Chapter 126 - 112: Striking it Rich
"Shopkeeper, the owner wants to see you."
Having just gotten back to Xiahe County Town, the man impersonating Shopkeeper Qi and his entourage returned to the Four Directions Gambling House.
As expected, the government constables didn’t even bother keeping up appearances.
They let them go as soon as they entered the town.
However, the pedantic Scholar had barely sat down, his mind already churning with plans to discreetly return to that courtyard and search for the silver.
Just then, he heard a voice from outside the door.
His expression immediately soured.
"I understand. I’ll change my clothes and be right over."
The pedantic Scholar lowered his voice, making it sound exactly like Shopkeeper Qi’s, without the slightest flaw.
Although he was eager to go look for the silver, he first had to deal with the gambling house’s true owner.
After all, if he didn’t go, it would surely attract unnecessary trouble.
He might expose his identity, and if he couldn’t complete the organization’s mission, his own life would be forfeit.
At this thought, the pedantic Scholar couldn’t help but feel a surge of hatred for a certain someone.
Originally, he was just a deep-cover agent planted here by the organization, living under a false identity with no active duties.
But ever since the person responsible for transporting supplies was driven out of the White Tiger Boxing Hall and went missing, he had been forced to take over this task.
Soon, the pedantic Scholar finished changing his clothes.
He was naturally tall and thin as a beanpole, but now his figure was identical to Shopkeeper Qi’s.
An ordinary person wouldn’t be able to tell the difference at all.
As long as he didn’t do anything out of character, he likely wouldn’t arouse suspicion or be found out.
Of course, whether he would actually be exposed depended on how convincing his impersonation was and whether he would slip up in front of an acquaintance.
After getting ready, the pedantic Scholar gave a slight smile at his reflection in the bronze mirror, then went out and left with the messenger.
~~~~~~
’Three... seven... twelve. There are twelve chests in total here.’
In the secret underground chamber, Fang Yue gazed at the mahogany chests stacked before him.
He had already looked inside; the chests were all filled with huge Silver Melons.
Silver Melons were a way to consolidate smaller silver taels, melting them down into large, egg-shaped ingots. In the ancient times of his previous life, he recalled this was a measure against theft, as each Silver Melon was quite heavy, making it difficult for common bandits to carry away.
In this world, however, such a method was really only effective against ordinary people.
For a Martial Artist, moving a single Silver Melon was nothing.
"Quite a bit. All told, it’s more than sixty thousand taels." Fang Yue did a quick mental calculation and arrived at the total amount.
Each chest contained one Silver Melon, and each melon weighed over three hundred jin.
According to this world’s system of measurement, that was approximately sixty thousand taels of silver.
’Sixty thousand taels of silver is an immense fortune, even in Xiahe County Town. As expected, gambling houses are an incredibly profitable business in any era.’
This was because, according to what he’d overheard last night, the silver hidden here was basically all funds that Shopkeeper Qi had skimmed off the top through deception.
That meant the gambling house’s actual earnings were at least several times, or perhaps even more than ten times, this amount.
’I’ll just consider this compensation from that Shopkeeper Qi.’
Fang Yue accepted this fortune with a clear conscience. ’After all, I originally intended to kill Shopkeeper Qi. Since I didn’t kill him, isn’t it perfectly reasonable to take a little compensation now?’
Afterward, Fang Yue began searching the secret chamber again.
’There must be more than just these twelve Silver Melons here. Sometimes, after gamblers lose all their silver taels, the house accepts physical assets as well.’
’Of course, they only take Gold or certain valuable treasures.’
On a nearby shelf, some gold ornaments were piled up casually.
There were also some jadeite bangles, jade pendants, and the like.
’Hm, what’s this? An Elemental Stone?’
As his eyes swept across the shelf, Fang Yue noticed a few familiar-looking, grayish, gem-like objects.
They were about the size of a fingertip, irregularly shaped, and had been casually tossed into a bowl in the corner of the shelf.
Apparently, they weren’t highly valued.
From what Fang Yue could tell, the items placed in the corners and on the lower levels of the shelf were the least valuable.
Fang Yue strode over and picked up the few Elemental Stones.
He extended his senses slightly and found that, sure enough, the feeling they gave off was very similar to the Earth Elemental Stone from before.
’Three of these are Earth Elemental Stones. The other six feel different... I wonder what their attributes are.’
A look of joy appeared on Fang Yue’s face. Earth Elemental Stones.
They could be used to cultivate the Earth Element True Skill, which was a genuine Qi Sensing realm Cultivation Technique. In fact, based on its description, it wasn’t just an ordinary Qi Sensing technique.
Being able to form the Earth True Body meant it was likely a relatively high-grade Cultivation Technique.
Ever since he’d found that first Earth Elemental Stone, he had never managed to find another, despite searching every time he went into the mountains.
After all, he could only rely on luck.
He had no idea where such things grew or what methods could be used to find them.
He was completely clueless.
He never expected to find a few here, tossed aside so casually. Clearly, whoever put them there didn’t know their true value.
In Fang Yue’s opinion, since they could speed up cultivation and function like a Secret Medicine, these Elemental Stones had to be extremely valuable. If priced like Secret Medicines, each one would be worth at least a thousand silver taels.
Of course, it wasn’t that simple of a calculation.
Because this stuff couldn’t be found on the market at all. Fang Yue hadn’t even heard other Martial Artists mention anything about Elemental Stones.
Evidently, these Elemental Stones were either extremely rare or existed on a higher level that he had yet to come into contact with.
’Hm? She’s awake? That was fast.’
Just then, Fang Yue heard a noise outside the secret chamber and immediately put the Elemental Stones away.
He then turned, left the chamber, and entered the master bedroom of the main house.
"Y-You... are you after money, or... or me? W-What is it you want?"
The young woman’s pupils dilated when she saw Fang Yue. Trembling, she pointed at him and spoke in terror.
"Hehe, I, the pedantic Scholar, am of course not after your body, nor your money," Fang Yue grinned, revealing a set of white teeth.
However, when the young woman heard this, her expression grew even more horrified.
’He doesn’t want money, and he doesn’t want me... then what does he want?’
’Is he here to take my life?!’
Instantly, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted again.
’She actually fainted for real.’
Fang Yue checked and confirmed that the woman had indeed fainted.
This time, however, to prevent her from suddenly waking up and causing a scene, Fang Yue found some rope, tied her up, and tossed her into the kitchen.
He then returned to move the valuables from the underground chamber.
An hour later, Fang Yue had finished moving everything out.
Then he went out, found a horse-drawn cart, loaded the silver onto it, and left.
Of course, before leaving, he bought a cartful of coal for the young woman.
He even specifically instructed the cart driver to deliver the coal directly to the kitchen.