"Third kid, hurry back to the village and call people over—your dad, your mom, and your second uncle! Don’t call your second uncle; he didn’t lend us grain last time! Go quickly! The old man has his own selfish motives, but he’s just saying that—once we bring back bags of grain, won’t the villagers be envious? The third kid quickly dashed out of the bandit hideout, while Zhang Qiming began to search through the empty bandit lair. Not only did the bandit leader have money, but Zhang Qiming also found a lot of jewelry and silver coins in the other soldiers’ quarters. He absorbed all these items into the system and started looking forward to the rewards.

【Ding!】 【Detected that the host has collected 476 silver dollars, 2 gold ingots (inferior), 1 pearl necklace, 3 gold rings, 1 jade ring...】 【Calculating...】 【The wealth rating of what you collected is:】 【3127!】 【Your task completion rating is: B】

...

Seeing the results before him, Zhang Qiming felt a bit disappointed. "Only a B? Damn it, with these items in this era, I could be a local warlord, not just a landlord!" He counted on his fingers, recalling that in movies he had seen, a rickshaw in the Republic of China could earn a maximum of 20 coins a day, and 100 coins could be exchanged for 1 silver dollar. He had gathered nearly 500 silver dollars, and his rating was only a B?

Just as Zhang Qiming contemplated finding more items to improve his score, the system chimed in his mind again.

【Ding!】 【Detected an unclaimed treasure near the host!】 【Attention! This treasure is of extremely high value! It can immediately elevate the task rating to S (highest level).】

Seeing this line of text, Zhang Qiming's eyes lit up again—there's more treasure nearby! The system definitely wouldn’t lie. He felt the exhaustion from staying up all night disappear instantly; this prompt was like a timely rain. Zhang Qiming began to move quickly, eyes wide open, searching the hideout.

If there was a place that was most valuable, it had to be the bandit leader's quarters, which even had a grain storage right next to it. However, after searching several times, he found nothing valuable. He even dismantled the bed in the room and found nothing of worth. He had already cleaned out the soldiers’ quarters, which had little more than some lewd pictures and a few handwritten copies of "Jin Ping Mei."

So, the only place left in the hideout that he hadn’t thoroughly searched was the strategist’s quarters. Zhang Qiming made his way toward that room.

The strategist’s room was quite distinctive—neat and tidy, with an oil lamp on the table and a bookshelf of unknown origin, filled with several tattered military books, giving the room an air of scholarly elegance. "You can know a person’s face but not their heart. Just looking at this room, you can tell its owner is a cunning and treacherous person," Zhang Qiming sneered, deepening his understanding of the world’s treachery.

At this point, Zhang Qiming had searched most of the hideout, leaving only the strategist’s room unexamined. He was particularly meticulous in his search. Finally, he noticed something in the corner of the bookshelf.

Kicking the bookshelf over, he discovered a hidden compartment! This compartment was embedded in the back of the bookshelf's base—who could have found it? This strategist was truly cunning. The bandits in the hideout were all deserters or criminals; how could they possibly be interested in his military books? The hidden compartment under the bookshelf was the perfect hiding spot!

The treasures in this hidden compartment had to be the ones mentioned in the task. Now that the strategist was dead, these items were naturally unclaimed, perfectly aligning with the system’s hint!

Eagerly, Zhang Qiming opened the hidden compartment, and in an instant, a chill burst forth! "Could there be a trap?!"

Zhang Qiming quickly stepped back, but he was overthinking it; the chill was not from a trap but from a weapon emanating powerful energy! The weapon contained strong malevolent energy, and having been hidden in the dark bookshelf, it was even colder—upon opening it, the chill surged forth!

【Ding! Detected an unclaimed treasure! Please collect the treasure into the system for detection!】

Zhang Qiming was surprised by the system’s eagerness. He was also curious about what kind of treasure could excite the system so much! Once the chill dissipated, he focused his gaze and couldn’t take his eyes off it!

It was a treasured sword! The sword was about 1.2 meters long, resembling a modified version of the Qijia knife, with a curve one-fifth of the way along the blade, and a snarling gold-plated beast head at the handle. The blade was intricately engraved with golden patterns. Although Zhang Qiming couldn’t understand the designs, he recognized the beast head—it was a Qilin!

Unexpectedly, he saw his family’s totem on this sword! Was this fate? Unfortunately, the sword lacked a matching scabbard, which was a pity—like a BMW without a saddle. As Zhang Qiming grasped the sword, he faintly felt his Qilin tattoo on his back stir as if it were awakening. Was this sword truly meant for him?

“System, scan!”

With Zhang Qiming’s command, a progress bar soared from 3127 to over 30,000 without stopping! "Damn! The value of this sword is over ten times greater than the gold and silver I found earlier?!"

【Ding! System detection complete; no high-value items remain nearby.】 【This task has gathered a total of high-value items worth 97,101!】 【Your task rating has been updated.】 【Your task rating is: S!】 【Your reward has been updated, with the reward being: Qijia Sword Techniques.】 【Rewards have been issued; please continue your efforts.】

As the system's text appeared, a set of sword techniques instantly emerged in Zhang Qiming’s mind. This Qijia sword technique, also known as the Xinyou sword method, was created by the Ming dynasty general Qi Jiguang based on the Eastern sword techniques of the Japanese pirates, specifically designed to combat enemies and eliminate bandits. It inherited the essence of thousands of years of sword techniques—an absolute masterclass in close combat.

"Qijia sword techniques? I’ve gained both the sword and the technique! This is a huge win! Now, with my Qilin bloodline activated, my strength is already comparable to the younger generation of the Zhang family; now with this sword and sword techniques, I’m almost on par with the experts in my family."

Zhang Qiming gripped the sword in one hand and practiced a few moves from the sword technique in the air. He felt the techniques were remarkably exquisite, even incorporating Western techniques like the draw and strike. Coupled with his speed, even if Zhang Haike came, he’d probably be able to take him down in one move!

"This is too powerful!" Zhang Qiming realized he had made a great profit this time. If it were a hundred years in the future, even if he gathered all the treasures from Nicopolis, he wouldn’t be able to earn such generous rewards from this little bandit lair, which turned out to be a treasure trove!

Zhang Qiming executed a few more sword techniques, and the treasured sword hummed, as if joyfully returning to the light of day. The more he looked at this sword, the more he felt a connection to it. "Could it be that this sword came from Zhang Family Fort?"

Just as Zhang Qiming was pondering, he suddenly heard a rumbling sound in the distance. "Oh no, it must be Zhang Haike and the others who got into trouble and set off the explosives!"

Zhang Qiming's expression changed abruptly, and he rushed outside.