The night hung low, and the moonlight was dim.
The granary was built in the southwest of Liang City. It was surrounded by a wall four meters high, with only one gate for entry and exit. Two torches burned on either side of the entrance, guarded by over a dozen Jiao soldiers.
Wearing night-vision goggles, Jiang Jin hid in the distance to observe the granary. After confirming that no one was patrolling the outer wall, she circled around to the base of the towering wall and looked up.
Given her height, four meters was impossible to reach no matter how high she jumped.
Moreover, the top of the wall was lined with numerous caltrops. In an era where iron tools were not highly developed, this was quite a lavish expenditure.
After ensuring the surroundings were clear, she took a wooden ladder from her spatial dimension and propped it against the wall. This was the very ladder she had collected from the private courtyard.
Climbing the ladder and peering inside, she saw rows of granaries. There were no dedicated guards for each building, but patrolling soldiers roamed the area.
Jiang Jin stood on the ladder and observed for a while. After waiting for about seven or eight minutes, the patrolling soldiers walked past a short distance from her position.
Taking a thick stack of coarse burlap from her space, she padded the top of the wall and swiftly climbed onto it. She then returned the wooden ladder to her space, placed it inside the wall, and carefully climbed down.
The moment her feet touched the ground, she stored the ladder and the burlap back into her space and moved with light steps to the nearest granary.
Most buildings of this era were made of wood, and the granaries were no exception. To prevent moisture, they were raised about a meter off the ground on wooden frames.
The granary only had doors and no windows, and a lock hung on the door.
She took two iron wires from her space, poked and prodded the lock left and right, and within a few breaths, she heard a faint click. The lock opened.
She had specifically studied the locks of this era to master this technique. Fortunately, the database in her space contained almost every kind of information imaginable.
Gently pushing the door open, she stepped inside and softly closed it behind her before turning to inspect the granary.
The arrangement of grain here was similar to that in the Cao residence. Most of it was stored in wooden bins, while some was packed in burlap sacks and stacked on the floor.
She estimated the grain in this building to be around five hundred shi, and she swept it all into her spatial dimension.
Just as she was about to exit, she heard voices approaching from a distance. Peering through the crack in the door, she saw the glow of torches and heard their low murmurs.
"There is barely anyone around anyway. It wasn't even my turn to stand guard today, but they dragged me over."
"What else can be done? You know the granary at the Cao residence was burned down, right? The general is worried, so he added more hands."
"Exactly. This grain is everyone's rations. If it gets burned, won't we all starve to death?"
"Aren't they out collecting grain? They should be able to bring back quite a bit."
"Hard to say. The Han commoners have either fled or died, so there probably aren't many intact crops left. We still have to rely on the grain in these granaries."
The voices gradually faded away. Jiang Jin slipped out of the granary, closed the door securely, and hooked the lock back in place, snapping it shut. It was restored to its original state; no one could tell it had been picked.
Using the same old method, she picked the lock of the second granary, went in, and collected everything...
Whenever patrolling soldiers came by, she hid. After making a full round, Jiang Jin had emptied all twenty buildings of their supplies into her space.
The harvest this time was incredibly rich. Fifteen buildings held various types of grain, both coarse and refined, totaling over 6,500 shi. The other five buildings contained oil and salt in substantial quantities.
With this oil and salt, Jiang Jin finally felt a sense of relief.
In the central area of the granaries, she randomly selected a few buildings, piled up the firewood she had collected from the Cao residence, splashed on some oil, and lit them.
The rows of granaries were built close together. Being made of wood and combined with the dry weather of August, a single fire could quickly engulf them all, not to mention she had added firewood and oil.
The granaries instantly caught fire, and the flames rapidly spread outward.
The patrolling soldiers were dozing off at the gatehouse. They didn't patrol continuously; usually, they went out for a round every fifteen minutes.
Suddenly, a guard at the gate cried out in alarm, "Fire! Fire! Quick, put out the fire!"
The patrolling soldiers jolted awake in fright, abruptly stood up, and rushed outside in a panic. "Where is the fire?"
The granary compound quickly descended into chaos. People were fighting the fire, searching for water, and screaming for help...
Jiang Jin hid behind a granary near the edge of the compound. Watching the frantic soldiers, her face remained expressionless as she waited quietly.
Dozens of seconds later, a soldier finally ran in her direction, heading for a water vat not far from the granary.
Suddenly, a dark shadow seemed to flash before his eyes. The soldier only felt a sharp pain in his head before his vision went black. He collapsed to the ground, and the wooden bucket in his hand flew out, landing with a clatter. Amidst the chaotic firefighting scene, the noise didn't stand out at all, and no one noticed anything amiss in this corner.
Jiang Jin stripped the soldier of his uniform and put it on herself. Even though the soldier she had knocked out wasn't very tall.
For her petite frame, it still looked exactly like a child sneaking into an adult's clothes.
She thought for a moment and cut the clothes shorter. Although they were baggy, tying the belt made it less noticeable. She tied the hems of the pants with strips of cloth, and in the pitch-black night, it was virtually impossible to spot any issues.
In the chaotic scene, a soldier suddenly noticed a short figure running toward the stables. He quickly called out, "Where are you going? Hurry over here and help put out the fire!"
