Chapter 253 - 159: Arrest! Big Fish

The 28th.

3:30 PM.

CLACK CLACK CLACK~

The sound of footsteps echoed as a man with an excited glint in his eyes walked across the floor. His leather shoes made a crisp sound as they struck the marble tiles.

But as he pulled open a door...

The excitement in his eyes vanished, replaced by utter astonishment.

He instinctively turned to run, trying to get out of the museum.

But...

CLICK!

The sharp sound of a gun being cocked rang out. He froze on the spot, his muscles tensing as he fought the urge to flee.

This was the museum’s study.

The place where he was supposed to make the deal.

Now, however, it was packed with people.

"You’re here?"

Li Jianye sat in a chair, looking at the man he had been waiting for. His expression wasn’t particularly excited; on the contrary, it was quite calm.

"Since you’re here, don’t even think about leaving. Have a seat."

He pointed to a nearby sofa.

The man’s body went rigid. He shuffled stiffly to the sofa. Looking at the people around him—some in plainclothes, others in suits—his mind went blank, his thoughts grinding to a halt.

Li Jianye paid him no mind. The man was just small fry—a pawn lured into a sting operation to illegally purchase an item.

He shifted his gaze to his surroundings.

The study had a massive floor-to-ceiling window made of one-way glass; you could see out, but no one could see in.

Looking out through the glass, one could see rows of displayed items.

They were housed in magnificent display cases, the glass of which was something an ordinary person could never afford.

’Were the items held within them precious?’

’No, they weren’t precious at all.’

’Fakes!’

’No, that’s not quite right.’

’The other party has professional certificates of authenticity and an authoritative guarantor. How could they be fakes?’

’If an identical item were to appear in a reputable museum...’

’Then the other one must be the fake, and this one, the real deal!’

This was especially true for items from just a few centuries ago, like the Sister Drum and Thangkas. Such things were the easiest to forge.

Strictly speaking, these things weren’t even antiques.

Their special nature didn’t lie in their age, but in the meaning of their existence. Therefore, even if you followed the process and made one today, it would be a real Sister Drum, not a replica!

Of course, making such a thing was immoral, inhumane, cruel, anti-human, bloody, and illegal. It should never be done under any circumstances.

"Tsk. Teaming up with others, renting an empty museum, and stuffing it with hastily arranged fakes to pass off as the real thing..."

"Running a Celestial Bureau..."

Li Jianye murmured.

’Would the victim of such a scheme find out?’

’Yes, they would.’

’But what if they did?’

The important part of "Celestial Bureau" isn’t "Bureau"; it’s "Celestial"!

If you dared to expose it, the accomplices at the pinnacle of the antique world, who were connected to the murderer, would silence you.

Of course.

The antique world also had an unwritten rule: telling the good from the bad was all up to your own eye.

Once a deal is done, it’s final. Even if you were swindled, you could only blame your own lack of judgment.

"Selling a Sister Drum... Heh, he was really brainwashed by that old man!"

The target had been brainwashed.

It was hard to imagine that someone who had built a fortune of tens, or even hundreds, of millions through crime could be brainwashed by an old monk.

The old monk wasn’t really a monk. He was driven here, and so he became one.

Unresigned to his fate, he cast a wide net, searching for followers.

Then, by a stroke of probability, after someone amassed a great fortune based on his predictions, that person became the old monk’s zealot.

Later, this person was brainwashed.

Until now, when the case emerged...

And this person’s name was...

"Where’s Huang Meng? When is Huang Meng coming?"

Li Jianye looked at the man beside him—pinned to the floor, trembling, and dressed in a fine suit.

This was Huang Meng’s guarantor, a very authoritative figure in the antique world.

According to the police investigation, the man had accepted millions in dirty money.

Including money from others like Huang Meng, he had taken at least several million, perhaps even over ten million!

Several million back in ’03! In terms of purchasing power, that would be like tens of millions in Xu Huo’s previous life!

And this...

...was just one person in the entire Celestial Bureau.

"President Huang... Huang Meng, he... he hasn’t been here for a long time..."

The guarantor said nervously.

"When did this start?"

"You... you asked before..."

"I’m asking you *when* this started!"

"It’s been two or three days. I’ve been the one handling things these past couple of days. Huang Meng said he’d give me a sum of money whether it succeeded or not..."

The guarantor said, trembling all over.

Don’t let his status as an authoritative guarantor fool you.

But in the eyes of the authorities...

...he was less than nothing.

’Two or three days.’

Li Jianye calculated the time. It matched up perfectly with the murder of the five criminals and the start of the Capital City’s search for people like them.

’The deal at the private museum was also scheduled for that time, yet he didn’t show up...’

Li Jianye asked no more questions.

"Heh. When your life is on the line,"

"even a zealot is nothing."

He let out a few scornful laughs.

’This was a diversion, a feint to draw the tiger from its mountain.’

’He ran... trying to escape this way!?’

’But unfortunately...’

’Since this lines up with the intelligence, then calculating the time...’

Li Jianye didn’t speak aloud, his mind already drifting to distant matters.

"They should be running into each other just about now."

...

...

The Capital City police were different from the local police.

When they said they ’found something,’ it probably meant more than just a name.

When they said they had a ’lock,’ it probably wasn’t just a lock on an ID file...

Right now...

5:30 PM.

A very cheap-looking van was speeding down the road.

"Faster, go faster!"