The last time he was in Siem Reap, Wallace's safehouse had been a standalone courtyard house. Here on Gaolong Island, it was also a standalone villa.
That was because Wallace did not want people constantly coming and going, giving others a chance to notice anything.
Wallace had come from a chaotic place, so from a young age, the knowledge he had encountered and the way he handled people and affairs had given him something of a hamster's mentality. Good things had to be hidden away carefully, and he also had to leave himself a way out.
He did not believe that becoming a Xiantian Master meant he could act without restraint. Someone who had spent so long in a chaotic region had an exceptionally strong awareness of danger.
Therefore, the several properties Bai Xiaotian had identified as Wallace's hideouts were basically all standalone buildings.
Although the villa before him looked somewhat old on the surface and had the structure of a local house, the surrounding courtyard walls had clearly been built with care, all of them brick-and-concrete structures.
Using brick-and-concrete construction for a house on Gaolong Island truly came at a considerable cost. None of those materials were produced on the island; they had to be bought on the mainland and shipped over by cargo vessel.
Therefore, local houses were more often built with wood as the primary structural material. Even the walls were made of wood, while some houses used thin steel sheets, with rooftops thatched using a kind of grass produced on Gaolong Island to shelter against wind and rain.
Thus, the tall courtyard walls of Wallace's villa being brick and concrete had cost quite a bit. The villa's internal structure was likewise brick and concrete, though its rooftop used woven thatch, somewhat concealing the property's luxurious nature.