Elder Fang’s companions came to stand protectively in front of him, expressions cold and inscrutable.

The old man, still supporting himself on Lin Jingzhe’s arm, was puzzled by their sudden vigilance. He frowned and looked outside. At that moment, flurry of footsteps came from the hallway leading into the living room, and the four men instantly reached for their waists.

Thankfully, the footsteps belonged to Gao Sheng.

“Jingzhe!” Keeping his voice down, he apprised Lin Jingzhe of the situation. “There’s a group of people outside, they say they’re from the Cultural Relics Association. Zhou Haitang and our classmates are blocking them—hurry up and run!”

Lin Jingzhe frowned. “Why should I run? What’s going on? Take a deep breath and explain slowly.”

“No, we don’t have time to waste, they brought several policemen with them! They say you’re concealing… I don’t remember what it’s called, anyway, that you’re hiding something!”

Lin Jingzhe’s expression darkened—so this was the Jiangs’ plan.

Since the will was impossible to overturn, they simply bypassed it and made an issue of the origin of antiques instead. China’s Cultural Relics Protection Law stipulated that “All cultural relics remaining underground or in the inland waters or territorial seas within the boundaries of the People’s Republic of China are owned by the State.” If someone discovered cultural relics but concealed them or refused to hand them over, the proper government department had the right to collect them on its own accord.

This plan was quite crafty. The law proclaimed that cultural relics could be lawfully inherited, but their owner often had nothing to confirm they were indeed passed down from generation to generation except his or her word.

Lin Jingzhe’s collection of antiques was inherited from his grandfather—this was completely legal. However, who could prove how Jiang Jiping got them in the first place? It was bronzeware, thousands of years old; there were not many relics older than that. The state explicitly prohibited dealing in them. As such, it was not difficult to raise doubts about their provenance.

Nothing like this happened in Lin Jingzhe’s previous life. The Jiangs probably suffered too many setbacks and had no choice but to resort to such a risky move. It was quite likely that the ultimate beneficiary behind the scenes personally muddied the waters to make it easier to fish.

Run? I won’t run. Lin Jingzhe sneered inwardly—him running away now was precisely what these people wanted.

“I’m sorry, it’s just some private contradictions,” Lin Jingzhe said in answer to Elder Fang’s questioning look. He took out the original will and the ownership certificate, and presented them to the old man, briefly explaining the situation. He flashed a quick smile at his suddenly distressed expression. “Anyway, you can rest assured—I didn’t deceive you.”

He politely squeezed between the tall men and indicated to Gao Sheng with his eyes to make way.

Gao Sheng began anxiously, “Jingzhe—”

Lin Jingzhe gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder as he passed but ignored him otherwise. At the same time, his eyes casually passed over Elder Fang’s four companions. It seemed they really were bodyguards.

He saw it clearly—a moment ago, they instinctively reached for their guns.

Did the National Museum’s expert personnel enjoy such a high level of protection in this era? But with them here, the so-called Cultural Relics Association wouldn’t be able to remove the antiques by force.

The seven or eight people from the Cultural Relics Association were arguing with Zhou Haitang and several other members of Class 5. Lin Jingzhe entered the living room just in time to hear one of the men threaten loudly, “You kids, don’t you understand we’re here to investigate an official case?! If you dare obstruct us from doing our duty again, I’ll have you all arrested and charged with the crime of concealing cultural relics too!”

“You’re quite noisy,” Lin Jingzhe said, his lips curled in a faint smile. His voice wasn’t loud, yet achieved the same result as pouring a basin of icy water: everyone fell silent and unconsciously turned to look at him.

He walked towards the uninvited guests with slow, deliberate steps. His emotionless gaze bore into the eyes of their leader until the stocky middle-aged man could bear it no longer and looked away.

The corners of Lin Jingzhe’s mouth twitched. He asked, “The Cultural Relics Association, you say? Dare I ask who you are?”

One of the other men answered: “Be more polite, please! This is our Vice-President Zhou!”

“Vice-President Zhou,” Lin Jingzhe enunciated and nodded, still looking completely unperturbed. “You barged into my house this boldly, I assume you have a search warrant?”

For some reason, Vice-President Zhou’s heart began to palpitate, and the youth’s intimidating aura made him instinctively retreat a step. He looked at the policemen he brought along, seeking help.

The policemen’s leader coughed and stepped forward. “You’re Lin Jingzhe?”

“Yes,” Lin Jingzhe nodded. “If you have no search warrant, please leave.”

The policeman had never expected an ordinary high school student to speak like this, and it inevitably made him angry. His eyebrows furrowed in a fierce frown: “Don’t try to play the fool, Lin Jingzhe. You’re suspected of concealing criminal evidence and might even destroy it if we don’t hurry. As such, it’s an emergency search, and we don’t need the warrant! I hope you can cooperate with our investigation and voluntarily hand over the illegal cultural relics of unknown origin—if we have to recover them by ourselves, you’ll be charged with a crime, not a misdemeanor.”

Lin Jingzhe wasn’t intimidated. He countered: “These cultural relics were passed down by my late grandfather, observing all the formalities. They are by no means what you call illegal. If you want to accuse me, please come up with evidence first.”

“Exactly!”

All of a sudden, an old, deep voice supported the youth’s words. Lin Jingzhe turned and saw Elder Fang coming from the hallway leading to the warehouse, an angry expression on his face and his four bodyguards in tow.

He walked to the front, took Lin Jingzhe’s arm, and placed the young man behind him to protect him, chastising at the same time, “Is this how you manage cultural relics in Qunnan? This’s how Liyun Town’s police handle a case?! Breaking into a citizen’s house in broad daylight, slandering and threatening him?! You’re flouting the law and disregarding all rules! Abusing your authority!”

He was even more imposing than Lin Jinzghe and nearly apoplectic with fury. For a moment, no one dared to stand up to him.

The policemen and the Cultural Relics Association’s members were scolded like naughty little kids. When they finally came back to their senses, they all flew into a rage: “Watch what you say! We’re looking for Lin Jingzhe—people unrelated to the case should leave the scene immediately!”

“I’m unrelated to the case? I am directly related to it.” Elder Fang’s aged face was flushed with anger. He pulled out his credentials and slammed it on the tea table. “I am an expert employed by the National Museum in Yan City. Mr. Lin Jingzhe has already donated the cultural relics under his name to our museum. You want to investigate them? Contact the National Museum!”

He crossed his arms on his chest and glared angrily, waiting for these shameless investigators to understand who he was and back down, tail tucked.

However, things didn’t go as he expected. The policemen’s leader didn’t even glance at the document—the moment he heard the words “the National Museum,” a mocking smile appeared on his face.

“You don’t seem very well informed.” After this cryptic remark, he looked over his shoulder and ordered coldly, “Enough with this nonsense, take him away!”

One of the policemen took out a pair of gleaming silver handcuffs and stepped forward, wanting to catch Lin Jingzhe.

Elder Fang gaped, mouth dropping open with shock. The bodyguards immediately lined up to block the policeman, and Lin Jingzhe’s friends and classmates made an uproar, intending to protect him to the end. The policemen’s leader paled with anger and roared, “You’re openly and forcibly stopping the police from doing their duty! It’s you who flout the law!”

Suddenly, a voice came from behind the open front door. “I could hear your hollering from far away, Deputy Commissioner Liu. Just what made you so angry?”

The man looked in the direction it came from, his furious face becoming even uglier. His eyes darkened. “Deputy Commissioner Deng, why are you here?”

“I received a tip from a concerned passerby, so I came to take a look.” A burly, middle-aged man entered the house. His face was kind-looking and had regular features similar to that of Deng Mai’s. His skin was just as swarthy. Obviously, he was the reinforcements sent by Deng Mai but pretended not to know what was going on. He came into the living room and looked around, his gaze pausing on the handcuffs. However, he only asked with a smile, “Do you intend to arrest that young man, Deputy Commissioner Liu? On what charges?”

Deputy Commissioner Liu straightened to his full height and said as if everything was completely normal, “I’m assisting the comrades from the provincial-level Cultural Relics Association in investigating a case of illegal concealment of cultural relics. The suspect refuses to cooperate and doesn’t intend to confess. This case is rather serious, so I’m going to take him to our bureau and continue investigating.”

“Oh, so it’s like this. You’re such a hard worker.” Deng Mai’s father nodded, then suddenly frowned again. “Huh? But how come I haven’t heard of this case? Since the comrades from the province personally participated in the arrest, were they the ones who approved this investigation? Has the municipality been informed?” 

Deputy Commissioner Liu replied with a fake smile, “The circumstances of this case are special.”

“The circumstances are special.” The other man found a stool and sat down. He repeated this sentence a few times, nodding all the while. Abruptly, the smile on his face disappeared as if it was never there, and he banged his fist on the table, shouting, “Deputy Commissioner Liu! You completely ignored procedure! You have no documents, no proof, nothing at all! You broke into an innocent citizen’s house and arbitrarily ordered his arrest! Is this how you handle cases?!”

Deputy Commissioner Liu clenched his jaw so hard the veins on his forehead stood out. “What are you trying to say, Deputy Commissioner Deng? Are you questioning the orders issued by the province? Besides, we didn’t break into a house of an innocent citizen, but a criminal suspect likely to be concealing rare cultural relics. Don’t twist the facts and try to slander me!”

“Criminal suspect? Do you have any evidence that he has committed a crime?”

“We got an anonymous tip…”

“Anonymous tip!” Deng Mai’s father’s angry roar interrupted Deputy Commissioner Liu’s words. “Where is this tip? I want to see it too!”

Deputy Commissioner Liu said nothing, his expression murderous. He glared at the other man for a long moment then grit his teeth and said with a wave of his hand, “Take Lin Jingzhe away!”

Deng Mai’s father didn’t expect he would dare violate discipline in such a blatant way and suddenly became anxious. “I don’t allow it!”

“I don’t need your consent!” Since the situation escalated to this point, Deputy Commissioner Liu didn’t bother to maintain the superficial friendliness between colleagues anymore. He sneered, “Deputy Commissioner Deng, this is my case, assigned to me by one of the provincial leaders. If you have an opinion, go talk to him.”

He knew that as long as he had done as told, he was bound to enjoy endless benefits. Right now, the position of the PSB commissioner in Liyun Town was vacant, and all his colleagues were competing for it. His own chances were small, but this could change with but a sentence from the provincial leadership.

When he became the commissioner, he would be Deng’s superior. Then, it wouldn’t be him who needed to worry about the animosity between them.

Therefore, he was fearless. The policemen he brought were all his trusted subordinates, obedient and reliable. At his command, they quickly bypassed Elder Fang and plunged into the crowd. Several of them grabbed Lin Jingzhe and held him down.

With this disparity of force, struggling was meaningless. Lin Jingzhe obediently let himself be handcuffed. He shook off the hands trying to push his back while giving their owner a warning look and calmly walked out of the house.

“You dare!!!” Elder Fang watched Lin Jingzhe’s departure, boiling with fury. His face was completely red. He pushed between the bodyguards and hurried into the yard. “You can’t take him!”

“Get out of the way!” Lin Jingzhe was shoved into the police car, which quickly drove off. Since half the matter was over with, Liu’s confidants got bolder. One of them reached out, wanting to push the old man away.

However, before his hand got near Elder Fang, it was grabbed by an iron-like palm. A second later, the palm tightened its grip.

“Aaaaah!”

Everyone at the scene was shocked at the unexpected scream. Furious, Deputy Commissioner Liu reached for the gun on his belt: “You actually dare assault a police officer!”

Click, click, click, click—

A crisp sound of four bullets sliding into gun chambers was the only response to his words. Deputy Commissioner Liu, who had yet to disable the safety on his gun, froze in mid-move.

The four muzzles aiming at him resembled pitch-black pits leading straight into the abyss.

The sweat on his forehead began to flow like a waterfall. Were these guns real?

Deng Mai’s father was equally shocked. He jumped to his feet but did not dare act rashly.

Elder Fang took a few steps back and leaned on the courtyard gate, hand to his chest. After a while, he said quietly, “Put away your guns.”

At this moment, force was the last thing they should use. Once the scene fell into chaos, anything could happen—it would be easy for the mastermind behind the scenes to manipulate the truth. Then, it wouldn’t matter what they said.

The four men were well trained. They instantly put away their guns and moved to Elder Fang’s side, surrounding him and making sure no one had even the sliver of a chance to harm him.

Their cold, menacing gazes scared Deputy Commissioner Liu. Not daring to stay in the front yard, he cautiously retreated to the street, tightly gripping his gun. Then, under the protection of his subordinates, he quickly climbed into the car. “Immediately return to the PSB town headquarters and ask for reinforcements!” He ordered.

Feeling safe at last, he breathed a long sigh of relief and wiped the nervous sweat off his face. He shouted, “Drive faster! We can’t let these criminals escape! This is a major case related to cultural relics,  we need to find out what their purpose is and if there’s someone behind them!”

He had a hunch this really was a big criminal case. If he could solve it, it would definitely be a great achievement to his name. And he would complete the task entrusted to him by the provincial leader at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.

When he thought of his confrontation with the gang of criminals, he was proud of his quick thinking and decisiveness.

That furious old man seems to be their leader. He even took out very authentic-looking credentials saying he’s an expert from the museum—obviously, he’s a very experienced swindler.

But this old swindler must’ve never thought the delegation from the National Museum, which he used as a cover, arrived in Liyun Town today. The Party Secretary and other important leaders personally received their members, and now, they’re enjoying a grand reception in some luxurious club.

He watched the roadside trees flash outside the car window and couldn’t help but start humming. He thought, You can make a most meticulous plan, but in the end, man proposes and the heavens dispose!