Chapter 317: A Wine Thief in the Temple

That evening, Ning Fei was using the honey Cui Feng had sent over to make honey apple roast chicken.

His masterful culinary skills left the netizens incredibly envious. Looking at that tender, glistening golden-brown chicken, everyone felt their mouths watering.

Ning Fei was in a good mood, so he thought about heading to the storehouse to fetch some grain wine to drink.

Qingfeng Temple was entirely self-sufficient. The storehouse held reserves of pickled vegetables, brewed wine, and dried tea leaves, among other things.

This time, however, the moment Ning Fei stepped into the storehouse, the rich aroma of wine wafted against his face.

His expression changed slightly as he carefully surveyed the room.

A jar of wine had been knocked over. It was completely empty, and though the spilled wine on the ground had already dried, a strong scent of alcohol lingered in the air.

"What happened?"

Ning Fei looked at the wine jar, feeling a little puzzled.

"Little Dog."

At this moment, the very first suspect that sprang to Ning Fei's mind was the foolishly endearing Little Dog.

The drone was currently live-streaming, allowing the netizens to see the situation in the storehouse as well.

"It's over, Little Dog is in trouble."

"If it doesn't tear down the house, can you even call it raising a dog?"

"Generally, rural dogs don't tear down houses; it's mostly Huskies that are intense about it."

"Little Dog is always getting into trouble."

Hearing Ning Fei's call, Little Dog came trotting over eagerly.

As Little Dog stood at the doorway of the storehouse, Ning Fei pointed at the wine jar and asked, "Did you sneak in here to play again?"

The storehouse was full of grain reserves, so Ning Fei didn't allow the little guys inside, and they usually stayed out.

Only Little Dog was a likely exception.

"Woof, woof!"

Standing at the door, Little Dog craned its neck and barked twice to declare its innocence.

"You're saying it wasn't you?"

The confusion between Ning Fei's brows deepened.

Seeing this scene, the netizens found Little Dog amusing and chimed in:

"Haha, Little Dog still refuses to admit it."

"This dog is incredible. Its acting is better than some celebrities."

"Look at Little Dog's righteous indignation; it's as if it really didn't do it."

At this time, Ning Fei said, "Little Dog says it wasn't the one who knocked over the wine jar. What it says should be true."

"Little Dog is very interesting. When it hasn't done something, it will argue its innocence with complete confidence."

"But when it actually does something wrong, it will look aggrieved and act evasive while refusing to confess."

Thinking of this, Ning Fei decided to give the netizens a demonstration.

He fetched a somewhat torn and chewed-up cotton slipper from outside, called Little Dog over again, held up the slipper, and asked:

"Little Dog, who chewed on my slipper?"

At this moment, the viewers witnessed an entertaining scene.

Little Dog didn't bark like it just had. It didn't even lift its head. Instead, it kept its head low, pretending to look elsewhere, while secretly sneaking glances at Ning Fei—the very picture of a guilty conscience.

"You all see that, right? This expression and these movements prove that it was definitely the culprit this time."

Hearing Ning Fei's explanation, the netizens burst out laughing.

"What bad intentions could Little Dog possibly have?"

"Cunning human, you've completely figured out this doggo's tricks."

"We were just saying this dog had great acting skills. Turns out it has absolutely zero acting skills."

Ning Fei extended the cotton slipper and let Little Dog take it in its mouth. Little Dog grabbed it in disbelief, then immediately scampered off to the side, aggressively shaking its head and playing as if it had a deep-seated blood feud with the slipper.

Ning Fei, however, was puzzling over something else entirely.

If Little Dog wasn't the one who knocked over the wine jar, then who was it?

Ning Fei looked toward the other little guys: Little Fei, Little Fox, the Three Black Chirps, Little falcon, and Xiao Feng.

After glancing around, Ning Fei couldn't pin down a suspect.

"The wine jar in the storehouse was knocked over."

"Judging from the dried traces of wine, it was probably knocked over last night. The method of the crime is unknown, but it definitely wasn't a human."

"It could be one of the little guys in Qingfeng Temple, or it could be a wild animal from outside that snuck in."

Ning Fei returned to the storehouse while the drone broadcast the scene of the knocked-over wine jar.

"What's with this atmosphere? Why do I feel like I've tuned into a suspenseful detective stream again?"

"Do you guys think it could be some invisible entity that knocked over the jar?"

"Don't scare me, that's way too spooky."

"I'm guessing it's Little Fox. She seems to really like drinking. Last time they opened the Monkey Wine, they gave her some and she was very happy."

"Definitely not. First, Little Fox is very well-behaved. Second, Little Fox loves eating fruit, which is why she loves Monkey Wine. The jar that got knocked over was grain wine, so it absolutely wasn't Little Fox."

"It couldn't be the three little Heijiu either. The most likely suspects are the birds."

The netizens turned into master detectives, each throwing out their own theories.

Ning Fei looked over the courtyard's layout. A security camera was mounted on a corner wall, providing a view of the overall area. However, the storehouse side was perfectly obscured by the Three Purities Hall, making it impossible to see who had entered the door.

"Temple Master Ning, could it be a rat?"

Someone else asked.

Ning Fei glanced at the bullet screen and saw that everyone was buzzing with discussion.

He replied, "It can't be a rat. Even though there are quite a lot of rats on the mountain, for some special reasons, rats never enter Qingfeng Temple."

He wasn't willing to elaborate on the reason, as it involved matters that weren't very scientific.

When he was young, Bai Yuanche had told him that for many, many years, not a single rat had ever appeared in Qingfeng Temple.

It seemed to be because something was buried beneath the Three Purities Hall.

"I'm guessing it must be some small animal from the mountains. A wild cat, a weasel, a squirrel—these are all possibilities."

Ning Fei shared his own thoughts.

"Since I still have some time, I figure this wine thief might visit again tonight."

"So, I'll set up a few traps and wait for it."

Ning Fei was already skilled at woodworking and had an understanding of mechanisms. Crafting a rat trap was naturally a simple task for him.

He gathered some wood and assembled several simple seesaw traps.

The so-called seesaw trap featured a downward-tilted seesaw board at the entrance of a closed container. When a rat or other animal climbed up the board and into the container, its weight would cause the seesaw to tip upward. A small wooden stick would then prop against the seesaw, completely sealing the entrance shut.

Ning Fei placed a few of these traps on the storehouse floor, planning to check the results the following morning.

The netizens found this entire operation quite fascinating to watch.

In the storehouse footage broadcast by the drone, five or six traps had been laid out, covering virtually every path that led to the wine jars.

"Monster, do you recognize this formation?!"

"With a setup like this, I'm afraid even a rat spirit wouldn't be able to escape."

"Sitting tight and waiting for the results tomorrow morning."

"Hahaha, we're catching a wine thief!"

"Temple Master Ning, please start the stream earlier tomorrow morning, or at least keep the scene untouched!"

The netizens were highly intrigued, wanting to see exactly what could be caught over the course of a single night.

Ning Fei was also brimming with confidence.

The next day, the chirping of Little Fei rang through Qingfeng Temple.

It was another clear, sunny morning.

Ning Fei woke up from his slumber. After washing up, the very first thing he did was head to the storehouse to check on the spoils of war.

He firmly believed that the Grand Thief-Catching Formation he set up last night would definitely yield a harvest.

However, when Ning Fei arrived at the storehouse, a trace of astonishment surfaced on his face.

Inside the room, all the traps remained completely untouched—yet another jar of wine had been opened, clearly disturbed by something!

"What happened?"

Ning Fei carefully inspected every single trap.

He confirmed that not one of the traps had caught the wine thief.

"Good heavens."

Ning Fei shook his head and chuckled helplessly.

"It seems this wine thief possesses quite a high intellect. It's actually pretty smart."

"I'll have to change tactics."