Suspicious, I wondered if the treasure wasn't actually copper coins.

Could it be jewelry? But where is the secret chamber where jewelry could be hidden? Or is it some ancient formula? That would make it even harder to find! No wonder Chen Yushan had no clue.

The full moon cast a silvery light across the cobblestone path, making the ground appear as if it were covered in a layer of white frost.

A gust of cold wind blew by, and Qin San Niang suddenly shivered.

Try to calm yourself down and put yourself in my shoes: where would you design the entrance to the secret room?

Thinking back to the scenes in TV dramas from my past life, they were nothing more than the master's study and bedroom; otherwise, how could one feel at ease?

Qin San Niang groped her way to Si Li Ren's bedroom, but found nothing after searching around. She then went to the study, but it was locked, presumably because he had left in a hurry and hadn't taken many books with him.

She easily opened the door with the master key, stepped inside, and was immediately hit by a cloud of dust that almost made her cough. It seemed that no one had cleaned the house since the owner left.

This also shows that nobody is paying attention here.

The study was simply furnished: a large mahogany table, a chair, and on the table were the Four Treasures of the Study: writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. Behind the table was a wall, with a landscape painting hanging in the center. Also, beside the window, there was a soft couch for the owner to rest on when tired.

Qin San Niang frowned. This study looked as simple as it could possibly be! Her sworn brother wasn't fond of reading, otherwise he would have taken the imperial examinations. So there were only a few books on the desk. He had bought this house later, so it was considered a second-hand house. Generally, people in ancient times wouldn't renovate their houses, especially well-preserved ones like this, except for repainting the walls, of course.

Therefore, the only things the sworn brother added himself were probably the table and the soft couch. The entrance to the secret room must be related to the walls or floor tiles.

Qin San Niang carefully felt the floor tiles, especially the areas that weren't frequently walked on, but even after examining each one, she still found nothing unusual. However, as she stood up, she suddenly noticed a reflective spot in the landscape painting under the moonlight. Upon closer inspection, she saw what appeared to be fingerprints at the bottom of the painting…

She pressed her hand on that spot and heard a dull thud. The wall in front of her gradually loosened and then turned to the side, revealing a dark wooden door in her field of vision.

Qin San Niang locked the study door from the inside and installed an alarm device. If someone forcibly opened the door, it would trigger the mechanism, and she could react quickly.

I turned on my flashlight and entered the secret passage. At first, it was just a long corridor with very narrow stone steps, only wide enough for one person to pass through. As I descended, instead of the secret room I had imagined, I found a slightly wider and flat dark passage.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, she felt a gust of wind and her spirits lifted. She knew there was an exit ahead and strode forward for about fifteen minutes. Finally, she saw the exit not far away. A sliver of moonlight shone through the dense vegetation, illuminating the area brightly.

She carefully crawled out and looked around. Where was she? Where was she? She knew she had definitely left the mansion. Although she had walked for about half an hour in the secret passage, in terms of straight-line distance, she had not only left the Si residence, but also left He County.

This isn't the direction of Shiligou, so based on the location of the Sifu (prefecture), this should be the barren mountains south of the city.

To the southwest of He County town lies a continuous mountain range. Gu Qingshan had inquired before and learned that this mountain range stretched endlessly southward, but because the mountain roads were difficult to traverse, it did not appear on any maps, and there were no villages to the southwest. Because it was sparsely populated, it was forgotten over time.

The people of He County don't care about this mountain range at all. They have docks and official roads to travel on, so who would want to wander into the mountains for no reason? If they were to encounter wild animals or something, it would be no laughing matter!

Even Qin San Niang, who had traversed many deep forests during her escape, felt a chill creep down her spine as she stood here alone. Wasn't this the Dark Forest?

However, she wasn't willing to return empty-handed. So, she picked up her pistol, turned on her powerful flashlight, and continued on. She hadn't gone far when she saw a cave that appeared to have been mined, as if it had been blasted with gunpowder.

After a moment's thought, he switched to a regular flashlight and prepared to go forward and investigate.

Upon closer inspection, there were still many clods of soil and gunpowder residue at the entrance, leading me to guess that this might be a mine! Looking further ahead, it wasn't very deep, indicating that the mine hadn't been mined. But why was it abandoned here?

Upon closer inspection, there was nothing special about the cave. Why was such an ordinary mine located at the exit of the secret passage?

The night dew grew heavier, and Qin Sanniang couldn't stand there pondering, otherwise her head would freeze and she wouldn't be able to think straight. So she decided to go back and make plans later.

As she turned around, she caught a glimpse of a flash of light out of the corner of her eye. Startled, she saw that the light was reflecting off a rock. Turning on her powerful flashlight, she took a closer look and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

He quickly grabbed a few stones and threw them into his spatial storage. After thinking for a moment, he went back into his storage to get a chainsaw. He then cut down a few small trees around the cave and placed them at the entrance as cover. The cave had been abandoned for a long time, and the surrounding area was overgrown with weeds. After all this, it was indeed difficult to find.

Inside the Chen residence, Chen Yushan was furious. The Prince of Zhennan's heir had come to He County, but hadn't solved his tavern's predicament at all; instead, he was only interested in the Si family's residence. However, his men had already searched the entire Si residence and found nothing special! What was infuriating was that the heir's men hadn't mentioned any treasures in the residence, only that there was a map!

Good heavens! A map? Such an inconspicuous piece of paper, who knows if that old man Sili Ren has already thrown it away! Even if it's still hidden there, the Sili Mansion is so big, where is he supposed to find it?

Of course, despite his complaints, Chen Yushan dared not voice them aloud, for the young master was not easily fooled. Having no other option, he had his men find two wandering sorcerers to perform supernatural feats, scaring away the residents. Over time, the residence became abandoned, making it easier for him to proceed.

Xiao Zigui was already on the carriage to Lin'an and could only entrust the matter to Chen Yushan, whom he did not think highly of, as a temporary measure.

"Master, are there really mines in He County? But I haven't heard anything about them among the common people," the subordinate in black asked doubtfully.

During his stay in He County, he visited blacksmith shops of all sizes, but they all said that ironware was regulated and that there didn't seem to be any iron mines at all.