20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 793 Zhao Lingchun Reveals Her Identity

"Shall I go down first?"

The young man looked down; the basement was pitch black, and who knew what traps or hidden weapons might be hidden there. So he waved his hand and said, "Forget it. You two were making a big show of things just now, why should I go down first?"

The two accomplices raised their eyebrows, curled their lips in disdain, and asked, "What's wrong, chickening out?"

"Who's a coward? You two were the ones who wanted to go down in the first place. Now that the door's open, you want me to be the first to go? Do you really think I'm stupid?"

"Hey kid, I think you're someone important. I'm willing to give you a boost, but you don't appreciate it!"

Both accomplices were seasoned veterans who had roamed the underworld for many years. While their courage and strategy might not have been particularly outstanding, their wickedness and malicious intentions were more numerous than a hornet's nest. They usually targeted young people as pawns and were adept at using provocation to subdue them.

The bearded man immediately snorted coldly and said impatiently, "Alright, alright, look at your cowardly appearance. You'll never amount to anything in this life. What are you doing out here, you coward? Go home and find your mother!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the man next to him quickly chimed in with flattery, "Old Wu, don't look down on him. I know Tang's temper. Anyone who says he's spineless is just talking nonsense."

"Give me a break, him?" Old Wu laughed mockingly. "Brother Kang, you're just bragging! I could make him go down into an underground parking garage and he wouldn't even dare. You think you can make a name for yourself with that? Dream on!"

Grandpa Kang glared at him, then immediately patted the young man on the shoulder and said, "Little Tang, we men are all men who pee standing up. Do we have to be as slow and fussy as women when it comes to doing things? Come on, let's set an example for him and show him what it means to be a 'young hero since ancient times'! I'm not trying to bully you, I just can't stand seeing them bully young people like this!"

The two old men, one praising and the other criticizing, managed to put the young man on his toes in just a few words.

Young people are often impetuous and can't resist being praised to the point of being provocative.

Moreover, the behavior and conduct of online individuals cannot be judged by common sense.

In the world of martial arts, you can lose anything, but you can't lose your pride.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Tang couldn't contain his anger any longer. He patted his chest and cursed, "Fine, I'll go down then! Whoever chickens out is a son of a bitch!"

"Hey!" Old Wu exclaimed, "Not bad, you've got some guts. If you can have that kind of ruthlessness, you might make something of yourself in the future."

"Stop talking nonsense. Let's see how it goes, so you won't keep talking behind my back."

"No way. Just based on what you just said, I admire you. My apologies."

Old Wu's eyes gleamed, and the corners of his mouth turned up to his ears. He immediately smiled and apologized.

Xiao Tang immediately made up his mind. At this point, let alone persuading him to go in, even if someone wanted to stop him, they probably wouldn't be able to.

He thought he had regained face, but little did he know how many half-baked fools, encouraged by others, had stumbled, suffered great losses, or even lost their lives before they even grasped the ways of the world.

Old Wu and Grandpa Kang were secretly pleased with themselves, but they didn't stop talking. They continued to flatter and fawn over each other, saying all the nice things while doing all the bad things.

Without hesitation, Xiao Tang immediately stuck out one foot and stepped onto the stone steps at the entrance to the underground parking garage.

Even so, seeing that the ground was completely dark and there was no light at all, I was still a little scared.

Actually, there were electric lights installed in the Jiang family's basement, but the three of them were outsiders and couldn't find the switch. They were also anxious and afraid that if they delayed too long, they would attract the attention of the other brothers.

Fortunately, there was an altar and incense table in the room. Old Wu picked up the candle, struck a match, lit a candle, and handed it to Xiao Tang, urging him to hurry down and scout the way.

Holding the candlestick and carrying the broadsword, Xiao Tang turned sideways and walked down the stone steps one by one.

Unexpectedly, halfway there, the candle flame suddenly began to flicker—it seemed that ventilation holes had indeed been provided in the basement.

Xiao Tang dared not delay and quickly used his hand to protect the candle flame.

However, this made the already faint light appear even dimmer.

As soon as their feet touched the ground, a strong, pungent stench assaulted their senses. The surrounding air was so foul that even the candlelight couldn't illuminate every corner.

Looking around, although they couldn't see the original appearance of the basement, they could still tell from the slightly jarring echoes that the space here was far larger than the three of them had expected.

Xiao Tang swallowed hard. Perhaps due to nervousness, he felt as if there was another pair of eyes staring intently at him from inside the basement.

He didn't dare to go any deeper, so he just quickly looked around the area near the stone steps.

Out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed something unusual about the right wall.

It turned out that most of the places illuminated by the candlelight were very murky, except for the right wall, which was hazy and vaguely reflected a metallic halo.

"Hey, Tang—"

Suddenly, two accomplices called out softly from above: "How's it going? Did you find the Jiang family's treasury?"

Xiao Tang was annoyed and turned around to retort, "Why are you asking? Come down and see for yourself, you'll know! What, are you chickening out?"

When the two old men saw that he was safe and sound inside, they hesitated for a moment, then picked up candlesticks and broadswords, and slowly walked down the wall while feeling their way along it.

Once inside the basement, following the light, turn right and you'll find yourself behind Xiao Tang, where a heavily locked iron gate will greet you.

This iron gate is unusual.

Ordinary doors have door frames, but this iron door is embedded in the wall, fitting perfectly and seamlessly.

If you punch it twice and there is no "thump" echo, you can tell that the iron gate must be quite thick, at least as thick as a palm.

Looking at the door, there are two additional locks: one is a mechanical combination lock, and the other is a three-hole interlocking lock.

Seeing this, Old Wu was confident and immediately declared, "If this weren't the Jiang family's treasury, I would kill myself right now."

As Kang touched the cold iron door, his heart sank. He sighed, "What are we going to do? This iron door is so thick. Even if you brought two bundles of explosives, you might not be able to blow it open, let alone chop it with a knife or axe!"

"If we really blow it up, the building will collapse, and we'll all be buried alive." Old Wu was so anxious that he kept clicking his tongue. "If you ask me, we'd probably have to go outside, dig a hole, and start digging."

Grandpa Kang nodded, weighing the padlock on the door in his hand, and said with a hint of helplessness, "Judging from this, the three of us probably won't be able to make any extra money. Look at this lock, it has three holes connected, you need to insert three keys at the same time to open it. And this lock, it's a foreigner's thing, it's utterly despicable."

"Shall we go and report to our elder brother?" Old Wu asked with a sigh.

"Don't rush, we're already here." Grandpa Kang was still a little unwilling. "The Jiang family's basement is so big, they can't just use up this little space, right? There might be some good stuff inside. Otherwise, why dig such a big basement? To pickle sauerkraut? Let's go take a look!"

As they were talking, they suddenly noticed that Xiao Tang's face was slightly pale and his expression was somewhat strange.

Old Wu was seething with anger and had nowhere to vent it, so he immediately glared at him and scolded in a low voice, "Look at you, who are you trying to impress with that death act?"

However, Xiao Tang's gaze did not fall on Lao Wu, but instead went over Lao Wu's shoulder and looked into the depths of the underground garage with a slightly bewildered expression.

The young man had good eyesight; before, with only one candle, he couldn't see clearly, but now that the three candlesticks were together, the basement was much brighter. Xiao Tang gradually adjusted to the light, rubbed his eyes, and stammered:

"No, I... I feel like there's a cage over there?" "A cage?"

Old Wu and Grandpa Kang turned around, squinted, and looked carefully. They really did see a few wooden beams forming a cage at the end of the basement.

Having previously served time in prison, the two men felt a jolt of fear upon seeing this scene.

"Little Tang, it's up to you now!"

"Why is it me again?"

This time, Xiao Tang resolutely refused to fall for the trap.

Old Wu and Grandpa Kang had no way to deal with him, so they simply suggested, "We're all good buddies, why distinguish between you, me, and him? How about this, the three of us go together, is that alright?"

That's how people are; the more creeped out they feel, the more curious they become, and they have to find out the truth before they can feel at ease.

So the three robbers emboldened each other, each gripped their broadswords, raised candlesticks for illumination, and slowly approached the Jiang family dungeon step by step.

The candlelight pushed aside the thick darkness, and at the end of the basement, there was indeed a cage.

But then, the hearts of Xiao Tang and the other two suddenly jolted, and they were immediately in their throats.

The candlelight flickered, revealing a solitary figure standing in the cage, gripping the bars with both hands, his face pressed close to theirs, staring intently.

It was a woman, withered and emaciated, disheveled and filthy, like a lost ghost, and it was impossible to tell her age or appearance.

Seeing the three robbers walking towards her, the woman didn't know how to react. Suddenly, she grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth, and gave them a strange "hehe" laugh.

"Holy crap, it's a ghost!"

Xiao Tang was terrified. His whole body trembled, and the candle in his hand fell to the ground. He hurriedly turned to run away, but his legs gave way and he fell flat on his face.

He ignored the pain and had no intention of looking after his companions. Before he could even stand up, he took off running. After only two steps, he immediately fell down and tumbled and crawled towards the stone steps of the basement, looking extremely disheveled.

Xiao Tang overreacted, startling his two accomplices, who almost managed to escape as well.

Fortunately, Old Wu and Master Kang were worldly-wise and quickly regained their composure, brandishing their knives and shouting, "Fuck your mother! Where did this crazy woman come from, putting on airs? You...you stay away!"

Unexpectedly, while they were afraid, the madwoman in the dungeon was even more terrified than they were.

Upon hearing the two robbers curse at her, the woman immediately panicked and retreated, grabbing a tattered quilt from the bed board and wrapping herself up tightly, as if as long as she couldn't see the two robbers, they couldn't see her either.

The madwoman in the dungeon was none other than Zhao Lingchun.

More than a decade of confinement and solitude had long since caused her to lose her normal ability to react to the outside world, and even her language function had suffered some kind of irreversible damage.

Therefore, when three robbers approached her with knives, she inexplicably let out two strange laughs.

She had completely forgotten how she should react.

Old Wu and Grandpa Kang looked at each other and gradually felt more at ease. After all, there are no ghosts in this world. Even if there are, ghosts are afraid of evil people.

"She seems to be a madwoman," Old Wu frowned, unable to help but wonder, "Why is the Jiang family keeping a mentally challenged woman?"

He glanced at the dungeon door and saw several iron chains wrapped around it. Inside, however, there were tables, chairs, benches, pots, pans, and everything else you could need. There was even a lamp and a few comic books on the table. To call her a criminal was a bit too much; yet, to call her a member of the Jiang family was absurd. Why was she locked up in such a place?

Thinking about this, Lao Wu became even more confused.

In fact, even those iron chains were just for show; Zhao Lingchun could push open the cell door at any time if she wanted to get out.

But she was already terrified, terrified to the core, terrified to the point that she had long since given up all hope of escaping.

Master Kang, however, had an air of worldly experience on his face. He curled his lip and said, "I reckon this woman is probably Jiang Lianheng's concubine. Maybe she offended the first wife, which is why she's locked up here. Sigh, this kind of thing happens all the time in wealthy families!"

That's true.

Wealthy and powerful families are often rife with filth and corruption.

It was common for the first wife to humiliate and abuse her concubines. Even if she drove someone to their death, what difference would it make?

Old Wu thought this made sense and quickly said, "If that's the case, do you think she might know how to open the vault?"

"Hiss, that's possible!"

Master Kang didn't have high hopes, but whatever, he might as well try his luck. So he tapped the dungeon bars with his broadsword and shouted sternly, "Hey, I'm asking you a question. Are you a member of the Jiang family?"

In a corner of the dungeon, Zhao Lingchun shivered, wrapped in a quilt, her words slurred and seemingly unrelated, as she said, "It's not my fault, it's not my fault..."

"What the hell are you muttering? I'm asking you if you're from the Jiang family!"

"Uh... Ah..."

Zhao Lingchun was extremely anxious, as if she had something to say, but when the words reached her lips, she stammered and couldn't get them out.

Old Wu had no patience for digging deeper, so he simply cut to the chase and asked bluntly, "Do you know how to open the vault door? If you do, I'll spare your life. If you don't, I'll fucking kill you right now!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Lingchun turned around abruptly, her eyes wide, and hurriedly said, "Uh... I won't run anymore, I won't run anymore... Tell my sister-in-law, I won't run anymore!"

"Damn it, what nonsense is this!" Old Wu immediately lost his patience and suggested, "Master Kang, I don't think we can count on this maid. Anyway, she's a member of the Jiang family. We're here to settle scores with the Jiang family. Killing her wouldn't be unjust. Let's just send her on her way!"

Master Kang nodded, raised his broadsword on the spot, and prepared to split open the fence and settle this feud with his own hands.

Old Wu naturally followed suit, sword in hand.

Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Zhao Lingchun, desperate to live, had a sudden inspiration and hurriedly declared, "I... I am not a member of the Jiang family, I am a member of the He family!"

"The He family?"

The two broadswords hovered in mid-air. Old Wu and Master Kang exchanged a glance and muttered to themselves, "Which He family? Is there such a family in Fengtian?"

Zhao Lingchun nodded frantically, stammering as he explained, "Uh... I'm not from Fengtian, Changfeng... He family!"

"Bang bang bang!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a burst of gunfire suddenly rang out from the Jiang family mansion overhead.

The two robbers were startled and quickly turned around to look, only to see Xiao Tang suddenly leaning back out from the stone steps at the entrance to the basement, shouting loudly into the building:
"Old Wu, Master Kang, run! The Jiang family is here!"

(End of this chapter)