Chapter 50: Obtaining the Secret Treasure
"Don't worry about this old thing for now. Come, you have to help me break this mechanism and see if the secret treasure is inside." Luo Mei said bluntly.
Yin Chuan and Du Yunzhang exchanged glances, and Du Yunzhang snorted, "That's really your style. Tell me, what should we do?"
Luo Mei poked the Luoyang shovel into the gap of the mechanism, then took the monkey on her body and handed it to Yin Chuan, "Come, help me keep an eye on it."
Yin Chuan was a little surprised, "You can just take care of it yourself. It didn't run around or bark even though there was such a big commotion just now."
"You don't know, it might do something wrong in a while. It's about to reach a critical stage, and I don't want to cause any trouble." As she said that, she swung her arm carelessly and threw the monkey directly towards Yin Chuan.
Yin Chuan was in a panic and clumsily caught the monkey. However, the monkey didn't seem to be interested in Yin Chuan. After it jumped into his hands, it started to scream and squeak, which was very dishonest and gave Yin Chuan a headache.
"Brother Yin, how about I come?"
The one who spoke was Linlang. She walked closer and tentatively touched the top of the little monkey's head. The little monkey suddenly became quiet, as if it was quite pleased with Linlang's kindness.
"Oh? I didn't expect it likes you so much." Luo Mei was a little surprised.
"Humph, this monkey is obviously not a good thing," Du Yunzhang said angrily, "As soon as it saw a beautiful woman, it immediately became obedient. Luo Mei, you have to discipline it properly from now on, and don't let it become paralyzed at the sight of a woman!"
"Tsk, almost the same as you!" Luo Mei retorted.
Linlang found the bickering between the two both funny and filled with an indescribable sense of ambiguity, and couldn't help but glance at Yin Chuan, who looked a little embarrassed next to her.
"Alright, alright, let's get down to business." Seeing he couldn't gain any advantage with words, Du Yunzhang returned to the topic. "What do you want to do next?"
Luo Mei tightened his belt and put on a pair of leather gloves. "Here, since Brother Yin doesn't need to watch Monkey, come with Du Yunzhang and help me push the coffin lid hard and open it completely. Don't worry, I've already locked the spring of the mechanism, so there's no danger. But you have to wait for my signal. Push only when I say so."
Yin Chuan and Du Yunzhang each nodded in agreement, then stepped forward, carefully placing their hands on one end of the coffin lid, awaiting Luo Mei's command. Seeing everything ready, Luo Mei pressed the Luoyang shovel's collar firmly with one hand while gripping the outer edge of the stone coffin with the other. "Come on, push hard!" she shouted at Yin and Du. They immediately exerted all their strength, pushing against the coffin lid. However, to their surprise, the seemingly heavy stone coffin lid didn't feel as difficult to push as they had imagined. With sufficient force, the gap in the coffin widened smoothly. Meanwhile, Luo Mei exerted her strength with both arms, gripping the outer edge of the stone coffin for support. With her other hand, she pried the Luoyang shovel outwards. As the coffin lid opened, the deadly mechanism within the coffin's opening was fully exposed. As the Luoyang shovel pried outwards, the previously secure mechanism became increasingly loose. After a while, there was a crisp "click" sound, and Luo Mei let out a long breath, "Alright, you can stop now."
"What's inside? Besides the human head?" Du Yunzhang asked Luo Mei on the sarcophagus.
"Don't worry," Luo Mei waved her hand at him, "Maybe this coffin is designed like a 'thousand-layer pancake', and there's no telling how many layers it has underneath."
As he spoke, Luo Mei scooped up the head with a Luoyang shovel and threw it upwards. The head flew straight out of the coffin and happened to roll down at the feet of the fifth concubine.
"Ah—" Fifth Concubine Yu Zhenzhu screamed in fear and curled up. But the Fourth Concubine next to her didn't react at all, still holding the thing in her arms tightly, oblivious to what was happening outside.
"Tsk—" Luo Mei rolled his eyes at the two concubines, a look of disdain on his face. Then, following the light, he carefully examined the inside of the coffin and discovered that it was not a burial coffin, but a hidden coffin for burial objects. "Old Du, help me—" Luo Mei shouted.
Du Yunzhang arrived upon hearing the noise and stepped onto the stone coffin. "What do you want me to do?"
"There's no place to hang it here. Come, hold my waist and I'll reach in to get the thing."
"This..." Du Yunzhang saw that Luo Mei had a slender waist, so hugging her was definitely a piece of cake, but after all, there was a difference between men and women, so he felt really bad about it.
"What? Don't even think about that mess. Just hug me if I tell you to. How can a grown man with a martial background be so timid like those concubines?"
Being provoked by Luo Mei, Du Yunzhang was a little embarrassed, "Humph, I'm not as bad as you say, hug me, who's afraid of who?" Then, Du Yunzhang hugged Luo Mei's waist horizontally, feeling light and soft, and his heart was throbbing. Luo Mei didn't care at all. She leaned down and went straight into the coffin. After searching for a long time, she found another rope. It was obviously left in the coffin when Master Lan opened it alone. She picked it up. Then she took out some burial objects, such as jade bowls, jewelry, jadeite, etc., all of which looked quite valuable. But it seemed that none of these caught her eye, and she continued to search inside.
"What else are you looking for?"
"Nonsense, I came here just to find Shen Wansan's secret treasure, and you sent me away with these things? Hey! I got it!" Luo Mei exclaimed softly. "Lao Du, get me up."
Du Yunzhang followed her instructions, exerting a little strength with his arms and lifting Luo Mei from the coffin. Luo Mei was clutching a hexagonal metal box, about the size of a person's arms, with carved handles on both sides. Although it was covered in green moss, the craftsmanship revealed it to be a very delicate artifact.
"Is this what you call the 'secret treasure'?" Du Yunzhang asked curiously, reaching out to touch it involuntarily. Luo Mei immediately put the box behind him.
"What are you doing? Trying to rob me?" She glared at him. "I'm telling you, Du Yunzhang, no matter how valuable the other things are, you can take whatever you want. But I can't let you touch this thing."
"Tsk, who cares! We don't even know what's inside. Maybe it's just a hot pot made of scrap metal." Du Yunzhang said disdainfully.
Just as Luo Mei was about to find a way to open the box, she suddenly heard the monkey's sharp "squeak," followed by Linlang's exclamation of "Ah!" Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the monkey, which had been held in Linlang's arms, had fled far away. Linlang's neck was being pinched from behind, with a sharp knife pressed against her fair neck. The man was none other than Fan Zheng, the director of the so-called Shanghai Yeducheng Film Company.
"Everyone, don't move! Otherwise, she will die!" Fan Zheng said in a low voice, the cold light in his eyes showing an aggressive murderous intent.
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