you. There are so many people here; have fun! Today's treat is on me."The barbecue plaza instantly buzzed. The handsome young man in the black shirt seemed to descend like a prince, generously offerin...Chapter 71: Secret Deep in the Jungle (Part 2)

"Anguo, aren't you coming down" Zeng Yuan seemed to be having a great time swimming and called out to Su Can.

The heat had also been somewhat alleviated by all this splashing around. The sun cast large patches of light on the ground. Sitting atop the platform, Su Can waved his hand and looked around. The owner of this place basically came back only once a month, and there wasn't any sort of camera or security equipment here. Even if there were anti-theft devices, they wouldn’t be triggered as long as one did not enter the villa.

Zeng Yuan then said, "Next time could you tell me clearly If we really want to go swimming, why don’t we find another place This place is so quiet and peaceful. Making it look this splendid and beautiful gives off a chilling vibe. I’ll swim for a bit longer before getting up. After climbing the mountain all day just to get here, I thought you knew the owner of the villa at least, or his daughter at worst. Hey..."

It seemed that in Zeng Yuan's eyes, Su Can was nothing more than a delinquent trying to lure some little girl.

Su Can looked around and noticed the lawns and flower beds here. The villa on this hilltop, a retreat for the rich where one could enjoy snow and skiing, eat wild game, and barbecue in winter, made him feel somewhat surreal, like it was all just a dream.

If it were a dream, then he would let himself peel back the outermost layer of this beautiful dream.

Su Can took a sip of Coke to support his body. He then said to Zeng Yuan, "Can you touch the bottom with your feet"

Zeng Yuan bobbed up and down in the water. "I can touch it; it’s not very deep. It reaches my chest. The bottom is covered in sand and mud, quite thick. It feels soft and squishy, like there are bricks or something. Pretty comfortable. Are you coming down"

Su Can smiled and calmed himself down. "If there’s a brick, then why don’t you bring one up for me to see."

Zeng Yuan let out an “Oh” and submerged his head underwater, splashing water everywhere as he dove in. Although his body was slightly plump, his swimming skills were extraordinary. His ability to withstand cold was better than Su Can’s, something evident from their previous experience at the swimming pool where he had performed a grandiose dive off the diving board. After some time, Zeng Yuan surfaced with a splash, "The bricks are buried in the mud and aren't easy to dig out; they seem stuck. There's an abundance of these bricks here! Could it be that all unused bricks from building this villa were thrown into the pool What kind of decency does that show"

When Su Can heard this, he felt his heart tighten inexplicably. He started to undress layer by layer and changed into swimming trunks. His skin glistened in the sunlight. From his hiking backpack, he pulled out a pair of diving goggles and tossed one to Zeng Yuan who grabbed it from midair and put them on. "Why didn’t you mention these earlier I wanted to open my eyes underwater just now but was afraid of getting mud in them. Heh, I knew you couldn't resist! You should have come down early; this swimming is really comfortable!"

Standing completely naked by the pond’s edge and putting on his diving goggles, Su Can took a deep breath before entering the water. A chill ran through him as the icy sensation hit his skin. The sweat that had been induced by the heat earlier was now washed away.

Momentarily, everything was immersed in the light blue pool water. A refreshing sensation spread through his body.

Su Cen held his breath and dove down at the spot mentioned by Zeng Yuan, wearing diving goggles.

The visibility underwater wasn't very high as he saw bubbles and a blue curtain of water. However, he could still see the “bricks” that were five times larger than regular red bricks, buried in the silt. There seemed to be quite a few of them. Su Cen grabbed one corner of a brick and pulled it slightly; this revealed the ropes binding those "bricks."

At that moment, Zeng Yuan also dove down beside him, tapping his large head against Su Cen's. Su Cen gestured for him to grasp one rope while he grasped another to pull out these things.

Zeng Yuan nodded and the two of them pulled from both sides. The "brick" was dislodged from the silt and dragged onto the shore.

Smack! It landed on the edge of the pond, splashing water everywhere, with layers of thick mud falling off it.

This wasn't a brick used to build houses. Instead, it was a bundle wrapped in oil paper, tied tightly with ropes. It weighed around twenty pounds, and either Su Cen or Zeng Yuan could lift it alone, but because it had been buried in the muck for too long, and they were underwater where it was difficult to exert strength, lifting it was somewhat challenging.

Zeng Yuan wiped away water droplets trickling down his forehead with his hand and stared at it with wide eyes. "What is this"

Su Cen didn't speak but dove back underwater again. Zeng Yuan hurriedly followed, and after a while, the two of them brought up another two similar bundles.

Seeing three such bundles stacked next to the pond, Zeng Yuan was truly puzzled: "What's going on here"

"Let me tell you a story. In ancient times, there was an influential family's patriarch who one day fancied their maid. He went to harass her at night, but she resisted fiercely and wouldn't submit. This old man with the power of life and death let his lackeys beat the girl to death with bamboo sticks. She was buried in a remote wilderness, but after that, the room where she lived became unrestful. Many people claimed they saw her ghostly presence. So this patriarch decided to wrap up all the jewelry and treasures she had used during her lifetime and throw them into the pond. Afterward, there were no more incidents of supernatural occurrences."

Su Cen's voice echoed.

Zeng Yuan couldn't help but climb onto the shore and looked around the villa. It was quiet and serene, yet a chill ran down his spine.

"Years later, on the day this patriarch celebrated a birthday, the servants cleaned up the pond. Unexpectedly, they pulled out this bundle of items. Su Cen casually tapped on top of the three bundles. Zeng Yuan's heart jumped at the thought. "The servants carefully opened the package beside the pond that night. That night, red lanterns hung all over the mansion; it should have been a grand celebration with music and wine. But every single person there met an extremely tragic end."

Su Cen also got off the water and used the towel he brought to clean his body thoroughly before changing into new clothes.

Only then did he place those three packages in the pond for a rinse, cleaning away the mud on their surface completely. He then put them back inside the backpack; with these three packages stuffed into it, the empty backpack now swelled up and was not light to carry either.

Zeng Yuan began to be very secretive about those three objects in her heart, feeling both fear and excitement. She asked, "What happened later"

Su Cen put on his backpack; it weighed at least thirty pounds now. He patted the shoulder straps and waist belt before carefully erasing all traces of their presence beside this pool, including even the smallest details left by the mud.

After leaving this villa with Zeng Yuan, he continued, "Later, there were many changes in dynasties! But that city often saw similar family massacres; each incident began when someone randomly dug up something from a pond."

Su Cen smiled immediately. "However, these are just legends. You wouldn’t tell me you actually believe them"

"N-no, I’m not some three-year-old," Zeng Yuan said with a guilty conscience but needing to save face at the same time. But her eyes couldn't help looking at Su Cen's backpack behind him and shrunk back.

After getting on the bus and sitting on their way back, Zeng Yuan beside Su Cen was still very uneasy.

When they were about to part ways, Su Cen whispered in her ear, "Whatever happened today and what I just told you earlier—don't tell anyone else. Understand"

Hearing Su Cen's deep voice, Zeng Yuan swallowed hard; thinking of the things she had done that day, she regretted it so much that she felt uncomfortable all over. The large sun outside the bus window made her feel as if something invisible was watching her.

When Su Cen got home, his father Su Licheng and Zeng He were in their store; thus there wasn't anyone at home except for him. Su Cen went to his room where there was a faint scent of books with some white fluff floating around.

Su Cen immediately put the backpack on the ground, unzipped it, and took out those three packages and placed them on the floor; he couldn't calm down from beginning to end.

He tried hard to suppress his emotions; today was a crucial turning point and also the moment when his foresight's immense power was fully confirmed.

Holding slightly trembling hands, Su Cen took one of the packages, using scissors to cut the flax rope tied around it. "Snap!" The rope broke open; there were white lines on the oil paper.

He carefully peeled off these layers of oil paper to reveal a transparent plastic bag inside, which contained neatly stacked bundles of black-blue hundred-dollar bills!

The moment Su Cen saw those black-blue notes with a watercolor-like design, he felt momentarily dazzled; they seemed different from red-colored banknotes.

The fifth set of the Renminbi was issued this year, and Su Can, who is accustomed to seeing red hundred-yuan notes from later periods, felt...

Suddenly seeing so many neat black bills made him feel both unfamiliar and familiar, yet also quite amiable. His emotions were like a boat in the ocean; at one moment waves surged, lightning flashed across the sky, and the wind fiercely swirled.

Where else could an ordinary person see such a large amount of cash

The first place is the bank, where you can see stacks upon stacks of neatly arranged bills in tellers' cash boxes.

The second place might be the counterfeit currency destruction center or special counting practice bundles.

In addition to that, even with his three stores thriving during this golden age for stationery sales, it would take at least three years before he could earn such an amount without any mishaps!

Wang Ming complains about not having money every day. If she saw these piles of bills, she’d likely be speechless.

Even with Su Can's two lifetimes of experience, it was hard to calm down in this moment. Beating someone over the head with a brick might anger them, but smashing someone with a stack of money would probably make them strip and beg for another hit!

The cash is stacked in bundles; each package has five rows, with one bundle per row. Each bundle should be 10,000 RMB, so each package amounts to 500,000 RMB.

Su Can dug up three packages from the pond, which amounted to exactly 1.5 million yuan!

The first time he heard Liu Cheng's name was at a family banquet where his uncle mentioned him. At that moment, Su Can thought the name sounded familiar. Upon comparison later, it turned out that Liu Cheng had taken up positions such as Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee after moving from Xiahai to the provincial level. In the future, some years down the road, issues with him would come to light, and terms like "umbrella for organized crime" and "corrupt official" would shock everyone.

Su Can also learned through news reports that Liu Cheng owned thirteen properties in his home province, other provinces, and even tourist cities. He had hidden the massive sum of 20 million yuan in a villa pond at Xiahai Ma Mountain. With him and his wife visiting it once or twice a month on average, as someone from a background in criminal investigation, he could easily hide this money in the pond without anyone knowing.

This villa later became a site for anti-corruption education; Su Can had visited it before. This time, seeing the scene from a few years ago was like retracing old steps.

The difference now is that Liu Cheng still commands influence at the provincial level and can pressure Wang Bo into submission. He continues to live a luxurious lifestyle by rotating through his dozen or so properties, enjoying summer retreats and winter skiing, all thanks to hiding his ill-gotten wealth in water ponds.

Su Can leaned against his bed feeling somewhat powerless, taking a deep breath. This was the power of reincarnation!

Su Can's rise is due to the almost godlike ability granted by his reincarnation. Brothers and sisters,he Construction Bureau, seemed somewhat reserved before Jiang Chaoyang, the CEO of Xiahai Department Store. As one of the key state-owned enterprise cadres targeted by Hong Xiaotian’s eyes, it was sai...