A Replacement Bride

Chapter 392

Chapter 391 Crate

Joaquin looked up and understood what she was trying to say. "So, you mean he hid it on the roof?"

Katherine still looked at the roof intently, and she answered, "Yep. He did tell us it's hidden here, so it must be here. If it's not on the ground, and if there's no compartment, then that leaves us with the roof." She pointed up. "Look at the beams. Some of them are abnormally huge."

The ancestral hall was built a long time ago, and nobody ever refurbished it, so the style of the original building remained. It felt like a house straight out of an ancient era. The beams that held this place up crossed each other a lot. Every beam was wide, and some abnormally so.

Something in Joaquin's eyes glinted, and he got something. "So, you think your grandfather hid it on the beams?"

Katherine nodded. "On the beams, or… inside the beams."

Joaquin paused for a moment, then he realized what she was talking about. A moment of silence later, he nodded. "True. These beams are wide, and they do look like hidden compartments. The entrance might be on the beams."

Katherine smiled. "Yeah. Most people would only think to look through the obvious places, so they tend to overlook the roof. Grandpa must have considered that and hid the stuff in the beam. It's possible. Very possible," she said confidently, and then she thought that was true.

Joaquin looked into her beautiful eyes and smiled as his eyebrow arched. Delighted, he said, "It's good enough that you can think so far, Kat."

The praise made Katherine blush, and she smacked him. "Not the time to joke around. We need to find a way to reach the beams."

Joaquin smiled and shrugged. "Easy. Give me two chairs. I'm tall enough to reach them."

He just loves to praise himself every chance he gets. She rolled his eyes and tried to get some chairs for him, but there was only one around. She gave it some thought and looked at the little table where a censer stood. She thought, Sorry to disturb you, ancestors, but I need this. She moved the censer away and took the table over. With her help, Joaquin stood on the stacked table and chair. They pointed at one beam. "Let's check this one out."

There was nothing there, but they didn't give up. They went on to the next beam and found a hidden door on the third beam. Katherine couldn't see what was going on, but when Joaquin stopped moving, she asked, "So, can you open it?"

Joaquin shook his head. The hidden door was covered in dust, so he wiped it away and said, "There's a lock here."

Katherine frowned. "A lock?" I don't remember there being a key.

Reminded of something, Joaquin said, "Remember that key in your Grandma's wooden box?"

Among Jennifer's belongings was a small key that couldn't unlock anything. Katherine thought Jennifer left it there because she had forgotten about this thing's existence, yet she kept it around just in case there might be a need for it, and now Joaquin thought the key must have something to do with this contraption.

Katherine quickly rummaged through her pocket. "I bring it around with me. This can be the lock."

"Toss it to me and we'll find out." Joaquin extended his hand and grabbed the key she tossed. To their surprise, the lock opened. It was old and rusty, so it was hard to take away, but it did open. Joaquin smiled and cocked his eyebrow. "Good thing you had it on you, or we'd have come all the way for nothing." Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

Excited, Katherine said, "Come on, just take the stuff. I want to see what Grandpa's been hiding all this time."

Joaquin leaned into the compartment, but when he saw what was inside, his face turned solemn.

His silence piqued Katherine's curiosity, and she quickly asked, "Why aren't you moving? Come on, take the stuff already."

Joaquin said nothing. He stared at the item in silence for a moment before he took it out. To be precise, he was holding it in his arms. The thing hidden within was a big crate. Katherine took over with difficulty and placed it on the ground, then she circled the crate. "What is this thing? And what's that pattern on the crate?"

Joaquin came down from the chair and stepped on the ground, staring at the box solemnly. "It means top secret," he said. A moment later, he continued, "This crate is used to store weapons." Living in Area Seven all his life gave Joaquin the opportunity to check out everything in the armory. He had seen crates like this before.

Surprised, Katherine asked, "So you're saying there's a weapon inside this crate?"

Joaquin shook his head. "Not necessarily, but highly probable. Your grandfather went through a lot to hide this thing. It'd be a waste to hide anything other than a weapon." The crate was made with special components. It was waterproof, fireproof, and pressure-proof.

Katherine looked at Joaquin and turned her attention to the crate. A while later, she took a deep breath. "There's only one way to find out what's inside. There's a passcode. Probably the same one as the safe box in Regal Summit Bank. They're nine numbers."

"Yeah." Joaquin nodded. "You do the honors."

Katherine didn't say no. She crouched and touched the crate, then she pressed on the keypad. When she pressed the ninth number, a green light lit up, a beeping sound rang across the air, and the crate was unlocked.