Chapter 12: Each with Their Own Schemes

On the carriage heading toward the city that never sleeps, Ying Rushi flipped through her notes, making sure no information had been overlooked.

After Yellow Dog solved the problem of opening the golden cabinet, the thieves’ plan had only one final challenge left: securing the temple doors.

No one had come up with a good solution for this.

The Anguo Temple was vast, with more than one exit. More importantly, it had a second and even a third floor. Even if the four of them immediately took control of the main gate, the monks inside surely knew they could escape through side doors or back exits, or even jump out from the upper floors.

So, should they try to seal off all entrances first?

Setting aside the fact that there were only four of them—making manpower extremely tight—the bigger problem was the temple’s main hall was also quite large. Closing the doors and then regrouping at the treasury would inevitably take a considerable amount of time.

If Yellow Dog’s method proved feasible, the four would have to work together inside the treasury and couldn’t split up.

There were still four days left, so “Black Wolf” suggested ending the discussion for today, going back to carefully consider the “securing the temple doors” problem, and reconvening at the Thieves’ House the next day to continue the discussion.

Ying Rushi knew in her heart that Black Wolf and Scarlet Serpent were currently verifying Yellow Dog’s proposed solution.

They mostly didn’t believe that such ordinary tools, combined with straightforward techniques, could achieve a destructive power that even the third or fourth tier tokens could not match. But before verification, they couldn’t refute it, so they decided to break off the meeting and use the test results the next day to harshly criticize Yellow Dog.

They all wanted to suppress Yellow Dog’s arrogance.

Indeed, even though Black Wolf chaired the meeting and Scarlet Serpent often participated, the real dominant presence this time was the taciturn Yellow Dog.

While everyone else was ignorant of the Thieves’ House, he knew how to operate the sand table;

Among the three major problems, he solved the most troublesome one: opening the golden cabinet.

His proposal could not be refuted, and everyone could only listen. If this continued, he would easily seize leadership of this four-person group.

Black Wolf, who had been vying for leadership from the start, realized that if this continued, she would become a subordinate, so she decisively ended the meeting.

If Black Wolf wanted to prove Yellow Dog’s method infeasible, Ying Rushi suspected she would be disappointed.

Although not yet verified, Ying Rushi was certain Yellow Dog wouldn’t speak recklessly. This certainty came both from her observations of him and from... that white iron straight sword.

The straight sword Yan San used to slay the Umanryu was lost after his death.

It was clearly a new token never recorded in the “Token Chronicles,” yet it appeared in Yellow Dog’s possession.

Ying Rushi found it hard not to associate Yan San with Yellow Dog, even suspecting that the sword in Yellow Dog’s hand was the very one Yan San had wielded.

Before leaving Ping City, she had specially asked Baibao, who entered the secret realm earlier that day, to confirm that Yan San had not brought a straight sword with him before entering, nor had he used one in his battle with the demon king.

Someone suggested that the straight sword resembled the demon king’s weapon, but the two swords dropped by the demon king today were in the loot and had no token effects.

It was as if Yan San had borrowed the white iron straight sword from someone just before killing, and returned it afterward.

It was as if someone behind the curtain coldly watched all things in the world, occasionally making a move that changed the fate of certain people.

As if...

“Yellow Dog...”

Ying Rushi mulled over this codename, burying these baseless speculations deep in her heart.

For some reason, she began to look forward to the theft planned four days hence.

...

“Miss, the wooden cabinet doors have all been torn off—amazing!” Wu Qiu was excited, and the other three maids shared her enthusiasm. Though ordinary and not accustomed to heavy labor, they were proud that the four battered wooden cabinets before them were their handiwork—“So this is what we’re capable of!”

Yet Apothecary Yuan’s expression was not pleased.

“Go buy four iron cabinets and try again,” she instructed.

At that moment, a servant reported that the Duke had finally finished his official business and was available to see her. Apothecary Yuan immediately went to Changqiu Studio, closed the door, and said, “Father, you can now set up an ambush on Vermilion Bird Street. When we arrive, you can capture those three thieves!”

A sigh.

Apothecary Moke put down his long water pipe, exhaling pale smoke. He was silent for a long time until Apothecary Yuan grew impatient, and he slowly said, “Compared to Bingzi Pepper Forest, the Thieves’ House is more important, and so are you. Instead of making a big fuss over Bingzi Pepper Forest, it’s better to let you steal it first; once you have control over the Thieves’ House, you can return it later.”

Apothecary Yuan was stunned.

“Of course, I won’t condone you stealing from Bingzi Pepper Forest. If you cause trouble, I can only guarantee your safety. If you want to steal from Bingzi Pepper Forest, you’ll have to do it yourselves.”

“Father,” Apothecary Yuan said carefully, “I don’t understand.”

Apothecary Moke stood and paced the room.

After hesitating a long time, he sat back down, deeply inhaled his water pipe, and sighed, “Yuan, I won’t hide it from you. I have many enemies in court. At the first opportunity, they try to deceive the emperor and frame me... Bingzi Pepper Forest is the ancestral sword of the great founder. If it comes back into the public eye, these arrogant men may unite against me.”

Arrogant?

Wasn’t that loyalty?

“Father, you have so many enemies because you are nepotistic and exclude dissenters,” Apothecary Yuan said. “You think that Bingzi Pepper Forest will remind many loyal ministers of the founder’s and the royal family’s grace, so you’d rather have us steal it to undermine the royal prestige!”

“Impertinent!” Apothecary Moke smashed his water pipe and stood, glaring at Yuan. “How dare you speak to your father like that! Who do you think you are, the emperor?”

“To monopolize power, anything can be used as a bargaining chip.”

Apothecary Yuan waved away the smoke and shook her head. “Father, you will regret this.”

“The twenty-four prefectures of Chang’an rest on my shoulders; it’s not your place to decide state affairs,” Apothecary Moke said coldly. “Yuan, I am the Great Chancellor of the Great Zhou!”

...

Jiangnan City, merchant mansion.

“Back already?” Shang Qia hurried over to his sister. “Are you alright?”

He saw Shang Xinlei sitting there, eating osmanthus cake bite after bite, looking not only fine but with a good appetite.

“What did you talk about at the Thieves’ House? How do you plan to steal Bingzi Pepper Forest?”

“Um...” Shang Xinlei thought hard. “The sand table at the Thieves’ House can zoom in and out—it’s fun.”

“And?”

“Well... Black Wolf is a bit self-important and always tries to boss us around, but she’s too obvious and clumsy. In contrast, White Fox is much smoother. But for some reason, today she was super concerned about Yellow Dog, though it seems Yellow Dog doesn’t know her. Could she have discovered Yellow Dog’s true identity?”

“The most interesting is Yellow Dog. He thinks he’s good at hiding it, but he keeps looking at me drooling!”

“What!” Shang Qia jumped up. “He looks at you drooling?!”

“Yeah, especially when I eat osmanthus cake and lick the glutinous rice powder off my fingers. I saw him swallowing! Even with a mask on, I could read his expression—he’s definitely hoping I’ll share the cake with him. Hmph, he doesn’t ask, so I won’t give him any!”

“Oh, so he drools over the cake...” Shang Qia slowly sat down. “So what’s your theft plan?”

“Ah? The plan will be handled by them. I’m just tagging along.” Shang Xinlei rested her chin on her hand. “Overall, they’re a very interesting group, and I’m already looking forward to the day we all go to Chang’an together.”

Shang Qia felt something was off.

The Thieves’ House should have been a dangerous realm filled with scheming thieves vying for treasure, yet from his sister’s description, it sounded like a private gathering of friends planning a trip.

They’re there to seize the secret realm or treasure—sister, what exactly are you doing there?