Xiao Mandong was about to leave when she saw Director Huang turn back again, inspecting the pigpen once more before leaving again. After waiting a while longer, once she was certain Director Huang wouldn't return, she changed clothes in her space, wrapped her head in a scarf, and walked into the pigpen. Pig manure was everywhere, the stench overwhelming. Luckily, Xiao Mandong had a flashlight in her space. The manure had clearly been piled up deliberately, to keep people out.
Xiao Mandong observed carefully. The footprints on the ground disappeared in front of a pig trough. She lifted the trough—nothing underneath. As the flashlight swept across, she noticed that behind the pile of manure next to the trough, there was actually a coffin.
The coffin lid showed signs of having been moved. Without hesitation, Xiao Mandong opened the lid. Inside were straw mats. She was about to step into the coffin when she suddenly grew alert and jerked her foot back. She found a wooden stick and used it to lift the straw mats. The mats had no bottom—they were hung on nails at the sides of the coffin. Beneath them was a pitch-black hole. Xiao Mandong's palms were sweating from the fright.
She climbed down the ladder about two meters when she spotted a tunnel entrance. She shined her flashlight around the bottom and saw that the ground was covered with upturned spikes. Director Huang really was ruthless, not just in the ordinary way.
Xiao Mandong crawled through the tunnel opening. The spikes were a warning that made her doubly cautious. Fortunately, all the way to the exit, nothing dangerous happened.
The exit was in the toilet of the old mansion. The sewage was still there. Xiao Mandong nearly vomited. Only after gulping some fresh air did she feel alive again.
Looking over the entire courtyard, it was empty—you could see everything at a glance. So the goods must still be inside the house. She recalled the news reports from her previous life, but it had been too long ago. She only knew those treasures were priceless.
She walked around the house once. The seals on the doors and windows were still intact—so how had Director Huang gotten in? Then Xiao Mandong's gaze fell on a rockery in the courtyard. She approached it and noticed one stone was especially smooth. She tried pushing the rockery, and indeed, it showed signs of moving. She pushed hard, and the rockery shifted aside, revealing another tunnel beneath it. If it weren't for drinking spiritual spring water every day lately, she never would have been able to move that rockery.
Following the underground passage, she entered the house and began searching for a secret room. This was the old mansion of a wealthy family, and from what she remembered, those families liked to put secret rooms in their studies. She started tapping the walls and floor in the study. Suddenly, she spotted a strangely shaped stone on the windowsill. Xiao Mandong picked it up and placed it into a broken gap in the floor. Somewhere in the floor, there was a faint tremor, but nothing else changed. Xiao Mandong lay down on the ground and checked every corner of the floor. Sure enough, one floorboard was raised half a millimeter.
She pried open that raised floorboard. Beneath it was a pair of small bronze lions. Looking closely, she noticed one lion's eye was crooked. Xiao Mandong straightened the eyeball, and the spot where she'd inserted the stone sank slightly, revealing a pitch-black entrance. She followed the stairs down. The cave was chilly, and the damp air was mixed with the smell of mothballs and lime.
More than a dozen large wooden chests were arranged neatly. She opened the first one—newspaper-wrapped ration tickets, mostly industrial coupons. Food and special-ration coupons were scarce, probably because they expired. Industrial coupons were valid long-term.
Beneath the tickets were rolls of ten-yuan notes. The amount was staggering—probably over a hundred thousand yuan. Xiao Mandong quickly stored them in her space. She checked each chest one by one: small gold bars, jewelry, jade, calligraphy, paintings, antiques, gold silk and satin. She also found four Rolexes and two Omegas. All of it went into her space. In the corner, there was an unremarkable small box. When she opened it, she found a radio transmitter. A cold sweat ran down Xiao Mandong's spine. She covered her mouth tightly, barely daring to breathe. It took her a long while to calm her pounding heart. She hurried into her space, found gloves, and carefully stored the transmitter.
She exited the underground room, restored the mechanism to its original state, threw the stone back into her space, and popped the lion's eyeball out of place.
If Director Huang came here, he couldn't open the secret room, and he wouldn't know what was below. And he wouldn't dare dig around openly.
Xiao Mandong remembered clearly: the reports about Director Huang only mentioned embezzlement, not espionage. That meant the secret room had never been discovered back then. And knowing Director Huang's caution, he wouldn't put all his eggs in one basket. There had to be a second secret room—one meant to distract if anyone found the first.
Xiao Mandong searched room by room. Nothing. She glanced at the time—it was already past four. She had to leave. Just as she was about to go, she noticed what looked like lime footprints near the stove. Only the underground room had lime. The footprints were a man's. He must have gone to the study's secret room, then come here afterward.
Xiao Mandong approached the stove, lifted the pot, and sure enough—there was another basement beneath. She went down again.
There wasn't much here, only five chests.
One chest of diamonds and antique jade hair ornaments. One chest of silver dollars. One chest of precious medicinal herbs: antler, ginseng, fleeceflower root. One chest of cadre-issue Chinese cigarettes. One chest of premium Maotai and Wuliangye. And about a dozen rolls of ten-yuan notes.
Xiao Mandong stored everything in her space. Just as she was about to leave, she heard messy footsteps. She scrambled out of the basement and slipped into her space.
Huang Yuanqing had felt uneasy all morning. Last night at the old mansion, he'd felt followed. He'd checked repeatedly but found nothing. He'd barely slept, so he came to check again.
The moment he saw the coffin in the pigpen opened, panic hit him. He immediately called two cousins, went home to grab his pistol, and rushed over.
Seeing the rockery pushed aside, Huang Yuanqing was so enraged he pulled the trigger. The men rushed to the stove basement—empty. His stash was gone. Painful as it was, he secretly felt relief: thankfully he hadn't kept everything there. Last night, he'd only come to this basement to fetch the jade bracelet. If someone had followed him, they might not have found the study room.
Huang Yuanqing sprinted toward the study, the other two hurrying behind. The moment he entered, he saw the strange stone on the windowsill was gone. His vision went black; the world spun. His cousin grabbed him. No one knew this secret. How had this happened? Was someone onto him? With his two cousins here, he couldn't check the mechanism. He couldn't expose it. What was inside was too important.
Xiao Mandong saw them heading for the study. She darted out and ran for her life, bolting past the rockery and straight for the exit. When she got there, she was stunned. The exit was blocked by a huge stone slab.
At that very moment, Huang Yuanqing's cousin caught a glimpse of a figure from the window and shouted: "Brother! Someone's there!"
