Chapter 44: A Thief in the Night

I was completely thrown off by what he blurted out. It definitely wasn’t something good, so the moment I heard it, I instinctively reached out and pulled Lu A’yao, who was standing in front of me, behind me.

I was afraid that Hou Jinshan, shameless as he was, might lash out in anger. If Lu A’yao got caught in the crossfire, that’d be bad.

But to my surprise, Hou Jinshan didn’t explode. Instead, he smiled warmly at Lu A’yao and said, “In the dead of winter, why would someone like you leave Nanjing and come all the way to a small county town like this?”

Lu A’yao didn’t answer, but he took a step back—clearly aligning himself with us.

Hou Jinshan understood immediately and asked, “Yin Pozi, are you really set on opposing me today?”

Lu A’yao replied, “It’s not that I’m going out of my way to oppose you. It’s that you’ve come at the wrong time. The business you’re trying to do is ill-fated. Even if you searched through all of the Five Masters, no one would lend you their men. You’d best cherish what you have now.”

I finally grasped the full picture. While it was mostly speculation at first, I later confirmed that my guess was pretty much spot-on.

Hou Jinshan hadn’t come from Gansu to Henan just to catch up with my grandfather, like he claimed. Back in Gansu, he had already taken on a job—one so important that he was willing to travel across provinces for it. But he couldn’t pull it off alone; he needed help.

So he scouted for allies along the way, and Ying Gan Hall was likely his backup plan. The job was too dangerous, and after failing to recruit anyone from the Outer Eight Trades or the Five Masters, he naturally turned to the weakest target. With the boss of Ying Gan Hall away, it became the perfect soft target. After all, he’d already learned my destination on the train.

If I had come alone today, he might have already forced Fourth Brother’s men to go with him. Hou Jinshan had calculated every move—except for the unexpected presence of Yin Pozi.

Which means, Lu A’yao must’ve anticipated Hou Jinshan’s arrival all along, though he probably didn’t know the exact timing. That would explain why he took the earliest train to meet up with me in the city.

No wonder Lu A’yao had been calmer than me these past two weeks. Turns out everyone knew Hou Jinshan was coming to stir up trouble—everyone except me, the clueless idiot still trying to piece things together.

Just as I let go of Lu A’yao’s arm, Hou Jinshan said, “I appreciate your concern, but there are some things I must get to the bottom of. They’ve haunted me for most of my life—it’s time to settle them.”

He paused, then looked at me. “Kid, there’s no end to the deals one can make in this world. Do you know why I’m willing to offend your Gan Family just to go through with this one?”

I stared at him in silence.

Hou Jinshan didn’t get angry. He simply said, “Because this trip has everything to do with that item in your possession. I told you a lot on the train—some true, some false—but when it comes to that casket, I didn’t lie to you at all. Chen Si’s disappearance is also because of it. On this matter, I’m being sincere. We’ll be setting out in April. If you change your mind, you can contact me anytime.”

He tossed a wrinkled business card onto the table, straightened his collar, and walked out with his long-stemmed pipe in hand. The crowd of men behind him followed like a retreating tide.

I put down the porcelain bottle in my hand and walked over to pick up the business card. Under Hou Jinshan’s name was the title: “Guhuaxuan Antique Collection Co., Ltd.” followed by a phone number.

I cursed under my breath—this old con man even has a company? Probably a shady one at that.

Xiao Wu put down his broom and ran over. “Young Master, are we going?”

Hou Jinshan’s pitch was indeed tempting. He didn’t reveal the exact destination, only that it was closely tied to the Jade Casket in my possession. But based on how I’d been led around in circles these past two months, his approach was no different from Tian Yuqing’s—laying trap after trap just to get me to risk my life for free. No matter how enticing the “reward” might be, I wasn’t about to fall for it again.

So I stuffed the card into my pocket and said, “No. Go back to what you were doing.”

Then I walked over to Lu A’yao, hands in my pockets. “I think we need to have a private conversation. What do you say?”

I sent the shop assistants off to clean Fourth Brother’s porcelain collection, and Lu A’yao and I each took a redwood chair in the second hall.

With the beaded curtain drawn, we both sipped tea. I was waiting for him to speak first, but after sitting there in silence for so long that the tea had gone cold, he still hadn’t said a word. Clearly, I’d have to force it out of him. Otherwise, we’d be stuck here staring at each other all afternoon.

I took a sip of water, cleared my throat, and pulled the Jade Bi from the drawer, dropping it on the table. I got straight to the point. “Honestly, I don’t care about this Jade Bi anymore. But you clearly knew about Hou Jinshan and everything that just happened. You knew he was coming, and yet you told me nothing. I don’t want to accuse you, but did you really have to play me like this? Do I look like some kind of joke to you?”

“Other than the Jade Bi, I haven’t lied to you,” Lu A’yao said, blowing on his tea without even looking up.

I slammed the table in frustration, nearly jumping out of my chair. I gritted my teeth and held back. Thinking it over, he wasn’t wrong. Aside from the Jade Bi, he hadn’t lied—he just chose to tell me only what didn’t matter.

I was at a loss for words. My hand brushed against the Jade Bi, and I blurted out, “Fine! Just tell me the truth—have you seen this jade before? In the tomb? Why did you lie to me and He Yu in such a dangerous place?”

At last, Lu A’yao put down his teacup. “Gan Ji, you already know too much. The Gan Family has Chen Si backing them, but if you keep pushing like this, you’ll only attract more trouble.”

Clearly, that wasn’t the answer I wanted. I hadn’t dealt with many people like Lu A’yao before, but one thing was obvious—he was the type to take secrets to the grave. The only way to deal with someone like him was to push things past the point of no return.

I didn’t care about consequences anymore. I’ve hated being lied to since I was a kid. All I wanted now was for someone—anyone—to tell me the truth.

If everyone’s going to lie to me, then fine. Let’s all go down together.

“You’re still not talking?” I stood up.

Lu A’yao looked up, puzzled—he could tell something was off with me.

The next second, I grabbed the Jade Bi and raised it over my head, ready to smash it. Lu A’yao reacted instantly, lunging forward and catching it mid-air. He fell hard to the ground, and in that moment, I saw something hanging from his neck.

My brows furrowed. He’d always been bundled up more tightly than the rest of us—I thought it was due to his constitution. But now it was clear: he was hiding what was around his neck.

He must’ve realized I saw it, because he stopped trying to conceal it. Hanging from his neck was the matching piece to the Luan Bi in my hand. The two jades were mirror images—only when joined together did they form a complete double-ring Jade Bi.

I reached out and pulled him up, waving off the curious assistants peeking in. Lowering my voice, I asked, “You’ve been to the Nine-Bend Corridor Ruins before, haven’t you?”

But he shook his head and sighed. “I haven’t.”

“Then how do you have this? These two jades are clearly a set.”

Lu A’yao pulled his arm from my grasp and took the Luan Bi from his neck. He aligned the two pieces at their openings, and they clicked together perfectly—even the blood veins in the jade matched seamlessly.

He said, “Blood Jade wards off evil. This is true thousand-year blood jade. You remember those hanging corpses made of human skin when we climbed the iron chains? Do you know why nothing happened when you touched them, but He Yu got surrounded just by passing by?”

My emotions were a mess. I watched as he separated the rings again and hung one back around his neck. “I’ve never been to the Nine-Bend Corridor Ruins. This was the only thing my grandmother left me. I had a bad feeling about it from the start, so I kept it from you. I didn’t mean to deceive or endanger anyone.”

“I left without saying goodbye and returned to Nanjing because of this. I’ve been trying to trace its origins, but I’ve found nothing.” His voice grew quieter.

I took the Luan Bi I’d nearly shattered and stared at it. I hadn’t expected things to turn out like this—it was far beyond anything I’d imagined. Maybe Lu A’yao and I weren’t so different after all—both stuck in place by mysteries we couldn’t solve.

I gave a dry laugh and patted his shoulder. “Maybe your grandmother went to Gansu once. Maybe she entered that tomb. Maybe she carved that Secret Script. It’s not impossible. There’s always a trail to follow. Why hide it from me? If you’d told me, I could’ve helped. Two heads are better than one, right?”

He brushed my hand away. “Blood Jade is rare. Since you’ve brought it out, don’t go smashing it so easily. Hou Jinshan probably won’t come back. It’s over now. My problems are my own—I’m used to handling them alone.”

Lu A’yao walked off on his own. I stood there for ten minutes, breathing deeply to calm myself. The jade in my hand was icy cold. When it came to Lu Xiaosu, this was the first time Lu A’yao had shown any real emotion. Maybe I’d said the wrong thing—but I couldn’t figure out what it was.

I had been too impatient. We both needed to cool off. I’d apologize later—maybe buy him a bowl of cold jelly noodles tonight.

But by ten that night, Lu A’yao still hadn’t returned. I waited until nearly midnight. It had started snowing heavily again. Just as I was about to head out to look for him, Xiao Wu got a call—from a payphone at a corner store.

“Young Master, your friend just called. He’s already on his way back to Nanjing—boarding the train now,” Xiao Wu said, running over.

I rushed to the phone, but all I got was a busy tone. Furious, I turned to Xiao Wu. “I only asked him a few questions this morning! Yeah, maybe I was a bit harsh, but I was going to apologize! Did he really have to leave without a word? Does he not understand basic courtesy?”

Xiao Wu stammered, “Young Master, maybe something urgent came up in Nanjing. And didn’t he stand up for us when Hou Jinshan came?”

My stomach twisted with anger. I told Xiao Wu to close up shop, yanked off my down jacket, and threw it onto the redwood chair before storming back to my room. I locked the door behind me. Too much had happened today—I was physically and mentally drained. For the first time, I didn’t even wash my face before collapsing into bed.

That night, I slept like the dead—not a single sound woke me.

“Something’s happened! Young Master, wake up!”

I was jolted awake by Xiao Wu pounding on my door. It took everything I had not to slap him. A glance at the clock—barely 6 a.m.

Rubbing my aching head, my blurry vision slowly cleared. First thing I saw was Xiao Wu’s big face. Then I noticed the two police officers standing behind him. That sobered me up real quick.

No way. We didn’t even fight yesterday—why are the cops here? I’m a model citizen, not some local thug.

“W-what happened?” I stammered.

Xiao Wu said, “Young Master, the shop was robbed last night! The whole place has been turned upside down. I already called the police—they’re taking notes now!”

Robbed?!

I threw on some clothes and dashed downstairs. Cabinets and drawers had been opened, account books scattered all over the floor. The place was a complete mess. And I’d slept right upstairs—didn’t hear a thing.

“Young Master, I did a quick count. Only some small, easily moved fake porcelain pieces are missing. Thankfully, the real antiques were too big to take. The loss isn’t too bad. But check if anything of yours is missing,” Xiao Wu said.

“As long as nothing valuable’s gone…” I trailed off, suddenly breaking into a cold sweat. I sprinted to the back room.

The desk was empty.

My heart sank.

The casket was gone.

Spoiler: Everything Gan Ji thinks is coincidence…isn’t.