Little Pink Starfish

Ill-Gotten Wealth, Might As Well Rob It All

The young lady snorted at Xiao Zhuang again. “You dare speak my name aloud?”

Xiao Zhuang nodded. Doesn’t matter if I say it out loud or not, I know who you are.

“Let go of my father!” Qian Mingzhu raised her whip, pointing it at Xiao Zhuang.

Xiao Zhuang didn’t hesitate—he kicked Qian Taituo aside and out of the way.

“Run!” Qian Taituo screamed at his daughter. “You think you’re invincible?!”

Qian Mingzhu lashed her whip at Xiao Zhuang again. She had fought against the guards and retainers of her father’s bank and had always won. How could she not be the best?

Xiao Zhuang caught the whip midair with one hand and yanked. Without much effort, Qian Mingzhu flew straight into his arms.

The young lady was stunned.

Qian Taituo wanted to cry blood.

Xiao Zhuang grabbed her by the throat. “Open the vault, or she dies!”

Choked and gasping, Qian Mingzhu’s face turned purple.

Seeing his daughter limp in Xiao Zhuang’s grip, Qian Taituo panicked. This thief wasn’t bluffing—he was really going to kill her!

“Open it!” Qian Taituo shouted.

A clerk pretending to be dead scrambled up and rushed to unlock the vault.

“Go get some wagons from the stable,” Xiao Zhuang ordered Er Gouzi.

Er Gouzi immediately took a group of former pirates to the stables.

The copper vault doors were thick and fireproof, sealed tightly to the ground and walls. As the massive hinges turned, a harsh grinding echoed—the sound of metal on stone.

In the carriage, Gu Xingnuo said to his brother, “They’re opening the vault.”

Gu Xinglang was speechless. His big brother actually stood here and listened to this before?

At the same time, Da Dangjia (Bear Bear) came running up to Xiao Wei, gasping for breath. “I discovered something important!”

Xiao Wei flung off his hand. “What could you possibly have discovered?”

Excited, Bear Bear ignored the disdain and said, “There were two fresh wagon tracks, deep ones too.” He gestured with his fingers.

“So?” Xiao Wei replied coolly.

“That means someone just brought a cart of goods into the bank!”

“You sure?”

“Trust me,” Bear Bear said, tugging his mask down seriously.

“Oh right,” Xiao Wei muttered. “You were a professional.”

Bear Bear grinned. “They must’ve just arrived before we did. The cart probably isn’t unloaded yet.”

Xiao Wei gave him a long look.

Bear Bear said, “We’re already here, we fought, and you lit the place on fire. Whether we take more or less, it’s all the same. Might as well take the whole cart too.”

“We’re not actual thieves,” Xiao Wei snapped.

Bear Bear pointed to the flames behind them. “You sure about that?”

Xiao Wei turned to leave.

“Hey!” Bear Bear blocked him. “Why are you so stubborn? The eldest young master obviously needs money. You think he’d send us here in the middle of the night otherwise? He’s worried. If he’s worried, then so is the prince, and so is the princess! We’re their guards—we’re supposed to solve problems!”

Bear Bear’s logic made Xiao Wei pause. Gu family really was tight on cash. They’d just secured 40,000 taels, but more was always better.

Bear Bear pressed on. “And think about it—what kind of clean business hauls money to a bank in the dead of night? No honest person does that. This is dirty money—taking it is practically doing justice.”

Xiao Wei frowned. Something felt off about all this, but… he still followed Bear Bear.

Bear Bear signaled to his second-in-command to join them. This cart of treasure was his, Bear Bear thought smugly. Once they got it back, the Gu family would owe him big time. How was he supposed to build a future with Li Wan otherwise?

They entered a side courtyard and found a wagon still mostly full. Bear Bear opened the door. Neatly stacked inside were boxes—red sandalwood.

“See that?” Bear Bear whispered. “Solid redwood crates. This is a fat catch!”

Xiao Wei started piecing things together and said cautiously, “Even if it’s dirty money, we can’t take it recklessly. What if it brings trouble to the princess or the Gu family?”

Just then, a group of warrior monks emerged from a nearby building.

One looked at them and said coldly, “So it’s just two petty thieves.”

A row of monks now stood before them. Xiao Wei, already traumatized by monks (thanks to the Eternal Life Temple), immediately felt his muscles tense.

Bear Bear blinked. “Monks?” Monks delivering money to a bank at night?

Xiao Wei drew his sword without hesitation.

The monks looked unimpressed.

“You fools must be blind,” said the head monk. “You dare steal from Eternal Life Temple?”

Bear Bear nearly wet himself. Did he hear that right? Eternal Life Temple?!

At that moment, the second-in-command burst into the courtyard, waving a sword and shouting, “Boss, what are you standing around for? Take the wagon!”

The lead monk flicked his sleeve, sending a wave of energy flying.

The poor guy didn’t even make a sound before he was hurled over the courtyard wall.

“Take them down!” the head monk ordered.

They hadn’t planned to intervene, but these two fools had barged in themselves.

Xiao Wei clashed with the monks.

Bear Bear turned and ran for his life. How could normal people fight monks from Eternal Life Temple?!