CHAPTER 360: CHAPTER 335: A MONUMENTAL SECRET

Yu Xiaolian only stopped when her foot began to ache from kicking.

Luckily, she had the Longevity Gu; otherwise, inhaling such a big mouthful would surely have fallen victim to this black-hearted father-son duo.

Come to think of it, the Longevity Gu has its benefits after all.

If only she could keep the Longevity Gu and also change the color of her eyes.

"What should we do? Should we report this to the authorities?" Yu Xiaolian asked Su Jingchen.

Su Jingchen replied, "We certainly should report it, but I’m afraid, on the third day of the New Year, there won’t be any government officers on duty in this small town."

Just as Su Jingchen finished speaking, a middle-aged woman supporting an elderly lady with gray hair rushed over in a panic, and with a loud thud, they both knelt in the corridor.

"Children, please spare them, father and son.

They’re not bad at heart; it’s this unjust society that has forced them into desperation!" The old lady said while kowtowing to Yu Xiaolian and Su Jingchen.

Yu Xiaolian chuckled in anger, "Your family runs an inn to earn money; you live much better than ordinary people, yet you dare to claim to be forced by the times?"

The old lady, with tears wetting her clothes, hurriedly spoke, "Oh child, you don’t understand. All our savings were extorted by that black-hearted County Magistrate. Now, under this heavy snowfall, there are barely any travelers passing by. The few copper coins we earn from the inn aren’t enough for my own medical expenses. My son and grandson were desperate and came up with this crooked plan. Please, young lady, have mercy on them. I promise they will never do anything harmful again."

"Heh..." Yu Xiaolian sneered, "There’s always plenty of excuses, aren’t there? Countless families are poor; if everyone acted like your son and grandson, wouldn’t the world be in chaos? Even if the prince commits a crime, he is punished under the same law as the common folk. There’s no way I could let them off privately. What if they harm others? Better let the authorities handle it!"

The old lady wailed, "How could a prince committing a crime be treated the same as common folk?

Never mind the prince, even a minor County Magistrate can ignore the law and act with impunity.

Last year, when the Prince’s Tomb at Mang Mountain was robbed, my grandson merely went with some friends to watch the commotion nearby and was caught by the county’s magistrate as a tomb robber.

Our family spent all our savings because of this."

Yu Xiaolian frowned, beginning to understand a bit. This family encountered injustice and began to harbor thoughts of revenge against society.

But, Mang Mountain? The Prince’s Tomb?

Yu Xiaolian crouched down to ask the young man, "Why did you go to the Prince’s Tomb at Mang Mountain? Isn’t there a Tomb Guardian there preventing people from approaching?"

The innkeeper’s son struggled to lift his head, revealing a bruised and swollen face, and spoke with difficulty, "My childhood friends and I heard the Prince’s Tomb was robbed—the gold, silver, and jewelry inside were stolen—and the Tomb Guardian family was beheaded, leaving the tomb unguarded for now. So... we thought of going down to take a look.

We absolutely didn’t intend to steal anything from the tomb; we were merely curious about what it looked like inside. I heard someone say the tomb is much larger than a five-courtyard mansion, and we wanted to see it for ourselves.

To our surprise, we found the entrance to the robbers’ tunnel; before we even had a chance to climb down, we were surrounded by a group of soldiers."

Yu Xiaolian laughed, "Are these young kids brainless? Would they dare join such a spectacle?

Don’t they know there’s a deadline to solve the case? The authorities are seeking scapegoats, and here they’ve delivered themselves. Truly... ignorance breeds fearless recklessness!"

"How many of you were there? All captured?"

Yu Xiaolian refused to believe they were just curious about what the Prince’s Tomb looked like; surely, they were hoping to gain some benefits.

"All three of us were captured. The County Magistrate accused us of intending to destroy the Prince’s Tomb, which by law is a capital offense. But considering none of us were over sixteen, he spared our lives and demanded three hundred tales of silver from each family. My family was the first to gather the sum, so I was the first released. Li Erhou and the other two are still locked up in jail!" The young man with a pig-faced look, out of fear that Yu Xiaolian might send him back to that devouring prison, answered every question she asked openly and thoroughly.

"Whose idea was it to go to the Prince’s Tomb among you three?" Su Jingchen suddenly inquired.

"It was Li Erhou. Last winter, Li Erhou’s mother died of illness. His uncle came to this area for her funeral, and he mentioned his uncle picked up valuable items while passing by Mang Mountain—likely burial treasures from the Prince."

"What did Li Erhou’s uncle find?" Su Jingchen asked.

The young man shook his head, "I don’t know, he didn’t say, just that it’s something precious!"

Yu Xiaolian and Su Jingchen exchanged a glance, "What should we do?"

Su Jingchen removed his foot from the shopkeeper father-son pair, then tapped their acupoints, rendering them immobile.

"We can’t just listen to one side of the story; better report to the authorities!" Su Jingchen declared.

"Please don’t report to the authorities, I beg you!" The innkeeper’s old mother kneeled and cried, "Our County Magistrate is ruthless. If these two go in together, this family will be finished!

I apologize, children; I kneel and beg forgiveness on their behalf." The old lady then bowed repeatedly, staining the wooden floor with blood.

She had spent all her savings to secure her grandson’s release last time. Now, she truly has no money left. If the father-son duo ends up in jail, all the women in this family would face disaster!

The old lady regretted knowing her son and grandson were involved in this muddled affair. She had tried to dissuade them but failed, leaving them to their actions.

She had thought that by pulling off this heist, the family would have some stability to return to their former life, but now...

Sigh, truly, one should never do evil deeds; Heaven is watching!

Had she known it would be like this, she would have threatened them with her own life to prevent her children and grandchildren from committing such deeds.

Yu Xiaolian spoke with a bit of sharpness, "Thankfully, I held my breath and didn’t inhale that smoke; otherwise, I’d likely be a corpse now. Saying sorry, does it help?"

Moreover, Yu Xiaolian didn’t believe in stopping after one successful venture; once someone tastes the sweetness, it often leads to unchecked greed.

Robbery is indeed the fastest way to make money.

Seeing Yu Xiaolian was resolute, the old lady collapsed to the ground and soon fainted.

"If I tell you a secret, will you let me and my father go?" The young man panicked upon seeing his grandmother pass out and spoke up, "I know a major secret."