The rise of the poor

Chapter 2188 Opening the Treasure House

"Damn Liu Er, I've treated you well, rewarding you with the position of Grand Eunuch, and you actually betrayed me, revealing my treasure vault to the enemy! You dog of a eunuch!"

When Xu San saw that Liu Er had betrayed him so quickly, handing over his hidden treasure vault to Zhu Ping'an and Mao Haifeng, he immediately burst into a tirade of curses.

"Xu San, you still have the nerve to say you've treated me well? I've been the only son in three generations, and I still haven't had an heir before you, you son of a bitch, castrated me! And you still say you've treated me well?! I wish I could kill you with my own hands, you scoundrel!"

The thin Liu Er glared at Xu San with hatred, wishing he could bite him to death, and cursed back angrily.

Mao Haifeng had no time to watch them fight like dogs. He couldn't wait to see Xu San's hidden treasure trove, to see how much gold and silver jewelry was inside, and to take stock of the final spoils of this battle on Moon Island.

"Lord Zhu, let's go see how many good things are in this hidden treasure vault," Mao Haifeng said to Zhu Ping'an eagerly.

"Let's go." Zhu Ping'an was also curious about how much wealth Xu San, a veteran Japanese pirate who had been navigating the seas for over a decade, had accumulated.

"The others continue the investigation to see if there are any other hidden treasures."

Mao Haifeng instructed his men to continue interrogating the other Japanese pirates from Moon Island to prevent any treasures from escaping. Afterward, he couldn't wait to go with Zhu Ping'an and his men to pry open Xu San's hidden treasure vault.

Xu San's hidden treasure vault was concealed in the back mountain, among a pile of rocks. If Liu Er hadn't led the way, Zhu Ping'an and the others would never have found this hidden treasure vault.

Following Liu Er's instructions, Mao Haifeng explored a large rock covering several square meters and found a protrusion. He pressed it down, and a slight creaking sound was heard. The rock then began to rotate, revealing the entrance to a cellar.

"Your Majesty, my lord, this is Xu San's hidden treasure vault. That bastard has designated the back mountain as a forbidden area, forbidding anyone from setting foot there. If anyone violates the ban, he will go on a killing spree. He always comes alone to hide the treasure. I am his fellow villager, and after he castrated me, he trusted me more and made me accompany him to move the gold and silver treasures here. That's how I found out about this hidden treasure vault." Liu Er explained to Zhu Ping'an and Mao Haifeng how he knew about the treasure vault.

The cellar slopes downwards, with stone steps that are more than six meters long, leading down to a large iron gate.

Mao Haifeng was eager to go down, but Zhu Pingan stopped him and explained with a serious expression, "The cellar has not been opened for a long time, and there is not enough air inside. If you go down rashly, you may faint from lack of air."

Zhu Pingan didn't use the word "oxygen," as that modern term wouldn't be understandable to people of this era. He could only use words that they could comprehend.

"Try it with fire." Zhu Ping'an ordered someone to light a piece of straw paper and throw it into the stone steps.

The straw paper burned fiercely, but before it could fall to the ground, it went out abruptly halfway through.

"As expected, there is not enough air." Mao Haifeng was a little scared when he saw this scene. He clasped his hands and thanked Zhu Ping'an. "Thank you for saving my life, Lord Zhu. If you hadn't stopped me in time, I'm afraid I would be lying on the ground now."

"We are allies, so we should do our best to help you," Zhu Pingan said with a smile.

"Lord Zhu, the air down below is insufficient. What should we do?" Mao Haifeng asked with a look of reluctance.

"It's not difficult. Cut a few branches with lush foliage, tie them together with rope, throw them in, and keep lifting and lowering them to speed up the airflow and bring in the air from above, so that there will be enough air below."

Zhu Pingan said.

Soon, Mao Haifeng led his men to cut down several tree branches that were three or four meters high nearby, tied them with ropes, and then lowered them into the cellar to pull them up and down.

After a moment, Mao Haifeng couldn't wait to light the straw paper and throw it into the cellar to test the air inside.

The straw paper burned fiercely, continuing to burn even after it hit the ground, until it was completely burned.

"Hahaha, Lord Zhu is indeed amazing! Now there's plenty of air inside." Mao Haifeng was overjoyed upon seeing this.

"You go in first."

Mao Haifeng ordered Liu Er to go in first. Seeing that Liu Er had made it to the underground without any problems, he then went down himself with peace of mind.

Zhu Pingan went down with them.

Once down there, the group discovered that the treasure vault's iron gate was extremely thick, with three locks on it, and the iron gate was embedded in the stone wall.

Mao Haifeng tried pushing the large iron gate with his hand, but it didn't budge.

This door must weigh at least a thousand pounds. Damn Xu San, how did he manage to make such a solid door!

It's impractical to use a ramming tool or a door, as this place is underground and the space is narrow, leaving no room to use a ramming tool.

Only by using a key to unlock the lock can one open the iron gate and enter Xu San's treasure vault.

"Of these three locks, I only know that one key is buried in this corner. The other two belong to that bastard Xu San. I don't know where he hid them." Liu Er dug out a key from the corner and handed it to Zhu Ping'an like a treasure. He said he was powerless to help with the other two keys.

Zhu Pingan handed the key to Mao Haifeng, who, under Liu Er's guidance, selected a lock and opened it with a click.

With a try-it-and-see attitude, Mao Haifeng tried inserting the key into two other locks, and sure enough, it was useless.

"Looks like we'll have to torture Xu San again," Mao Haifeng frowned.

He had just ordered Xu San to be subjected to severe torture, but Xu San knew he wouldn't die, and he was also a ruthless person. Even though he screamed in agony, he just wouldn't reveal the location of the hidden treasure.

If you ask him to reveal the key to the treasure vault, he will definitely refuse to do so unless you use extreme torture to interrogate him.

If Xu San were to resist to the very end, he might never utter a word until his death.

"This is simple."

Zhu Pingan waved his hand dismissively, ordering Liu Dadao to summon the Zhejiang army's expert in explosives and gunpowder. He instructed Liu to set up a gunpowder jar at the junction of the iron gate and the stone wall, extending the fuse and leaving a safe distance.

Zhu Pingan and the others all left the cellar and came to the surface.

"Lord Zhu, is it alright? Won't you blow up the cellar?" Mao Haifeng asked with some concern.

If there is too little gunpowder, it certainly won't be able to blow open the iron gate, since the iron gate weighs a thousand pounds. But if there is too much gunpowder, although it might blow open the iron gate, it is more likely to cause the entrance to the treasure vault to collapse.

If the entrance to the treasure vault is destroyed by a bomb, the difficulty of entering the vault will increase several times over.

"Don't worry, just wait and see." Zhu Pingan patted Mao Haifeng on the shoulder with a confident expression, looking completely at ease.

Soon, the Zhejiang soldiers lit the fuse and nimbly scrambled up the stone steps.

Then, less than three breaths later, a huge "boom" was heard from below.

The ground shook.

Then a clanging sound came from inside.

"Could it be that a cave-in has occurred?!" Mao Haifeng sensed the movement underground and became nervous.

Please, please don't cause a landslide! Otherwise, to reopen this underground treasure vault, we'll have to clear the landslide, and if it's severe, the time required could be unpredictable—ten days to two weeks might be possible. (End of Chapter)