The following night, the moon was hidden and the stars were sparse.
Chen Qing arrived at the Old Knife Handle Inn in the western part of the city.
In a flash, he entered Jiang Bohong's room.
The room was simply furnished and suffused with a faint medicinal smell.
Chen Qing quickly swept his gaze over every corner of the room.
The bed, cabinets, desk, corners of the walls... he overlooked no crack or hidden compartment that might conceal valuables.
Yet after a thorough search, aside from a few worthless changes of clothes, some ordinary alchemy ingredients, and several yellowed old books, there was not a single valuable item to be found.
Forget large-denomination banknotes or Pill Recipes—even loose silver was scarce.
"Could that old fox have three burrows like a cunning rabbit?"
Chen Qing muttered under his breath.
Jiang Bohong had spent years roaming the Ten Thousand Poisons Swamp, killing and plundering. The wealth he had accumulated was certainly far more than what he carried on him.
So where had he hidden it?
Chen Qing thought of the lower-grade Treasure Ship moored at Hundred Ships Beach.
"The Treasure Ship!"
Something stirred in his heart.
That ship was Jiang Bohong's mobile base in the Ten Thousand Poisons Swamp. He lived aboard it year-round; he refined pills, rested, and stored supplies there.
For a lone old veteran who spent all year traversing dangerous lands, that ship was likely his most important "home" and "warehouse"!
The most valuable and secret items were very likely aboard it!
The more Chen Qing considered it, the more likely it seemed.
Jiang Bohong was cautious by nature. Keeping most of his assets on a Treasure Ship he could control at any moment was both convenient and safer than hiding them in a fixed location.
Chen Qing secretly