Chapter 84: Strength That Doesn’t Match Reputation
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
As the saying goes, one must make bold a.s.sumptions and carefully verify them.
Zhou Shu was giving full play to his imagination. The novels and TV series he had read and watched in his previous life flashed through his mind.
All sorts of secret room designs flashed through his mind.
!!
He suspected that there was a secret chamber in the Zhu Estate, and the entrance was most likely inside Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother’s room!
This was a very reasonable deduction.
Although Zhu Chuanfeng was the master of the Zhu Estate, his Martial Dao cultivation wasn’t high. If the secret chamber’s entrance was in his room, he might not be able to detect anything if something happened.
As for his younger brother, he was the person he trusted the most. Moreover, his Martial Dao cultivation was extremely high. If he placed the secret chamber in his room, not only would it not attract attention, but it would also be safer.
So, here was the problem.
How could he find the entrance to the secret chamber and enter?
If he really went all out, Zhou Shu reckoned that he could beat Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother.
But if that happened, it would create a huge commotion. Not only would it only alarm the entire Zhu Estate, but it might even alarm the experts in the capital.
As for quietly defeating Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother, Zhou Shu really didn’t have the ability right now.
I have to think of a way to lure him away.
In his previous life, when he watched martial arts movies, the protagonists could easily throw a stone to lure the guards away.
But here, if Zhou Shu did that, he would be an idiot.
The other party wasn’t a fool. How could a pebble lure a tiger away from a mountain?
If there’s really a secret chamber, it’s a very important place. Even if something happens, his first reaction would be to protect the secret chamber, Zhou Shu thought.
He knew nothing about Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother, so he naturally had no way of knowing his weakness.
He suspected that even if he pretended to a.s.sa.s.sinate Zhu Chuanfeng, this person might not leave the room.
What should I do?
Zhou Shu felt a headache coming on. This was also why it was inconvenient for him to be alone.
If he had a helper, he could easily solve this problem.
This person is the old thief’s brother. Other than the old thief’s safety, there’s likely nothing else that can attract his attention.
The key point is that I don’t know how much they value this secret chamber!
I have to give it a try!
A moment later, Zhou Shu made his decision.
He wasn’t completely confident that he could lure Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother away.
But it was impossible for him to give up just like that.
If he returned empty-handed after working so hard for the entire night, he would be furious.
After making up his mind, Zhou Shu restrained his aura and left the courtyard.
He ran all the way to a spot between the small courtyard and Zhu Chuanfeng’s bedroom. Zhou Shu avoided the patrolling guards and set a fire…
That’s right. The method he finally used was this simple and crude!
If he set a fire and caused chaos in the Zhu Estate, Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother might leave his room!
Zhou Shu didn’t set a fire randomly either. The place he set fire to was very close to Zhu Chuanfeng’s bedroom, and there was wind tonight.
Most of the buildings in this world were made of wood. If the weather was dry, once something caught fire, the fire would quickly grow.
The moment the fire started, it attracted the attention of the patrolling guards.
“Fire! Everyone, put out the fire!” Shouts resounded from all directions.
Zhou Shu took advantage of the chaos and once again headed toward the storeroom.
There was a fire, and the entire Zhu Estate was in chaos. Even Zhu Chuanfeng ran out of his bedroom in a panic.
The guards and servants were already busy putting out the fire.
But the fire was burning strong, and it wasn’t so easy to extinguish.
“What happened?” Zhu Chuanfeng ran out of the room and grabbed a guard busy putting out the fire. “Someone sneaked in?”
“Master, I didn’t see anyone,” the guard hurriedly said. “Maybe it’s because the weather is dry and candle fire accidentally caused it.”
Zhu Chuanfeng waved his hand, and the guard ran off to put out the fire.
Zhu Chuanfeng looked at the fire that was gradually being controlled and sighed in relief.
Then he raised his head and looked in the direction of his younger brother’s place. Seeing that there was nothing unusual, he finally heaved a sigh of relief.
Zhou Shu stealthily returned to the small courtyard where the storeroom was. Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother was still sitting cross-legged on his bed, his eyes slightly closed and his body glowing faintly.
He’s still cultivating!
Setting a fire was completely useless!
Zhou Shu was somewhat disappointed. The sky had already begun to brighten. In another two hours, the sky would completely light up.
It’s too late! Zhou Shu sighed. It seemed that he could only deal with the monthly workshop examination first and then find an opportunity to deal with Zhu Chuanfeng in the future!
Just as Zhou Shu turned around to leave the Zhu Estate, he suddenly heard a pop from behind him.
Zhou Shu turned around and saw Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother spit out a mouthful of blood. Then his entire body collapsed onto the bed.
Zhou Shu: “…”
Did he suffer from qi deviation?
He took two tentative steps toward the man.
The person on the bed didn’t move.
He relaxed and took a few more steps forward.
The person on the bed remained still.
Heh, even G.o.d is helping me.
Zhou Shu had been ready to give up. He never expected such a thing to happen!
Zhou Shu walked up to the bed and placed his hand under the man’s nose.
Her breathing was very weak, as if he could die at any moment.
Zhou Shu hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided not to kill him.
A family shouldn’t be implicated. Although this person was Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother, there was no enmity between them. If he killed him now, he wouldn’t be able to get past his conscience.
To Zhou Shu, killing was easy. But he didn’t want to become someone who only knew how to kill.
Human lives were precious.
Once he lost his respect for life, Zhou Shu felt like he might walk down the path of evil and become someone he didn’t want to become.
He paid no attention to Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother. Although he wouldn’t kick a man when he was down, he wouldn’t save him either.
Whether he lived or died depended on his own luck.
Without any reservations, Zhou Shu quickly searched the room.
A moment later, Zhou Shu really found an entrance mechanism behind the bookshelf!
A pitch-black entrance appeared in the middle of the room.
Zhou Shu sent a stream of qi into the entrance.
After waiting for a while, there was no movement in the secret chamber. Only then did he carefully enter the secret chamber.
The secret underground chamber wasn’t big, only about a few square meters.
A row of shelves stood against the limestone wall, and on the shelves were several sandalwood boxes.
At first glance, it looked exactly the same as the storeroom above, but the sandalwood boxes revealed everything.
Just the boxes alone were incomparably precious, let alone the things inside!
Indeed, the real good stuff was hidden in this secret chamber!
If Zhou Shu was only here to steal, then he had already found the place.
Any one of these weapons was incomparably priceless.
But Zhou Shu wasn’t here to steal. No matter how good the weapons were, he didn’t care.
So what if they were heaven-grade weapons? He would be able to forge them himself sooner or later.
He had come this time to find evidence against Zhu Chuanfeng!
Without much hesitation, Zhou Shu walked to a wooden box. After confirming that there were no mechanisms, he opened it.
Sure enough, the wooden box contained a heaven-grade weapon!
Every heaven-grade weapon was a divine weapon. If it got outside, it would definitely be an existence that many martial artists would fight to the death for.
In this secret chamber, Zhu Chuanfeng had seven!
A Grand Craftsman could be proud of his life if he were able to forge seven heaven-grade weapons in his lifetime.
Zhu Chuanfeng’s ranking among the Grand Craftsmen isn’t high. How could he have forged so many heaven-grade weapons?
This doesn’t match his ranking.
Zhou Shu keenly discovered a problem.
As long as a forger successfully forged an earth-grade weapon, they could be called a Grand Craftsman.
In other words, not every Grand Craftsman had the ability to forge a heaven-grade weapon.
A Grand Craftsman capable of forging a heaven-grade weapon was worthy of being a world-famous existence.
Zhu Chuanfeng was indeed a Grand Craftsman capable of forging heaven-grade weapons. This was why his status in Great Xia was so high.
But although Zhu Chuanfeng was famous among the Grand Craftsmen, his ranking wasn’t too high. In this world, there were many Grand Craftsmen even more famous than him.
Even those Grand Craftsmen might not be able to forge so many heaven-grade weapons.
How could a heaven-grade weapon be forged so easily?
Many Grand Craftsmen had only forged one heaven-grade weapon in their entire lives. One heaven-grade weapon was enough to feed them for their entire lives!
Zhu Chuanfeng’s strength didn’t match his reputation.
Whether it was the heavenly-grade weapons in the secret chamber or the weapons in the storeroom, if Zhu Chuanfeng had forged all of them, then his reputation wouldn’t be as it was now.
If people found out about these weapons he had forged, Zhu Chuanfeng would be ranked in the top ten among the world’s Grand Craftsmen!
Is the old thief hiding his strength? Zhou Shu frowned. That shouldn’t be the case. Hiding his forging ability is completely meaningless to him.
On the contrary, if he showed it, his reputation would increase, and he would gain more benefits.
He was already a Grand Craftsman, and Great Xia treated him as a treasure. He didn’t need to worry about the risks of becoming famous.
Zhou Shu was currently hiding his strength because he was too weak. If he really did become a Grand Craftsman, then there would be no need for him to do so.
At that time, the stronger he acted, the safer he would be.
No, there must be something wrong!
Zhou Shu paced back and forth, frowning in thought.
If the old thief can forge so many heaven-grade weapons, even if he doesn’t care about fame, these heaven-grade weapons can be used to make friends with second-rank or even first-rank martial arts experts! Even if he doesn’t use them to make friends with experts, if he exchanged them for money, it would definitely be an unimaginable wealth! He wouldn’t let go of such an opportunity to let heaven-grade weapons collect dust in the storeroom!
Unless—
A thought suddenly appeared in Zhou Shu’s mind.
Unless these heaven-grade weapons weren’t forged by him!