"Can a single key really keep others out?" Su Changhe looked up. "A wall like this, one could easily climb over and get in."
"When this key unlocks the courtyard gate, all the esoteric formations within will simultaneously deactivate. If you try to climb over, trust me, even if you're the Dark River Grand Master, you won't make it out alive." The short, stout man smirked slyly. "That Spider Nest of yours in Dark River..."
Su Muyu frowned slightly. "You know about the Spider Nest?"
The man waved a finger dismissively. "Not worth mentioning." He then inserted the key into the copper lock, gave it a twist, and with a soft "click," the lock opened. From within the courtyard came a series of "click-clack" sounds that persisted for a full half-hour before silence returned. The man tossed the key back to Su Changhe. "Keep this key safe. You'll soon realize just how precious it is."
Su Changhe smiled. "Alright."
With a wave of his hand, the stout man opened the gate and stepped inside. The courtyard was densely packed with small houses, leaving no open space. Su Muyu asked in confusion, "Is this the Dark River's treasury?"
"First, let's start with something crude." The man waved his sleeve again, and three rooms ahead swung open, emitting a golden glow. Inside, stacks upon stacks of gold bricks were arranged in layers. Even in the dim light of the Underworld Pawnshop, the opening of these three rooms instantly brightened the space.
Su Changhe was stunned. "How... how many assassination contracts would it take to amass this much wealth?"
Su Muyu stepped forward and picked up a gold brick. "Are there many gold bricks in these three rooms?"
Su Changhe sighed helplessly. "Could you at least try to understand the struggles of ordinary people? The silver in my entire house, along with the property itself, isn't worth as much as a single row of these gold bricks. And yet, one room here holds nearly a hundred layers of them."
"I see." Su Muyu set the brick down. "Dark River has hidden all its wealth here."
"If you think it's just wealth, then the Su Family Head underestimates the foresight of Dark River's predecessors." The stout man waved his hand again, and the doors of the three rooms closed, while three others nearby opened.
Su Muyu swiftly unslung the paper umbrella from his back, and Su Changhe gripped his dagger tightly.
"No need for haste, no one's inside," the man chuckled.
"No people, yet Sword Qi lingers. These swords... are they from Sword Heart?" Su Muyu said gravely.
The man pulled out a paper fan from his sleeve and gazed proudly at the weapons and armor filling the three rooms. "Sword Heart, Famous Sword Manor, and the now-fallen Swordless City—most of the renowned blades here hail from these three places. As for the armor, longswords, and crossbows, they were crafted by prestigious families like the Mountain North Lu Clan. Take that Tyrant Armor, for instance. The world believes only the Mu Family possesses one, but in truth, Dark River has an identical set."
Su Muyu walked up to the room filled with famous swords and picked up a charred black blade. A flicker of sorrow passed through his eyes, vanishing as quickly as it came. "These three rooms are worth far more than the three filled with gold bricks earlier.""If judged by monetary value, naturally it can't compare to three rooms full of gold bricks. But the weapons here are mostly things money can't buy," the stout man said proudly. "Any single one of these would make martial artists fight tooth and nail to obtain."
Su Changhe stroked his thin mustache: "I say, shopkeeper, why do you sound so proud? Aren't these all our belongings anyway?"
The stout man gave an awkward chuckle: "Habit, just habit. Let's look at what's behind next. But we must be careful with this one!" This time, the stout man personally walked to the door and opened it, revealing rows of wooden barrels whose contents couldn't be seen. Each barrel was pasted with red paper bearing bold black characters:
"Thunder Resounding Through Ears," "Fire Like Thunder," "Earthshaking," "Thunder Shaking the Universe," "Drum at Thunder Gate," "Bolt from the Blue"...
Su Muyu's pupils slightly contracted: "I once joined Thunder Sect's Lei Qianting in the encirclement against Ye Dingzhi. These names were all mentioned by him—they're the most powerful explosives from the Thunder Sect. To think Dark River has been hiding these Thunder Sect treasures?"
"Aside from Kirin Fire Fang, this room contains every Sky-grade explosive from the Thunder Sect," the stout man carefully closed the door again. "That's why we must be extremely cautious when opening it. All four walls and this door are forged from Hexa-Steel. Otherwise, if the explosives inside detonated simultaneously, the entire Underworld Pawnshop would be leveled. The next door also requires caution—one wrong move, and the three of us would meet our end here." The stout man then opened the neighboring room's door, where a sleeping triangular serpent opened its eyes.
Su Changhe took a step back: "Sleeping Serpent."
"This one is the Sleeping Serpent King, raised using deadly poisons from the Wen Family, Tang Sect, Hundred Poisons Sect, and other prominent poison clans. Now its entire body carries incurable toxins—just one drop of its blood could easily incapacitate even a Sky Realm Expert with thirty years of cultivation." The stout man hastily closed the door again. "The two medicine cabinets nearby are also filled with various rare poisons."
"If I'm not mistaken, the remaining door contains all kinds of hidden weapons," Su Muyu suddenly said.
The stout man paused: "You're quite sharp—correct. The next room is filled with concealed weapons. While we lack the Tang Sect's secret techniques like Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles, Buddha's Wrath Tang Lotus, or Peacock Plumes, we have virtually everything else. The following rooms contain esoteric formation techniques, official survey maps of major cities... anything you can imagine, Dark River's ancestors have collected here."
"So this is Dark River's treasure trove," Su Muyu said solemnly.
The stout man waved his paper fan: "You don't seem particularly pleased. This is wealth accumulated over Dark River's century-long legacy. Only with these can we operate the entire Dark River organization. That's why obtaining the Sleeping Dragon Sword is required to inherit The Head's position—did you think it was merely symbolic?""If it were just the gold bricks in those three rooms, perhaps I could think that way. But seeing all this today, I can only come to one conclusion." Su Muyu sighed softly. "If we bring these back to Dark River, Dark River could instantly become an army."
Su Changhe nodded. "The strongest army in the world. Unstoppable, slaying even gods who stand in its way."
The short, stout man chuckled. "And crushing any Buddha who dares oppose it."
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