Chapter 2236: Entering the Basement
Chapter 2236: Entering the Basement
Editor: Atlas Studios
Time was limited and Qiao Mei did not have time to put on an act at all. In that case, she decided to simply make it look coincidental! There were so many coincidences in the world anyway. Perhaps she was the one who was favored by Lady Luck today? Xia Zhe would not try to delve into the reason behind this…
Xia Zhe was just a little curious about what the palm-sized box was. He immediately dug it out and suddenly felt a little emotional. It seemed that it was also not safe to keep valuable things underground.
“This thing looks very intricate, like it was carved by a skilled craftsman.” Qiao Mei played with the mini safe in her hand. “I think that there’s something valuable hidden inside, but how do I open it?”
“Let me take a look.” Xia Zhe reached out to take it. He fiddled with the combination lock a few times and then it opened.
Qiao Mei’s eyes widened in surprise. “How can it be so simple!” She did not have such skills. If it was up to her, she would have inserted a thin vine into the keyhole and used the vine to pry open the lock.
Xia Zhe smiled and did not give Qiao Mei any specific explanation. After he came to this country because of his work, he would hide in the basement of his house to study all kinds of locks whenever he was free. He was worried that he would encounter different locks during his various missions. If he did not know how to open the locks, he would just be wasting time, right?
Moreover, no matter how small this thing was, it was still just a lock. As long as one was able to grasp the principles behind the mechanism, it was not that difficult.
Xia Zhe stared at the thing inside the safe. It was a small key. He frowned but could not figure out what it was for. If he had a key but did not know where the lock was, then what was the use?
“If it’s up to me, the key and the lock will definitely be located separately. The key will be kept in the study while the lock will be in the bedroom. I mean if these are only the two options.” Qiao Mei then asked, “Is Alan here today?”
Xia Zhe did not see Alan at dinner, nor did he hear the sound of Alan’s car. It seemed that Alan would only be back tomorrow morning.
“He doesn’t come back every day. He has his own work to do and often stays late at the office,” Xia Zhe said.
“Then let’s go to his bedroom and take a look,” Qiao Mei said.
Xia Zhe nodded. At this point, they had no other choice. Suddenly, Qiao Mei turned around and said, “Restore everything and put all the things back in their original spots. Don’t let anyone spot anything out of the ordinary.”
Xia Zhe did as he was told. He stuffed the now empty small safe back into its hiding spot and put back the piece of the wall which was cut out neatly. Although it was impossible to restore everything completely, at least there was nothing on the floor that would make people notice the abnormality at a glance.
The two of them climbed out of the window again and quickly went to the first floor, then the basement. Qiao Mei stood at the entrance of the basement and asked, “What do we do about the surveillance cameras in Alan’s room?”
“Watch me.” After saying that, Xia Zhe took her dagger and stabbed it into the right spot in the wall.
The entire basement instantly turned pitch-black. The lights were originally on, but Xia Zhe had found the spot to cut off the power supply to the basement. This method was useful only here, but not above ground.
As the surveillance cameras in this era were not equipped with night vision, the third floor, the study and the basement were brightly lit 24 hours a day so that the cameras could capture the images of people passing by. Once the power supply upstairs was cut off, it would be discovered by the security officers outside. However, it was different in the basement since no one outside could see it.
Qiao Mei looked at Xia Zhe resignedly. This method was really simple and crude. Thank goodness for the underdeveloped technology of this era! She placed her hand on the wall and noted that the camera lights in Alan’s room had gone off.
After confirming that there was no issue, Qiao Mei opened the door and the two of them swaggered into the room. After Qiao Mei entered, she took advantage of the fact that there was no light in the room to touch everything randomly and “unintentionally” opened the door to the basement.
The four-meter by two-meter door was made of some unknown metal and looked even sturdier than the main door of a bank vault. It was fortunate that they had the key, since the dagger was of no use here.
The door slowly opened, but Xia Zhe just stood there without moving. Initially, he had only wanted to search for a few design blueprints of the weapons. He certainly did not expect to find an underground vault. Although he had not gone inside yet and did not know what was behind the door, he could tell from the thickness of the door that things were not so simple inside and there might even be booby traps.
“You should stay here, the situation downstairs must be…” Before Xia Zhe could finish speaking, Qiao Mei had already rushed into the room. He wanted to reach out and grab her, but given her strength, it was impossible for him to stop her. In the end, he was dragged into the deeper end of the basement by her.
“There’s only half an hour left. Let’s not waste time talking,” Qiao Mei said with a small laugh.
Xia Zhe sighed helplessly. Given that he had married a wife like this in his life, was there anything that he could do to her?