35: Chapter 35 Where is my gold? Where is my gold?

Outside the house.

The Scavenging Old Man had returned.

While still some distance away, he saw his front door wide open.

At first, he thought he hadn't closed it properly when he left.

However, upon reaching the doorway, he saw the broken lock lying on the ground!

His heart sank, a terrible feeling washing over him!

Who would break into a scavenger's home?

Even a thief would never bother with a place like this!

The Scavenging Old Man picked up a crowbar and cautiously entered the house.

He moved slowly, carefully checking that no one was hiding amongst the piles of junk.

Finally, he reached the bedroom door. A single glance inside made his mind feel like an atomic bomb had gone off, his head ringing!

The safe he had hidden under the bed had been found and dragged out!

He couldn't understand at all how someone had located the safe so precisely.

Snapping back to reality, he hurried into the room.

He looked around but saw no one.

He suspected the intruder might have gone to find tools to crack the safe open!

In his panic, he never thought to look up, otherwise he would have spotted Luo Wei crouching on the roof beam.

He couldn't stay here. The Scavenging Old Man quickly made a decision and fetched a backpack.

Then, he turned the dial on the safe. With a click, the door opened!

Next, he grabbed handfuls of a bright yellow substance from the safe and stuffed them into the backpack!

All sorts of gold necklaces, bracelets, rings, bangles, earrings, pendants... men's, women's, children's... a dazzling array of gold jewelry!

Just as he finished packing the gold, Luo Wei jumped down from the beam and pressed a fruit knife against the old man's neck.

A thud sounded from behind, followed immediately by the cold, sharp blade against his neck.

The Scavenging Old Man shuddered, realizing he'd been outsmarted.

Luo Wei wasn't in a hurry to take the gold.

Instead, he asked curiously.

"Can you tell me, with so much gold in your possession, why do you live so miserably?"

The Scavenging Old Man didn't answer. His mind was racing, searching for a way out.

"Are you in disguise?" Luo Wei continued questioning.

"Using the identity of a scavenger to cover up the major jewelry store heist you committed twenty years ago!"

"Boom—" An explosion-like roar erupted again inside the Scavenging Old Man's head!

The person behind him actually knew his identity!

It took him a moment to regain his composure.

He trembled as he asked, "Who are you? How did you pinpoint me?"

Luo Wei chuckled, "You answer my question first, then I'll tell you how you slipped up."

The Scavenging Old Man's body seemed to shrivel at that moment, as if his soul had left him.

Since he'd been discovered, it meant he was finished.

But he still felt a deep sense of injustice.

He wanted to know how he had been exposed.

He began answering Luo Wei's question, "After the robbery back then, I was arrested for something else and spent ten years in prison."

"When I got out, I found my son had become a hopeless gambler, drowning in massive debt."

"Debt collectors came knocking every day. Even if I sold all the gold, it probably wouldn't fill the hole he dug."

"Really?" Luo Wei found the explanation weak. "You could have just abandoned your son and moved far away to live in luxury."

"I did think about that..." The Scavenging Old Man sighed faintly. "I have another son. He's a good man, but he's serving a life sentence for accidental manslaughter."

"I need to visit him every month. I planned to take him somewhere new to start over once he gets out."

It was hard to tell if the Scavenging Old Man was speaking the truth.

However, that wasn't important.

After his explanation, the Scavenging Old Man countered.

"Now, it's your turn to answer me."

"How did you discover my identity..."

He asked while trying to turn around.

Luo Wei couldn't be bothered to explain and didn't want to reveal his face.

He simply delivered a swift chop to the back of the Scavenging Old Man's neck, knocking him unconscious.

Then, he picked up the backpack full of gold jewelry and stored it in his system inventory.

Next, what should he do with this Scavenging Old Man?

After some thought, Luo Wei remembered a high school classmate.

That classmate had joined the police force a few years ago.

Although they hadn't been in touch for years.

Luo Wei had been on good terms with her back then.

Handing this old man over to her should earn her some credit!

But how to explain how he discovered the old man's identity?

Also, he definitely didn't want to hand over that bag of gold jewelry!

After thinking it over, Luo Wei decided to make an anonymous tip.

He found a basic cell phone in the Scavenging Old Man's pocket.

He dialed his high school classmate's number.

At that moment, Xia Ningxue walked out of a residential building, looking weary.

Seeing her colleagues setting up a checkpoint on the road, her eyes filled with envy.

She didn't want to be a community officer dealing with neighborhood squabbles and trivial matters every day; she wanted to be involved in major cases.

Unfortunately, she was just a rookie. She had to carry out whatever tasks her superiors assigned.

Her phone suddenly rang in her pocket. She wondered who was calling.

Xia Ningxue took out her phone, gathered her energy, and answered.

"Hello..."

"Hello, I'd like to report something."

A strange male voice came through the receiver; the person was definitely speaking in a deliberately altered tone.

"What would you like to report?" Xia Ningxue asked, preparing to take notes.

"I'd like you to come to the scene."

"Okay, give me the address."

Luo Wei, speaking in the altered voice, gave Xia Ningxue the Scavenging Old Man's location and then hung up.

He didn't directly tell Xia Ningxue that the Scavenging Old Man was the mastermind behind a major heist.

He believed Xia Ningxue would figure it out once she arrived.

After the call, he quickly left.

On the other end, Xia Ningxue noted the address wasn't far from her.

Without delay, she rushed over and arrived at the doorstep of a small house according to the address.

"Is anyone there?" Xia Ningxue saw the broken lock on the ground. She asked cautiously while stepping inside.

Soon, she found a Scavenging Old Man lying in a messy room, his hands and feet tied up!

Xia Ningxue frowned, confused by the situation.

Just then, the Scavenging Old Man woke up.

His first instinct was to look beside him.

He couldn't find the backpack full of gold jewelry!

Instantly, his whole world collapsed!

Twenty years ago, to steal that gold, he had killed the shop owner's family and three of his accomplices!

He had barely spent any of that gold. He had planned to take his younger son far away to enjoy life once he was released.

He never imagined someone would not only discover his identity but also steal his gold!

"Gold, where is my gold, where's my gold?"

"What gold?" Xia Ningxue, standing at the doorway, asked curiously.

The Scavenging Old Man turned his head and saw Xia Ningxue in her law enforcement uniform!

As a major criminal, he was terrified of uniformed Law enforcement personnel. He began trembling uncontrollably.

Xia Ningxue was no fool. Seeing his reaction, she immediately guessed the old man had a problem...