Chapter 90: Who Was It? Who Did This?

The arsenal was the lifeblood of the Ji family, stored in the western courtyard, a few hundred meters away from the main house. This distance was not far, making it convenient to retrieve and deposit weapons when needed. If anything happened to the arsenal, the main house would be barely affected, sparing its residents from serious harm. Conversely, if the arsenal needed to be opened for battle, the distance was just right.

Xu Lin understood this perfectly and dared not waste a moment. She rushed all the way to the western courtyard, knocking out all the Ji family guards and leaving them unconscious on the ground. With no obstacles in her way, she arrived at the large warehouse where the weapons were kept and saw an array of armaments inside. There were guns, cannons, explosives, and five military trucks. If the Ji family organized a counterattack, they might indeed escape disaster.

Without a word, Xu Lin went straight to the trucks, placed her hand on one, silently reciting the word "collect," and the truck vanished from her touch. She darted around, muttering "collect, collect, collect," sweeping everything away. As she took the last cannon, footsteps echoed outside the courtyard gate.

Xu Lin did not rush to leave. Her eyes swept around, her fingers calculated swiftly, and she soon moved to the southeast corner of the warehouse. Her hand pressed on a slightly raised brick at the base of the wall, and the wall slowly slid left, revealing a secret door. Without hesitation, she slipped inside as the door closed behind her.

Once inside, Xu Lin turned on her flashlight and gasped in awe. Box upon box of gold bars were stacked neatly, totaling thirty-two crates. Xu Lin silently calculated their worth, her mind spinning. To her, money was just a string of numbers. Beautiful as it was, she didn’t idle; with a wave, each box vanished into her space.

Just as she finished, she heard the wall moving and quickly hid herself. Ji Chuan stormed into the secret room, his face livid, his flashlight sweeping the chamber over and over until he let out an angry roar.

"Who was it? Who did this?"

The other Ji family members who followed him in looked equally grim; they too wanted answers. Why were the weapons gone? Why was the secret room empty? Who could have done this? Five trucks, gone without a trace—it was impossible to drive them out quietly, yet they had vanished.

Who could have done this?

It was as if fate itself willed the Ji family’s ruin.

Ji Chuan had little time to indulge his rage. He knew, as a competent future head of the family, he had to remain calm. After several deep breaths, he led his people out of the secret room, unaware of the little tail following behind them.

"Brother Chuan, the weapons are gone. What do we do now? Do we still fight?" Ji Yuan asked.

Ji Chuan did not reply immediately, pondering whether to continue fighting. Was there any point left? Though he thought this, he could not say it aloud. Gritting his teeth, he said,

"Fight we must. Gather all weapons from every household, guard the front and back gates. I’ll handle the rest."

"Understood." Ji Yuan, obeying the orders, quickly left with his brothers. Although the arsenal was lost, each branch of the Ji family still had weapons. Thankfully, they had not been left defenseless.

Ji Yuan, burdened with worry, soon vanished. Ji Chuan stood in the western courtyard, glancing back at the now empty arsenal, his teeth nearly ground to dust. With a cold snort, he strode away.

Soon, the head of the Ji family and the other leaders received the news from Ji Chuan, their faces contorted in disbelief.

"Grandfather, now we are powerless. We must disperse, each taking some of the family wealth and escaping through the secret tunnels. Whether we make it out alive depends on fate."

Ji Chuan’s words drained the color from the others’ faces; the family head collapsed weakly into his chair. To scatter was a heavy blow, making them vulnerable to being picked off one by one. Without weapons or vehicles, escape seemed nearly impossible; the secret tunnel was their only hope.

The family head closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. "Take whatever you can, then set fire as you enter the tunnel."

"But," the fifth uncle protested, his face grave, "we can’t possibly carry all our treasures."

"Then leave them in the secret room, destroy its entrances. Let future generations reclaim them. I’d rather see these treasures buried than let those bastards take them," the family head snarled.

The others sighed inwardly. Without the treasures, could they still live in wealth after escaping? Seeing the mansion, they truly hated to destroy it. Alas, fate had played its hand. Had they known today’s calamity would come, they would have left with the main branch long ago.

Tears of regret flowed from the leaders’ eyes as they left, wiping them away under Ji Chuan’s bloodshot gaze.

Letting the treasures be buried? Xu Lin was the first to object. Those gold bars were little money—letting them be buried was out of the question. She had no intention of hoarding them; she believed the treasures should be handed over to the army, used as military supplies.

Yes, that was best. Without hesitation, Xu Lin sprang into action. She sought out the places richest in treasure, affixing a charm at each spot to create an illusion. Even if the family head searched personally, he would find no entrance to the secret room. Destroying it? Dream on.

Not only did Xu Lin prevent them from destroying the secret room entrances, she ensured they couldn’t move its treasures either.

While Xu Lin was busy, gunfire erupted all around, bullets flying, screams echoing nonstop. Ji Yuan, covered in blood, dashed past Xu Lin, shouting as he ran, "Family head, family head, disaster! The front gate has been breached!"

Xu Lin could not help but laugh, her little fist pumping in delight. What a feat—so quickly breached! Looking at the Ji family members fleeing in all directions, she cheerfully began picking up windfalls. She left the secret room’s treasures untouched, but never said she wouldn’t touch the family’s private stashes. As she walked, she searched and collected.

The Ji family was truly wealthy. Without even searching carefully, Xu Lin found over ten kilograms of gold, more than twenty thousand Dragon Coins, and a slew of vouchers. For a long time to come, she needn’t worry about tickets.

Searching as she went, Xu Lin arrived at the family shrine. In these times, bold indeed were those who kept a shrine at home. She couldn’t help but admire them.

Curious, Xu Lin stepped forward to inspect. At a glance, she exclaimed in surprise. From outside, it seemed an ordinary family shrine, but inside—good heavens, the yin energy was overwhelming.