Idle game leads to another world.

Chapter 364 Tribute
Yang Yiyi's operations were so smooth that Qin Yan was stunned.

Shouldn't she be a character who kills people randomly? She is still in the stage of killing people randomly, and it is not time to let her go to kill people randomly.

But Qin Yan thought again and felt that something was wrong. This was beyond the scope of being wise but appearing foolish. It was obvious that someone had given her the answer.

The first thing Qin Yan thought of was the first time she met Yang Yiyi in the ruined Taoist temple. At that time, a man’s voice came from her.

At that time, Qin Yan did not think much about it and thought it was some kind of schizophrenia with two souls in one body. However, considering the amazing progress of Yang Yiyi's martial arts in recent times, it is very likely that there is a master who never shows up nearby.

No matter what Qin Yan thought, the message left by the deceased had been deciphered, so she went to the silk factory outside the city to take a look.

When the two of them were leaving, they happened to meet the accountant who was in a hurry. After asking, they found out that the account book had finally been checked and some errors were found, so the accountant planned to find Wen Peng, the master of the Wen family, to report.

Since Wen Peng and Tang Lianyu went to the silk factory outside the city, it was just on their way, so Yang Yiyi and Qin Yan took the Wen family's carriage to leave the city together.

Turning silk cocoons into raw silk is not an easy task. It requires many processes, and only after going through layer by layer can the thick cocoons be peeled off. This is the origin of the idiom "unraveling the silk from the cocoon".

These processes require a large amount of water and fuel, so silk factories are generally built outside the city, near water sources or woods.

The Wen family's silk factory was no exception. After leaving the city and walking along the river, you will soon see the silk factory with smoke coming out of it next to the hillside.

The silk cocoons collected from nearby silk farmers are turned into bales of raw silk here and then sent to weavers to be turned into silk.

When they arrived at the silk factory, the two jumped out of the car and did not follow in.

The five words obtained by solving the clues are city, outside, silk, factory, and product.

Except for the fact that it was difficult to understand the meaning of the last word "pin", the direction was already very obvious. Yang Yiyi and Qin Yan decided to explore the area around the silk factory first, and then go inside the silk factory to look for things related to "pin".

The reason for this is that there are people coming and going in the silk factory, and it would not be easy for the deceased to hide something. In contrast, there are many places outside the silk factory.

The silk factory was next to a river, with a small forest next to it, and a government road and a plain on the other side. So the two decided to walk towards the small forest first to see if there was anything related to the product.

Relying on her good martial arts skills, Qin Yan walked a few steps and then jumped onto the treetop to take a look. Surprisingly, they actually found it.

At the other end of the grove, there is a hillside with large rocks washed out by rain, and below the hillside is a river channel eroded by a tributary of the river.

On the rocky hillside, looking down from the treetops, you can see several pieces of gravel forming a shape similar to a pin.

The two of them walked quickly through the grove, slid down the hillside, and observed near the stone.

It was found immediately. One of the big rocks was leaning against the hillside, and it seemed like there was an entrance to a cave behind it.

This stone is not small. Qin Yan looked it up and down and felt that it would be difficult to push it without five or six people using tools to pry it open.

"let me."

Yang Yiyi was no longer sleepy after hearing about her great strength. She motioned Qin Yan to stand aside, and Yang Yiyi held onto the bulge on the edge of the stone and exerted force suddenly.

This huge rock that five or six people could not push was moved to the side by Yang Yiyi alone, and it didn't even look like it was difficult.

The tendons and bones have high attributes to begin with, and with the powerful internal force of the Ultimate Vajra Gong, this is a standard operation.

Behind the big rock is a palm-deep hole. The entrance of the hole is sealed with an iron door. The edges of the door frame are built with glutinous rice paste, yellow mud and gravel. The work is not large, but it is very solid.

Let me put it this way, the Great Wall was built with yellow mud and glutinous rice paste.

The door was locked with a big padlock hanging on it. Yang Yiyi took a look and wondered whether it was locked or not.

"Watch me kick it away."

"Wait, don't work so roughly."

Apart from anything else, Qin Yan would not let Yang Yiyi mess around in her professional field. She observed the keyhole:
"This is a very high-end lock, made by a skilled craftsman, and the key is specially made." "Key? This kind?"

Yang Yiyi took out something that looked like wax from her pocket. It was in the shape of a key.

"Is this a wax model? Where did you find it?"

"It was on the deceased's bookshelf, behind the last book with the Chinese character 'pin'. I hid it secretly without letting the servant see it."

Wax models are used for casting, and this is a high-precision casting method, much more advanced than clay models. Many exquisite metal utensils are cast using this method.

Two dead people, one with a wax model and the other with a clay model, and both of them have keys?
Seeing that Qin Yan was lost in thought and didn't say anything, Yang Yiyi couldn't help but ask.

"You haven't told me yet, is this it?"

"The size of the keyhole is wrong. It shouldn't be this. Put it away first. This door can't stop me."

Unable to figure out the reason, Qin Yan pulled out a piece of wire that was stuck in her hair, inserted it into the keyhole and twisted it left and right a few times, and the lock opened with a click.

Lock picking is an essential skill for a thief. Although this lock is advanced, it is not advanced enough.

The two pushed the door open and entered. Behind the door was a small space, about four or five square meters. It was just an ordinary cave with almost no signs of human repair.

But in the center of the cave, there were two piles of silk, with three wooden boards underneath to separate the silk from the rocks on the ground.

Yang Yiyi thought she would find some conclusive evidence, but she was disappointed when she saw it was silk.

But Qin Yan widened her eyes and walked forward to touch the silk.

"This is a tribute..."

"what?"

"Don't you understand? This is royal tribute silk!"

"So... the quality is particularly good?"

Yang Yiyi really doesn't understand what expensive stuff like silk is. She has never worn silk clothes in her life.

"This is not a question of quality. Buying and selling tribute privately will result in death!"

"Forehead……"

So the question is, who put the tribute silk here?
Although Silk City is named after silk, it only produces high-quality raw silk. To process it into silk and satin, it requires highly skilled weavers. In this respect, Silk City is not as good as other silk-producing cities and has never been listed as a tribute.

In other words, this batch of tribute silk was transported from other cities, and it was transported secretly at the risk of being beheaded.

Ordinary people don’t have this ability. Not to mention the question of whether they dare or not, ordinary people don’t have the means to come into contact with tribute.

The thieves in the Sixteen Villages did rob tributes, but no merchant would dare to accept such stolen goods. If they wanted to die, there was no need for such a fresh and unconventional way.

Qin Yan fumbled in the silk and pulled out an envelope. There was only a piece of paper in the envelope, which read, 'Let's part ways in peace. I will help you with your work and you will give me money. If you are unkind, don't blame me for being unjust.'

Judging from the handwriting, it is very similar to the account book written by the deceased. This should be a warning he left behind, but unfortunately the murderer behind the scenes did not give him a chance.

But the warning was unsigned, and it was unknown who the deceased was working for.

"Anyway, let's call Master Wen first. The tribute is a serious matter. It was found near his silk factory. If things go wrong, there will be disaster."

I guess Wen Peng was devastated when he heard the news. How did he end up with such a thing as his family being confiscated and his ancestors being exterminated?

(End of this chapter)