Happy Little Farmer
Chapter 574

Chapter 574: Chapter 574

After exerting the strength of nine bulls and two tigers, Yang Fan finally made it up.

What was a breezy task at Old Zhou’s became as difficult as a dung beetle rolling a dung ball when it came to him.

Although the process was tough, fortunately, he didn’t fall.

After Yang Fan and Old Zhou successfully sneaked into Bi Gang’s house, that beautiful young woman with the black headscarf reappeared at the foot of the building. She looked up at the open window on the third floor and murmured, "So it was thieves, whose house was this again..."

"Never mind, no matter whose house it is, I’ll call the police first. These two bastards even dared to threaten me, just wait for your doom!"

As the beautiful young woman was about to dial the number on her phone, it suddenly rang, "Right, it’s that bastard Bi Gang’s house! Since it’s him, well... let it be, that bastard deserves to be robbed."

"Considering I really did misspeak earlier, I’ll let you two little thieves off the hook!"

Feeling somewhat smug, the beautiful young woman pocketed her phone and quietly left the foot of the building, but after a few steps, she turned back.

"No, I can’t just walk away. I have to let them know I spared them; otherwise, what if that guy still harbors resentment and plants something in my house?"

She quietly followed them and trailed Yang Fan and Old Zhou. Her actual purpose was to see if Yang Fan would regret and do something to her house.

"Letting them know I spared them and then aiming for reconciliation. Keep the peace, that would be perfect," the beautiful young woman muttered to herself and then hid nearby, silently waiting for Yang Fan and Old Zhou to come out.

At that time, on the third floor of the villa.

Yang Fan and Old Zhou were conducting a thorough search.

The third floor consisted of a study and two bedrooms, everything seemed normal, not a trace of anything unusual.

After checking everything, the two continued downward.

Similarly, the second and first floors also seemed normal, showing no signs of anything suspicious.

"Old Zhou, it seems that Bi Gang’s house doesn’t have what we’re looking for," Yang Fan whispered.

Old Zhou was still not giving up, "Important things are definitely not hidden in plain sight. Maybe there are compartments or secret rooms somewhere. We should keep searching, not overlooking any nook or cranny."

Yang Fan nodded.

Indeed, since they had gotten in, they might as well search thoroughly.

Yang Fan very carefully examined all the walls and even tapped the floor meticulously without leaving any part unchecked.

Although the process was laborious, he indeed discovered something unusual.

Under the carpet in the first-floor teahouse, there was a spot where the echo sounded muffled, seemingly hollow.

Yang Fan immediately called Old Zhou over, "Old Zhou, something’s off with this spot."

Old Zhou lay on the ground and tapped the floor, smiling, "I told you there was something off here. Look, here it comes. Let me figure out how this thing opens; there should be a mechanism around."

Yang Fan watched Old Zhou looking somewhat professional and couldn’t help but ask, "Old Zhou, were you involved in this line of work before? Not only are you nimble at climbing, but you also understand this stuff! It seems like you have quite a few secrets hidden away!"

Given Old Zhou’s physique, his agility had seriously shocked Yang Fan at the time.

If it weren’t for some real skills, Yang Fan would never have believed it.

Old Zhou chuckled softly, "Well, that’s a long story."

"No worries, you can keep it short; I’m really curious right now," Yang Fan said.

Old Zhou carefully explored the walls and the antique shelf and said with a forced smile, "Well, who hasn’t learned a few survival tricks in their youth? I wasn’t always in the herbal medicine business from the start. When I first entered society, I really tried everything."

"For a few years, I followed a master who claimed to belong to the thousand skills factions. The moment I heard about the faction, it totally shocked me. Without a second thought, I kowtowed and offered the tea for apprenticeship. But after I acknowledged him as my master, I started to feel something wasn’t quite right."

"A pretender?" Yang Fan asked.

Old Zhou shook his head, "Not exactly, the guy knew too much."

"Isn’t that a good thing?" Yang Fan asked in surprise.

"Fanzi, you’ve been in the herbal medicine business for several years now, right? Isn’t it true that only now can you barely consider yourself proficient?" Old Zhou didn’t answer but instead asked back.

Yang Fan seemed to understand Old Zhou’s point and shook his head, "I can’t really say I’m proficient yet. There’s still a lot I barely understand."

"That’s exactly my point. The skills of the thousand skills factions require meticulous craftsmanship, years of hard work to master the craft. Dabbling in too many areas clearly leads to a lack of mastery. And my master, from what I could see, didn’t seem to be extraordinarily gifted," Old Zhou said with a sneering smile.

"Although I had many doubts at the time, I didn’t immediately write him off. I decided to keep learning from him. It was simple logic: the more trades I knew, the better I could fend for myself. Even if I couldn’t earn money through regular jobs, a little thieving could tide me over."

"As it turned out, that old guy didn’t teach me much genuine thousand skills techniques; instead, he’d take me all over the place to observe the landscape and feel the energy. That year, I almost traveled the entire country."

Yang Fan asked in surprise, "Tomb raiding?"

Old Zhou nodded, "Exactly, my master was really just putting up a front. He didn’t know much about the thousand skills, but he was quite adept at geomancy and tomb raiding. Later, I got curious and asked him why he wouldn’t teach the art of tomb raiding, and guess what he said?"

"Did he say that picking the pockets of the living is less profitable than looting the coffins of the dead?" Yang Fan ventured.

Old Zhou suddenly turned around, clapped his hands emphatically, and pointing at Yang Fan laughed, "Fanzi, you and my master must have been on the same wavelength; you almost quoted him word for word. That’s exactly what he said."

"After that, I thought it made some sense. So, I started learning without any pressure. Back then, regulations weren’t very strict, and it was the peak time for tomb raiding. My master and I pulled off a few stunts and made tens of thousands, which was a lot of money back then, worth hundreds of thousands in today’s terms."

"I then was set on making a living flipping the lids off ancient coffins with my master. But before I could enjoy it for long, my master and a bunch of people opened a huge ancient tomb and got caught all at once."

"That incident scared me terribly, and I fled overnight. I quit that line of work for good. The skills I acquired that were not exactly presentable also came from that time, and to my surprise, they came in handy here," Old Zhou said.

Yang Fan, awed by Old Zhou’s diverse experience, said, "I think you could consider writing a book."