Chapter 14: This Matter Cannot Be Easily Forgotten

The group of men spun around several times at the crossroads, clearly searching for someone. One man, with a sharp nose and a sly look, grumbled, “Damn it, that little girl ran so fast. In the blink of an eye, she vanished.”

“Tell me about it. Who knows what she eats to grow up like that? She’s way too quick. We brothers aren’t slow ourselves, yet we couldn’t catch her,” another complained.

“What a shame. That little girl had a lot of money on her. She spent nearly a thousand just in that short time at the black market,” the sharp-nosed man said, his eyes reddening at the mention of money. The cash that girl carried was several times more than his family’s savings. Where could he possibly go to argue about it?

The others all showed expressions of envy and frustration. They’d noticed it too—if her money hadn’t been so eye-catching, they wouldn’t have chased her so persistently. Nearly running themselves to exhaustion, only to lose her in the end—how humiliating.

“Forget it, we’d better hurry back. Keeping Brother Tiger waiting isn’t good, and who knows what those joint patrol guys are up to, launching a sneak attack like that,” the sharp-nosed man cursed reluctantly, leading the group back.

Brother Tiger? Xu Lin tilted her head. So these men had someone backing them. She rubbed her nose, unwilling to let herself be stalked without making them pay. Without hesitation, she slipped out from her space and began to follow them carefully.

The men moved swiftly, weaving through the alleys until they arrived at a courtyard house whose gate looked quite dilapidated. The weeds in front grew waist-high. The sharp-nosed man pushed open the battered door. They all glanced around to make sure no one was following before quickly slipping inside.

The courtyard was cluttered with garbage and overgrown grass, obviously neglected for a long time. At the main hall’s entrance sat an old man in his fifties, who merely nodded at their arrival and continued smoking.

Xu Lin did not push the gate to follow; instead, she lightly climbed the courtyard wall and peeked inside. She didn’t see the old man, but she did see the sharp-nosed man and his companions signaling to him. Xu Lin quickly understood: though the front yard was rundown, someone guarded it. The goods were likely in the back yard.

She silently dropped down from the wall and moved toward the rear. When the sharp-nosed men entered the back yard, Xu Lin climbed the back wall as well.

She saw them slip into the east wing. After a moment’s thought, Xu Lin quietly entered the yard herself—not to eavesdrop at the east wing, but to check the other rooms in the back yard.

First, she went into the west wing, which had two rooms connected together. Inside were pots, bowls, basins, water jars, buckets, cotton and cloth—all daily necessities.

Passing the west wing, she came to the main house. Through the west window, Xu Lin saw bags of brown sugar, White Rabbit candy, fruit drops, pastries, rice, flour, grains and oil—food supplies.

The main hall held an Eight Immortals table and chairs, with teapots and cups on the table, clearly a place for dining and entertaining guests.

Xu Lin soon arrived below the east window, and what she saw made her exclaim silently in surprise. On the shelves were cartons upon cartons of cigarettes, several brands, at least forty or fifty cartons by her quick count. Beside the cigarettes were bottles of white liquor, red and foreign wines—none of them cheap. On the floor sat two brand new bicycles. She couldn’t see inside the cabinet, but guessed the contents would be valuable as well.

After a moment’s thought, Xu Lin turned and entered the east wing from the main hall. Since she was already here, there was no reason to leave empty-handed. After all, those men had provoked her first; Xu Lin felt no guilt in taking what she could.

Once inside, a thought from her mind made the bicycles vanish, the cigarette shelves disappear, the racks of liquor gone, cabinets emptied. In no time, she had cleared the room of its contents.

Xu Lin looked around and noticed a patch of earth in the corner that seemed different. She immediately began to dig and soon unearthed a brocade box. Opening it, she found two century-old ginseng roots.

Wonderful, more treasures—she was making a fortune this time. Xu Lin cheerfully stored them away, scanned the area once more for anything amiss, and then left.

She headed to the west house next. If she was going to raid, she’d take everything, so she cleared out the food supplies there and moved on to the west wing. Soon, she had emptied the back yard. Remembering the men had gone to the east wing, Xu Lin hurried over.

To her surprise, the east wing was deserted, with no sign of anyone—not even at the pit. Curious, she stepped inside and searched around. In no time, she found several hundred yuan and a wristwatch.

Digging in a pit, she found a jar stuffed full of yellow fish currency. After searching the east wing, she’d turned up a few thousand yuan and two jars of yellow fish currency, plus discovered a secret chamber entrance. As expected, the men had gone down into the secret chamber.

Xu Lin, bold and skilled, carefully descended. She figured if she couldn’t handle whatever was down there, she could escape into her space. She was determined to see what mischief required a hidden room.

She crept along the pitch-black passage, and as she went deeper, Xu Lin’s brows furrowed.

“Brother Tiger, is this really reliable?” came the sharp-nosed man’s voice.

Xu Lin stopped and listened. The voice came from a room near the passage’s entrance, exactly on the path she’d need to go deeper. She paused to listen.

“Relax, it’s solid. A good friend of mine introduced this route. As long as we deliver the goods, the rest isn’t our concern,” Brother Tiger replied, tapping the table. “This transaction is important. I expect you all to stay sharp. If anyone breaks down at this critical moment, don’t blame me for turning ruthless.”

“Don’t worry, Brother Tiger, we’ll do our best,” the sharp-nosed man promised, and the others quickly echoed him.

After pledging their loyalty, the sharp-nosed man changed the topic: “Brother Tiger, any idea why the joint patrol suddenly launched a sneak attack?”

“They say it was reported by someone,” Brother Tiger’s face darkened, “If I’m not mistaken, it was probably that Wolf gang.”

“Damn, those bastards can’t beat us in business so they resort to dirty tricks. Truly despicable.”

The sharp-nosed man spat fiercely, gritting his teeth. “This can’t be let go so easily.”

“Relax, we won’t let it slide. But right now, getting the goods delivered is our top priority,” Brother Tiger mused, scanning his brothers, considering how best to organize this operation for absolute safety.

Xu Lin didn’t know what goods they were dealing with, but she intended to first see what was inside the secret chamber.

She tiptoed past the door where Brother Tiger and his men were talking, heading deeper into the chamber.