Wang An waved his hand and gave Song Shuanzhu's head a flick, saying
"I said I wouldn't kill you, so I definitely won't. To tell you the truth, Song Ping is finished. He was arrested by the Public Security Bureau earlier this morning. The furs he kept in his home storehouse, and his procurement point behind the commune, have all been wiped out in one go. Understand?"
Hearing this, Song Shuanzhu was instantly stunned. He heard Wang An continue in a pretentious manner
"People in our line of work don't actually want to create senseless slaughter. I mean, the employer is practically dead, so why the hell would I still help him kill people? Not to mention, who would I collect the remaining half of the payment from after the job is done?"
Hearing this, Song Shuanzhu felt it made a lot of sense, but he quickly asked
"Hero, then... then why was Song Ping arrested?"
Wang An didn't hide it and said
"At first it was for speculation and profiteering. Then I heard from a friend in Public Security that he was involved in several murder cases. You know that 'Big Claw' pelt? He drugged an old mountain dog of a man to death and snatched it from him."
"Huh? Is Song Ping really that evil?" Song Shuanzhu couldn't help but exclaim.
Wang An couldn't stand the cold anymore and didn't feel like bickering with Song Shuanzhu any longer. He couldn't help but snap
"What's the point of him being evil? He still got hauled off by the authorities. Hurry up and tell me where Song Ping hid his treasures. It's freezing out here and I've got to go; I don't have time to chat about useless things with you."
Song Shuanzhu hurriedly replied
"It's just south of their village, probably about ten li away. There's a pillbox left behind by the Little Devils from the early years.
And not far from the pillbox, there's a mass grave. He hid the treasures under a big tree by that mass grave."
Hearing Song Shuanzhu say this, Wang An immediately thought of that "Forbidden Zone."
Because the mass grave Song Shuanzhu described was almost identical to the situation at the "Forbidden Zone."
The only difference was that the "Forbidden Zone" was much, much larger in scale.
Regardless, places like these were basically the work of those heartless Little Devils.
Song Shuanzhu continued
"The thing is, that place is pretty eerie. Twice I tried to sneak in to see what kind of stuff Song Ping had hidden, but as soon as I went in, I smelled a strange odor. My head felt dizzy and I couldn't catch my breath. I don't know what was going on."
Once Song Shuanzhu finished, Wang An immediately understood the reason.
The "eeriness" and "strange odor" Song Shuanzhu mentioned were actually what is known as "forest toxic gas," or what people commonly call "miasma."
It was nothing more than hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and other irritating toxic gases released by the decay of animals, plants, and certain toxic fungi.
However, due to climate and temperature, this "miasma" was common in southern tropical rainforests but very rare in the mountains of the Northeast.
But rare didn't mean non-existent, as this "miasma" did exist in some swamplands and deep canyons.
And in a place like a mass grave, which was naturally a breeding ground for various bacteria and toxic gases, it wasn't surprising that miasma might be present.
Wang An nodded and instinctively asked
"From what you know, what did he hide in there?"
Song Shuanzhu thought for a moment and said
"One time I saw him fiddling with a few silver ingots on his sledge, and a large seal made of some kind of stone. That seal was pitch black. Oh, and there was a bastard of a thing the size of a palm. I heard him muttering that these things aren't worth much or useful around here, but as long as they get to Yandu, they'd be worth a lot—at least several hundred at the lowest."
After hearing this, Wang An's heart instantly raced with excitement!
While silver itself wasn't that precious, silver ingots as cultural relics were valuable.
A large seal made of stone was obviously something like an Imperial Seal, similar to the "Xiezhi Jade Seal" Wang An had dug out of Wei Cheng's doghouse.
As for Imperial Seals, as long as they were antiques, they were never worthless.
As for the palm-sized "bastard," Wang An suspected it was an ancient tortoise talisman, a token of authority similar to the ancient tiger tallies and fish tallies.
With just these three items, Song Ping's hiding spot was worth Wang An's effort.
One had to realize that starting from the last two years, the antique and calligraphy market had begun to recover; the establishment of the Fan-Jia-Yuan antique market was a very clear signal.
Though he was genuinely excited, Wang An still asked Song Shuanzhu in confusion
"Then how do you know he hid these things in that mass grave? Couldn't he have hidden them in his house? Or somewhere else?"
"Besides, since you know where Song Ping hid the treasures, why didn't you think to dig them up yourself? Once you dug them up, wouldn't those treasures all be yours?"
This question was very important. From the perspective of human nature, knowing exactly where Song Ping's treasures were, it was impossible for Song Shuanzhu not to be tempted!
Because this was human nature—naked human nature.
Don't give him any of that "a gentleman loves wealth but acquires it through proper means" nonsense; that's for educating ordinary people, it's pure bullshit!
They say monks and priests don't love money, yet they collect incense money faster than anyone.
And then there's donating merit money, saying the more you donate, the higher your merit...
Oh for fuck's sake, go play in the dirt; that's just tricking idiots.
In short, in Wang An's view, it was abnormal for Song Shuanzhu not to have tried digging up Song Ping's hidden treasures.
Sure enough, as soon as Wang An said this, Song Shuanzhu fell silent for several seconds.
It was a good thing Song Shuanzhu's cotton hat was covering his face, otherwise Wang An really would have wanted to see what expression he was making.
After a while, Song Shuanzhu spoke with a trembling voice, full of fear
"Sir, I... I just knew he hid the things under a tree in that mass grave, but I... I went looking a few times, and I couldn't find them."
Wang An was stunned for a moment, then he stood up and began kicking Song Shuanzhu indiscriminately.
His big feet hit Song Shuanzhu with a "ping-pang" sound, leaving Song Shuanzhu wailing like a ghost, with endless pleas for mercy filling the air.
He couldn't help it; Wang An suddenly felt that this kid Song Shuanzhu wasn't being honest at all and was playing him for a fool.
Mainly, the things Song Shuanzhu said couldn't withstand scrutiny; the contradictions between the beginning and the end were too severe.
Therefore, Wang An's big feet kicked and stomped without a shred of mercy. (End of Chapter)