278 Ingenious Interlayer

The next morning.

Lin Ran was woken up by a beam of sunlight. When he opened his eyes, he first saw the silhouette of the window frame against the sunlight, then the blue sky outside the window.

“How did I fall asleep?”

A question suddenly popped up in Lin Ran’s mind.

Last night, he wanted to keep the Black Shadow Saber in the Divine Sword Technique Manual, but sabers couldn’t be kept in the Divine Sword Technique Manual, and there was nowhere to hide it in Ye Jin’s house.

Helpless, Lin Ran had no choice but to make a small interlayer for the wooden box with limited materials…

“Right, the interlayer!”

Lin Ran’s eyes lit up as he sat up. He picked up the wooden box and opened it, only to find that it was empty. However, as long as he lifted the satin covering the bottom, he would see a metal plate perfectly embedded with the slot in the wooden box. The Black Shadow Knife was hidden in the small space under the metal plate.

After checking that there were no mistakes, Lin Ran heaved a sigh of relief. At the same time, he felt a little lucky. If not for the fact that the wooden box Liu Hongshan brought was big enough, he might not have been able to come up with this solution.

After putting away the wooden box, Lin Ran began to think about how he fell asleep because the last thing he remembered was checking under the moonlight after finishing the interlayer. He had no impression of lying down to sleep.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded.

As soon as Lin Ran came back to his senses, he heard someone knocking on the door. Ye Jin called out from outside, “Shopkeeper Huo, are you awake?”

“Shopkeeper Huo?”

Lin Ran was stunned for a moment before he remembered that he was using Huo Qiyun’s name. He quickly replied, “I’m awake. Please come in!”

Ye Jin pushed open the door and entered. There were two water bags hanging from her waist, making her look like she was preparing to go on a long journey.

Lin Ran frowned and asked in confusion, “Are you going out?”

Ye Jin nodded. “My father asked me to go out of the city to find a few types of ores. I came to ask if you want to go with me.”

“Sure!”

Lin Ran agreed without hesitation. As long as he could leave the city, he could find a place to hide the Black Shadow Saber. When he returned to the city, as long as he was not seen by the people who had seen him in the inn, no one would know that he was the famous “saber thief”?

With this in mind, Lin Ran got off the bed and carried the wooden box on his back.

Seeing this, Ye Jin was stunned. “Are you going with that broken sword?”

Lin Ran didn’t answer directly. Instead, he asked ambiguously, “Can’t I?”

“Yes, you can, but…”

Ye Jin looked troubled, but in the end, she nodded. “Then wait a moment. I’ll go get your sword.”

Lin Ran agreed and Ye Jin turned to go upstairs. Not long after, the sound of something being smashed came from upstairs.

“What kind of temper does that person have?”

Lin Ran looked at the trembling metal ceiling. He suddenly felt that this scene looked a little familiar.

When he first arrived at Ye Jin’s house yesterday, the same thing happened. However, Lin Ran was very sure that this was not the reason because he felt that the trembling metal ceiling looked familiar, and he didn’t look at the ceiling at all yesterday.

But what could it be?

Lin Ran frowned slightly. Before he could figure it out, Ye Jin came down with the Ten Miles Dragon Roar.

“Your sword.”

Ye Jin handed over the Ten Miles Dragon Roar. Lin Ran, who was already prepared, specially opened the wooden box and asked Ye Jin to put the sword in. Then, the two of them went out together.

Before they could walk far, a group of people walked towards them dejectedly. Ye Jin clearly knew these people and waved at them from afar.

However, those people didn’t seem to have slept all night. All of them were listless. When they saw Lin Ran, their eyes lit up and they walked over aggressively.

“Who are you?”

One of the middle-aged men looked at Lin Ran and asked coldly. He placed his hand on the hilt of the saber at his waist, looking like he was about to attack.

Before Lin Ran could speak, Ye Jin interrupted, “His name is Huo Qiyun. He’s here to ask my father to forge a saber.”

“Forge a saber?”

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment. Someone behind him was already laughing, but he quickly held it in and put on a straight face, pretending that nothing had happened.

The middle-aged man turned around and glared at the person. Then, he looked at Ye Jin and smiled kindly. “Jin, is your father getting better?”

Ye Jin sighed and shook her head. Then, she forced a smile at the middle-aged man. “But it doesn’t matter. Shopkeeper Huo is very generous. I have to go out of the city to find ores first. When I come back, I can get the doctor to treat my father!”

“Is that so? That’s good!”

The middle-aged man smiled. It was obvious that he was really happy for Ye Jin.

However, among the people behind him, two young men revealed strange expressions. After looking at each other, they looked at Ye Jin with flickering eyes, thinking about something.

It was obvious from their gazes that they were up to good.

Yesterday, Ye Jin had warned Lin Ran not to show off his wealth, but today, she showed off her wealth.

Originally, after obtaining the Ten Miles Dragon Roar, Lin Ran planned to take the opportunity to leave the city to look for Liu Hongshan. However, from the looks of it, he would probably have to stay in the city for another day.

While he was thinking, Ye Jin and the middle-aged man were almost done chatting. After bidding farewell to each other, the two of them continued walking towards the city gate.

Along the way, they encountered a few more groups of people looking for the “saber thief”. However, Ye Jin was clearly not that familiar with them. She only greeted them briefly when she saw them.

Not long after, the two of them arrived at the city gate and saw a group of men in black guarding the gate.

Every time someone passed by, they would be interrogated by these men in black. However, Lin Ran was not nervous at all. This was because these were not the people who had seen him at the inn yesterday, so he was not afraid that they would recognize him.

After arriving at the city gate with a calm expression, Ye Jin asked Lin Ran to wait for a moment. Then, he went to talk with the leader of the men in black. No one knew what she said, but soon, the man waved his hand to indicate that they could leave.

“We have to hurry.”

Ye Jin returned to Lin Ran’s side and whispered, “They said that the curfew has been enforced since last night. If we don’t come back before dark, we’ll have to spend the night outside the city.”

Lin Ran nodded to show that he understood. The two of them walked out of the city as they spoke. Just as they were about to walk out of the city gate, a man in black suddenly shouted, “Wait!”

Clang—

As soon as he finished speaking, all the men in black drew their sabers and surrounded Lin Ran and Ye Jin.

Lin Ran’s expression changed slightly because he realized that these people were all staring at the wooden box on his back!