Look, I Knew You Were a Scoundrel Too!

"...So there are five adults inside, all male. There might be others who went out and haven't returned yet. No guns found for now, but there are quite a few weapons like machetes..."

Tom drew a crude floor plan on the ground and marked the positions of those men on it.

"Are there any children locked up inside?" Li Weide asked.

"Yes. They're all locked in a small room on the left side of the first floor. There are eight children in there." Tom pointed at the smallest room on the floor plan.

"Eight children crammed into such a tiny room... They're animals." Li Weide frowned.

Tom offered no comment, only saying urgently, "I suggest we let the snakes go in and attack first. They'll definitely panic, then we can sneak in and finish things quickly... It's getting late. We still have to go to Diagon Alley today!"

"Mm, we'll do that." Li Weide said no more and followed Tom through the alley, circling around to the back of the detached house.

There was a back door there, but it was locked.

Tom picked up a rock and handed it to Li Weide. "Once things get chaotic inside, we'll smash the lock and rush in."

Li Weide glanced at Tom, then casually tossed the rock away.

"Why did you throw the rock away?" Tom asked in confusion.

"Tom... we're wizards!"

Li Weide brushed his right hand lightly over the lock.

Click!

The lock opened without a sound.

Complete Guide to Low-Level Spells had a detailed introduction to the Unlocking Charm.

Tom stared at the cleanly opened lock in shock. "You... you can do that too?"

"I just figured it out myself," Li Weide said vaguely. "Hurry up and start."

Tom had no time to ask further questions and immediately issued an order in Parselmouth.

Before long, Li Weide heard rustling sounds rising all around them.

Then snakes crawled out continuously from the nearby grass, eaves, and sewers, quickly slipping inside through gaps in the doors and windows!

A little while later, Li Weide and Tom heard terrified cries coming from inside!

"Now!"

Li Weide and Tom pushed open the door and charged straight in!

A few minutes later.

Tom crouched on the ground and removed a grass snake from the face of a man lying there.

He poked the man's stiff cheek with his finger. "So... how exactly did you do that...?"

Just now, Tom had barely needed to act, yet Li Weide had turned all these people into "statues."

"I figured it out myself. Maybe I just happened to guess some attack spell that petrifies people?"

As Li Weide spoke, he pulled a large stack of cash from a small case.

This was the cash box he had just found.

"So this money really can be exchanged for wizarding money? Wizard money is completely different from anything we've ever seen..." Tom said as he busily tied up the stiff Human Traffickers with rope.

"Don't worry, it can definitely be exchanged. The fact that we exist proves that not every wizard comes from a wizarding family. That means there must be places where money can be exchanged... Besides..."

As he spoke, Li Weide tilted the small case so Tom could see inside.

"Even if the banknotes can't be exchanged, these definitely can..."

Tom looked over and saw that the bottom of the small case was stuffed full with more than a dozen small gold bars!

"Gold is hard currency anywhere."

Tom gave Li Weide a strange look. "You really know a lot..."

"Ahem, I read quite a few books before... All right, enough about the money. Don't forget what our 'real' purpose in coming here was."

As he spoke, Li Weide shoved the cash box into a bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Heh, I thought you'd forgotten." Tom's tone dripped with sarcasm.

In his heart, Li Weide had never been a good person. His acting was simply better than Tom's!

They said they had come to save people, but in truth, they had come to make money!

"Of course I didn't forget! Call your snakes back first. Don't scare the other children. They're not like us."

Li Weide was in a good mood and didn't mind Tom's barbed words.

In fact, aside from gaining a huge amount of money, Li Weide should theoretically be receiving a large amount of Merit Points as well.

The two of them came together to the small room at the corner of the first floor.

Though the room was small, its door was made of iron and looked extremely sturdy. An absurdly large padlock hung from it.

As Li Weide approached the iron door, he could vaguely hear panicked voices from behind it.

Clearly, the people inside had heard the commotion outside.

Li Weide placed his hand on the lock.

Tom stared intently at his hand, hoping to figure out how it worked.

However...

Click!

Before Tom could see anything, the lock had already opened.

Creak...

The heavy iron door opened, and a foul stench hit them head-on.

Tom covered his nose in disgust and moved aside.

Li Weide looked beyond the doorway. In the pitch-black room, seven or eight children huddled in the corner, staring fearfully at the door.

"You're safe now. Hurry and get out of here!" Li Weide shouted.

The children looked at one another, but none of them moved.

Seeing this, Li Weide pulled a stern face. "Get out here right now and line up! Or I'll whip you!"

The moment he finished speaking, the children hurriedly ran out.

Tom looked at Li Weide with an expression that said he had known it all along. "See? I knew you were a scoundrel too."

"Shut up, Tom!"

Li Weide looked at the trembling children standing in a row before him, then pulled out a stack of banknotes and handed some to each of them.

"Look, the adults from my family have taken down those Human Traffickers. You're free now, so hurry and leave!"

Only then did the children notice that the vicious Human Traffickers who had captured them were all tied up like dumplings.

It was only then that they finally believed Li Weide's words.

Of course, it was a little strange that none of the adults Li Weide mentioned were actually in the house...

"Oh, one more question. Is everyone here accounted for?" Li Weide asked again.

"There... there's still one man and one woman missing." A skinny little boy finally gathered the courage to speak.

"Oh, a tall, muscular man and a woman with a hoarse voice?"

The other children began nodding as well.

"Mm, then everyone's accounted for..." Li Weide glanced at their curious expressions and continued, "They've been caught too. Hurry and leave. Go home if you have a home to return to. Oh, and don't forget to report this to the police so they can arrest these guys."

The children all nodded. After softly thanking him, they took the money Li Weide had given them and left this den of evil.

"Ding! Detected that the host has destroyed a Human Trafficker den! Rewarding the host with 1000 Merit Points!"

"Ding! Detected that the future Dark Lord has done good deeds and accumulated virtue due to the host's advice, causing a slight change in his life trajectory! Rewarding the host with 100 Merit Points!"

Li Weide looked at the 1400 Merit Points displayed in his balance, and his mood immediately improved immensely.

"All right, we should leave too. We still have to go to Diagon Alley!" Tom urged.

Li Weide waved a hand. "Relax, Tom. This time, we have money for transportation, don't we..."

Boom!

Before Li Weide could finish, the floor of the house suddenly shook violently!

Li Weide quickly grabbed the sofa beside him.

Tom, caught off guard, was jolted straight down onto his backside!

Rumble... The ground shook again.

Tom's eyes widened abruptly. "It feels like something underground is charging up!"