Entering the room, another official was sound asleep.
Gu Wen didn't bother concealing his approach, he walked over and grabbed the collar, delivering a slap in the face of the drowsy official.
The official instantly woke up, seeing two masked mysterious figures and a body on the ground in the distance.
Startled, he subconsciously wanted to scream, but before he could make a sound, another slap silenced him.
The room fell quiet.
Gu Wen let go of the official and said, "I seek wealth, not lives. You have a family to support. How much does the court pay you to risk your life? Be quiet and fetch me the warehouse records."
Establishing order was a necessary skill for storage.
The Ministry of Works possessed rare treasures from all over the world, with its warehouse occupying an area exceeding fifty thousand square meters, equivalent to six football fields, constantly expanding over the years.
If he searched on his own, he wouldn't be able to find the corresponding warehouse even by daybreak.
The official covered his mouth, nodding repeatedly, then turned and went into the room.
Soon, he pulled out stack after stack of account books.
Gu Wen didn't bother looking at them and commanded, "I need the account books related to the Emperor's alchemy."
Trembling, the official said, "Sir, spare my life. This is a capital offense."
"I can execute you right now."
The official's eyes flickered with cunning, pretending to be tough, "Sir, if you kill me now, you can still spare my family..."
Before he could finish speaking, a cracking sound was heard as Gu Wen twisted his arm, and his pained screams were muffled by a large hand, with icy eyes staring at the official.
"Sir, I'll find it, I'll find it."
Gu Wen straightened the official's arm, standing beside him with a gun pressed against his back, prompting the official to search the account books faster.
With a slight prick, the official picked out some mixed-in account books.
He understood these people too well, as well as the survival rules of this world.
Kind people are taken advantage of, and good horses are ridden by others.
A single statement of seeking wealth without harming lives could make officials dare to haggle.
If you consider yourself a hero, others will treat you like a tool.
Working in the Ministry of Works, a place full of benefits, undoubtedly required a lot of connections and money to pave the way, inherently not clean.
They were often involved in extorting the people's resources for the Emperor, with the officials being the main force in driving out the commoners from their homes during the city's reconstruction in Bianjing.
Whether he would lose his head was not within Gu Wen's considerations.
Soon, a ledger was selected.
Medicinal Fruits Ledger.
Gu Wen flipped through the index, densely packed with records of various medicines.
Many names he didn't recognize, unsure which ones contained Tianzhu.
He quickly skimmed through until he found the records about medicinal fruits.
In March, over three hundred and twenty Jin of Linchuan medicinal fruits were stored...
The Imperial Palace took three hundred Jin...
In April, over four hundred Jin of Linchuan medicinal fruits were stored...
The Imperial Palace took four hundred Jin...
In May, two hundred Jin of Linchuan medicinal fruits were stored...
The Imperial Palace took one hundred and sixty Jin...
Gu Wen's breathing became heavy.
He knew the Ministry of Works had many medicinal fruits, but he didn't expect them to be measured in Jin.
According to the index, most of the fruits were taken by the Imperial Palace, as fruits could rot and were usually consumed within the month they were brought.
This month, the quantity of fruits decreased significantly, likely due to the war, which explained why he couldn't find them earlier.
But the Ministry of Works still had forty Jin left!
A single fruit was the size of a cherry tomato, a hundred of them would weigh three Jin.
How many fruits were in forty Jin?
At least over a thousand and three hundred, roughly twenty-five years' worth of Tianzhu!
Daoist Gu was going to make a fortune!
Gu Wen could hardly contain his excitement.
Beside him, He Huan said, "Brother Red Dust, this person cannot be left alive."
"I know."
Puff!
The long spear pierced the chest, the spear's qi once again absorbing blood and qi.
He Huan was amazed.
He had seen many weapons that could absorb blood and become stronger, but a dharma image that could do the same was unheard of.
Weapons had their limits, and so did people.
But someone who could embody a dharma image had a minimum starting point of peak Third Realm, with a high probability of reaching the Fourth Realm.
If he turned to the demonic path, wouldn't it lead to the slaughter of all living beings?
"Let's go."
Gu Wen led the way, with He Huan following closely behind.
According to the information from the ledger, they quickly found the location where the medicinal fruits were stored.
Inside the warehouse, there were drawers lining one wall, resembling a large traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy, except the drawers here were five to six times larger.
The Linchuan medicinal fruits were located in the first row, third column, with their names written in red on black paper.
Gu Wen handed the ledger to He Huan, who should have some knowledge of medicine and know which ones were spiritual herbs, thus not revealing Gu Wen's nature as a "cultivator."
Bending down to pull out a drawer, the feeling was heavy.
Under the flickering light, each bright red fruit shone.
Beautiful! Too beautiful!
Gu Wen used a small wooden shovel from the warehouse and a sack to continuously scoop the fruits into it.
He couldn't suppress the smile on his face.
It felt like a mouse entering a rice jar or a beggar entering a treasure vault.
There was a time when he had to run around to buy a few fruits, even queuing up to purchase a Longhu Pill.
Now, he was filling sacks with dozens of Jin of medicinal fruits.
Soon, a large sack of medicinal fruits was filled.
Weighing it on the scale in the warehouse, the weight didn't match the ledger.
It wasn't less, but more by ten Jin.
Gu Wen pondered, then realized he had been able to buy fruits from the black market before.
It dawned on him immediately.
This wasn't a granary.
The fruits had to be sent to the Imperial Palace every month.
If they couldn't account for them, they would report more than the actual amount and then divert some of the good fruits to sell.
It turned out to be a bargain for him.
Now, it was fifty Jin of medicinal fruits, roughly sixteen hundred fruits, which could yield about thirty-three years' worth of Tianzhu.
Using thirteen years' worth of Tianzhu to enhance his strength, he had gained thirty-three years' worth of Tianzhu.
Gu Wen was on the verge of bursting into laughter.
It was truly a time when luck couldn't be stopped even if one wanted to.
On the other side, He Huan rummaged through boxes, continuously filling his bag with various spiritual herbs.
Gradually, he went from feeling guilty about stealing from a Daoist to having a smile on his face.
"Brother Red Dust, come and help. We can't finish taking them all, we simply can't!"
Gu Wen also joined in rummaging through the boxes.
Spiritual herbs from ten-year-old ginseng, Lingzhi mushrooms, a hundred-year-old Reishi, a hundred and twenty-year-old Polygonum multiflorum, a pound of Dendrobium...
About half an hour later, the two of them couldn't carry any more.
Each hoisted a sack larger than their own bodies and left.
Passing by the silver vault, they saw piles of silver and gold coins, copper coins stacked like small mountains.
Gu Wen was completely overwhelmed.
He regretted not having ten more pairs of hands and wished he could enter the palace, kill the Emperor, and take his place!
The two left the unguarded Ministry of Works, with the distant Longqiao still brightly lit, as the investigation by the Imperial Guards into the Longqiao incident was ongoing.
The Chief Steward Feng Bozhou was in conversation with Lu Chan when suddenly he felt uneasy.
Many books are now hard to find, so cherish what you have.