Chapter Thirty-Nine: Robbed!

Hu Zhiying, with a saber at his waist and a sullen face, walked along a bustling street—he was on his usual patrol. Most faces on the street were familiar, and many people greeted him warmly, each having received help from Hu Zhiying in one way or another.

Since the incident on Bowang Street, Hu Zhiying had not faced punishment. It was as if the higher-ups had forgotten about Fan Nang’s death. Even the obvious evidence of multiple beatings on the corpse was ignored. Thus, Hu Zhiying remained the constable of Kaiyuan District.

Passing a stall selling sesame pancakes, the vendor handed him several neatly wrapped pancakes. No matter how much Hu Zhiying declined or tried to pay, the vendor refused. This vendor was Brother Wang, who had previously lost his child. Last night, a man in white had returned his child, healed his leg, and restored his wife’s health, weakened by grief. So the pancake stall was open for business as usual that morning.

Naturally, Brother Wang remembered Hu Zhiying’s kindness. He knew that, without Hu Zhiying’s intervention, he would have faced punishment for striking Fan Nang, even with his child returned. Carrying the pancakes, the gloom on Hu Zhiying’s face vanished, and he seemed to brighten visibly.

These past two days, he had slept and eaten poorly, plagued by guilt, regret, and anxiety. But now, seeing the smiles of the townspeople and Brother Wang reunited with his child, those negative emotions disappeared in an instant.

He was a constable. Everything he did was to protect the people under his charge.

He had done nothing wrong!

But Hu Zhiying’s joy was short-lived.

“Boss—boss, something terrible’s happened! We’ve been robbed!” A young deputy constable came running over.

Hu Zhiying eyed the young man with irritation. “Xing Liusen, keep your voice down. The sky isn’t falling. Who got robbed?”

During the incident two days prior, several constables had not shared Hu Zhiying’s good fortune and lost their jobs. Xing Liusen, standing before him now, was a complete newcomer.

Xing Liusen hesitated. “Chief Hu, it’s our case file room that’s been robbed.”

At these words, Hu Zhiying’s gums ached. He grabbed Xing Liusen’s shoulder. “Say that again?”

Xing Liusen winced under the grip and handed over a slip of paper. “See for yourself.”

“I’ve been wanting to practice my calligraphy, so I borrowed some paper and brushes from you… Night Crow.”

Hu Zhiying swayed on his feet, gritting his teeth. “Come on, let’s get back. Not a word of this to anyone.”

If word got out that the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s archive had been robbed, he’d be finished in the constabulary world.

“Brazen—how utterly brazen!”

If Hu Zhiying had heard about Night Crow under different circumstances, he might have been amused. Now, he wanted nothing more than to throw Night Crow in jail.

Back at the bureau, he investigated the scene, hoping to find the slightest clue. To his astonishment, despite years of experience, he found nothing—not a trace.

“Did he use some special ability to pull this off?” Hu Zhiying was baffled.

In truth, he was overthinking it. The entire operation had been accomplished through skill alone.

Liang Zhi, in his previous life, had been an undercover investigative journalist. He had infiltrated countless dangerous criminal syndicates and organizations, gathering firsthand information, and had almost never failed. When he stole information, no one ever caught him.

It was thanks to these very skills that he could so deftly pull off over seventy “thefts”—stealing a couple of apples from a civilian’s home was nothing compared to secretly photographing ruthless criminals.

Of course, Liang Zhi wasn’t always successful. His final undercover mission ended with betrayal and being sunk to the bottom of the sea.

“Chief Hu, someone’s here to report a case!”

A voice called from outside. Hu Zhiying sighed, left the archive room, and asked, “What’s the case?”

“Someone’s been robbed,” the constable replied, his expression odd.

Hu Zhiying waved a hand. “It’s a theft case—you take someone and look into it.”

The constable shook his head. “I can’t handle this one, sir. You’d better go. The victims are the old thieves from Quyuan Street…”

Hu Zhiying chuckled. “Ha, so even they get robbed. Who pulled off that feat?”

The constable handed him a note. “Same as the one who robbed our archive… Night Crow.”

Hu Zhiying’s face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

“Ha! The hundredth theft—completed!”

Quyuan Street was in chaos. Liang Zhi sat atop a roof, flipping through his wish list.

He had fulfilled the “Light Fingers” wish of committing one hundred thefts.

Crow Lord landed on his shoulder and pulled a cloth wallet from under his wing—the reward for fulfilling this wish: the “Empty Wallet.”

“I worked so hard to steal a hundred times, and all I get is this shabby wallet? How stingy can you get?” Liang Zhi grumbled.

Crow Lord pulled out some coins and tossed them to Liang Zhi. “Put some money in yourself and see.”

Liang Zhi placed his money inside and immediately stared, wide-eyed.

He had clearly put money in, but the wallet was still empty!

With a clatter, Night Crow produced more items—odds and ends Liang Zhi often used.

“This cloth wallet is linked to an empty storage vault buried underground. From now on, if you have anything to stash, put it in the wallet—not under my wings,” Crow Lord declared.

Ever since Liang Zhi discovered Crow Lord’s storage ability, he’d used him as a free warehouse, much to Crow Lord’s annoyance. Especially just now—Liang Zhi had truly gone too far.

Now that Liang Zhi had his own storage tool, Crow Lord was finally free!

Yu Nan opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling, feeling calm.

A while ago, Liang Zhi had double-crossed him, and now he’d been home from jail for several days. When he was taken to the Criminal Investigation Bureau, his appearance was so miserable that no one saw him as the once-glorious King of Thieves from the East City. He bribed the jailer and went home early.

Having lost the empty title of King of Thieves, Yu Nan actually felt relieved.

The thieves who used to follow him hadn’t abandoned him; he was still their leader, but now he didn’t have to live in constant fear, maintaining his reputation every day.

“Wait, something’s off…”

Groggy from sleep, Yu Nan came to his senses and noticed something was wrong.

“My ceiling isn’t white… and my chandelier—where’s my huge chandelier?”

Yu Nan bolted upright, shivering at the sudden chill.

He looked around and nearly fainted. “I must be seeing things—this is a dream… No, this isn’t a dream!”

Already past his prime, Yu Nan burst into tears, covering his face with his hands, utterly wretched.

As the leader of the thieves, he was not a wealthy man but was far better off than most. He had spent a fortune lavishly renovating his home.

But now, everything was gone.

Except for his bed, every single removable item in his house had been taken.

Money and odds and ends aside—even the tables, chairs, flooring, doors, windows, and the tiles and toilet from the bathroom had all been stripped away!

No renovation crew could have dismantled his house this quickly!

“I’m reporting this to the authorities! I have to report this!”