time. You might not know because that place has been leveled and the new Nanxi City Primary School was built on its foundation, but the older generation knows that in the evenings those grandpas would gather with their grandchildren with big mugs of tea. Every night there was a gentleman telling stories for free. They’d tell classics like ’The Oath of the Peach Garden’ and tales spread through Nanxi City’s streets and alleyways at the time.
Like the story ’Lady Zhang Whips Her Husband,’ back then, many secretly passed it around, not because it was wondrous but because of its sensational title. Let me ask you, upon hearing that title, don’t you think of Lady Zhang’s husband as a cad like Chen Shimei?
It’s not that. Lady Zhang whipped her husband because he was incredibly lazy—went months without washing his hair, a year without showering; in short, achieving new heights in laziness. My dad warned me not to be like that husband when I grow up or risk being whipped through the streets by my wife, losing all face."
"Lazy?" Jiang Ming’an had a sudden realization, pointing at the reliefs of ladies and scholars, "Look, isn’t the lady holding a willow stick like in the tale ’Lady Zhang Whips Her Husband’? And this hall was added to the temple a dozen years ago, matching when the story was most popular?"
"Makes sense! Brother, wait, I’ll get a ladder."
Soon, the ladder was there. It must be said, Xie Yunhai, known as the number one in the streets and alleys, knew the places better than their owners wherever he went.
The ladder set up, Jiang Ming’an steadied it as Xie Yunhai climbed up, feeling the carved scenes and activating a mechanism on Lady Zhang’s willow stick.
"Rumble..." This time, instead of a sudden black hole trap, a side wall moved, revealing a door. Inside, a staircase led down, with walls sporadically inlaid with glowing beads on either side.
"Are these the Luminous Pearls mentioned in books? Maybe not, but let’s move quickly and get out before the torch burns out."
No one had any objections.
Once they entered, there was no more unnecessary chatter.
Jiang Mingyue extended her spiritual power; what she could only vaguely see on the surface before was now much clearer.
After scanning the area, Jiang Mingyue regretted discovering it so late, otherwise, she might have become the wealthiest person.
Jiang Ming’an said, "There are all sorts of footprints on the ground, seems like a lot of people have been going in and out."
Xie Yunhai said, "Looks like they’re moving things. There’s more over there, come on, let’s go have a look."
Upon entering, in front of them was an underground warehouse as large as a basketball court. The footprints from the moving activity led out from here, suggesting that a lot of boxes used to be stacked here.
Jiang Ming’an said, "Ugh! I think I stepped on something."
The torch was lowered, and with a nudge of the foot, a Black Jade Bead Chain was picked up.
"What a treasure! It seems someone was hiding these things, dropping this chain in a panic. Because of its color, it narrowly escaped detection. Tsk! Yunhai, you’re lacking! If you had found this hideout earlier, you wouldn’t have to work for ten lifetimes."
Xie Yunhai: "..." Who’s lacking?
"There’s another room, eh! This one’s so small, doesn’t seem like a warehouse."
Have to admit, Jiang Ming’an really has a knack for finding treasures. Though, this time it wasn’t a treasure. He picked up something from the corner—a crumpled paper ball. He carefully unfolded it to find half a bloodied message inside.
"Help! Wenren Zhou, Qi Wen, Xia... and that’s it."
All three of them simultaneously thought of something, faces turning pale in unison.
"Maybe we’re overthinking it, let’s keep looking..." They searched the area meticulously but found nothing else. This small space was empty except for the straw scattered on the ground.
With no other place to look, the three hurriedly ascended but didn’t close the secret room’s door, only latching the main hall’s door.
Upon returning to No. 43 Magpie Street, the three finally sat down to discuss.
Xie Yunhai said, "Yueyue, you don’t need to worry about this. I’ll write a letter and send this note along with Huang Mao to run a trip to the Southern Institute."
Jiang Mingyue recalled their previously intercepted report letter and added, "Have Huang Mao make sure An Jian receives it."
"Alright. Yueyue, go rest quickly. Your brother and I will take a nap; we have to work at daylight."
Jiang Mingyue had been waiting for these words and promptly got up to rest.
Though she had rested during the first half of the night, she had been busy for most of it and was now tired. As for the previously promised roast lamb leg, it was just talk.
By the time Jiang Mingyue woke up, it was already evening. She wandered around for a bit, not seeing her two brothers anywhere, suggesting they had gone off to some social engagement again.
Jiang Mingyue grabbed some fresh clothes and dived into the space for a hot spring bath. After dressing, she came out to feed Lightning some roast chicken.
Lightning pouted: Oh, you finally remembered me, trying to starve me, are you? You’re nowhere near as good as the other master, I don’t want you anymore.
Seeing Lightning’s little antics, she instinctively knew what it was sulking about.
Jiang Mingyue stroked its black-dyed fur and explained, "I overslept next door; I haven’t eaten all day either, I didn’t forget you. I’ll install a chicken coop here soon. If I end up like today, you can catch live chickens yourself."
Lightning rolled its eyes: Who wants to eat bloody live chickens? I want delicious pine-roasted chicken.
"Wow, getting picky now, are we? Let me tell you, no deal." She got up and went back into the space.
Lightning: "..." This master is really no good. I want Xiao Yanzi, sob, someone save me from this abuse.
Jiang Mingyue gathered the grains and planted potatoes this time.
She then ran to No. 5 outskirts of the city, where Pan helped transport jars and bottles that Du Shouqiang had people deliver at the beginning of each month.
Jiang Mingyue saw that the whole yard was filled with her jars and bottles. With a wave of her hand, everything was collected into the space.
Once inside the space, Jiang Mingyue began washing and sanitizing, then repackaged the previously brewed liquor, labeling them with "Moon Palace Immortal Brew."
With the large wine vats cleared, Jiang Mingyue brought corn from the warehouse to start another batch of brewing.
After all the hustling, she felt hungry. However, the heat dissuaded her from preparing anything complicated, so she just fetched some steamed buns and black truffle sauce. No sooner had she sat down when An Jian arrived.
