Chapter 266

Chapter 266

“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.”

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.