Yet beyond this secret passage was merely a storeroom.
A resplendent, glittering storeroom.
This appeared to be the Lin Family's vault, with numerous gold bars—true hard currency in Paradise—stacked neatly inside. Besides that, there were many treasures and expensive works of art.
No matter how far they had declined, the Lin Family was still one of the Four Great Families. Their accumulated wealth alone was enough to leave countless people far behind.
Zhou You did not so much as glance at them.
He walked past the corridor formed by heaps of gold, ignored the glittering gemstones, and stopped before a painting.
The Mona Lisa
Perhaps it was not the most masterfully painted work, but it was certainly one of the most famous artworks in existence—yet now, it sat silently in this sunless basement, unknown to all.
Shaking his head, he flicked his sword sheath.
The painting, frame and all, flew away. Fortunately, he still had some respect for such artwork, and merely sent it landing atop a pile of soft cushions.
After doing something that would have made countless artists pound their chests and wish they could skin him alive, Zhou You tilted his head, pressed an ear to the wall, and listened.
Then Duanxie swept down.
In an instant, the incomparably hard steel was sliced apart and turned into fragments scattered across the floor.
Beyond that lay another winding, pitch-black passage leading downward.
This path was even longer than the vault's. Zhou You walked for a full ten-odd minutes before he saw a locked iron door and heard faint sounds coming from behind it.
He stepped forward and knocked lightly on the door.
...He was met with silence.
But Zhou You did not stop, nor did he intend to force it open. Instead, he rotated his wrist, making his