Chapter 675: Little Bug

Ji Yuan lay on a smooth, large stone, gazing at the stars. Out of the corner of his eye, the small paper crane had already flown out of sight. This little creature was excellent at hiding, very clever, and possessed a unique spiritual sense; Ji Yuan wasn't worried at all.

The starlight in his eyes was brilliant but slowly grew blurry as clouds began to gather, gradually obscuring the night sky. In the latter half of the night, fine snowflakes started to fall, likely among the last few snowfalls of early spring.

In this environment, Ji Yuan actually felt a touch of drowsiness. He lay down, using the sky as his blanket and the ground as his mat, then turned on his side, resting his head on his arm, and fell asleep. Beneath the stone, the golden armored figure remained in a cross-legged position, spine perfectly straight, a pair of eyes that commanded respect without anger gazing directly forward, as if no wind or snow could affect him in the slightest.

Meanwhile, the small paper crane, of course, flew towards Nanda County Town. Humans were both the best subjects for observation and the paper crane's favorite to watch, especially where people gathered, as there were always interesting things to see.

Nanda County Town had always been considered one of the few relatively prosperous towns within several hundred li, though this was only in a relative sense. Still, it certainly looked like a proper town.

It was deep into the night, and most ordinary residents of Nanda County Town were long asleep. However, this did not mean Nanda County was silent. On the contrary, wherever large groups of people gathered, there were always some who operated outside normal hours.

Within Nanda County Town, near the middle section of the southern city wall, stood a relatively large residence. It was enclosed by a courtyard wall, contained several houses, and even had a dedicated ancestral hall.

Although there were no lights in the residence at this moment, the family members were actually all awake. One by one, they sat up from their beds, where they had only removed their outer garments, put their coats back on, and headed out.

Almost simultaneously, people emerged from several rooms.

The first half of the night had been starry, but by the latter half, it was overcast and gradually snowing. Visibility outside was poor. The group groped their way to the ancestral hall, and once everyone was inside, the last person quickly and gently closed the door.

"Quick, light the lamp."

"Yes!"

A young man took out a fire starter he had brought, blew on it a few times until sparks appeared, and then lit a candle on a stand in the ancestral hall. Immediately, the candlelight illuminated a section of the hall. Because the ancestral hall was enclosed and windowless, very little light was visible from outside, with only faint glows escaping through door cracks and tile seams.

"Come, go to the back."

The person giving orders was a robust old man, around sixty or seventy. He led the others around to the back of the ancestral tablets' wall, then took a nearby shovel and inserted it into a crack in the floor. Pressing down, a large section of hardwood plank loosened.

"Come help!"

The old man and another middle-aged man squatted down together, grasping both sides of the heavy hardwood plank. After a count of "one, two, three," they moved the substantial plank to one side.

As the plank was removed, a large, dark opening appeared before them. The young man holding the candle holder shone light inside, revealing a narrow, elongated tunnel.

"Thump-thump..."

"Hey, those inside, you can come up now!"

The old man tapped the stone wall of the tunnel twice with the shovel, the sound echoing deep inside. Before long, rustling sounds came from below, including the dragging of heavy objects and faint footsteps.

Illuminated by the ancestral hall's candlelight, the first thing to emerge from the opening was a medium-sized wooden crate, about an arm's width. A voice also came from below.

"Give us a hand, give us a hand, it's very heavy!"

"Quick, the rope and the stick."

The old man quickly instructed someone nearby. A woman at his side immediately handed over a thick hemp rope, which had been prepared beforehand and coiled into two loops. Another person found a round wooden stick.

The old man lowered the rope loops into the tunnel. While waiting, the person below had been constantly reaching into his collar to scratch himself. Upon seeing the loops, he swiftly placed one loop around each end of the box. Above, the others had already threaded the short wooden stick through the top loops of the rope.

"Alright, lift it up."

"Mhm!"

Though old, the man was quite strong. He personally squatted down at the tunnel opening with the middle-aged man, one in front and one behind, allowing the short stick to rest on their shoulders.

"One, two, three, lift..."

"Creak..."

With the sound of ropes tightening, the old man and the middle-aged man slowly stood up. The box gradually lifted from the opening and was slowly raised to the ground. The person below carefully held the rope loops to prevent slipping, guiding the box as the two above moved, until it was placed on the ground nearby.

"Thump..."

The box landed with a muffled thud, and the two who had carried it finally let out a slight breath.

"It's really heavy, I almost couldn't stand up!""Yeah, there must be a lot of good stuff inside!"

"You bet, there's plenty of good stuff!"

The people from the tunnel also climbed out. It wasn't just one, but four people in total, emerging one after another. Clearly, three others had been waiting in the narrow tunnel earlier.

Once everyone was out, they all gathered around the box. Under the candlelight held by the young man, they carefully opened it.

"Wow...""So much money..."

"Yeah, I've never seen so many valuable things in my life..."

What lay before them was a chest full of treasures: various pieces of jewelry and hair ornaments, piles of copper coins and silver ingots, some folded luxurious clothes, and belts inlaid with jade and agate. Additionally, there were several exquisite small objects, mostly made of jade, bronze, and silver, and even a few beautiful short swords.

"What an eye-opener, truly!"

"Heh heh, don't even mention you, it's the same for us. I heard this was just from robbing an ordinary wealthy family, and it was even split among several groups, yet it filled this whole chest!"

The speaker was the man who had previously put the rope loops on the box from below. He vigorously scratched the back of his neck.

Everyone's eyes sparkled. They couldn't help but reach for the treasures in the box to examine them. The woman on the side even took a golden hairpin and held it up to her head, her smile never fading.

"Old Li will probably send more things in the next couple of days, so be careful when receiving them. We need to find suitable carts and horses in town to take all this stuff to a big northern city and sell it off. It's better to convert everything into cash. As for these Dazhen coins, we'll melt down a small portion ourselves, and hide the rest away for later."

"Why?"

The old man asked. One of the men who had emerged from the tunnel looked at his three companions before replying.

"Uncle Li, according to Old Li, the war seems to be going unfavorably. Actually, it's not just us; some others are also secretly moving things to the rear..."

As the man spoke, he again reached behind his collar to scratch himself. The old man looked at him, then at the other three nearby, realizing that two of them were also scratching: one reached inside his clothes from his waist to scratch his stomach, another scratched his back, and the third was currently scratching the outside of his thigh. Finding it insufficient, he eventually reached directly inside his padded trousers to scratch.

"Are you all that itchy?"

The three scratching men paused, and the initial smile of the lead man faded.

"Lately, we've all been constantly itchy, not just me, but pretty much everyone. It feels like flea bites all the time."

Seeing the man's complaint and how he seemed unable to reach the itchy spot on his back, the old man stepped closer.

"Come here, let me scratch it for you."

Saying this, he pulled open the man's garment and reached in from behind. When his hand reached about the center of the man's back, he felt a patch of tiny, dense bumps.

"Is it here?"

"Yes, yes, yes, that's it, scratch, ah, yes, sss... comfortable..."

The old man scratched for a while before pulling his hand out. He then noticed a foul odor, especially around his fingernails.

"Ugh, that's really stinky. You guys need to clean yourselves up properly. Since you're back, there's no rush to return. When it gets a bit brighter, I'll have Ah Yu and the others heat up several big pots of water so you can all have a good bath. Everything's alright at the big camp, isn't it?"

"No problem, no problem. Our military unit has all sorts of people, and discipline isn't strict to begin with. Now that we've temporarily pulled back to rest, there won't be any issues. Old Li will also cover for us during roll call. Oh, by the way, Uncle Li, get us some good wine and food!"

The old man smiled and patted the man's shoulder.

"Needless to say? How's Er Shunzi doing?"

"What could Old Li be up to? He just wants Uncle Li to make a few more preparations, now that we've gotten our hands on some money."

"Hahahaha, of course. And you, boy, isn't it time you married Ah Yu?"

"Well, hehe...""Hehehe..."

"Oh, Father!"

The men around them chuckled mischievously. The old man glanced at the other three men who had come up from the tunnel and also chuckled.

"I've also found matches for you guys. Now that we have money, there's even less to worry about. Come on, let's finish up here and then head to the kitchen; the wine and meat are still warm!"

Meanwhile, on the ancestral hall's rafters, the small paper crane had somehow slipped in. It had been perched there, observing below. Initially, it had been quite curious about what this family was secretly doing by entering the ancestral hall, finding it amusing. However, after the four men emerged, the paper crane's attention focused primarily on them.

The group below first placed the box back at the tunnel entrance. After jointly sealing the tunnel, they blew out the candle and then left the ancestral hall one by one.

Before the door was closed, the small paper crane zipped out like a gentle breeze, gliding past the old man's hand. With a soft flap of its tiny wings, a thin, dark line was fanned away.

Seeing this thin line dart into the darkness of the wall corner, the paper crane, like a bird discovering an insect, immediately gave chase. After fluttering and searching around the corner for a while, it pounced like lightning onto the base of a small plant. Pressing forward with both paper wings, it was exactly like a cat catching a mouse.

Beneath the tips of the paper crane's wings, something the size of an eye-booger was constantly wriggling. Despite the paper wings and the soft soil underneath, the dark wriggling object could not break free amidst the faint flashes of white light.