Time came to the next day. Li Qian was busy making thorough preparations for tonight’s appointment, completely unaware that several other major events would occur today.

Early in the morning, at a train station in a city two hundred kilometers away from San Jiang Kou, a group of about ten people appeared. Each wore worn jackets and held onto a half-person-high black enormous suitcase. This group came to the entrance, showed their tickets and ID cards, then lifted their suitcases one by one onto the security scanner. Their suitcases were clearly very heavy—each person grunted with effort, holding their breath as they lifted them up.

The security inspector behind the scanner saw through the computer screen that the contents of the suitcases appeared abnormal. Following professional instinct, he quietly called over a nearby security guard to look together. After glancing at it a few times, the security guard immediately went behind the security gate and raised his hand to stop the group: “Take down the suitcases and open them for inspection.”

These people showed no panic whatsoever. The leading tall, thin man had his companions all pick up their suitcases and open them for the inspector to see.

“Cultural relics?” The security inspector was astonished.

All the suitcases were stuffed full of various cultural relics—large items like vases, bronze mirrors, Buddha statues, wood carvings, stone sculptures, and dinosaur fossils. There were even more small items: bags of silver dollars, strings of copper coins—everything imaginable.

Looking at ten suitcases lined up, all filled with cultural relics, other travelers couldn’t help but curiously stop in their tracks and gather to watch.

The leading man grinned and casually picked up a porcelain bowl from a black cloth bag, handing it to the security inspector: “Official kiln from the Ming Chenghua period.”

Everyone looked carefully and indeed it was an official kiln from the Ming Chenghua period, because the bottom of the bowl was engraved with: “Great Ming Chenghua, Official Kiln.”

“One hundred yuan, want to take one to play with?” The man started doing business.

The onlooking crowd couldn’t help but suppress their laughter.

The security inspector, still uneasy, went to look at items in the other suitcases. Although he didn’t understand cultural relics, he still had some ability to distinguish head-sized Hetian jade and fist-sized amber. After looking at a few items, he also let down his guard and asked: “What do you people do?”

The leading man answered frankly: “We acquired some cultural relics from our hometown to sell across the country, earning some hard-earned money.”

“These are also cultural relics?” The security inspector joked.

“Little brother, see through but don’t say through—this trade has its own rules.”

The security inspector waved his hand: “Go on, go on, so many people are still queuing behind you.”

The man smiled, called his companions to close the suitcases, and walked into the station.

On the north side of San Jiang Kou, beside a river channel, stood an estate villa. The estate occupied fifteen acres, with walls six to seven meters high standing on three sides. The north side facing the river was planted with landscaping barrier trees, wrapping the entire estate within. The front of the estate had a metal retractable gate equally six to seven meters high, with no signs or address outside the gate. Inside the gate on the right was a security room, where several tall security guards in uniforms were on duty. In the center of the estate stood a large villa, with parking lots on both sides of the villa, where multiple luxury cars were parked. Behind the villa was another security room, which also housed multiple security guards. Security surveillance cameras were installed inside and outside the surrounding walls, showing that the estate’s security was extremely complete.

This was precisely the luxurious mansion residence of San Jiang Kou’s wealthiest man, Zhou Rong. At this moment, Zhou Rong, Hu Jianren, and the Lang Bowen brothers were all in the villa. Besides them, there were also several personnel from Zhou Rong’s company security department, who were also Zhou Rong’s bodyguards.

Two hours earlier, Hu Jianren had received notification from Zhu Yifei’s subordinates that Zhu Yifei wanted to meet with Zhou Rong today. At that time, Zhou Rong was handling affairs at the company. After receiving the message, he didn’t want to bring this gang of cultural relic traffickers to the company, so he arranged to meet at home, then also called the Lang Bowen brothers to accompany him. After all, the other party was true underworld—Zhou Rong felt more secure having a few more people.

Several people chatted about this transaction and looked at the time. It had already passed the agreed meeting time. Lang Bowen couldn’t help but say angrily: “Brother Rong, what’s your status, and what level is this Zhu fellow? He says to meet and we meet—accommodating him once is already generous enough. But the time has passed, we haven’t seen a shadow of him, and there’s no phone call explanation. What does this mean? This is a business deal worth tens of millions, and he’s so dishonest—what kind of thing is he!”

Zhou Rong smiled, not taking it seriously: “I guess this Zhu Yifei is probably already nearby. He’s hiding in the shadows observing and testing us. People in their line of work face great risks—being cautious is appropriate. Don’t give him attitude later either. This Zhu Yifei’s methods are quite extraordinary.”

Younger brother Lang Botu asked: “Brother Rong, why do you say that?”

Hu Jianren explained from the side: “Just now when I arranged to meet them here, I was about to tell them the address when they said they knew the address and told us to get here as soon as possible.”

Younger brother Lang Botu immediately understood: “They’ve been watching Brother Rong all along?”

Zhou Rong nodded: “Zhu Yifei said he would enter the country and come to San Jiang Kou to meet as soon as possible. I guess he arrived several days ago but hasn’t shown himself because he’s been secretly investigating us. After confirming it was safe, he came to talk business with me. Look, when he called, he not only knew the address here but also knew I wasn’t home, which means he’s been watching me all along. But I never noticed, which shows this Zhu Yifei has some methods. That’s why I called you all here—after all, this is my first time dealing with a real underworld boss.”

Younger brother Lang Botu’s gaze swept over the several security team members behind Zhou Rong. Each was tall and robust, with a bear-like back and waist. Only a lean man stood to the side, not tall, with a calm expression, appearing quite unremarkable in comparison. However, Lang Botu looked at this man for several seconds and smiled: “Brother Rong, Director Zhang is also here, so there’s no need to worry about Zhu Yifei daring to play any tricks.”

This lean man was named Zhang Debing, the general manager of Rongcheng Group’s security department, deeply trusted by Zhou Rong. Hearing Lang Botu say this, he only smiled politely and said nothing.

“I’m just being cautious, which is why I had Little Zhang bring a few more people.” Zhou Rong explained, “Zhu Yifei isn’t doing ordinary cultural relic trading—he does big business. His subordinates aren’t easy people. Do you know Liu Bei?”

Younger brother Lang Botu shook his head. Lang Bowen interjected: “Is he the fugitive who killed a police officer?”

“Right. This time through some channels, we contacted Zhu Yifei, and he brought Liu Bei as the transaction middleman. If even a middleman has killed police officers, Zhu Yifei’s subordinates are probably even more formidable. I need to be careful.” He glanced back at Zhang Debing, who smiled and nodded slightly, as if saying, with me here, boss can rest assured.

After waiting a while longer, the villa butler came in to report that a car had arrived at the gate, and the people in the car said they had an appointment with the boss.

Zhou Rong immediately had the butler let the car in, then stood up with everyone and walked to the parking lot on the side of the villa to greet them.

The arriving vehicle was an ordinary silver small car worth tens of thousands, neither new nor old, very unremarkable.

The driver who got out was also a man who looked utterly ordinary, in his thirties, with drooping small eyes, dressed simply. After getting out, he walked to the rear door, opened the car door, and out stepped a man in his forties wearing casual clothes with a striking presence.

Zhou Rong walked to the side of the man with striking presence, grasped his hand, and warmly exchanged pleasantries: “Boss Zhu, is this your first time in San Jiang Kou? Are you getting used to it here?”

Who would have known that the man with the striking presence withdrew his hand, smiled, and walked behind the driver. The driver suddenly straightened his body, raised his head, extended his hand to grasp Zhou Rong’s, and laughed: “Boss Zhou, you’ve been well!”

“You’re Boss Zhu?” Zhou Rong was stunned, looking at the driver.

“Haha…” The driver laughed heartily, “Even Boss Zhou didn’t expect I was a driver. How could the mainland police figure out my whereabouts?”

“Hiding in plain sight!” Zhou Rong couldn’t help but sigh, “Boss Zhu’s methods are truly extraordinary!”

Everyone laughed along.

At this moment, the driver revealed a strange smile and stepped aside. The man with the striking presence from earlier stepped forward again, laughing loudly: “Boss Zhou, I just played a little joke with you. I’m Zhu Yifei—pleased to meet you! He’s my most trusted little brother, just call him Little Zheng.”

Zhu Yifei’s face was filled with pride, his expression saying, which one is really me, you can’t tell, right!

Zhou Rong nodded repeatedly, and everyone followed along, praising how Zhu Yifei mixed truth and falsehood, falsehood and truth, combining the two deception strategies of hiding in plain sight and the prince-and-pauper switch into one—this was a true master’s disguise technique! Actually, they were all cursing him in their hearts as a complete lunatic.

After simple pleasantries, Zhu Yifei and his subordinate Little Zheng looked around Zhou Rong’s entire estate. The man called Little Zheng had particularly alert triangular eyes, carefully scrutinizing everyone present, the vehicles in the parking lot, and all of Zhou Rong’s people.

Zhou Rong felt very uncomfortable being stared at by Little Zheng for such a long time. He coughed and invited Zhu Yifei inside to talk in detail. The two then walked toward the villa like leaders of large and small nations—one side followed by many attendants, the other side with only one attendant.

After entering and taking seats, after a few brief greetings, Zhu Yifei got straight to the point: “Boss Zhou surely knows my situation—I’m not convenient to show my face publicly, especially on the mainland. This time, firstly because Boss Zhou personally wanted to buy goods, it would be too disrespectful if I didn’t come. Secondly, such a big business deal—I couldn’t feel at ease entrusting it entirely to others. I’ll stay in San Jiang Kou for about two or three days. We’ll complete the transaction during this time. As for the price and transaction process, they’ve already been agreed upon with Manager Hu. No problem?”

“No problem.” Zhou Rong’s answer was very straightforward.

Zhu Yifei had previously sent over detailed photos of the bronze bells. Zhou Rong had someone from a museum expert verify their authenticity, and he also had someone show the photos to Fang Yong, who was satisfied. As for the price, there were very few market transactions for bronze bell cultural relics, so there was no standard. Five or six years ago, an overseas auction house auctioned a set for one hundred fifty million. The set in Zhu Yifei’s hands was smaller in scale than that set, and it was unregistered cultural relics that couldn’t be made public, so after negotiation, both sides settled on a price of thirty million. Zhu Yifei required that on the day of meeting, Zhou Rong prepare one million US dollars in cash, and he would produce the number nine small bronze bell—this was to confirm Zhou Rong’s sincerity in buying the goods. If everything went smoothly, the next day Zhu Yifei would arrange a transaction for the remaining eight bronze bells all at once.

“Is the deposit ready?”

Zhou Rong glanced at Zhang Debing, who walked into Zhou Rong’s study. After a while, he came out with a bag containing exactly one million US dollars, neatly arranged. Zhu Yifei took the money and inspected it—no markings, no abnormalities. He nodded with satisfaction, turned to glance at Little Zheng, who walked out of the villa to the parking lot, took out a medium-sized suitcase from his car, dragged the suitcase back to the villa, and placed the case on the table.

After opening the suitcase, it was filled with various clothing items, looking just like an ordinary business trip travel case. Little Zheng removed several stacks of clothes and miscellaneous items and placed them to the side of the table, revealing the entire empty suitcase. He reached out and forcefully pressed a small round button on the inside edge of the suitcase, and the bottom surface of the suitcase automatically contracted to half, revealing a hidden compartment at the bottom. Little Zheng neatly laid the stacks of US dollars in the hidden compartment, then pressed the small button again. The bottom surface slowly closed together, fitting seamlessly—you couldn’t tell there was another layer at all.

Everyone was dumbfounded looking at Zhu Yifei’s suitcase. They had only seen such things in movies before, never imagining that these underworld people were truly this cautious in their methods.

Zhu Yifei looked at their expressions and smiled proudly: “The suitcase has other internal and external designs too—when going through security, they won’t see the shape of money inside.”

Little Zheng put the clothes and miscellaneous items back in the suitcase, closed it, took it to the ground, and dragged it into his own hands. Zhu Yifei looked at his watch and stood up, saying: “Boss Zhu, I’ll leave first. Someone will naturally deliver the goods in half an hour.”

Zhou Rong’s brow furrowed: “Then please, Boss Zhu, stay another half hour.”

Zhu Yifei turned back: “You don’t trust me?”

“I haven’t seen the goods yet.”

A trace of anger flashed across Zhu Yifei’s face: “Boss Zhou, goods are never traded in my presence. This is my rule—please understand.”

Zhou Rong also stood up and said straightforwardly: “One million US dollars isn’t a small amount. This is our first cooperation—simultaneous exchange of money and goods is a guarantee for both sides.”

As he spoke, Zhang Debing and two subordinates walked to the villa entrance and stood there motionless. Little Zheng’s left hand dragged the suitcase while his right hand slowly inserted into his pocket. The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Zhang Debing stared at Little Zheng’s triangular eyes and suddenly spoke up: “Brother, is your surname Huo?”

Little Zheng’s expression immediately changed. Zhu Yifei’s face also darkened. After a second, he suddenly laughed: “Then I’ll make an exception this time and wait for the delivery. Little Zheng!”

As he spoke, Zhu Yifei walked back to the sofa and sat down. Huo Zheng’s right hand slowly relaxed, and he returned to Zhu Yifei’s side without saying a word.

Although the two sides didn’t have a direct conflict, the tense sword-drawn atmosphere just now made the scene feel somewhat oppressive. At this time, Lang Bowen, to ease the atmosphere, smiled and took out three cards from his pocket and handed them to Zhu Yifei.

Zhu Yifei took them and saw they were three stored-value cards for Maple Forest Evening Hotel, with the face value written as ten thousand. He asked puzzled: “What’s this?”

“Boss Zhu and your brothers surely arranged your accommodations freely and don’t need us to worry about it. Take these three cards—there’s a spa club on the third floor of Maple Forest Evening Hotel. If you’re interested, have your little brothers go there and find a manager surnamed Zhou. She’ll help you arrange things. Relax a bit and try San Jiang Kou’s services.”

Zhu Yifei smiled and handed them to Huo Zheng behind him, having him keep them. Of course they wouldn’t really go, but since the other party was being kind to ease the atmosphere, they couldn’t refuse and make them lose face.

Afterward, both sides began simple chatting and communication. They talked for a full half hour or more, but still no one delivering goods showed up, and both sides gradually ran out of things to talk about.

At this time, Huo Zheng received a phone call. After a moment, his expression became gloomy. After hanging up, he walked to Zhu Yifei’s side and whispered a few words. Zhu Yifei’s expression also immediately changed drastically.

After a few seconds, Zhu Yifei took a deep breath, turned to Zhou Rong and said: “There was a small malfunction during the transportation of the goods. Boss Zhou, you keep the money for now. I’ll contact you after I handle this.”

Zhou Rong’s eyes narrowed slightly, alert: “What kind of problem occurred?”

“Just a small matter, nothing to worry about. Farewell.” He turned and took the suitcase from Huo Zheng’s hand, placed the case back on the table, then left hastily with Huo Zheng.

After seeing the two off, everyone returned to the room. Lang Bowen immediately said: “This is definitely a scam!”

Younger brother Lang Botu also said: “Brother Rong, this business deal requires caution. Looking at their appearance, something definitely went wrong. Don’t let buying and selling excavated cultural relics implicate you.”

Zhou Rong pondered and turned to Zhang Debing: “What’s your take?”

“I can’t understand this Zhu fellow’s schemes, but that Little Zheng he brought—I can probably guess his identity.”

“What does he do?”

“This person is called Huo Zheng, nicknamed Huoxiang Zhengqi Water. He used to be a professional killer with several lives on his hands, always wanted by the police. I don’t know how he ended up under this Zhu fellow. I think we should slow down on this transaction.”

Zhou Rong listened to everyone’s opinions and nodded to himself. Better not to end up in prison for buying excavated cultural relics before even giving Fang Yong his gift. Put the transaction aside for now—tonight, have a good time enjoying himself with that girl called Li Qian.

“Damn bastard!” Back in a hotel suite, Zhu Yifei directly threw the mineral water bottle in his hand at the head of a man kneeling on the ground, rushed up and started kicking viciously: “That bastard Liu Bei took the number nine bronze bell, and none of you damn people have eyes!”

Behind the man kneeling on the ground stood seven or eight men in worn jackets, all fearfully bowing their heads. The man on the ground trembled all over explaining: “We each had a suitcase. When exiting the station, we still saw Liu Bei, but after coming out, when I counted people, he was gone. Little Hu said he escaped under the excuse of buying cigarettes, and calling his phone, it’s turned off.”

“Why would he steal the bronze bell?”

“I don’t know.”

“Bastard! That bastard Liu Bei!” Zhu Yifei paced back and forth in anger, then pointed at the man on the ground questioning: “Tell me what to do about this!”

“I’ll get the number nine bronze bell back.”

“What if you can’t get it back?”

“I… I think, the other eight are all here. Missing number nine, the smallest one, the loss should be… controllable.”

“Controllable loss! Screw you!” Zhu Yifei kicked him down again with another foot, “Nine is a complete set. Missing one means it’s not a set anymore. Who am I supposed to sell it to? Damn it, a pair of ten-thousand-yuan shoes—you lost me one shoe. Who am I supposed to sell this remaining one to? You want it!”

Zhu Yifei was so angry he was about to strike again when Huo Zheng quickly stepped forward to hold him back, persuading: “Brother Fei, the situation might still be salvageable.”

“What do you mean?”

“You had me install small positioning devices in each suitcase’s hidden compartment precisely to guard against accidents. I just checked—the position is moving. Liu Bei doesn’t know there’s a positioning device in the suitcase.”

Zhu Yifei bit his lip thinking for a few seconds, his eyes turning cold: “Get the thing back, eliminate the person!” Huo Zheng answered decisively: “Alright!”