Chapter 77 Finding the Target

The moment Skinny Monkey said that, Tiger Cub stopped hitting him so hard.

Me and Uncle Mei exchanged a look, both realizing that Skinny Monkey was telling the truth.

I slowly walked forward, grabbed Skinny Monkey by the collar, lifted him from the ground, and asked:

"Skinny Monkey, exactly how big of a deal is your master talking about? When was the banquet? Who set up the pot? Who identified the goods? How many times did they fire it up, how many times did they return the pot?"

These words were all learned from Jiang Yongguang. Although I hadn't mastered them yet, they were more than enough to intimidate Skinny Monkey.

Sure enough, Skinny Monkey was stunned for a moment, and said with a look of astonishment, "Hero! So you're one of us! Seeing how fair and delicate you are, I never thought you were also a 'digging sweet potatoes and flipping meat dumplings earth dragon'!"

"Earth dragon" originally referred to earthworms. In the tomb raiding business, tomb robbers often used this term to flatter themselves, calling themselves "earth dragons". This word, like "Yuanliang," had a positive connotation.

But I wasn't in the mood to get close to him, and said with a stern face:

"Stop with the nonsense! Quickly answer my questions! Who set up the pot and identified the goods? How many people were at the banquet?"

Skinny Monkey originally thought that I looked delicate and didn't seem as ferocious as Tiger Cub, so he thought I was good-tempered.

But after being scolded coldly by me, he realized that I wasn't someone to be trifled with either, and quickly answered honestly:

"Hero, calm down! Hero, calm down! I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything… Wang the Shopkeeper set up the pot, and he's been my master's old partner. They've worked together on many tombs and he's a trustworthy friend. My master didn't tell me who identified the goods. He told me not to ask too much, and that the less I knew about him, the better."

This was true and consistent with the information we had.

Master Gao, the appraiser, was a top-tier figure in the industry and specialized in smuggling national treasures, so he couldn't be easily introduced to a low-level laborer like Skinny Monkey.

At this time, Uncle Mei asked again, "Since it's such a lucrative deal, didn't your master ask you to join?"

Hearing this, Skinny Monkey couldn't help complaining with a face full of resentment:

"That's why I said my relationship with my master is so-so! I heard a long time ago that there's a big 'meat pot' under the Tuo River! An endless supply of money! I begged my master to take me down with him, even if it was just to be a lookout or someone who spreads the soil, I could still earn some pocket money, right?"

"Tu Xingsun didn't agree?" I couldn't help but ask.

Skinny Monkey snorted coldly, "Hmph! He agreed at first, saying he would introduce me to Shopkeeper Wang. But after a few days, he went back on his word, saying that this time they encountered a completely flooded water cave, which was very dangerous. Dozens of laborers had drowned on this trip, and he told me not to go and throw my life away…"

Hearing this, I couldn't help but think that this Tu Xingsun was not bad to his disciple. He wasn't lying, the ancient Shu tomb under the Tuo River was indeed an extremely dangerous water cave, and countless laborers had drowned in order to obtain the treasures inside.

If Skinny Monkey had really gone down, he would probably have become one of the floating corpses stuck in the crevices of the rocks.

But Skinny Monkey couldn't understand his master's good intentions at all, and was still complaining:

"I think he must have wanted to take another disciple with him, taking my spot! He has several disciples, who aren't very capable, but they're good at flattering him. In my opinion, they must have stolen my spot!"

Me and Uncle Mei exchanged a look and didn't say anything.

I asked him again, "Then since your master went down into the tomb, you haven't contacted him again?"

"No." Skinny Monkey shook his head, "I looked for him twice, but I couldn't find him either time. He probably got the treasure and went to sell it in another province."

Uncle Mei then asked, "Besides your master, have you had any contact with the others in this group? Have you encountered these rats… cough cough, earth dragons in town recently?"

Skinny Monkey thought for a while and shook his head, "No. People in our line of work are very cautious. They usually don't show their faces during the day and only come out at night. Even if they live under the same roof, there are very few opportunities to meet!"

Uncle Mei was very disappointed after hearing this. This wasn't the answer he wanted.

Tiger Cub was unwilling to give up, grabbed a handful of Skinny Monkey's sparse hair, and said sharply, "Think again carefully! Have you heard any news at all! Even a few words of gossip will do! Think for me!"

Skinny Monkey was in so much pain that tears were streaming down his face, and he quickly begged for mercy:

"Hero, let go! Hero, let go! I'll think, I'll think…"

After thinking for a while, he quickly said, "I've got it! When I was browsing the antique market the other day, I heard people say that a group of outsiders had recently arrived in the market, specifically collecting newly unearthed bronzes and jades! Especially jade slips from before the Warring States period, which they were paying close attention to!"

As soon as we heard this news, me and Uncle Mei's eyes lit up.

"Are you sure this news is true?" I asked again.

Skinny Monkey nodded quickly and said, "It's definitely true! Several brothers have told me about this. The main thing is that these outsiders are very generous. As long as they like something, the price they offer won't be low, so many people are talking about it, there's absolutely no way it's fake!"

After Uncle Mei heard this, he patted me on the shoulder and said to me, "Let's go, Rongsheng, come up with me for a smoke!"

I don't smoke, and Uncle Mei knows I don't smoke.

So I immediately guessed that Uncle Mei was looking for me to discuss something.

I nodded and followed Uncle Mei out of the cellar.

After coming to the yard and walking away, Uncle Mei lowered his voice and said:

"Rongsheng, you heard it too, right? The group of people Skinny Monkey mentioned who are buying bronzes and jades in the antique market should be Shopkeeper Wang's accomplices."

I immediately nodded and said, "That's right. Their main target is still the ancient Shu jade slips! The rats who saw us take the jade slips that day should have all drowned. Shopkeeper Wang probably doesn't know that the jade slips have fallen into the hands of the Xiaoling Guard. He might guess that the jade slips were washed away by the underground water into the Tuo River, so he sent people to the nearby antique market to try their luck, to see if anyone from the Tuo River was lucky enough to find them and sell them in the antique market."

Hearing this, Uncle Mei clenched his fists tightly and said, "The one who killed your aunt must also be Shopkeeper Wang's man! He came to the house to search for the ancient Shu jade slips!"

"In that case, we must find Shopkeeper Wang! If we find him, we can catch the murderer who killed Aunt Mei, and we can also ask about Little Mei's whereabouts!"

When I said this, I was trembling with excitement!

Because we had finally locked onto our target!

Just at this moment, a burst of footsteps suddenly came from outside the courtyard gate, followed by Jiang Yongguang's voice:

"Third Brother! Are you asleep? Has Little Chen's fever gone down? I heard from Little Liang that he still has a fever today, so I specially came to bring some medicine!"

It was already nine o'clock in the evening, and we never expected Jiang Yongguang to visit suddenly.

Soon, he came to the courtyard with a plastic bag of antipyretics. Seeing us standing outside smoking, and my face was also very ruddy, he immediately said with relief:

"Little Chen, it seems that you have recovered? That's good, then I can rest assured."

As a result of his shouting, Skinny Monkey, who was locked in the cellar, heard it. This guy was also restless. Hearing someone outside, he screamed heart-wrenchingly:

"Help! Murder! Help! Murder!"

Hearing this, Jiang Yongguang's face instantly changed. He narrowed his eyes and asked me and Uncle Mei vigilantly:

"Third Brother, Little Chen, what's going on?"