Chapter 74: The Hidden Treasure

It was just past noon that day when Xiao Weiguo, passing by the brigade committee office, overheard a heated argument coming from within.

Judging by the voices, it was the two brigade secretaries.

Among them, Zhang Dahai said, “I don’t agree with what you’re doing. You’re handing over so much of our grain—what if, in the end, the promised returned grain never comes as we hoped? Have you thought about all the brigade members?”

Xiao Gonglin’s voice responded, “I know it’s not ideal, but everyone’s doing it. What choice do we have? Don’t worry, the higher-ups won’t just let so many of our people starve. The returned grain will definitely be there. Dahai, I need your support.”

The voices inside fell silent again.

Xiao Weiguo was sorely tempted to go in and urge them to reserve more grain, even if it meant losing their positions. But at this stage, he had no solid argument to back him up. Perhaps, deep down, they already knew it was unwise, but swept along by the tide of the times, there was little they could do.

He collected himself and went on with his tasks.

That day, he had Qin Dong and the others deliver their quota directly to Li Daniu, handling the handover themselves. The process was familiar, so Xiao Weiguo often didn’t go in person, delegating to Qin Dong instead, since the weight was always about the same.

Lately, they’d nearly fished the lake by the Qin family brigade dry. Xiao Weiguo was now wandering the surrounding mountains, scouting for other suitable fishing spots.

As for whether his exceptional fishing skills might later lead the factory or the authorities to force him into fishing, Xiao Weiguo wasn’t particularly worried. Right now, they were only catching about five hundred jin of fish a day—plenty of others could do the same. Later, he could always claim it was just that the fish in that lake were easy to catch.

As he explored the mountains, he also collected useful things for his spatial storage, such as wild medicinal herbs.

When Xiao Weiguo reached a remote mountain hollow far from his home brigade, he suddenly spotted a male wild boar rubbing against a tree. Its tusks jutted out menacingly—a frightening sight.

In the wild, there’s a saying: first the boar, then the tiger, third the bear. The boar ranked first is precisely a fully grown male like this one.

Xiao Weiguo quickly crouched down, holding his breath, waiting for the boar to finish scratching itself and leave.

Just then, a wild rabbit darted past him from behind, heading toward the boar. The commotion caught the boar’s attention. The rabbit, seeing the boar, changed direction in a flash, kicking off with its back legs and bolting away.

Now only Xiao Weiguo and the big boar remained, staring at each other—a tense and awkward moment.

Sweat beaded on Xiao Weiguo’s brow in his anxiety. His spatial reach extended just a meter—a boar was much longer than that.

The boar began to paw the ground, preparing to charge. Xiao Weiguo dashed toward the side of the mountain.

Thus began a chase—Xiao Weiguo running ahead, the boar in pursuit. Luckily, the dense vegetation hampered the boar’s charge.

He ran blindly forward until he came to a stone cliff. By then, the boar was less than ten meters behind.

At that critical moment, Xiao Weiguo willed himself into his spatial storage.

He hadn’t entered the space immediately because he feared the boar might wait outside for him, trapping him inside for a long time. Only with no other escape did he resort to hiding inside.

The boar, seeing its prey vanish, charged forward and crashed heavily into the stone wall, sending rocks clattering down.

The impact left the boar dazed and staggering, and as it collapsed, a stone the size of a washbasin fell from above, striking it squarely on the head—killing it instantly.

Inside his space, Xiao Weiguo calmed his nerves. Afraid the boar might still be outside if he returned too soon, he took the opportunity to tidy up and harvest what he could.

Estimating enough time had passed, he prepared to check outside, tense and ready to dart back in if the boar was still there.

Stepping out, he was astonished—the boar had killed itself.

Delighted, he thought, “The ancients lay in wait for a rabbit; today, I waited for a boar by the wall.”

He then noticed the very stone that had finished off the beast.

He quickly shifted aside, wary that more stones might fall. After retreating a few meters, he looked up to see a dark hole in the cliff—just the size of the fallen rock.

Curious about what lay within, Xiao Weiguo waited until he was sure no more stones would fall, then approached and stored the dead boar in his space for later processing—just in time for Li Daniu’s wedding feast.

Wild boar is gamy, and since he had plenty of good pork in his space, he preferred to give this to Li Daniu.

He climbed up to the opening and, peering into the sunlight, was stunned by what he saw below—a large pile of wooden crates, surrounded by heavy machine guns, light machine guns, mortars, all covered in a thick layer of dust.

“Heavens, could this be an arsenal left by the Japanese or the Nationalist Army?” he muttered to himself.

He observed the cave a while longer, ensuring it was deserted. The dust on the crates and the exposed guns suggested it had been untouched for ages.

He reasoned there must be a proper entrance somewhere, so he circled the area searching. Eventually, he found what looked like an entrance, but a massive boulder blocked it—far too large for him to move, and over a meter wide and tall, so not even his space could help.

His only option was to descend through the hole and see what was inside.

He fetched a coil of hemp rope from his space, fastened it to a sturdy tree, and lowered it into the cave. The length was just enough to reach the floor. After testing its strength, Xiao Weiguo began his descent.

Ever since he’d gained access to his space, he’d stowed anything that might come in handy—not just ropes, but all sorts of useful items. He could survive in the wild at a moment’s notice.

And so, he climbed down into the mysterious arsenal, ready to discover its secrets.