Chapter 389: Stealing Celestial Secret: Sky-Soaring Divine Fire

Night fell, shrouding the entire alley.

The alley wasn’t wide, flanked on both sides by old residential buildings. Their walls were peeling, exposing the brickwork beneath. A few dust-covered bicycles were piled at the base of the walls.

Zhai Jia parked the jeep deep in the alley and cut the engine.

The alley was silent.

In the distance, a dog barked once or twice.

Zhai Jia unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to look at the two people in the back seat.

“So it’s settled, I’ll be the lookout,” Zhai Jia said eagerly. “You two be careful. There’s a guard at the warehouse entrance, in his sixties and hard of hearing. Go around from the side, don’t use the main gate, alright? If there’s an ambush inside, remember to signal me. I’ll be ready for backup at a moment’s notice.”

Zhai Yu wasted no words. Sitting in the back seat, he picked up his mask and inspected it. After confirming it was fine, he secured it back over his face and adjusted its position.

Wan Ze put on his mask as well. He glanced at Zhai Yu, who was also looking at him.

Their eyes met for a second. They nodded, then pushed open their car doors at the same time.

After getting out, they closed the car doors.

The latch slid into the lock with a soft CLICK, the sound sharp in the night’s stillness.

The two turned, just about to head toward the mouth of the alley.

“Hey, you two, are you messing with me? Wait a second.”

Zhai Jia’s voice suddenly called out, tinged with exasperation.

Wan Ze looked back.

Zhai Jia had already pushed open his door and gotten out. He walked to the back of the car, bent down to reach into the trunk, and pulled out two large burlap sacks.

The sacks were made of a coarse fabric with their openings tied shut with rope. They resembled the kind used for cement on construction sites, but they were a size larger and looked much sturdier.

Carrying one in each hand, Zhai Jia walked up to Wan Ze and Zhai Yu and shoved the two sacks into their arms.

Wan Ze instinctively reached out and caught them.

Zhai Jia clapped his hands together, took a step back, and sized the two of them up. Only when he saw them each holding a large burlap sack did he nod in satisfaction. “Gentlemen, please. Let’s be a little more professional, okay?”

Wan Ze scoffed. “Brother Jia, you don’t moonlight as a kidnapper, do you?”

Zhai Jia gave a dry cough.

‘They weren’t needed for the last mission, so this is the perfect chance to use them. Perfect.’

Wan Ze looked at his smug face and shook his head with a laugh.

Zhai Yu was silent for a second as well.

In truth, he had hesitated for a moment.

To be frank, his feelings about the sack were… he didn’t want it, but he had no choice. It was undeniably useful.

So he quickly folded it into a smaller square, tucked it under his arm, and then left with Wan Ze.

Zhai Jia leaned against the car door, pulled a cigarette from his pocket and stuck it in his mouth, but didn’t light it. He silently watched the two disappear at the end of the alley.

The warehouse was at No. 17 Anping Road. It was a standalone gray building with an unpainted, cement-finished exterior.

The building wasn’t tall—only two stories—but it covered a large area, at least several hundred square meters.

The roof was flat, with a parapet running around the edge. A few drainage outlets were visible on the outer wall, with water stains streaking all the way from the roof to the ground.

The warehouse’s main entrance faced south. There was a guard post by the entrance, and a security guard sat inside.

The guard was in his sixties with salt-and-pepper hair. He was sitting in a folding chair, dozing off.

His hearing was indeed poor. He didn’t react at all as Wan Ze and Zhai Yu slipped past the side of the post, still dozing against the wall.

Zhai Yu watched him silently for a moment to make sure he wasn’t faking sleep. Once certain, he gave Wan Ze a meaningful look, and the two slipped away.

There were no windows on the side of the warehouse, only a small iron door with a rusty padlock hanging on it.

Zhai Yu pulled a thin metal wire from his pocket and inserted it into the keyhole. With a gentle twist of his wrist, the padlock gave a soft CLICK and sprang open.

He removed the padlock and placed it on the ground next to the door.

Pushing the iron door would make a noise, so he opened it just a crack, as if the wind had blown it ajar.

But the guard truly couldn’t hear it.

He turned sideways and slipped inside.

Wan Ze followed him in, then closed the door and slid the bolt home.

The inside of the warehouse was spacious, with a concrete floor and grayish-white walls.

The air smelled of dust, as if no one had been inside for a long time.

The two of them moved silently across the warehouse’s main floor and stopped in front of another iron door.

The iron door had no handle, and its surface was covered in scratches.

Zhai Yu reached out and pressed something on the wall next to the door, opening it.

Behind the door was a set of stairs leading down. The stairs were narrow, wide enough for only one person, and the walls on either side were rough.

Zhai Yu went down the stairs first, with Wan Ze following behind.

At the bottom of the stairs was a basement.

The basement wasn’t large, about fifty to sixty square meters, with a floor of gray tiles and walls painted with white latex paint.

And then… the two of them saw a safe standing in the corner.

The safe looked large, over two meters tall and one-point-eight meters wide. It was a solid dark gray, with a coarse, matte finish. The door appeared to be at least ten centimeters thick, its edges forming a precise, interlocking metal seal with no visible gaps.

On the safe door was a circular combination lock. The dial was brass-colored, engraved with the numbers 0 through 9 arranged in a circle.

This was an exceptionally new safe.

Zhai Yu stood in front of the safe, motionless.

His gaze left the safe and swept around the basement, lingering for half a second on every possible hiding spot. Taking a coin from his pocket, he flicked it with his finger. After a careful inspection, he confirmed there were no traps.

Then he turned to Wan Ze, who was standing five meters away, and gave him an all-clear signal.