Chapter 99: Police Search

Chapter 99: Chapter 99: Police Search

"Huh, Cousin Ye Xing? I think someone’s knocking at the door. Are they here for you?" Cheng Xiaohai asked curiously.

"Yeah, I’ll go see. You all keep practicing!" Ye Xing said, his eyes shifting as he headed for the main gate.

The courtyard gate was a heavy wooden door. Ye Xing slid the bolt out and opened it.

"CLUNK!" "CREEEAAAK!"

As the gate swung open, Ye Xing looked out and froze for a moment.

Standing right at the gate were a dozen or so police officers, all in uniform, their expressions stern. Beyond them, dozens of villagers had gathered, pointing at the ancestral home and murmuring among themselves.

"Uh, officers... can I help you?" Ye Xing asked, looking confused. ’I haven’t broken any laws. Why would the police show up here out of the blue?’

"Hello! You’re the owner of this residence, correct?" The middle-aged officer in the lead approached Ye Xing, his face stern. "We’re from the Luoxian County Public Security Bureau. We received a report that you’re harboring a large quantity of drugs here. We need to conduct a search. Here is the warrant." He held the document out for Ye Xing to see.

Ye Xing’s brow furrowed slightly. He nodded and said in a somber tone, "Officers, let me be clear. I’m a law-abiding citizen. There’s no way you’ll find any drugs in my house, and I don’t use them myself. I’m sure someone is trying to frame me. But since you have to search, I’ll cooperate. Just be sure to clear my name when you’re done." He immediately stepped aside to make way for them. He couldn’t very well stop them when they had a warrant.

The dozen or so police officers filed in and began searching the ancestral home.

The ancestral home consisted of a front courtyard, the house proper, and a back courtyard. It wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small, either.

Starting with the front courtyard, they meticulously searched everything—the house, the cabinets, the trees, the beds—working their way to the back courtyard.

"What’s this iron hut for?" the middle-aged officer asked, his eyes landing on the structure in the back courtyard.

"Oh, that’s a temporary iron hut I put up," Ye Xing answered. "I’m planning to use it for storage, for some miscellaneous items." This was, of course, the very hut he had built to conceal the ancient well. Inside was the well that had originally contained the Purple Light Group Teleportation Gate.

"Open it. I want to take a look," the middle-aged officer ordered.

"Alright." Ye Xing calmly took out a key and unlocked the heavy-duty lock on the iron door.

’A few days ago, this would have been nerve-wracking, trying to hide the well’s passage.’ But now that he had secured the Purple Light Group in his Qiankun Bag, there was no risk of it being discovered. He could relax.

With the iron door open, the middle-aged officer stepped inside.

Upon entering, the officer’s eyes fell on the ancient well in the center of the hut. He froze, his brow knitting. "You said this was for storage. Why is there a well in here?"

"Is there a rule against having a well in a storage shed?" Ye Xing said with a small smile. "There’s a wooden ladder against the wall. You can have someone go down and take a look."

"Hmph." The middle-aged officer nodded. He wouldn’t overlook any point of suspicion. Even though Ye Xing had offered, he was still going to order the search.

At the middle-aged officer’s order, a young policeman carried the wooden ladder over, lowered it through the opening of the well, and climbed down.

There was no Water in the well; it was dry. It was quite dark inside, so the young officer pulled out a flashlight and turned it on. A bright beam of white light shot downwards, illuminating the bottom. The well had been pitch-black, especially with the iron hut blocking out the daylight, making it impossible to see a thing. The flashlight beam, however, lit up the area clearly. Holding the light in one hand, the officer began to carefully rummage through the debris at the bottom.

"Well? Did you find anything?" the middle-aged officer called down, leaning over the mouth of the well.

The young officer at the bottom was still searching and didn’t answer immediately.

A moment later, a voice echoed from within the well.

"Nothing, Captain! It’s a dry well. There’s nothing down here but rubble," the young officer replied honestly.

After finishing with the well, the dozen officers returned to meticulously searching the rest of the back courtyard.

Ye Xing watched from the sidelines, his expression unreadable.

At that moment, Wu Qiang, Zhu Dazhuang, and Cheng Xiaohai all stopped their training and rushed over.

"Cousin Ye Xing, why are all these police officers here? What are they looking for?" asked Cheng Xiaohai.

"Heh, they’re looking for drugs," Ye Xing said, his mouth twisting into an expression that was somewhere between a laugh and a grimace.

"Drugs? Why would there be drugs at Cousin Ye Xing’s house?"

"Yeah! This is nuts! Brother Xing would never use drugs. How could his house have any?" Zhu Dazhuang chimed in.

"Not necessarily," one of the younger officers said as he searched. "People who hoard drugs aren’t just addicts. They could be dealers."

"Dealers?" Zhu Dazhuang’s anger flared. "Our Brother Xing is worth tens of millions! You think he’s short on cash? Why would he need to risk his life dealing drugs?"

"That’s enough, Dazhuang. Don’t yell," Ye Xing said pensively. "The officers are just doing their jobs. They’re only here because they got a tip. We can’t entirely blame them."

"I’ll find out who’s pulling this crap." Wu Qiang’s eyes flashed. He moved to the side, pulling out his phone and starting to make a call.

After about half an hour of searching, the dozen-plus officers finally concluded. They hadn’t found any so-called drugs.

"My apologies," the middle-aged officer said, bowing to Ye Xing. "Drug cases are a grave matter that endangers countless lives and threatens public health, so we must be extremely cautious. Please forgive us for today’s disturbance." His apology was both respectful and sincere.

"It’s fine," Ye Xing replied with a small smile. "Drug issues certainly need to be treated with caution. It was just a search. Besides, nothing is missing or damaged."

The dozen or so officers each apologized to Ye Xing. They had come quickly and left just as fast, soon departing from the ancestral home.

After seeing the police off, a cold light flickered in Ye Xing’s eyes. It was clear that someone was behind this.

Just then, Wu Qiang finished his call and hurried over to Ye Xing.

"So? Did you find out who’s responsible for this?" Ye Xing asked in a low voice, his eyes sharp.