Chapter 153: Plum Blossoms Once Again

Seeing Zhang Xuan push the door open, Yang Zaixing and the other two quickly walked over and stepped inside, curious to see what made this locked wooden cabin so special. Inside, there was a bed, some furniture, and a few daily necessities, but nothing else stood out. Looking around, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but wonder why a place like this even needed to be locked.

Shi Qian also peered into the cabin and said, "I suppose this must be the cabin where the supervisor rests, though it seems I've never actually laid eyes on him."

"No way!" Zhang Xuan and the others looked at Shi Qian, who was leaning near the door. Even they had seen the perverted supervisor Nie Zheng and his men often talked about. Shi Qian had been in this stronghold for quite some time; how could he have never seen the supervisor? It simply didn't make sense.

"Don't look at me like that! I've heard that children were often taken away by the supervisor, and some never came back. The ones who did return sometimes had mental issues—they would hide the moment they saw anyone and cry out for them not to come closer. But honestly, I only heard about it; I've never actually seen the supervisor himself. Is that really so strange? Many of the children locked up in the cells only knew that such a person existed in the stronghold, but if you asked them to match a face to the name, most wouldn't be able to do it."

Yang Hu, standing near the bed, seemed to have noticed something on the floor nearby. "Little Xuan, come look at this! There are so many marks on the floor around the bed, and some of them look a lot like bloodstains."

Zhang Xuan walked over and looked closely. The floor was covered in numerous claw marks, along with stains that resembled dried, blackened blood. Such marks were scattered thickly around the bed. Seeing this, Zhang Xuan lowered his head, sighed quietly, and stood up without saying another word.

After a long while, Zhang Xuan turned to Shi Qian. "Shi Qian, see if there are any valuables or hidden compartments in here. If there are, haul them out. Big Brother, lend a hand—I'm going outside to get some fresh air." With that, he handed his torch to Yang Hu, who was standing beside him, and walked out.

Shi Qian was left completely baffled by Zhang Xuan's sudden departure and instructions. Yang Zaixing, Yuwen Chengdu, and Yang Hu could sense that seeing those marks had put Zhang Xuan in a very strange state of mind, but since they didn't know what had truly happened, they hesitated, unsure whether to follow him outside or stay behind. However, a single remark from Yang Hu completely dispelled any urge Yang Zaixing and Yuwen Chengdu had to go after him: "Do you think Little Xuan just didn't want to carry anything, so he hurried off?" Hearing this, Yang Zaixing and Yuwen Chengdu couldn't help giving Yang Hu a thumbs-up.

While the others hesitated, Shi Qian carefully inspected the structure of the cabin. Coughing slightly, and with the assistance of Yang Zaixing and the other two, he searched every nook and cranny. Apart from finding a locked chest, they discovered nothing else. Once the search was complete, Shi Qian muttered under his breath, "Can you believe a supervisor is this poor? There's nothing in here at all! He's got none of the style you'd expect from a supervisor!"

After double-checking to ensure nothing had been missed, the group walked out of the cabin. Holding their torches, the four of them searched for Zhang Xuan and finally found him standing in front of the disciplinary room, looking solemn and grim.

Yang Zaixing called out to him, "Little Xuan, we only found one locked chest inside the cabin. Do you want to come take a look? Otherwise, if we open it ourselves, you might accuse us of being unsociable and not waiting for you." Hearing Yang Zaixing's voice, Zhang Xuan shook off his thoughts and jogged back over to where they were.

Once Zhang Xuan arrived, Shi Qian pulled out his trusty piece of wire and fiddled with the lock. True to form, the lock clicked open obediently. Shi Qian glanced at the others and lifted the lid. Inside the chest were some sheets of paper, a writing brush, two small ink sticks and an inkstone, a few ingots of silver, and some scattered loose change—nothing else. Zhang Xuan took out the paper, hoping to find some silver notes. After all, he was a stronghold supervisor; surely his wealth shouldn't be this paltry, or it would be an insult to his position! But there wasn't a single silver note to be found. Then again, bank notes didn't come into existence until the Northern Song Dynasty; as for the late Han Dynasty, that was still seven or eight hundred years away. However, Zhang Xuan noticed the pattern of a plum blossom stamped on the paper, though he had no idea what the paper was actually used for.

As Zhang Xuan put the paper back and closed the lid, he noticed the same plum blossom pattern marked on the wooden chest itself. This left him utterly bewildered. Why was there a plum blossom pattern on literally everything? To think that someone in this era was already so advanced as to use a "plum blossom" as their brand logo and stamp it across so many different items!

Still, after being baffled for a moment, Zhang Xuan brushed the thought of the plum blossom pattern aside. He had long since sworn in his heart that if he ever crossed paths with anyone bearing this plum blossom mark, he would show no mercy. This so-called "Uncle Plum" better pray he never fell into Zhang Xuan's hands, or he would learn what true torture felt like.

Shortly after, Zhang Xuan, Yang Zaixing, Yuwen Chengdu, and Yang Hu each carried a wooden chest, and together with Shi Qian, they successfully concluded their "looting" expedition of the stronghold and headed back toward the cells. As for the haul, overall—though they hadn't counted it yet—it left Zhang Xuan feeling quite satisfied.