At the entrance to this treasure vault, everyone came to a halt.
The dragon-severing stone before them was immensely massive. Breaking through it by human effort was theoretically possible, but with so few of them and without tools, it was pure fantasy.
Still, there were quite a few chisel marks on it, clearly the work of Hong Qiming himself.
However, because it involved the former dynasty and the items inside were far too precious, Hong Qiming had obviously been working on it alone.
The result went without saying: up to this point, he had made very little progress.
As for why his ancestors had never worked on it... well, that was obvious. Only Hong Qiming had climbed to the rank of Commandant, which gave him the means to purchase the estate.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have belonged to his family in the first place, having long since passed to others through the changing of dynasties.
"Looks like some kind of token is needed to open it." Wei Yuefu inspected the dragon-severing stone and found a peculiar groove, which was likely the keyhole.
"Why not pour in some rice paste or molten iron, and wait for it to harden?" Meng Zhijie suggested.
Wei Yuefu rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Did a donkey kick you in the head?"
One had to admit, Meng Wei had impeccable judgment; no wonder he had chosen to invest in Shen Qianjun...
It was only because Ding Shoucheng had been replaced by Wei Yuefu; otherwise, Ding Shoucheng would have been the ultimate workhorse aiding Meng Zhijie.
"Eldest Senior Brother, that won't work," Shen Qianjun explained with a helpless sigh. "Doing that would just block it completely."
What he proposed was no different from pouring glue into a keyhole—once you did, that was truly the end of it.
"So, Bronze Badge Shen, do you have a way to open it?" Wei Yuefu asked offhandedly.
Yet Shen Qianjun shook his head. "I don't."
He had never seen it before, so naturally he didn't know.
Besides, even if he had, he couldn't possibly take it out right now.
Under the watchful eyes of so many people, trouble would surely follow.
He understood the principle of keeping wealth concealed.
"That's a pity, then. Let's go." Wei Yuefu didn't dwell on it.
The group continued toward the exit. Since they couldn't find a way in, they might as well let it go; perhaps later, if the opportunity arose, he could see if he could mix some explosives to blow it open.
As for the ratio of gunpowder ingredients, he only knew the old saying "one part sulfur, two parts saltpeter, three parts charcoal," but had no idea about the exact specifics.
It was just like the mass-energy equivalence formula: everyone knew E = mc², but practical application was another matter entirely.
"I need to relieve myself," Hong Qiming suddenly spoke up.
"Can't hold it?" Wei Yuefu knew Hong Qiming was definitely up to something, so he refused to permit it and stated bluntly, "Just do it in your pants."
"It's number two," Hong Qiming said expressionlessly. "If you can stand it, so can I."
Hearing this, Wei Yuefu merely said, "Fine. I don't believe you'd actually dare."
He refused to believe Hong Qiming would abandon all sense of shame.
If he truly soiled his pants in public, he would lose all face and prestige.
Quite a few of his personal guards were present, after all.
And then, a foul stench wafted out.
In that instant, everyone's expression changed.
The ventilation in the secret passage could easily be imagined.
This was nothing short of hurling a stink bomb at everyone.
"Holy shit?!" Even Wei Yuefu lost his composure, his face filled with shock.
Then, he realized something at once: there was definitely something wrong with the secret passage!
According to their prior agreement, they would release Hong Qiming once they exited the city via the passage.
Hong Qiming had plenty of men on his side, so there was no need to worry about them breaking their word.
Therefore, looking at it from any angle, Hong Qiming had no reason to resort to such extreme measures.
And it wasn't over. A series of splattering noises erupted further, and the odor grew increasingly pungent.
Everyone instinctively covered their noses, and some even began to dry-heave.
"Bring two pairs of pants," Wei Yuefu said. "The two of us will take him to the back to change."
"The rest of you keep moving."
Though uncomfortable, Wei Yuefu's expression didn't change much.
At his words, the others handed Wei Yuefu two pairs of pants belonging to gods-know-whom and jogged ahead.
Wei Yuefu untied the ropes around Hong Qiming's lower body, stripped off his soiled pants, and prepared to put on the clean pair.
In the next second, Hong Qiming didn't care about going commando; he lunged forward and took off running.
One could only say he was truly ruthless—to survive, he had completely discarded his dignity.
If it had been Wei Yuefu, he could never have brought himself to do such a thing.
Shameful as the method was, it had indeed achieved his desired result, catching everyone completely off guard.
If a man like this actually escaped and survived, his threat level would be off the charts.
Wei Yuefu even wondered how Hong Qiming had pulled it off... being able to produce a bowel movement so right on cue.
As for abandoning his family, the man was brazen enough to crap his pants and sprint bare-assed; abandoning family was just standard operating procedure by comparison.
"What are you standing there for? Chase him!" Wei Yuefu yelled.
Only then did Shen Qianjun snap out of it. Hong Qiming's tactic had simply been too unhinged—so wild that the sheer shock had momentarily overwhelmed him.
He was young, after all, unlike Wei Yuefu, who was a transmigrator. In his past life during the short-video information explosion, Wei Yuefu had seen all kinds of bizarre absurdity, so his tolerance threshold was much higher.
With that, Wei Yuefu gave chase, while Shen Qianjun overtook him in just a few strides.
Hong Qiming knew Shen Qianjun was fast, so he had come prepared.
He even had a countermeasure while running, though... it was rather vile.
*Splat!* Another lump dropped out, and before it hit the ground, he spun and kicked it.
The massive clump instantly scattered like flower petals in the wind, hurtling straight toward Shen Qianjun.
Witnessing this, horror broke across Shen Qianjun's face. He froze mid-stride and instantly threw himself backward.
Seeing this, even Wei Yuefu's eye twitched. Fortunately, Shen Qianjun was agile and swift; otherwise, having shit rain down on his head wouldn't have been a mere figure of speech.
One had to admit, this tactic was truly disgusting.
Fortunately, Wei Yuefu ran slowly, remaining completely untouched by the fallout.
"Bronze Badge Ding, you're heavily armored. Why don't you take the lead?" Though Shen Qianjun had dodged it, his face had turned green.
"I'd love to take the lead," Wei Yuefu said as he ran. "But I'm slow! I can't catch up to him."
With this full suit of heavy armor, plus helmet, guandao, golden melon hammer, shield, and all, he was practically a heavy tank.
Wei Yuefu possessed Dragon Vitality and Tiger Vigor, so stamina was no issue, but he lacked explosive burst and raw physical strength.
Although Bronze Skin and Iron Bones granted some enhancement, that talent ultimately wasn't meant for increasing physical strength.
"No, he's not trying to run outside." Before Shen Qianjun could reply to Wei Yuefu, he noticed something amiss with Hong Qiming.
As he spoke, Hong Qiming stepped on a concealed mechanism, slipping inside in the blink of an eye.
With quick eyes and nimble hands, Wei Yuefu drew a golden melon hammer and hurled it forward.
Just before the door shut, it jammed the entrance.
The head of the golden melon hammer wasn't large, but the thing was cast from solid metal.
In terms of both weight and quality, it packed a serious punch.
In a head-on clash, few weapons could compare to it.
Chapter 38