Duoluo Dalu: Hail Hydra

They had two days till the festival. That meant two days to study the targets and the patrol pattern in the treasury.

Si Lin watched Steward Zhou's routine like a hawk. Every day, the man left his house in the evening, heading straight for the steward's hall to drink and complain about work. His wife was always busy, either managing household chores or chasing after their kids, who played outside till late.

That was the gap they needed.

Yu Hou'er stepped in with her natural charm and an extra layer of cuteness, thanks to some makeup tricks. She approached Steward Zhou's children with a smile. "Hey! Do you guys know the Dragon Roar game?"

The kids blinked. "What's that?"

Yu Hou'er gasped dramatically. "You don't know?! It's the best game ever! You have to run around, roar like a dragon, and whoever stops first loses."

"Sounds fun!" The kids immediately ran off, roaring like miniature monsters.

Steward Zhou's wife poked her head outside. "What are you kids screaming about?"

CRASH!!

Yu Hou'er tripped, 'accidentally' and knocked over a tray of dishes. "Auntie, I'm so sorry! I was just trying to.." She sniffled, eyes glossy. "I just wanted to play with them."

Steward Zhou's wife sighed. "It's fine, just be careful." She went to clean up the mess, leaving the office completely unattended.

That was Si Lin's cue.

Like a shadow, he slipped inside. The room smelled of ink and old paper. The steward's office was small but organized, papers neatly stacked on the desk. Si Lin went straight for the drawers. Locked. He scoffed.

Amateurs.

He pulled a thin metal wire from his sleeve and picked the lock with practiced ease. Inside, he found the steward's ledger and, more importantly, a small notebook. He flipped through it, spotting a series of numbers labeled 'Vault Rotations'.

Bingo.

Flipping through a small notebook, Si Lin found the most recent combinations. He had already prepared a piece of parchment with graphite, rubbing it carefully to take an imprint of the page. He slipped out as quickly as he came in, just as Yu Hou'er finished wrapping up her act. "Thanks for the game!" she chirped, wiping away her fake tears.

"Good work. We now have the code." Yu Hou'er nodded to Si Lin as they left.

Meanwhile, Xiaotian had his own job, stealing the Azure Riverlion's core from his father's office.

The recently gained memories indicated that this was not his first rodeo.

From his bedroom window, he climbed onto a tree, moving quickly to the easternmost branch. With a well-practiced movement, he inserted a thin knife into the slit of the sliding window, pressing upwards. A satisfying click signaled his success. He slid inside, making sure not to disturb a single item.

The Azure Riverlion's cores were stored in an ornate wooden box. Carefully, he lifted the lid and took the cores, stuffing them into his robe. Then, as casually as if he owned the place, he walked to the door and opened it. Since it locked automatically from the outside, he simply strolled out, shutting it behind him.

"Too easy."

Now came Phase 3.

"Remember, guys, if anything goes wrong, you know who to blame." Xiaotian smirked.

Mou San gave a dramatic bow. "It has been an honor, young master."

"Quit acting like we already failed," Xiaotian rolled his eyes. "Get to work."

It was the Qingyuan Lantern Festival. The perfect time to strike. When the lanterns filled the sky, the elders were busy leading the ceremonies. The mission started when the festival reached its peak.

Mou San flipped an hourglass. The countdown had begun. Twenty minutes until the next guard shift.

Xiaotian nodded. He had already begun counting in his head, his lips moving but making no sound.

Yu Hou'er ran up to the guards in front of the treasury, tears streaming down her face. "My mom! She's missing!"

Meng Kong followed, yelling, "Do you have ANY idea what's gonna happen when Dad finds out we lost Mom?!"

The guards froze. "…Wait, what?"

Yu Hou'er hiccupped. "She was just there and now...now she's GONE! I can't find her anywhere!"

Meng Kong grabbed his head dramatically. "We're dead. We are SO DEAD! Dad is gonna kill us."

One of the guards panicked. "Calm down! Where did you last see her?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Yu Hou'er cried harder, stomping her foot. "She was just here!"

Meng Kong shook his head. "This is bad. This is so bad. Do you know how mad Dad gets when he's angry? He flipped a table last time. A whole table! Do you know how heavy our tables are?!"

The guards exchanged nervous glances. "Alright, alright, we'll help you look. Just don't cry anymore!"

Yu Hou'er stammered nonsense, pointing in random directions. The guards, now completely confused, started running around trying to figure out what was happening.

With the guards distracted, Xiaotian and Xiaogang slipped through the windows next to the main entrance of the treasury. Unlike the other windows, these weren't reinforced with iron bars. Xiaotian carefully pushed one open, and they climbed in.

Xiaotian landed first, crouching low and still counting. Xiaogang followed, almost tripping but catching himself just in time.

The first obstacle was the pressure plates covering the floor. The problems was, they didn't know the pattern and the plates were well hidden. The twins struggled with precise movements.

Instead, Xiaotian made Xiaogang climb onto a shelf, and made him to other shelfs to move across. His small frame made it easier to balance as he carefully hopped from one surface to another. At the end, he dropped down, slipped between a set of steel bars, and turned off the mechanism from the other side.

Xiaotian smirked. "Not bad. But we need increase the pace, we have only fourteen minutes left."

Next, they faced near-invisible strings stretched across the hallway. These traps were meant for adults, but since they were kids, they could crawl underneath. And being short had another advantage, easy visibility since the strings are more closer to their eye sight now. Xiaotian guided Xiaogang when necessary, adjusting for changes in height.

By the time they reached the incense alarm, Xiaotian counted to 420. "Thirteen minutes left."

The incense trap would trigger if the air around it shifted too quickly. Xiaotian waved a cloth slowly in front of them, pushing the incense just enough to clear a path without disturbing it too much. They moved forward carefully.

Finally, they reached the main vault. The combination lock was too high for them, so Xiaotian climbed onto Xiaogang's back. Pressing his ear to the metal, he rotated the lock carefully, listening for clicks. He kept counting.

Click.

"First number is 1," Xiaotian muttered. "That means the year starts with 1. That rules out the older records."

He turned the lock again.

Click.

"Second number is 2. Something in this century." He narrowed his choices to major clan events and quickly entered the birth year of the current clan leader.

The vault door creaked open.

Inside, neat rows of treasures gleamed in the dim light. Xiaotian immediately swapped the Thunder Scale Leopard's core with the Azure Riverlion's, coating it in dried frozen tulip powder to make them indistinguishable.

He grabbed two Thunder Scale Leopard's cores as planned. Then, his eyes landed on something else, several chunks of whale rubber.

Whale rubber! An extremely useful elixir used mainly used sexual activities by males. But when consumed in higher quantities, it has the ability to increase the cultivation speed. One of the most abused substances in Duoluo Dalu fan-fics. "Don't mind if I do." He stuffed his robe full, forcing Xiaogang to do the same.

"We've got five minutes left. Remember, don't panic and trust the plan"

Xiaogang nodded, staying behind to close the vault door and reset the traps while Xiaotian slipped out first.

Outside, Yu Hou'er and Meng Kong noticed him. Yu Hou'er immediately clutched her chest. "Oh! I remember now! Mom was at the lantern stand!"

The guards looked exasperated. "You made us panic for that?!"

Meng Kong patted one guard's shoulder. "Thank you for your service."

As the guards scolded the two, Xiaotian rushed to the back of the treasury, where Mou San and Si Lin were already waiting with a stretched bedsheet. He grabbed one corner.

Inside, Xiaogang climbed up to the reinforced window bars and slipped through the narrow gap. He jumped, landing safely in the makeshift net.

They immediately scooted away, disappearing into the shadows.

MiSSiON PASSEd!

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