Inside the ancestral hall, the flickering oil lamp flames illuminated the furious faces of the indignant people.

"Damn it! A bunch of shameless bastards!" Old Man Weng kicked over a stool next to him, his face ashen. "Water! I drugged the water! Pure, clean water! And they poured it all into their own pile of broken jars! Not a single drop went into their mouths!"

"That's right! Ninth Brother! That water traveled dozens of miles to get back!" A man responsible for transporting the water slapped his thigh in distress. "These bastards got it for free!"

"The medicine has been wasted!" Old Seven, who was in charge of administering the medicine, cried. "That was good stuff! We spent a lot of money to get it! And now it's all been squandered!"

Aunt Zhang was pacing anxiously, her voice shrill, "Ninth Brother! What do we do now? Dozens of men are awake! They're all tough nuts to crack! If we really fight them head-on, we'll all lose weight too!"

The ancestral hall was filled with curses and swearing.

"Water won't do... then bring grain!" Old Man Weng's eyes flashed with a fierce light as he pointed sharply to the kitchen. "Go! Bring over the freshly baked millet and wild vegetable pancakes! They smell delicious! Seventh Brother, don't skimp on the remaining medicine powder! Knead it all into the pancakes! Knead it hard!"

"All...all of it?!" Old Seven was startled. "Ninth Brother, that medicine powder is strong. The rest is enough to knock out two cows! You're going to knead it all into the pancakes? And...this pancake is such a waste! It's several pounds of millet flour!" He looked pained.

“Yes, Ninth Brother,” a woman beside her couldn’t help but chime in, “That millet flour mixed with some wild vegetables is enough for us to eat for several meals! We can’t bear to waste it like that!” The thought of mixing precious grain with medicine made her heart ache.

"Bang!" Old Man Weng slammed his fist on the table, making the oil lamp flicker wildly. "Is food more important or people?! You can't catch sheep if you're unwilling to part with the bread! A bunch of starving ghosts reincarnated, can they resist eating hot, fragrant bread? Tell them this bread will spoil overnight! Let's see if those starving ghosts can swallow a spoiled bread! Are they willing to waste food?!" His voice was hoarse, filled with a desperate ruthlessness.

“Yes, yes, yes! Ninth Brother is right!” Sister Zhang immediately agreed, suppressing her reluctance. “No matter how precious the grain is, it can’t compare to the value of those dozens of sheep! They’ll spoil overnight? They definitely won’t want to waste it! They’ll definitely eat it while it’s hot!”

"Alright...alright!" Seeing that Old Ninth was determined, and thinking about the value of those "sheep," Old Seven gritted his teeth and said, "I'll go and let them out right now!" He turned and rushed to the kitchen, his back view showing a resolute determination to spend everything.

Others also grumbled and complained, feeling sorry for the wasted water and medicine powder, and even more so for the food that was about to be ruined.

...

Jiang Chan moved along the cold earthen wall like a shadow blending into the night.

My heart beat steadily in my chest, but my thoughts were racing like a sophisticated machine.

Buzz—

Ten meters overhead, the miniature detector hovered silently, its wing flapping almost imperceptible.

The view instantly switched to a night vision hologram: the outline of the entire Wengjia Village was clearly presented, with cold lines outlining the houses and roads.

Most importantly, there were several glaring red dots—those were the location markers for the armed guards lurking in the shadows of the corner!

Without hesitation, Jiang Chan seized the opportunity, ducked, and charged forward, precisely locking onto her target—the kitchen! The center of weapons and food!

Silently, I climbed through the back window. The kitchen still smelled of burnt pancakes and the aroma of firewood.

Under night vision goggles, everything is clearly visible.

Three thick-backed kitchen knives, gleaming clean, were on the cutting board!

A heavy cleaver!

A whetstone!

Five glistening strips of dried, cured pork hanging from the roof beams!

Three large, bulging burlap sacks were piled up in the corner!

Half a jar of glistening, white lard sat beside the stove!

Half a vat of coarse salt in the earthenware jar in the corner!

Thoughts are like lightning!

A hand brushed across!

Swish! The cutting board is empty! The knife sharpening stick has vanished!

Whoosh! The cured meat on the roof beams vanished! Grain sacks, salt bins, and lard containers were emptied in an instant!

The movements were fluid and swift, as if they had been rehearsed hundreds of times.

Without pausing, he left the kitchen and rushed to the adjacent storage room.

The smell of mildew was strong, and several inconspicuous large wooden crates were piled in the corner.

Lifting the box—

A fine silk robe! Silk skirts of various patterns! Heavy silver bracelets! Silver hairpins of different shapes! Fine-textured cotton cloth! Two bundles of sturdy hemp rope...

A hand brushed across—

Silk, skirts, silver bracelets, silver hairpins, cotton cloth, hemp rope... vanished in an instant!

Like the most efficient predator, she moved through the dimly lit, empty courtyard under the precise guidance of the detector's holographic map.

The small wooden box with a hidden compartment in the kang cabinet—delivery received!

Two half-empty corn jars – Received!

Two heavy iron axes leaning against the wall – the goods are ready!

A long-handled machete in the corner—goods delivered!

Three hoes and iron heads—the harvest is complete!

A shovel head—goods delivered!

Beside the neatly stacked firewood, a sharp chaff cutter—the harvest is complete!

Wherever it went, not a blade of grass was left behind!

...

The atmosphere inside the ancestral hall was oppressive and tense.

Everyone stared at the door, waiting for news from the cake deliveryman.

"Ninth Brother, don't worry! These hot, fragrant pancakes are so tempting, even hungry ghosts would turn green with envy!" Sister-in-law Zhang said, trying to remain calm.

“Exactly! I don’t believe they can hold back!” another man agreed wholeheartedly.

The sound of hurried footsteps approached!

The man who delivered the pancakes returned, his face as black as the bottom of a pot!

"Ninth... Ninth Brother!" The man leading the way in delivering the cakes was trembling.

"Where's the pancake? Have you eaten it?!" Old Man Weng suddenly stood up.

"They did accept the cakes, though!" the man said with a mournful face.

Old Man Weng just breathed a sigh of relief.

"But...but they didn't eat any!" the man almost roared, his voice filled with incredulous anger. "That old bastard! It's that same old bullshit again! Saying the bread is precious and should be saved as life-saving food on the road! Saying it's a waste to eat it now! That eating too much at night will make them bloated and unable to sleep! Damn it! A bunch of starving refugees, afraid of getting bloated from eating bread?! What utter bullshit!"

boom!

The ancestral hall was completely destroyed!

"You bastard! Are you kidding us?!"

"They won't drink water! They won't eat bread! Do they want to become immortals?!"

"Damn it! I'll chop them all up!"

Sister-in-law Zhang's lips trembled, "Ninth... Ninth Brother! Something's not right! This is too strange! Do they... do they know?! Do they know we poisoned the water and the cakes?!"

"Impossible!" Old Man Weng roared, veins bulging on his forehead like earthworms, his eyes filled with doubt and suspicion. "My answer was watertight! Everything that needed to be explained was explained! Spikes on the wall? Nailed windows? Clothes and jewelry? What was left unexplained?! And they still believed it! Where did I slip up?!" He paced around the ancestral hall like a trapped beast, scratching his head in frustration.

"Could it be... that they heard what was being said in the ancestral hall?" the seventh brother said hesitantly.

"Nonsense! The ancestral hall is a huge courtyard away from their rooms! They can't hear us even if we shout!" Old Man Weng categorically denied.

"Damn it! What the hell! The water buckets are empty, the bread is gone! Utterly useless!! The remaining twenty-odd awake ones are all tough nuts! If it really comes down to a fight, we have absolutely no chance of winning..."

The meticulously designed trap was broken by this group of "fat sheep" in an almost rogue manner—they accepted everything but refused to eat it!

The other party is suspiciously vigilant!

The ancestral hall fell into a deathly silence, broken only by rapid breathing and the crackling of the oil lamp wick.