Courtyard House: Starting in 1938, kill enemies and loot equipment.

In late spring in Beiping, the morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the bluestone pavement of Nanluoguxiang was already damp. The gate of the courtyard at No. 95 creaked open, and Zhou Ye, carrying two heavy cloth bags, stepped in and bumped into He Daqing in the middle courtyard, who was adding firewood to the stove, his blue cloth jacket stained with flour.

"Good morning, Xiao Ye!" He Daqing straightened up, his voice booming. "The millet from the countryside that I brought back yesterday is really authentic. Your aunt made some porridge this morning and was just about to invite you and Xiao Cao to try it."

Zhou Ye smiled and replied, "Uncle Daqing, you're too kind. I'm just distributing some local specialties to the villagers in the courtyard. These are mountain products I just brought back from Zhoujia Village, all genuine and high-quality stuff without pesticides." As he spoke, he opened the cloth bag, which contained dried daylilies, smoked dried wild rabbit, and a small bag of plump red beans. "The old lady doesn't have good teeth, so I saved some soft jujube cake and yam slices for her separately."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the sound of the deaf old woman's cane came from the backyard. The old woman, supported by Jia Dongxu, slowly walked out. Her cloudy eyes caught sight of the cloth bag, and a smile immediately spread across her face: "Xiao Ye, you're so thoughtful, still remembering this old woman." Zhou Ye quickly stepped forward and took the cane, secretly transferring a wisp of gentle spiritual energy to his fingertips to help the old woman soothe her old knee ailment—the action was done so naturally, like a simple touch when helping someone up, that no one could tell anything was amiss.

"It's only right. You're an elder in the neighborhood, so it's our duty to show you respect." Zhou Ye handed over the small bundle containing jujube cakes and yam slices, then turned to Jia Dongxu, "Dongxu, take this bag of dried wild rabbit back with you and give it to your aunt to help her recover."

Just as Jia Dongxu was about to take it, the door to the west wing opened, and Jia Zhangshi poked her head out, her face carrying her usual sour tone: "Oh, Zhou Ye has made it big now, he can bring back so many good things when he goes back to the countryside. Unlike our Dongxu, he has to squeeze onto the bus to go to school every day, and he can hardly even get a piece of meat." Although she said this, her eyes were fixed on the dried rabbit, making no attempt to hide her greed.

Zhou Ye's smile remained unchanged, but he had already made up his mind. He took out a small bag of red beans from his cloth bag and handed it over: "Aunt Zhang, this red bean porridge is very nourishing. You can take it back and give it to Dongxu to help him recover." He deliberately did not give her the more valuable dried wild rabbit. Firstly, he knew that Jia Zhangshi was a person who would take an inch and then ask for a mile, and secondly, he did not want to be too ostentatious and attract unnecessary trouble.

Jia Zhangshi took the red beans, muttering "That's all there is," but still happily went back into the house. He Daqing, who had seen everything clearly, whispered to Zhou Ye, "Don't take it to heart, that's just how she is." Zhou Ye nodded, then distributed some local specialties to Xu Wude, Master Li, and a few other families in the front yard. In the end, most of the remaining produce went to He Daqing's family—after all, He's wife wasn't feeling well after giving birth and needed nourishment, and the He family was one of the few in the yard who genuinely cared for them.

After distributing the items, Xiaocao got up. She was wearing her faded blue school uniform, with two neat braids and a rosy blush on her face from just waking up. "Brother, I'm going to take some jujube cake to Sister Yushui." She picked up a small piece of soft jujube cake and skipped towards He Daqing's house. On her way, she also watered the rose bushes in the corner of the courtyard. The water in the kettle was specially drawn from the spiritual spring in her space that morning and mixed with ordinary well water. This would make the plants grow lushly without arousing suspicion.

Zhou Ye watched his sister's figure, his eyes filled with tenderness, and turned to enter the east wing of the front courtyard. He closed the door, and with a flick of his finger, an invisible spiritual energy barrier enveloped the room. Then, with a thought, the entrance to the system space quietly opened in the corner of the wall, and he took out several small cultural relics—a Song Dynasty porcelain bowl, a Yuan Dynasty jade pendant, and a Ming Dynasty inkstone that he had previously recovered. Although they were not top-tier national treasures, they were all rare treasures. They had been hidden in a secret compartment in the side room, and he took advantage of the many people in the courtyard this morning to take them out for restoration.

He sat cross-legged on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), took out the "Dew-Condensing Grass" he had picked from the space farm, crushed it, mixed it with a small amount of spiritual spring water, and made it into a paste. He activated the "Taiyan Golden Elixir Technique," and the spiritual energy within the golden elixir flowed from his fingertips, carefully applying it to the cracks in the porcelain bowl. Dew-Condensing Grass was a spiritual herb used in the cultivation world to repair objects, and with the nourishment of the spiritual spring water, the cracks in the porcelain bowl slowly healed at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye. In just a moment, it was restored to its perfect state, without even a trace of repair.

When Xiaocao returned after delivering the jujube cakes, she happened to witness this scene. She didn't disturb them, but instead took out a list of artifacts she had previously compiled from her spatial storage and sat quietly to the side, reviewing it. The brother and sister communicated silently through their telepathic connection: "Brother, after these artifacts are restored, should they be put back in the hidden compartment?"

"Hmm," Zhou Ye's voice echoed in her mind, "Wait until the situation in Beiping stabilizes, then we'll try to contact the cultural relics department. Now is not the time; the remnants of the Japanese army are still operating in secret, and we can't expose these treasures."

Just then, Xiao Cao suddenly frowned. Her Foundation Establishment stage spiritual sense vaguely detected two unfamiliar auras outside the courtyard wall, sneaking around and spying in this direction. Moreover, these auras carried a faint smell of blood and... the unique scent of Japanese samurai sword sheaths!

She immediately used the telepathic connection to inform Zhou Ye: "Brother, there are two people outside the courtyard wall, and it looks like they're spying on our house."

Zhou Ye's heart sank. He abruptly stopped restoring the artifacts, his spiritual sense spreading out through the crack in the door, covering the alleyways surrounding the courtyard. Sure enough, in the alley outside the west wall, two men in short jackets were crouching in the corner, their eyes fixed on the direction of the east wing of the front courtyard. Their waists were bulging, as if concealing weapons. What alarmed him even more was that the two men's posture and breathing rhythm clearly indicated that they were professionally trained martial artists, and they also retained a trace of the murderous aura unique to Japanese military warriors—exactly the same as that of Miyamoto Ichiro, whom he had killed years before.

"Don't make a sound, pretend you didn't find anything." Zhou Ye reassured Xiao Cao through the telepathic connection, slowly withdrawing the spiritual energy from his fingertips. He placed the restored artifact back into the hidden compartment of the side room and covered it with a few old wooden planks. "Go to school first, be careful on the way, and let me know if anything happens through the telepathic connection. I'll stay here and see what they're up to."

Xiao Cao nodded, picked up her schoolbag, and her face returned to its usual calm, as if her earlier perception had been just an illusion. As she walked out of the room, she ran into Xu Damao, who was running towards her with his schoolbag on his back: "Sister Xiao Cao, wait for me! My dad said he'd give us a ride to school today."

"Okay." Xiaocao replied with a smile, and walked out of the courtyard with Xu Damao. When they passed the west wall, she glanced at the two men seemingly casually, and memorized their appearances—one had a scar on his left eyebrow, and the other was missing a tooth at the corner of his mouth; their features were very distinctive.

Zhou Ye stood by the window, watching Xiao Cao leave safely. The smile on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a cold, icy gaze. The Japanese had surrendered more than half a year ago, yet remnants still dared to cause trouble in Beiping, their target clearly the artifacts he had hidden in his courtyard. It seemed that beneath this peace, danger still lurked, and his journey to protect his treasures was far from over.

He turned and dragged a wooden box from under the bed. Inside were Japanese samurai swords he had previously confiscated. Although not as powerful as magical artifacts for cultivators, they were still formidable weapons in the hands of ordinary people. Zhou Ye concealed the samurai sword behind his back, pushed open the door, and pretended to go to the well to fetch water. However, his gaze subtly swept across the alley outside the west wall. He had already made up his mind—these remnants, now that they were here, wouldn't leave Beiping alive.