Chapter 641 - 553: Part 2
Two objects resembling dried camellia fruits rolled to Xiao Man’s feet. While everyone was in a flurry helping Gongsun Ruxue up and scrambling to pick up the scattered herbs, Xiao Man scooped up the two dried fruits. Then, she casually tossed out a handful of other herbs she had grabbed from a drying basket in a corridor earlier for fun...
Just then, the information talisman she had been clutching in her left hand crumbled to dust. Xiao Man was speechless. ’What is Gu Shaojun doing? Couldn’t he have waited five more minutes to summon me? Even three minutes would have been fine!’
In the end, Xiao Man managed to delay her departure for another two minutes. She just had to watch as Gongsun Ruxue, urged on by the crowd, nervously climbed the ladder and added those herbs to the Pill Furnace. The sight was incredibly satisfying!
Even if she was suspicious and wanted to grab the list to carefully verify the herbs in the wooden box, the appointed hour had arrived. If she missed this window and failed to add the herbs, this entire batch of elixirs would be a complete waste.
She could only bite the bullet and add them in!
Xiao Man headed back the way she came, chuckling as she ran. ’That’s what you get for shamelessly coveting my fiancé and disgusting me. I wonder what these elixirs will look like when they come out of the furnace? Hopefully, Gongsun Li’s punishment will be severe and miserable. Or better yet, maybe they’ll just promote Shi Jiu to replace Gongsun Xue. We’ll see if she still has the leisure to be thinking about someone else’s fiancé then.’
Xiao Man hurried to the foot of the East Mountain and met Gu Shaojun, who had come down to meet her. He asked with concern, "Is everything alright?"
Xiao Man shook her head guiltily. "I’m fine! I’m sorry I’m two minutes late!"
Gu Shaojun flicked her lightly on the forehead. "Who are you apologizing to? But being late like this isn’t a good habit. Don’t let it happen again!"
"Yes, Boss."
The two walked hand in hand up the mountain. All along the path, they could see various herbs. The Gongsun Family’s cultivation methods were indeed quite unique. Xiao Man observed a few spots, thinking she should mention it to Grandpa and Uncle Jiaobao when she returned.
There were five caves for closed-door Cultivation on East Mountain, and according to Gu Shaojun, there were several more on West Mountain. One could just imagine how prosperous the Cultivation Families were in their heyday. Gu Shaojun led Xiao Man into a cave situated low on the mountainside. She followed him through a winding path until her vision suddenly brightened. She saw a pine torch, which Gu Shaojun explained he had just lit. He put an arm around Xiao Man, guided her to a stone wall, then with feigned gravity, pulled out a handkerchief and tied it over her eyes. "Want to know what it feels like to discover the treasure cave of the Forty Thieves?" he asked with a smile.
Xiao Man paused. "You found it?"
"I was originally just interested in the patterns carved on the stone wall. I reached out to trace the lines with my hand and unexpectedly triggered a mechanism... Well? Don’t you want to give it a try?"
Try? How could she not?
Xiao Man laughed and shouted, "Open, Sesame!"
Gu Shaojun pressed a spot on the mechanism. A deep RUMBLE echoed as the entire cave shook as if from an earthquake. Xiao Man leaned against Gu Shaojun as he removed the handkerchief. She opened her eyes and was stunned speechless. Before her was a vast cavern, packed to the brim with neatly stacked chests—the large, copper-studded kind used by old escort agencies. The front five or six had been smashed open, undoubtedly Gu Shaojun’s handiwork. Inside them were gold bars, silver ingots, and all kinds of jewels, jades, and antiques...
Xiao Man knew that the Storage Rings the Gongsun Family had given to the Gu and Tang Families as compensation contained a great deal of gold, silver, and jewels. Back then, Gongsun Li and Gongsun Xiang had proposed the reparations themselves, claiming those two rings already held ninety percent of the Gongsun Clan’s wealth. While the Gu and Tang elders likely didn’t believe them, the lie had rolled off their tongues far too easily. It was a bald-faced lie. ’If you don’t want to give it, fine, but why state such a massive figure?’ she thought. It made it seem as if the Gu and Tang Families were taking huge advantage of the Gongsuns. They were truly treating people like fools.
On her way here, she had eavesdropped on a private conversation between Gongsun Li and Gongsun Xiang at the valley entrance. She’d heard them say with their own mouths that the Gongsun Clan had nine more treasure troves, and the wealth in those two rings combined was probably only worth as much as the contents of this single cave!
Of course, if the Gongsuns also counted the value of the two ancestral Cultivation Techniques they failed to remove from the rings in time, then sure, the compensation was worth whatever they said it was!
Gu Shaojun patted Xiao Man lightly. "What are you spacing out for? Quick, pack it all up so we can get going! Nine treasure troves, was it? This is one. As soon as I get back, I’ll immediately start refining more Storage Rings. We’ll grab three more of their troves before those two old men have a chance to inspect them. After that, we’ll just keep a close eye on their movements. This treasure-snatching game is pretty exciting. If we’re going to play, let’s play big. We’ll see who dares to object! They want to play dirty with us, putting on a different face in public? Fine. We’ll make them suffer a loss so bad they won’t even know where to go to cry!"
For Xiao Man, collecting the treasure from an entire cavern was a matter of a few waves of her hand. In the blink of an eye, the cave was empty. Gu Shaojun and Xiao Man retreated, activated the mechanism to restore the wall to its original state, and then extinguished the torch. They left the cave hand in hand, preparing to exit the valley the way they came.
Seeing that Xiao Man still looked eager for more, Gu Shaojun smiled. "This isn’t the only fun place in the world. From now on, I’ll take you out exploring whenever I’m free!"
Xiao Man nodded. "Okay! You have to promise you’ll remember!"
"Don’t worry," he said. "It’s my favorite thing to do, too!"
Before they had even reached the foot of East Mountain, they saw several figures dashing from the town in their direction at a considerable speed. The rumbling from the cave must have carried and startled someone. However, even if those people came up the mountain, they wouldn’t find anything amiss. The ancestors’ cultivation retreat was a forbidden area, sealed with restrictions that ordinary clan members could not enter. And as for the treasure cave, the fact that it had remained so pristine until Gu Shaojun’s discovery suggested that only Gongsun Li and Gongsun Xiang ever opened it for inspections. The average clan member would have no idea it existed.
At most, they’d be surprised that the mountain was shaking when neither the Clan Leader nor the elders were home. How they chose to explain that to one another was their own business. Gu Shaojun and Xiao Man couldn’t be bothered with any of that; they were in a hurry to get back to the city.