Chapter Twenty: Night Raid on the Redemption Garden

  Leng Jiangbo returned to his own Jiangyue Manor, feeling a bit down. The vast Zhou Mansion was gone, where could he find a book? This Zhou Shiming was indeed an old fox! It wouldn't do, he still had to make another trip. Although he hadn't found the treasure book today, he had discovered many suspicious places. He must re-examine these suspicious places, and who knows, maybe there would be gains. So he decided to personally lead a team to search Zhou's residence.

  The fourth watch had just passed, and the night was already very deep, which is when people are usually fast asleep. The silver moonlight spilled onto the ground, and everywhere there were crickets' mournful cries. The desolate atmosphere of the late night filled the air, weaving a gray net that enveloped all the scenery. Everything that met the eye was shrouded in this gray net, even the grass and trees did not seem as real as they did during the day; they all had vague, illusory colors, each hiding its details, keeping its secrets, giving people an air of mystery.

  Leng Jiangbo led two underlings and re-examined the Zhou residence along the route they had taken during the day, searching for any suspicious places where the treasure might be hidden.

  This time, Leng Jiangbo locked in on two places, one was Zhou Shiming's main hall and the other was his garden. He led his men to sneak up to the main hall, observing carefully, seeing that inside the main hall it was pitch black, seemingly without anyone. But when they reached the door, they saw that it was locked. He whispered to two of his subordinates: "Open the lock." The two were busy but couldn't open the lock and even made a noise. Several night patrolmen heard the sound and rushed over, scaring the three into fleeing in a hurry.

  Zheng Tang attracted the attention of the household servants, and it seemed that they couldn't bring themselves to do it. Leng Jiangbo had no choice but to come to Rangyuan. The walls of Rangyuan were high, but in Leng Jiangbo's eyes, they weren't a problem. He took a few steps back, then sprang up onto the wall. Two of his subordinates looked on and tried to imitate him, taking a few steps back before attempting to jump over, but only managed to get halfway up before falling down. This made Leng Jiangbo so angry that he really wanted to come down and beat them up. The two young men hastily fetched a ladder, and only then were they finally able to climb up with great difficulty.

  Three people entered the garden, and the courtyard was pitch black. Suddenly, a burst of "wailing" sounds came from the depths of the wall, and the three were frightened to sweat profusely. How did this become so different from daytime? Leng Jiangbo thought to himself, could it be true that there are ghosts inside? But everything was fine during the day?

  "Is this a ghost calling?"

  "It's said that the ghosts inside are really scary!" The two henchmen whispered to each other, hiding behind Leng Jiangbo, their hearts racing with fear.

  "This is too scary! Let's go back!" A little kid followed behind, taking deep and shallow steps.

  "Shut up and keep up!" Leng Jiangbo turned his head and said viciously.

  At this time, a monster like a devil on the wall, baring its teeth and grinning at them, suddenly pounced on them...

  "Ghost, ghost......" Leng Jiangbo pulled his leg and ran away...... And a little boy shouted "Ah......", scared to death. When Leng Jiangbo and another henchman ran into the yard, they wanted to find the gate, but no matter how hard they looked, they couldn't find it, just like a headless fly buzzing around everywhere. He ran desperately, running like a devil was chasing him. Wherever he went, there were screams of "Ah......". In his desperation, he grabbed one of his henchmen and climbed up to the rooftop, using his lightness skill to run on the rooftop. They ran for a very long time before they stopped. The two of them panted heavily on the rooftop, their whole body trembling with fear......

  "Let's go back, Master," his subordinate begged. "I saw it clearly, that was a ghost! And that ghost eats people."

  "Eggs don't have mouths but they're not suffocated to death either. Can you just shut up for once?" Leng Jiangbo said angrily.

  His subordinates didn't dare say anything else for a while, and all that could be heard was the "thud thud thud" of their heartbeats.

  "No way, it can't end like this, we have to go again." Leng Jiangbo said.

  "Ah, are we still going? Boss, Dogwa hasn't come out, he's either scared to death or has been taken by ghosts. Why are we still looking for him? We'll also end up...end up dead." The underling was so frightened that he could hardly speak.

  "With such a big yard, where can we go find him? Let's just see his own luck."

  "Boss, I really can't walk anymore. Let's just forget about going..."

  "Let's go somewhere else. When we get back, I'll promote you as the fourth master of the house, dare you refuse?"

  "Let's just... forget it, Master. I won't be the fourth master after all, I'd rather... die." The subordinate begged.

  "Useless!" Leng Jiangbo gave his subordinate a cold glance.

  After a while, the ghost didn't come after them again, and the two people's hearts slowly calmed down.

  Leng Jiangbo identified the direction and said to his men: "Let's go, we'll take another look at the Zhou family ancestral hall."

  "Do we have to go?" His subordinate was extremely reluctant.

  "You want to die?" Leng Jiangbo threatened.

  He had no choice but to follow him, and they walked towards the direction of the Zhou family ancestral hall. They walked crookedly along the wall for a long time before arriving at the side of the hall. The two carefully observed their surroundings, seeing that there was no movement, Leng Jiangbo pulled his subordinate together and jumped into the garden, following the corner of the wall, feeling their way in the dark step by step towards the ancestral hall...

  At this time, the distant "howling" sound came again, and the two people's hearts jumped up "thumpingly". Leng Jiangbo stopped his footsteps, took out a candle and lit it, and under the light of the lamp, the two accelerated their pace, finally arriving in front of a magnificent building on the north side. This courtyard was slightly larger, and with the help of the candlelight and the hazy moonlight, the two stepped steadily onto the steps in front of the ancestral hall gate, and arrived at the ancestral hall. Leng Jiangbo took a swift step up to the right side of the wall surrounding the door, calling out to his subordinate to come up. His subordinate had learned from the previous lesson that he couldn't climb up, so he quickly came up with an idea, climbing up a large cypress tree, and then jumping from the cypress tree onto the wall, where he jumped down into the courtyard together with Leng Jiangbo.

  The book can't be outside, if it's really in this temple, it must be in one of the rooms. Leng Jiangbo thought of this and said to his subordinate, "Don't look outside anymore, think of a way to get inside." The two of them tiptoed to the front door of the main hall, only to see a big black lock blocking their way.

  "Find a way to open the lock, be careful not to make too much noise, and move quickly..." Leng Jiangbo instructed his subordinate, keeping watch on the side... His subordinate trembled as he took out the lock-picking tools from his pocket, picked up the copper lock, and searched for half a day before finding the keyhole. He inserted two iron wire-like lock-picking tools into the keyhole and manipulated them, but the lock still couldn't be opened.

  Leng Jiangbo jumped anxiously beside him: "Can't you hurry up, where's your efficiency?"

  "It's okay, it's okay..." The subordinate was unlocking the door while responding. His heart was racing, and his movements became a bit bigger as he tried to pull the lock open... Suddenly, something fell from the beam above with a "whooshing" sound. Leng Jiangbo quickly dodged to the side, while the subordinate continued to unlock the door. Originally, he was both anxious and afraid, and his body had lost half of its control. When he realized that something was attacking him, it was too late. He heard a loud "bang", and a large object, as big as a millstone, crushed him to death in front of the door. Leng Jiangbo looked from afar and saw that his brains were splattered out, which scared him so much that his heart almost jumped out...

  "Why is tonight so unlucky! It seems that the entire Zhou Mansion is full of mechanisms. If I don't leave now, who knows, maybe the next one to die will be me!" This time he was thoroughly convinced, "Sigh... might as well leave!" He let out a long sigh and climbed over the wall, escaping from the Zhou Mansion...