“Why the hurry?” Jian Jing smiled and took his arm. “Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me?”
Si She lowered his head and saw a tube of lipstick under his armpit.
At such a close distance, a 4.5mm caliber could also kill someone. He sighed, “Okay, of course.”
Jian Jing smiled as if she was having a romantic encounter. She directly took him to a hotel suite next to the pier.
“What did we talk about the last time we met?” As soon as she closed the door, she started questioning him right away.
Si She: “Cough, what?”
Jian Jing sneered coldly: “I was lenient with you and did not expose you publicly as the one who stole the bronze head. Did you think I was stupid and didn’t guess it was you?”
“Why do you think it was me?” he retorted.
She said: “You were not in the room at the time. What you said earlier about hearing footsteps was just your guess. You had been suspecting Wu Ma all this time. You took this chance to imply things to me, but you were too reckless. I spoke with someone and you didn’t hear it.”
“Cough, is that so?”
“The surveillance in the lobby malfunctioned. The staff hurried over almost immediately. How did the thief leave?” Jian Jing revealed the missing piece and completed the last part of the puzzle. “The answer is, he didn’t leave at all. Because at that time, you thought I went over alone, but in fact, you were one of the fainted bodyguards.”
Si She smiled.
“You disguised yourself as a bodyguard. Perhaps you and Wu Ma had the same plan, but didn’t expect someone else to do the job for you. So you took advantage of the situation and pretended to faint, but actually hid the bronze head after I left. Then you exited from the corridor next to the auction room. That wasn’t difficult for you at all, right?”
Si She said, “It seems that when you don’t have a firm grasp on something, it’s better to do less, otherwise loopholes may be revealed.”
“At first, I couldn’t be sure there was something wrong with you either. I asked around and heard that recently someone was investigating overseas cultural relics,” Jian Jing said. “Of course, this could only confirm that you were on the red side. I still had some doubts. After all, it’s not easy to disguise oneself as a bodyguard. It requires professional knowledge.”
She enunciated the last few words very clearly.
“What a coincidence. I happen to know someone who is skilled in facial modification and disguise. So...” She dragged out her voice. “I extracted fingerprints from the glass.”
Si She paused, recalling the glass of water she handed to him.
“Someone gave me a flower before. I kept it very well and extracted fingerprints from it,” Jian Jing looked into his eyes. “What do you guess?”
“No need to guess,” Si She said. “Since you didn’t explain it clearly in public, I knew you must have guessed it.”
As he spoke, he took off his mask, pushed away the adhesive layer along his hairline, and peeled off several pieces of silicone, some slightly thicker to change the position of his cheekbones, some as thin as face masks, like double eyelid stickers. Finally he took out something like dental braces from his mouth that completely altered the contours of his lower face.
As soon as these props were gone, his facial features changed dramatically. His eyebrows and eyes were now infinitely close to Zong Xunmei.
Jian Jing asked, “Just who exactly are you?”
“A law-abiding taxpayer.” He smiled. “Who did you think I was?”
“You’re involved in too much,” Jian Jing said.
Whether it was law enforcement or other agencies, none had such a wide scope. But look at this guy, he just pops up out of nowhere and is always sneaky.
“My company has a lot of business. I can’t help it,” he shrugged. A thin crack opened up at his temple, revealing yet another layer of disguise.
Jian Jing responded indifferently, “So what business brings you here this time?”
“The bronze head,” Zong Ye nodded at her suitcase. “It’s in there, right?”
“So you suspect me too.” Jian Jing was both angry and amused. She took the initiative to open the box. “See, is it there?”
Inside were clothes, cosmetics and lots of snacks.
There was a fleeting color change in Zong Ye’s eyes before he fell silent in contemplation.
“You seem very disappointed. Without me, you would still mistake fish eyes for pearls,” she said playfully, fiddling with the deadly kiss in her hand. “Right?”
Zong Ye smiled and asked, “So how should I thank you?”
Jian Jing: “Can you teach me your facial modification skills? I can pay.”
“No, that’s not something ordinary people can learn,” he said.
Jian Jing was frustrated for a moment. She had just drawn another card but didn’t get facial modification. She only got a [Skill Card - Voice Changing (Basic Level)].
[Name: Skill Card - Voice Changing (Basic Level)]
[Description: Can achieve simple voice changing effects by changing the way of speaking. Each use cannot be too long to avoid damaging the vocal cords]
[Note: No props needed. Life full of changes]
Zong Ye smiled and asked, “Why do you want facial modification so much? What are you planning to do?”
“I'm definitely not going to rob a bank or anything.” She retorted indifferently.
“Angry? Tell me where the bronze head is. I'll owe you a favor, okay?” he negotiated.
Jian Jing spread her hands, “I really don't know where the bronze head is. Maybe only the deceased himself knew.”
“Miss Jian, don’t fool me. Since Zi Shu was willing to commit suicide but still left the bronze head behind, he must not have been able to bear letting it sink to the bottom of the sea indefinitely without seeing the light of day. He must have left some clues,” Zong Ye reminded. “Without me, you couldn't have locked onto Wu Ma and Xu Gou so quickly, right?”
Jian Jing considered it and blinked, “I can give you a hint, but in exchange, I want to see your true face from Mount Lu.”
“Why?”
“Just curious.”
There was no other reason. She just wanted to see what this fox spirit really looked like.
Zong Ye weighed it briefly and smiled, “Deal.”
“Show me first before I’ll tell you.”
“Okay.” In fact, this was no big deal to Zong Ye. He just found it a bit interesting. “I’ll go wash my face.”
The bathrooms in the hotel were made of transparent glass. Jian Jing was not worried that he would play any tricks.
The makeup removal process was very quick and no different from her usual routine, except for the products used. What he washed off was not just foundation, but some thin, transparent fragments. She didn’t know how they were affixed in order to magically transform his facial features like that.
Finally, all the messy stuff was removed. He scooped water onto his face and wiped away the droplets.
“Done.” He dried his face and smiled. “There’s not much difference from when you first saw me, right?”
Jian Jing: “...”
Indeed, his current face was seventy to eighty percent similar to “Zong Xunmei”, shockingly handsome as before. But no matter how similar the facial features, a slight difference was enough to greatly alter the temperament.
Zong Xunmei was a male fox spirit. His every move exuded pheromones, living up to his name as a beauty. But at this moment, it was the other character in his name that manifested instead - “wild”.
Beauty yet wildly savage, like a leopard on the African grasslands, a nimble and dangerous big cat, as aesthetically stunning as a fox, yet life-threatening at any moment.
The thrill of hovering at the edge of a cliff, the magnificence of God's creations, were species that ambitious humans wanted to conquer.
Dangerous beauty was a different flavor from seductive beauty.
“It’s your turn now,” he gently urged her to fulfill her promise, leaning against the glass door.
Jian Jing came to her senses and was very cautious. “How do I know this is real for sure?”
“You can pinch and feel,” Zong Ye walked over amiably and lowered his head to indicate she was welcome to touch.
Adhering to the spirit of seeking truth from facts through practice, Jian Jing gave his face a pinch. It felt real, the skin was smooth, and there was no deformation anywhere. It was made of genuine flesh and blood.
“Okay.” She kept her word and gave him three clues. “First, the bronze head is not on the yacht. Second, the bronze head is not in the sea. Third, the bronze head is not on me.”
Zong Ye raised his eyebrows. “That’s it?”
“Isn’t eliminating the three most likely answers enough?” She stretched lazily and closed her suitcase. “I have to go home now. Bye!”
Zong Ye straightened up, his gaze falling on her.
He had been leaning against the wall next to the door all along. With this change of position, he was now blocking her only path out of the narrow passage which she could not circumvent to leave.
Jian Jing halted and asked impassively, “Anything else?”
“I find it hard to let you leave,” Zong Ye said, reaching out and cupping the back of her neck with his palm.
In an instant, her hair stood on ends. Her body’s instincts were far more acute than her mind. In a flash, Jian Jing felt the chilling sensation she experienced when facing the Tibetan mastiff Xiong Yong.
She reached for her waist, but the lipstick was no longer in her pocket.
“Why did you steal my stuff?” she asked.
His hand extended down her spine, his fingertips moving inch by inch, as if caressing, but both of them knew this was a frisking under duress.
"I'm not interested in these little toys, I'll give them back to you." Zong Ye put his arm around her waist, "Take off your shoes."
Jian Jing said: "The floor is dirty."
The hygiene of the small hotel by the pier was nothing to boast about.
"Then, may I 'ask' you to come to the bed?" He bargained politely.
Jian Jing glanced at him, kicked off her slippers, and stepped directly on his feet: "Go ahead and search."
Zong Ye gazed at her deeply.
Jian Jing looked back at him fearlessly.
"I know it's not in the shoes." But Zong Ye smiled. Her shoes were old, the size must fit her feet. If there was something stuffed in the shoes, her gait would have changed dramatically.
"What do you think I hid?" Jian Jing asked curiously.
"I don't know." He scrutinized her knitted stockings meaningfully, "I only believe your 7 million didn't go to waste."
Jian Jing hugged her arms to maintain her balance. She thought that if he could find anything, she would call him dad.
Zong Ye searched very carefully, apparently having done this kind of thing himself many times before.
However, he didn't find anything.
"Hand it over now, you can get your money back," he reminded, "otherwise, I'll have to continue."
Jian Jing's eyes twitched. Was he suspecting that she had stuffed something in some weird place? She warned crisply: "Dare to move down, suffer the consequences."
Zong Ye was nonchalant: "I can use other methods, what do you think?"
She didn't hesitate: "Get out."
The two came to a standstill.
Jian Jing was fearless, unaware of any malicious intent, half curious and half indifferent as she wasted time with him. Zong Ye, on the other hand, seemed to have some concerns, pondering for a moment before smiling slightly: "What a pity then."
He bent down to pick up her shoes, gently tapping them and putting them aside: "Should I put them on for you?"
"Done searching?" Jian Jing put on her shoes and mocked, "You won't stop me again this time, right?"
Zong Ye said: "Of course not. But before that, give me my stuff back."
Jian Jing looked innocent: "What stuff?"
He grabbed her wrist and took a coin from her palm, nonchalantly stuffing it back into his pocket: "No change, inconvenient to take the bus."
"Then you should also give my stuff back," she said.
Zong Ye stuffed the lipstick back into her skirt pocket.
"Hmm." Jian Jing picked up the suitcase, just about to open the door, when a voice came from behind her again: "Oh right."
He walked up behind her and stuck the location tracker sticker to her chest: "You forgot this."
Jian Jing: This man is so hard to deal with.
"Don't be so careless next time." He lowered his head, his lips pressed against her ear, his voice barely audible, "Goodbye, Miss Rabbit."
The door slammed shut with a "pop".
Footsteps moved away.
Zong Ye took out his cell phone and sent over a list.
Half a day later, the reply came:
[Yamamoto Takeshi (Tiger Yin) checked, no abnormalities]
[Kim Chung Won (Dragon Chen) checked, no abnormalities]
[Hou Jianguo (Monkey Shen) checked, no abnormalities]
[Xu Xinzhen (Goat Wei) checked, no abnormalities]
[Adela Carter (Dog Xu), Robert Lee (Horse Wu) checked, two are antique thieves, already detained by police]
[Chan Jiahua (Ox Chou) checked, no abnormalities]
[Ma Haishan (Pig Hai) checked, no abnormalities]
[Zheng Cuifang (Rooster You) checked, no abnormalities]
[Jian Jing (Rabbit Mao) checked, no abnormalities]
*
Five days later, the National Museum.
At nine o'clock in the morning, as usual, the curator arrived at his office on time. Out of habit, he brewed a cup of Pu'er tea, turned on the computer, and got ready to check the morning news.
Just as he sat down, he suddenly felt something under his desk.
Looking down, there was a tightly wrapped paper box with "Donated Items" written on it.
The curator frowned. There were many people who donated things to the museum, but few sent them stuffed in a courier box like this. It didn't look like anything valuable.
But having the heart to donate things to the country was good. He put down his teacup and struggled to lift it onto the desk, thinking: this is pretty heavy, it must be some kind of bronze ware.
He tore open the seal and inside was a pile of newspapers. After rummaging some more, the old man's blood pressure shot up.
This, this, this...is this real? Could it be eye fatigue?
He pulled up his clothes and wiped his bifocals vigorously before putting them back on to take a closer look.
A bronze ram statuette lay quietly among the piles of newspapers, silently emanating a historical halo.
Lost for hundreds of years, it finally returned home.
