Chapter 919: The Box in the Clay Statue

The officer holding the small box was stunned for a moment. After closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he spoke to Captain Zhang, whose face was also filled with shock.

"Captain Zhang, what do we do with this stuff?"

One could tell from the slight tremble in the officer's voice just how great the visual impact of this gold was on a person.

At this moment, the officer held the gold in both hands as if he were holding a hot potato, appearing somewhat at a loss.

Hearing this, Captain Zhang instinctively looked toward Sun Nian for guidance.

Clearly, Captain Zhang was also a bit dazed. Of course, being dazed was one thing, but primarily, the value of this much gold had already exceeded the scope of a normal person's imagination.

Although Sun Nian was also surprised that these loan sharks could collect so much gold, she had seen big scenes before. When Wang An and the others went gold prospecting, Sun Nian had been allocated a full 180 jin of gold.

Therefore, while these 20-plus jin of gold were eye-catching and shocking, they didn't actually cause much of a psychological ripple for Sun Nian.

Noticing Captain Zhang's gaze, Sun Nian thought for a moment and said

"Seal it. Take it back to the Bureau for processing."

From start to finish, Sun Nian didn't move a single step, as if this box of gold were merely a box of ordinary stones.

And so, under Sun Nian's arrangement, the lid of the gold box was closed and a seal was applied.

Immediately after, the group continued their search.

Soon, another officer found another small box inside the belly of a clay statue.

Of course, saying he "found" it wasn't entirely accurate; it would be more accurate to say it was "shaken out."

Because there were so many people searching the room, someone had accidentally slammed into the table holding the clay statue.

The impact was perhaps too hard, causing the statue to slide off the table.

Then, with a "crack," the entire clay statue shattered.

And then, this small box tumbled out.

This small box looked exactly like the one that held the gold, and it didn't seem light.

After it fell out, it didn't slide or roll across the floor, but instead landed firmly in place.

It had to be said that this damn Wei Cheng was truly cunning. Who would have thought that a clay statue normally used for incense offerings would have a hole hollowed out inside it?

No normal person would hollow out a statue used for offerings!

Similarly, no normal person conducting a search would ever think to pick up a clay statue and take a look inside.

This time, the officer likely realized the box was of great importance, so after picking it up from the floor, he didn't open it and handed it directly to his superior, Captain Zhou.

Upon receiving the box, Captain Zhou was even more decisive; without even looking, he walked straight over to Sun Nian.

Sun Nian instinctively took the box, her beautiful large eyes filled with curiosity.

Naturally, everyone present turned their gaze toward them. Clearly, everyone was curious about what was inside this box.

Since the box had been hidden in a place no one would have thought of, it felt as though it must be even more precious than the previous box of gold.

Sun Nian was not one to dawdle, so under everyone's curious gazes, she opened the small box.

However, when everyone saw the contents, they were all stunned. Their expressions were clearly even more incredulous than when they had seen the gold.

The person most shocked of all was Wang An, who had been playing the role of a bystander throughout.

Because the item in the box was neither money, nor IOU notes, nor expensive gold, but a folded piece of deer hide.

Wang An had a particular fondness for deer hide, as both the map of the old ancestral home and the gold prospecting map had been recorded on deer hide.

Of course, Sun Nian and Wang Li had also seen the deer hide marking the gold mine in Wang An's possession.

Thus, upon discovering the deer hide in the box, Sun Nian's gaze instinctively shifted toward Wang An.

At the same time, Wang Li also looked toward Wang An.

Among everyone present, perhaps only these three knew what a piece of deer hide this size actually signified.

Although Wang An wanted to see the details of this hide, he kept his feet planted.

With so many officers present, it would look suspicious if he appeared too invested.

Sun Nian steadied her mind and took the deer hide out of the box.

To everyone's surprise, when Sun Nian unfolded the hide, it was wrapping more gold.

But this time, the gold was a single, solid piece, irregular in shape, with sand, small pebbles, and other debris embedded in it.

Clearly, this was a very valuable gold nugget. One wondered where that old rascal Wei Cheng had gotten it from.

The reputation of gold nuggets was well-known; after all, in ancient times, such things were presented as tributes to the Emperor.

Gold nuggets that survived in the hands of commoners were absolute rarities.

If an ancient official could present a gold nugget to the Emperor, a promotion and wealth would certainly be just around the corner.

Consequently, as the people in the room looked at this palm-sized gold nugget, their breathing immediately became rapid.

Wang An, Sun Nian, and Wang Li suddenly realized that the sole purpose of this deer hide was likely to wrap the nugget, and the situation they had previously suspected did not exist.

Sun Nian took a deep breath, casually wrapped the nugget back in the deer hide, placed it back in the box, and said to the officer who had found it

"Seal it. We'll take it back to the Bureau for processing together."

The lid of the box was closed again, and only then did everyone withdraw their gazes.

However, from their unsettled expressions, it was not hard to see how turbulent their inner thoughts were.

That a thug running loan shark operations in the countryside could hoard so many treasures truly left people speechless.

And so, the group continued their search.

However, by the time they had searched every inch of the room, they found no more treasures or valuable items.

As they walked out of the room, someone among the arrested shouted

"Officer Jing, did you find those IOU notes?"

(End of Chapter)