CHAPTER 181: CHAPTER 181: CATCHING THE THIEF

181 Catching Thieves

At this moment, Zhao Zhitong was peeling peanuts, eating one herself and feeding one to the little puppy. They were getting along quite harmoniously.

The atmosphere in the courtyard was cheerful, but outside the wall, two dark figures were slowly approaching the corner of the wall, brewing a conspiracy.

Wang Mazi said, "Wow, look at these high walls! This family must be rich! We’ll lie in wait here. Once they’re asleep, we’ll sneak in quietly. We’ll definitely strike it rich."

Mr. Zhao, who had a stutter, nodded in agreement. "R-r-right... r-r-right!"

Because he stuttered on the last syllable, putting too much force into it, it came out noticeably louder. This startled Wang Mazi, who quickly clapped a hand over Mr. Zhao’s mouth. "Keep your voice down! Don’t let them discover us!"

Mr. Zhao was frightened now. He quickly covered his own mouth and nodded, gesturing his understanding.

Meanwhile, Da Bao, who had been adorably rubbing his head against Zhao Zhitong, suddenly stopped. His ears pricked up alertly. Then, he turned his head and started barking—WOOF WOOF WOOF—towards a specific direction in the courtyard.

Zhao Zhitong’s eyes widened. She noticed Da Bao’s unusual behavior. Normally, he rarely barked, and now he was barking quite fiercely.

Zhao Zhitong and Zhao Yu squatted down, looking at the little puppy.

Zhao Yu asked curiously, "What’s wrong with him?"

Zhao Zhitong stroked the little puppy’s head and looked in the direction he was barking. "Da Bao, did you sense something dangerous?"

WOOF! WOOF!

The little puppy barked fiercely twice more, as if responding to Zhao Zhitong.

Zhao Zhitong thought for a moment, then jogged into the house and fetched a piece of chicken jerky. She said to the little puppy, "Da Bao, sit."

The little puppy immediately sat down obediently, his tail wagging.

Zhao Zhitong fed the jerky to the little puppy and then made a hushing gesture. The little puppy immediately quieted down obediently.

However, his eyes remained vigilant, still staring in that direction of the courtyard. Even the fur on his neck was standing on end.

Zhao Zhitong hurriedly went to call Zhao Dong and Zhao Cheng to come and look. Pointing in the direction Da Bao was barking, she whispered, "Father, Big Brother, look! Da Bao keeps barking over there. Do you think there are bad people outside our courtyard wall?"

Zhao Yu also nodded emphatically. "Besides, Da Bao is barking so fiercely, and his fur is all standing up."

WOOF! WOOF!

Just then, Da Bao’s ears twitched again. He stood up from the ground and barked twice more in that direction.

Zhao Dong was very vigilant. After all, this wasn’t the modern era with good public security. He immediately gestured for the little ones to be quiet.

After his gaze swept around the courtyard, he walked to a corner, picked up a wooden stick as thick as an arm, and tiptoed towards the courtyard wall.

Curious, Zhao Zhitong and Zhao Yu also found wooden sticks from the firewood pile to use as weapons. Gripping their sticks, they tiptoed after him.

Sun Mei and the others over there couldn’t help but fall silent, watching them alertly.

After Zhao Dong and the children approached the courtyard wall, they could faintly hear slight movements and intermittent, very quiet voices.

Although they couldn’t hear everything clearly, they could roughly determine that the people furtively lurking outside definitely had ill intentions!

At this moment, Zhao Zhitong was furious because she had vaguely heard the bad people outside saying they would poison their family’s dog first!

Those villains! Daring to poison her Da Bao! She would definitely teach them a good lesson!

At this, Zhao Dong’s expression changed. He pulled the little ones back into the courtyard.

Sun Mei was just sifting the last batch of peanuts from the pot.

Zhao Dong gave them a meaningful look. Zhao Cheng quickly extinguished the fire in the basin and then went to find weapons.

Zhao Dong deliberately let out a yawn and said, somewhat loudly, "Ah, it’s so late already. Everyone, hurry and go to sleep."

Then, there was a series of door-closing sounds.

After about another two quarters of an hour, Wang Mazi and Mr. Zhao, hearing no more movement from the Zhao family’s home outside, slowly stood up.

Wang Mazi looked at the courtyard, which was pitch black, and whispered, "There are no lights. It seems they’ve all gone to sleep."

Mr. Zhao nodded and stuttered, "O-o-okay, o-o-okay, seems, seems so, yes."

The two exchanged a look. One squatted down, and the other stepped on him, preparing to climb over the wall.

「...」

The night was deep and still. A winter’s night was even quieter. Only the occasional calls of strange animals broke the silence, making the night seem even more tranquil.

Then, a rustling sound, accompanied by the dull thud of something heavy landing, broke the silence of the deep night.

Wang Mazi was the first to climb in. After landing, he was instantly captivated by the sight before him.

Although he could only vaguely make out the general layout of this residence by the moonlight, he could still sense the grandeur of the courtyard. He had never seen such an impressive house!

The house is built so well, and there are no guards on duty. This is practically a gift to us!

Thinking about the gleaming silver he would soon get his hands on, he became entirely thrilled.

With these thoughts, he couldn’t wait to start rummaging through the rooms.

Just then, Mr. Zhao had climbed onto the top of the wall. Seeing Wang Mazi wasn’t waiting for him, he anxiously called out, "W-W-Wang Mazi, w-wait, wait for me."

"HUSH! HUSH!"

Wang Mazi, startled, glanced around and whispered to Mr. Zhao on the wall, "Hurry and get down! Keep your voice low, don’t wake them up."

Then, with another dull thud, Mr. Zhao also jumped in.

Just as the two met up and were about to go into the rooms to steal things, suddenly, two beams of light as bright as day appeared, shining directly into their eyes.

The light was extremely bright, as dazzling as the sun in the sky. They had been in darkness for a long time, and this sudden light shining on their eyes made it impossible for them to open them.

The next second, their vision went black again as a sack was pulled over each of their heads.

Immediately after, sticks rained down on their bodies, causing them to scream and yell in pain.

Zhao Dong and Zhao Cheng were each holding a stick, bringing them down one after another on the two men lying on the ground.

Meanwhile, Zhao Zhitong and Sun Mei each held a flashlight.

The flashlights weren’t large, not even as thick as two fingers, but they were exceptionally bright. It was Sun Mei who, recalling how power outages always happened during doomsday scenarios in novels, had bought a dozen or so flashlights and a box of batteries.

Of course, she hadn’t skimped on stockpiling candles either.

Previously, they hadn’t dared to take out these flashlights because such items were truly difficult to explain.

It was only recently, due to frequent trips to the ice cave to store ice blocks where it was too dark and inconvenient, that they had started using them.

As for how to explain them to Zhao Cheng and the others, Sun Mei eventually came up with the idea that Zhao Dong had encountered a merchant from the Western Region in the county town and bought them from him.

Zhao Cheng and his two siblings had always trusted Zhao Dong and Sun Mei implicitly. After hearing the explanation, they didn’t even ask a single follow-up question.

Tonight, it could be said that these two flashlights played a crucial role.

Zhao Zhitong and Sun Mei were responsible for distracting the thieves’ vision. Zhao Cheng and Zhao Dong were responsible for putting the sacks over their heads. Zhao Ya and Zhao Yu were responsible for holding the weapons.

Mmm, their coordination was quite perfect.