Chapter 339, The Mysterious Iron Box (third watch)

Ye Jiuliang nodded and suddenly remembered something, urgently asking, "Where did you say the ancestral hall is?"

"In the northern courtyard," Ji Mingqian said.

Ye Jiuliang hurriedly ran out, leaving Ji Mingqian unable to react in time.

"Ajiu, wait for me."

The area around the ancestral hall was eerily quiet, and at the entrance, there lay a pile of skeletal remains—upon closer inspection, they seemed to be two dogs, presumably the watch dogs kept by the master of the house in the past.

Ye Jiuliang pushed the door open and entered, noting many footprints on the dusty floor, as well as many torn-up Buddhist scriptures in the corner.

Just as Ji Mingqian had said, not a single ancestral plaque was to be seen on the table, with varying traces of dust where they once were positioned.

It looked like the plaques had been taken away.

Ye Jiuliang lowered her head to look under the table, her eyes dark and deep as she surveyed her surroundings.

Ji Mingqian, preoccupied with looking for any hidden mechanisms, almost stumbled over a cushion on the floor.

"Oh no."

Ye Jiuliang turned at the noise, "What happened?"

"It’s nothing." Ji Mingqian kicked aside the cushion on the floor, his gaze suddenly drawn to something beneath it.

His eyes darkened as he stepped on the floor tile under the cushion.

"Thud thud—"

It was hollow.

His eyes suddenly brightened, "Ajiu, come over here and take a look."

Ye Jiuliang stood up and walked over to him.

"What have you found?"

"This floor tile is hollow," Ji Mingqian said.

Made hollow?

"Don’t move it yet."

Ye Jiuliang grabbed his hand, her gaze carefully examining the hollow tile.

After a while, she shifted her gaze, scanning other areas of the ancestral hall.

"Ajiu, what are you thinking? Let’s pry open this floor tile and see what’s inside," Ji Mingqian suggested, puzzled.

Ye Jiuliang released his hand, "Pry it open."

Ji Mingqian went out to look for tools and soon returned with a rusty hammer.

Ye Jiuliang stepped back as Ji Mingqian lifted the hammer and smashed it down on the hollow tile.

"Bang—"

In an instant, dust filled the air.

In the faint light of their mobile phones, a black iron box came into view.

Indeed, there was a secret inside.

Ji Mingqian dropped the hammer, crouched down, heedless of the dirt, and reached out to pick up the iron box hidden under the floor tile.

The touch was cool, and the box was unexpectedly heavy, crafted from the rare Ten-thousand-year Mysterious Iron.

What’s more, the iron box was locked, with a mechanism inside. If the wrong password was entered, the device would activate, and the box would lock permanently.

After fiddling with the iron box for a moment, Ji Mingqian said with a grave expression, "Ajiu, the iron box is locked tight."

Unless they had the key, there was no other way.

Ye Jiuliang took the iron box from him, the fact that it was locked tight only proving that someone else had tampered with it before, and they couldn’t open it either.

"Ajiu, do you think those people came here looking for this iron box?" Ji Mingqian speculated.

"No," Ye Jiuliang shook her head, "they weren’t trying to find the iron box, but rather, they wanted to lead us here to discover this iron box."

Stroking his chin, Ji Mingqian examined the iron box in her hands with interest, "Could it be that they couldn’t open it and assumed that we could?"

This was indeed giving them too much credit.

Ye Jiuliang examined the iron box, attempting to discern something from it.

"Stop looking, there’s no way to open this damn iron box other than with the key," Ji Mingqian said.

Ye Jiuliang tossed the iron box to him, and then paced back and forth in the ancestral hall.

After searching for a while, apart from the iron box, they found nothing else.

The two left the ancestral hall and casually found a spot to sit down outside on the corridor.

Ji Mingqian played with the iron box in his hands, lifting it high to study the mechanism inside.

The person next to him was silent the whole time, and he wanted to hear her thoughts. "Ajiu, what do you think?"

"Clearly, those men in black have been to this estate, and probably not just once. This iron box must have also been placed back into that hollow brick by them, most likely because they wanted us to find it," Ye Jiuliang analyzed methodically.

Rather than saying they wanted them to find the iron box, it was more like they wanted to use them to open the iron box for them.

She changed the subject suddenly, remembering a key point she had overlooked, "Aqian, have you checked who the previous owner of this large estate was?"

Ji Mingqian explained, "Not yet, I didn’t bring my computer with me, and the signal here is terrible, so it’s not convenient to look it up."

"Let’s search the estate again tomorrow when it gets light to see if we missed any clues," Ye Jiuliang suggested after some thought.

Ji Mingqian hummed in agreement; that was all they could do for now.

...

Suddenly a heavy rain started pouring down in the middle of the night, accompanied by roaring thunder, startling many people awake from their sleep.

The bedside lamp suddenly turned on, Fang Hui sat up with her face covered in sweat and a terrified expression, likely from a nightmare.

Fang Hui was panting, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

It was that dream again.

Who exactly was the man at the hotel that day, and why couldn’t she remember anything about his appearance?

Listening to the rain outside, unease inexplicably grew inside her heart, as if something was about to happen.

She threw off the covers and got out of bed, poured a glass of water, and just as she took a sip, Weng Lan’s voice suddenly came from outside the door.

"Shaohui, why have you drunk so much? Slow down."

Fang Hui frowned, set down the glass, and tiptoed to the door, opened it, and the bright light from the corridor spilled into the bedroom.

Seeing Li Shaohui leaning drunkenly against Weng Lan, Fang Hui’s eyes darkened, and she couldn’t help but speak out.

"Sis-in-law."

"Oh, Fang Hui, you’re still not asleep?" Weng Lan, hearing the voice, turned around and saw Fang Hui standing at the door, speaking in a gentle tone.

"I got up for a glass of water," Fang Hui said with a smile.

"What happened to Big Brother?"

"He drank too much," Weng Lan said helplessly.

"Sis-in-law, help Big Brother back to the room, and I will go make some honey water for him," Fang Hui offered.

With Weng Lan holding onto Li Shaohui’s hand, and Li Shaohui leaning on her, it was inevitably a bit hard for her, "It’s late, you don’t need to trouble yourself, I can do it."

"It’s fine, let me help. I’m already up anyway; you help Big Brother back to the room," Fang Hui said, heading downstairs.

"Thank you, Fang Hui," Weng Lan said in a lowered voice.

A moment later, Fang Hui came upstairs with a cup of honey water. The bedroom door of Li Shaohui’s room was open, and from the doorway, she saw Weng Lan changing his clothes, her expression slightly unpleasant.

When Weng Lan turned around, Fang Hui had a smile on her face.

"Sis-in-law, the honey water is ready."

Weng Lan stood up and reached out to take the cup from her.

"Fang Hui, I really appreciate your help."

"We’re family, there’s no need to talk about trouble. Take care of Big Brother, I’ll go back to my room," Fang Hui said.

Weng Lan nodded, "Alright, get some rest soon."

When Fang Hui turned around, her face suddenly turned gloomy.

Foolish woman.

You deserve to be played by me, and sooner or later, the lady of this bedroom will be me, Fang Hui.