Chapter 736: It Is Time and Fate

Just as she was about to lose patience, she noticed something different below; though it was still pitch black, the tightness was clearly gone.

Her spirits instantly lifted.

She opened the cabinet door and rummaged inside.

Finally, she found a mechanism on the inner side of the bottom drawer; she pressed it first, but nothing happened, then she tried turning it to the left, but it wouldn't budge.

She thought perhaps the mechanism had been destroyed long ago due to the passage of time; lost in thought, she casually turned it in the opposite direction, only to hear a crack, followed by a sound like something long unused and lacking lubrication.

She watched as a panel below split in two and slid open to both sides.

It revealed a steel plate beneath, with nothing discovered except for a hole in the center.

She didn't understand what this meant; she found a wooden stick and pushed it down into the hole, which seemed about a finger's depth, leaving her momentarily puzzled.

Releasing her spiritual sense to probe again, she discovered two small notches on either side at the very bottom of the hole, and suddenly thought of ancient keys.

Her mind instantly brightened; there must be a matching key to open the secret chamber below.

This put her in a dilemma; who knew where that key was? It was very possible that the surnamed Yao didn't even know there was a secret down there.

Reluctant to give up, she released her spiritual sense to probe downward again, after all, she had withdrawn it just after noticing the anomaly and hadn't confirmed the situation below.

Continuing to probe downward was truly draining.

Suppressing the urge to give up, she continued downward, thinking that if she probed a few more meters and it was still pitch black, she wouldn't bother any further.

Whatever was down there, it had nothing to do with her.

But just as she was about to give up, she suddenly noticed light.

Below was a secret chamber of about ten-plus square meters, though not very high; she estimated she would have to bend her waist to go down.

Inside stood three tiers of wooden boxes, with the wood of each tier being different, suggesting they were placed at different times.

The boxes varied in size; a rough count showed about twenty-something, while other areas held some burlap sacks and several large jars.

She tried to store them into her space from a distance, but the items didn't move an inch, leaving her somewhat puzzled.

Before, when she went to Jiang Huiwen's home, she had been standing in the neighboring courtyard and successfully stored her things; why wouldn't it work now?

Seeing them but unable to reach them was truly frustrating.

Most importantly, she could only see the boxes, sacks, and jars, but couldn't see what was inside; truly strange.

She had to shift her focus back to that mechanism, but where could she find the key to open the secret chamber?

She couldn't help but examine the wall cabinet carefully again, but after several attempts, she gained nothing.

She sighed, thinking: It is the time and the fate; it seems there is truly no connection. Forget it, I can't delay any longer; after all, I still have to go to another house tonight.

Just as she was preparing to leave, she stood up with too much force and pressed the drawer so hard it fell out.

Looking closely, she saw that one of the wooden strips supporting the drawer had been snapped by her force.

Just as she was about to push the drawer back, she saw a thin steel strip exposed at the broken spot; not knowing what came over her, her mind went blank, and she reached out to bend the steel strip straight, thinking that even if the wooden strip was broken, the steel strip could still support the drawer.

Subconsciously, she didn't want anyone else to discover the drawer's secret.

But her grip was too strong, and the wooden strip was completely snapped off in an instant.