The trees in the mountains were dense, and many places seemed untouched by humans, making it difficult to search.

Governor Duan also joined them in the mountain search. As soon as they entered the mountain, they split into several teams and scattered. Their team headed directly to the bandit hideout—oh, the mountain village.

The village was behind a large rock. Most of the mountains on the grasslands aren’t very tall, and this one wasn’t very steep either. But with this mountain wall, the village was isolated inside, making it a rare fortress that was easy to defend and hard to attack.

Governor Duan said, "It’s precisely because of this barrier that they always remain undefeated."

He had fought bandits four times, and only twice did he manage to drive them out of the grasslands and into the village. One time, it involved a half-year-long plan using a caravan as bait to lure out the majority of the bandits, then attack, dispatch people to trap and scatter them, and then drive them out.

This time, however, it was because they had invaded the village last time, and they had some understanding of the terrain from searching the mountains, allowing them to take advantage of the dawn to sneak up and kill the guards via another path before attacking.

Governor Duan led them inside. Bai Shan and the others saw the messily constructed houses and couldn’t help but disdain, "With so many people, why don’t they build the houses neatly?"

Governor Duan: "...They are bandits, this is a bandit hideout, not a fortress."

Manbao looked left and right, and asked, "With such a big place, didn’t they hide the treasure here?"

Governor Duan said, "We’ve searched carefully, and it’s not the first time either. Although a lot of valuables were found, there was a big gap from our estimates."

The bandit hideout wasn’t without any valuables. There were some gold, silver, jewels, and goods like cloth and tea, but no one believed this was all the bandit’s treasures. Who are they trying to fool?

If they were this poor, why become bandits?

To risk their lives for thrills?

For Manbao and the others, it was their first time in a bandit hideout, and they were very curious.

With the mindset of gaining knowledge, they had a very detailed tour, oh no, they searched the bandit hideout, Keke beeped twice, "Host, there are hidden things approximately 868 steps to the left front, 219 steps to the straight front, and 560 steps to the right rear."

Manbao was familiar with these units of measurement and acknowledged it mentally but didn’t directly lead people there. Instead, she continued to enthusiastically follow everyone in the search.

Keke reported locations that must have a lot of things hidden, but each bandit certainly has private stashes, Manbao thought they must’ve hidden some too.

She was very interested in treasure hunts.

Keke didn’t rush her, watching her kick open a door and swagger inside.

Bai Erlang was startled by the sound of the door hitting the wall and complained, "Can’t you be gentler?"

"That’s how you create an atmosphere. Didn’t the books describe officials raiding like this?" Manbao said, "Fierce and ruthless, barging in directly, then they can find all sorts of treasures."

Her reasoning was particularly sound, "Anyway, these houses won’t be lived in later, as they’ll become abandoned, why not kick?"

The officials (soldiers) around remained silent, were they being seen as pawns?

Bai Shan tilted his head thoughtfully, and turned to Governor Duan, "Why not demolish these houses to prevent others from taking refuge here in future?"

Governor Duan: "...Demolishing also requires manpower and resources."

Bai Shan shook the unstable door frame, looked up at these grey, dusty houses, and didn’t understand what manpower or resources were needed to demolish such houses.

Manbao excitedly said, "Shall we help you demolish them?"

Governor Duan stretched out his hand and said, "Doctor Zhou, feel free."

He was quite puzzled; although they were all tired from a day’s work, with the military doctors almost unable to get up, Zhou Liru also complained of foot pain, but this person—clearly the busiest—suddenly became so energetic after a nap.

Manbao started rummaging around the room. Since she had freedom, she wasn’t particularly careful while searching.

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang also let loose, and the three of them continuously threw stuff out. Seeing the wooden frames and various debris fall before him, Governor Duan didn’t know what to say for a while.

He couldn’t help but say, "Lord Zhou, we’ve already searched these houses..."

He had thought they were looking for clues to the treasure, not to search the bandits’ houses again.

Manbao acted as if she didn’t hear, dismissively saying, "We’ll search again."

As she spoke, she had already dismantled half of the bed and crawled in to check, moments later she happily exclaimed, "There really is a hole inside."

When Bai Shan and Bai Erlang heard that, they immediately dropped what they were holding and ran over, "Quick, take a look, see if there’s something unusual under the dirt. Someone might have dug a hole, laid boards, and covered it with dirt to hide things."

Manbao pounded around inside and said, "No problem underground."

Moments later, she exclaimed, then Governor Duan saw her legs quickly retreating out, and shortly she climbed out, not getting up, just sitting on the ground, extending her hands, almost blinding Governor Duan.

He widened his eyes, "What is this..."

"Wow—" Bai Shan and Bai Erlang were more excited than he was and hurriedly asked, "With so many gems, are there any more inside?"

Manbao shook her head, "No more, these were wrapped in oil paper, there are seven in total."

Manbao picked out the prettiest and started stuffing it into her pouch, but then thought of something and immediately gave one each to Bai Shan, Bai Erlang, and Governor Duan, smilingly saying, "Finders keepers, finders keepers..."

Governor Duan: ...

He silently accepted it, then signaled his personal guards with a look.

The personal guards left and shortly after, the soldiers who were perfunctorily searching suddenly rushed into the rooms like wolves and tigers and started to search the walls behind the beds.

Bai Shan and Bai Erlang, with their loot, immediately dragged Manbao towards other rooms; seeing people everywhere, the three of them proceeded to the innermost parts.

The courtyard in the center belonged to the bandit leader and his confidants, even the house was bigger and cleaner than others.

Governor Duan said, "They occupied several captured women..."

Manbao waved and said, "Go, search!"

Before Governor Duan could finish speaking, the three of them rushed in, one started crawling under the bed, another went to the lavatory to search, and the third began rummaging through cabinets and drawers.

They were indeed searching through belongings, the items inside the cabinets and drawers were all turned out, even the clothes were taken as stolen goods, resulting in the cupboards being empty now.

Bai Shan directly overturned the boxes, pushed down the cabinets, then knocked around, under Governor Duan’s gaze, pried open a corner of the cabinet, and then retrieved two thick gold sheets.

Bai Shan weighed them, unsure of their weight, handed them to Daji.

Daji weighed and said, "About four ounces."

Governor Duan was dazzled; four ounces of gold equals forty ounces of silver, and in copper coins...