At first, Qiu Shi was stunned by Song Ankang's actions. Then, she quickly picked up the hard wooden stick and started hitting the ground.
Jiang Yunhe also silently took a hard wooden stick and started knocking around. Then, Hao Jiyong's wife and children, who had been following around…
Several people silently hit every inch of the limestone floor with hard wooden sticks, trying to find something unusual.
Hao Jiyong moved the food and herbs with all his might, trying his best not to cause any damage.
Seeing this scene, some of the tenants who were discussing Song Ankang and Hao Jiyong and did not think highly of them were stunned. Immediately, some of the tenants also took hard sticks and helped to beat the ground.
If possible, these tenants hoped that Song Ankang could prove that the thief was not Hao Jiyong. After all, Hao Jiyong was righteous and had helped many people over the years.
Moreover, in this terrifying world where foreign races invaded and demons and ghosts wreaked havoc, the human race had become unprecedentedly united. From the entire human race of China to the villages, farms, families…
Because only by being united could the human race survive!
If Hao Jiyong was not a thief, that would be for the best. If he was, people would not show mercy because if Hao Jiyong really stole those precious herbs, he would be pushing everyone to a dead end.
According to the usual practice, some of those precious medicinal herbs would be used to make up for this year's tax deficit, so that the tenants could keep more food. These foodstuffs were life-saving.
Not to mention Hao Jiyong, even if Liu Yuanqing, Butler Wang, and even Song Ankang did such a thing, they would still be punished by the tenants.
More and more people joined in the hammering, until Hao Jiyong's wife banged the hardwood stick on an arborite floor. "Knock, knock…"
The dull sound made Jiang Yunhe and Song Ankang's expressions change. They looked at Hao Jiyong's wife almost at the same time.
"There's something wrong with this Green Ridge Stone!"
Jiang Yunhe jumped up and landed beside Hao Jiyong's wife.
Song Ankang also walked over quickly and hit it with a hard wooden stick that looked like an iron rod. "Dong, dong, dong…"
As he knocked, he observed carefully. After a moment, he realized that something was amiss. A piece of the Green Ridge Stone was clearly moving.
Song Ankang used his tools to pry out a cave that had been dug along the gap between the stones. That was because the lid of the cave followed the gap between the stones, the other part was dug with something smaller than the gap between the stones. Song Ankang and Jiang Yun had passed through it a few times before, but they had found nothing unusual.
On the other hand, it was also because the storeroom had been in use for so long that the green granite on the floor was smeared. The lid of the cave was only the size of a fist, so it was difficult to spot.
If not for the use of hard wooden sticks that were like iron bars, this small cave would probably be very difficult to discover.
Looking at the deep cave that led to nowhere, the surroundings became noisy after a moment of silence.
"I can't believe there's a cave dug by a demon. And the demon left a lid after it was dug. No wonder it was so hard to find."
"Are demons so intelligent? They're practically spirits. The ground here was piled with cold leaf grass before, so they didn't dare move it easily. Don't tell me that demon even knows this."
"It's unbelievable that such a powerful demon has targeted our Chaoyun Manor warehouse. If it weren't for the fact that the manor master is observant, when would we have discovered it?"
"Hao Jiyong was indeed wronged. But without the Manor Lord, who could have discovered such a trace? What should we do now? How should we deal with this demon?"
"If you hadn't discovered this demon, we would have lost many precious herbs in the future. I'm afraid most of the tenants won't be able to survive this year. Thank you, Manor Lord."
The tenants were simple and honest. After discovering that they had wronged Song Ankang and Hao Jiyong, they immediately apologized in shame. At the same time, they bowed to Song Ankang and thanked him for solving the theft of the warehouse, allowing more tenants to survive this year.
In particular, the discovery of this huge hidden danger undoubtedly prevented the warehouse from losing more precious medicinal herbs in the future. It might also prevent some bloodshed.
Basically, all the tenants were grateful to Song Ankang. Hao Jiyong's family even hugged their heads and cried to celebrate their family's innocence. The only person who was unhappy was perhaps Yuanqing Liu.
The discovery of the demon cave undoubtedly proved that Song Ankang was right, and he was completely wrong, and he had almost killed Hao Jiyong unjustly.
Even though she knew that Hao Jimeng was lying, she still wanted to force him to confess and reduce her responsibility as much as possible. Her every move was extremely selfish, and she did not care about Song Ankang at all.
Now that the truth was out, not only would Song Ankang not let him off, but even the higher-ups of the family would not let him off.
Now he was the main person responsible. And he was the kind of person who kept making mistakes.
When the cheering stopped, Song Ankang looked at Jiang Yunhe.
Jiang Yunhe understood what Song Ankang meant and smiled. "I've already sensed the aura in the cave. It should be from some demon beast, but I'm not sure what kind."
"However, eventhough this demon beast is shockingly intelligent, its strength is not strong. It should not be more than the fourth minor realm of External Realm. It is not difficult to deal with it. I still have an Earth Cage Talisman here. It can even capture a demon beast comparable to the fourth minor realm of the Internal Realm alive. It can be used to deal with this demon beast."
"Thank you, Instructor Jiang." Song Ankang nodded and looked at Hao Jiyong and the others. "But to be safe, please return the food and herbs to their original positions. You have seen the intelligence of this demon beast. If you find anything unusual in the warehouse, I'm afraid you won't be fooled."
Hao Jiyong was the first to nod. "Alright, don't worry, Manor Lord. We'll recover soon. Besides, this is something we have to do sooner or later."
Song Ankang nodded and watched as all the warehouse workers and tenants carried all the food and herbs back to their original positions in a frenzy. Jiang Yunhe also set up the Earth Cage Talisman at the exit of the cave.
By the time he was done, it was already completely dark. He glanced at Liu Yuanqing, who had been standing at the door of the storeroom in a daze. Song Ankang frowned. "Liu Yuanqing, you are no longer the manager of the storeroom. Hao Jiyong will be the manager of the storeroom in the future. If you have any objections, you can report it to the family."
"I…" Liu Yuanqing opened his mouth but still lowered his head. "I have no objections. I'll listen to you."
Song Ankang decided not to deal with Liu Yuanqing anymore since he was so tactful. He instructed the tenants to go back. He brought Qiu Shi, Jiang Yunhe, Hao Jiyong, and a few capable workers from the storeroom to guard the surroundings and wait for the demon beast to appear.