Chapter 25 Treasure Hunt in Town
Liu Ye asked excitedly, "Is it okay? The common people have all left, so the government officials should have left too, right?"
Bai Zilin shook his head and said, "Well, I really don't know. Let's go to town tomorrow, stay for a day, and then leave directly from town."
Liu Ye nodded happily: "Okay, we'll go to town tomorrow. Hehehe, another treasure hunt is coming. I hope we can find gold again..."
The next day, Liu Ye and Bai Zilin each ate an apple. Liu Ye went out and took the small cart out of her space, tied the basket to it, and then strolled with Bai Zilin to the town. Sure enough, there were fewer people in the town. The pedestrians they saw were all carrying their families and walking away. Of course, only the poor were going to escape famine. The rich were taking horse-drawn carriages and oxcarts to visit relatives in the south for temporary refuge, still living a life of luxury, just in a different place.
"Brother Bai, the town is so big, where are we going?"
A shrewd glint flashed in Bai Zilin's eyes: "The wealthy people in our town all live in those streets behind the government office, called Jinyun Lane. Let's go over there and take a look. When there's a drought here, they all move away."
Half an hour later, the two passed by the closed gate of the government office and entered Jinyun Lane. Some houses had their gates closed with locks, while others had their gates open with locks lying on the ground, as if they had been burgled.
Bai Zilin pointed to a house with its gate open and said, "Let's stay at this house for a while."
Liu Ye naturally had no objections. The lock being broken meant that no one was home and that the house had already been burgled, making it safer for them to stay there.
Bai Zilin sat down on the steps in the courtyard: "Liu Ye, bring in the lock from the front gate and lock the gate from the inside."
Liu Ye obediently did as she was told, picked up the lock from the door, locked the gate, and went to search for treasure in the yard. Since the yard had been ransacked, there were definitely no valuables left, so she just rummaged around and looked at things randomly.
She went to the backyard, walked to the well, and looked inside. There was no water in the well. She then went to the family's kitchen and saw that it had been ransacked. All the bowls and plates were lying on the ground, and the large pot had been pulled away.
"They've looted so thoroughly, there's probably nothing left inside."
She went back to the front yard: "Brother Bai, the back yard has been ransacked. There's nothing there. Even the big pot has been taken away."
Bai Zilin said with a smile, "The door has been pried open, there's definitely nothing left. Don't bother looking anymore, sit down and rest for a while."
Liu Ye waved her hand, pushed open the back door, and saw that the room was clean and tidy, as if no one had searched it. There were still bedding on the bed. "Brother Bai, this room is quite clean. Why don't you come in and rest? I'll go take a walk outside."
Bai Zilin shook his head helplessly. This girl: "Oh, go ahead and shop."
Liu Ye came out of the house and went to the backyard. With a running start, she jumped into the neighbor's yard. She had just seen from outside that the house had its gate locked, which meant that it hadn't been robbed yet and that the family had just left.
This house was similar to the one next door. She simply broke the lock, opened the door, and went inside. It was dark. This family was quite particular. The tables, chairs, and benches were all made of fine rosewood. It would be a waste to leave them lying around and let them collect dust. With a wave of her hand, the entire house was instantly emptied, leaving only a layer of dust on the floor.
Liu Ye clapped her hands with satisfaction, "OK, that's enough." Storing too much would take up space in the space anyway. Besides, rosewood isn't that precious. The most expensive woods are golden nanmu and small-leaf sandalwood; the others aren't very valuable.
She wandered into the family's kitchen and found many fine kitchen utensils, from basins to bowls to pots, all of which were exquisite. She simply put them all into her spatial storage. Finally, she came to the family's study and went straight to the bookshelves to search. Don't wealthy families usually have secret rooms with hidden mechanisms? Why couldn't she find any after searching for a long time? Or did this family not have any?
An hour later, Liu Ye stood up from the ground, her bottom sticking out. It seemed there really was nothing there. She waved her hand and cleared the study. She looked around the walls and the floor again, but didn't see anything special, before leaving the study.
Once in the yard, she took another run-up and jumped into the house next door. She searched inside and outside the house but didn't find anything valuable. However, when she reached the backyard, she found a cart, the kind pulled by oxen.
She gripped the handle and pushed it back and forth a couple of times, finding it worked: "This cart is pretty good, much better than the wooden cart she used to push. Brother Bai can even sit on it now."
If she could find someone selling cattle, she could buy one to pull the cart. She pushed the cart back to the old house, only to find that Bai Zilin was not there. She searched the front and back yards and all the houses, but couldn't find him: "Hey, where did Brother Bai go?"
Could it be that Brother Bai has followed her example and gone treasure hunting in someone's yard? It's very possible. In that case, she'll just wait for him here.
About an hour later, Bai Zilin, leaning on his crutch, climbed back over the wall from the other side, startling Liu Ye. Good heavens, he could actually climb over the wall with his crutch? She hadn't expected that.
"Brother Bai, where have you been?"
Bai Zilin was also surprised that she came back so quickly: "Oh, I went for a walk next door. What about you? When did you get back? Did you find the treasure...?"
Liu Ye, with her sharp eyes, noticed the guilty look in Bai Zilin's eyes and guessed that he definitely hadn't gone next door: "I found a cart. I'll push you there tomorrow. The journey to the south is long, and it's not good for you to hop around like this."
Bai Zilin looked towards the entrance of the courtyard, where there was indeed a cart: "This cart is quite big, perfect for hauling things. I'll just walk myself; it'll be good exercise."
Suddenly, Liu Ye noticed thick smoke rising in the distance, as if there was a fire: "Brother Bai, it's on fire! Look over there!"
Bai Zilin thought to himself, "Of course I know there's a fire, because I started it. As for why he started it, it was obviously to get revenge on them!"
He turned his head and looked at the fire with surprise: "Oh dear, it really is on fire. The thief must have set it on fire in a fit of anger because he couldn't find anything valuable."
Upon hearing what kind of bastard he was spouting, Liu Ye retorted, "I didn't set the fire, and I didn't go that far...!"
Bai Zilin hurriedly explained, "No, no, I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about someone else..."
Liu Ye knew he didn't mean anything by it; she was just joking on purpose: "Brother Bai, what if the refugees come back and see their houses on fire? Wouldn't they be heartbroken?"
Bai Zilin nodded happily, "Of course! They must be so heartbroken, it's really pitiful!"
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