Poisson coulé - Chapitre 28
Five million eight hundred thousand US dollars? Qin Wen's mind went blank. What kind of concept was that?
Why are you leaving something so valuable here?
Yin Li smiled and said, "This old house has been repaired several times. Do you know why?"
"A thief broke in?"
“Correct answer.” Yin Li nodded. “Those thieves dug up the place three feet deep, but they still found nothing. No one knows where that blue and white porcelain vase is, not even my grandfather. This happened several times, and then no one came to steal it again.”
Qin Wen became increasingly interested as she listened: "Interesting! Do you have any leads?"
"Absolutely not."
A bucket of cold water was poured over her, and Qin Wen was speechless; it seemed that hope remained slim.
Neither of them noticed that in the corner of the roof beam, there was a miniature camera pointing directly at the two girls, showing them chatting and laughing.
In the middle of the night, Qin Wen suddenly woke up.
Having always practiced martial arts, she was a light sleeper. In her hazy state, she seemed to see a faint glow in the room. But when she opened her eyes, there was nothing there. Moonlight streamed in through the latticed window, casting a beautiful pattern on the floor.
She scratched her head in confusion, turned to her side, and went back to sleep. Not long after, she felt the fluorescent light again, sat up abruptly, and saw a bluish light leaking from her small bag, which looked extremely eerie in the night.
She paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered that the pink diamond Caesar had left behind was in her bag.
She quickly opened her small bag, took out the diamond, as if holding a brilliant star in her hands. She was full of questions. Why hadn't Donglai seen it emit such fluorescence in the previous six months?
A soft footstep sounded from outside the door. Instinctively, she rushed out and saw a dark figure dart around the corner and run into the small garden behind the house. Her heart skipped a beat. Could it be another thief trying to steal the blue and white porcelain?
She tiptoed and followed discreetly. The courtyard was large, and after observing for a while, she didn't see a single person. She thought to herself, "Good thing you escaped quickly, otherwise, I'd show you what I'm capable of!"
Just as she was about to return to her room, the pink diamond, which had returned to its original state, began to glow with a bluish light again, seemingly even stronger than before. She scratched her head in confusion, took a step back, and the fluorescence weakened; she took another step forward, and the fluorescence intensified. Suddenly, it occurred to her—was this diamond trying to take her somewhere?
And so, she followed the pink diamond deeper into the courtyard. Ahead stood a row of craggy artificial hills, the pink diamond's bluish light so intense it almost illuminated the path beneath her feet. She stopped behind one of the hills, and the pink diamond's light vanished for a moment. She paused, startled. Had she arrived?
However, there was nothing around except weeds.
She frowned. Had she been tricked by this diamond?
The gentle moonlight shone down, casting a light frost over the artificial hill. Qin Wen was deep in thought when she suddenly looked up, her pupils dilating in shock. The artificial hill standing before her, bathed in moonlight, resembled a tall-necked ancient vase!
Could it be that the legendary blue and white porcelain vase is hidden inside this artificial hill?
Her blood began to rush through her veins. She stepped into a narrow cave beneath the artificial hill, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, and carefully searched the cave walls with both hands. She searched the entire cave wall but found nothing.
Giving up didn't fit Qin Wen's philosophy of life. She sat down cross-legged, held her head, and continued to ponder. But she found that the ground beneath her feet was very soft. Upon closer inspection, she realized that the soil where she was sitting was different from the other soil. It was very white, very soft, and sticky, but it was extremely difficult to see under the moonlight.
Could this be kaolin? She was thrilled. Kaolin combined with porcelain stone—that's exactly the raw material for Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain! Could this blue and white porcelain piece have been buried underground?
In a moment of impulsive excitement, she began digging, digging until her fingers cramped, before finally touching a small, hard object. Overjoyed, she was about to continue digging when she accidentally pressed on the object. It immediately sank in, and she heard a soft clicking sound as a mechanism activated.
Qin Wen looked up and saw that there was a hole in the wall of the artificial mountain, with a staircase leading down into the ground, which was as black as ink, like hell.
She was so happy she almost jumped up, intending to tell Yin Li the good news, but suddenly a cold wind came from behind her. She quickly raised her right hand and slammed her elbow backward.
Her arm went numb, as if she had lost all feeling. She screamed inwardly, "Oh no!" A thick arm was already around her neck, and she heard a deep voice say in her ear, "You'd better behave if you don't want to die!"
Qin Wen's expression changed when she saw the electric baton in his hand. She had always been fearless and daring, but this time she had been caught off guard!
"This woman can't be kept alive!" another said, his voice hoarse. The thug who was holding Qin Wen hostage said, "Don't worry, she didn't see our faces. There might be traps down there. Taking her down will be beneficial."
Qin Wen glanced at the two men out of the corner of his eye; both were wearing grotesque wooden masks, one blood-red, the other completely black. He thought disdainfully, "So lacking in skill, and they don't even mind the weight!"
The man wearing a red mask turned on his flashlight, shone it down the stairs, nodded to the man in the black mask, and led Qin Wen down the stairs. The basement wasn't deep; it was just a small room of about ten square meters. It seemed someone had lived there, as it was furnished with a lot of antique furniture. There were a few candles on the octagonal table, and the man in the red mask took out a lighter and lit them.
The masked man closed the door, shoved Qin Wen into a corner, and said coldly, "Behave yourself!"
Qin Wen was wary of the electric baton in his hand. She rubbed her numb arm and glared at them fiercely, cursing their ancestors to the eighteenth generation in her mind.
The two began rummaging through drawers and cabinets, throwing out a lot of clothes, all of them Ming Dynasty jackets, skirts, and jackets. Qin Wen was dumbfounded. Could these all be Ming Dynasty artifacts? No way, Ming Dynasty artifacts wouldn't be this new!
"Damn it!" The man in black kicked over a carved chair. "There's nothing here!"
"Are you blind?" Qin Wen cursed inwardly, her heart aching. "Which piece of furniture in front of you isn't from the early Ming Dynasty? You don't know anything about antiques and yet you try to steal a blue and white porcelain vase. You have absolutely no professional ethics!"
"Don't rush," the man in the red mask said coldly. "We've searched this old house thoroughly; that thing must be here!"
Qin Wen sneered and said, "Have you ever considered that perhaps that blue and white porcelain vase is no longer here?"
The two thugs' eyes fell on her face at the same time. She looked back without fear. The man in the red mask walked up to her, pulled out a knife, and lightly ran it across her face: "You don't seem afraid at all."
"Why should I be afraid?" Qin Wen asked.
The red-masked thug's eyes shifted, and the knife left a bloody gash on her chin: "Aren't you afraid of death?"
"What's there to be afraid of about death?" Qin Wen sneered. "You're stupid and don't understand what fear is."
The resurgence of her memories allowed her to remember clearly the more than two thousand years she had been sealed in the coffin. That feeling was true fear, loneliness to the point of death.
The man in the red mask sneered, "Hey, third brother, it's been a long time since you've been with a woman, hasn't it?"
The third brother was overjoyed: "Big brother, you mean..."
"Now that this woman is yours, it means our trip wasn't in vain."
The masked thugs walked over excitedly. Qin Wen frowned. It seemed she had no choice but to fight. She wasn't afraid of guns back then, so why would she be afraid of a stun baton?
Just then, the pink diamond in her pocket suddenly emitted a bluish light, unusually strong. Both thugs couldn't help but take a step back. Qin Wen quickly took it out, and a beam of light shot towards the wardrobe like a laser. All three of them showed an expression of extreme surprise.
Could it be that the blue and white porcelain is in the wardrobe?
Qin Wen rushed to the wardrobe. The black-masked thug was about to stop her, but the red-masked man stopped him: "Take a look first."
As the blue light faded, Qin Wen touched the area that had been illuminated by the laser, then tapped it with her finger, producing a hollow sound. Overjoyed, she pushed the cabinet aside, and the inner door came off, revealing a cupboard containing a sandalwood box.
"It's blue and white porcelain!" The masked bandit rushed forward, roughly shoved Qin Wen aside, grabbed the box, and was about to take it when a crisp cracking sound was heard. For a moment, everyone was stunned.
A guillotine fell to the ground, and he rolled around in pain, crying out, "My hand! My hand!"
"Third brother!" The red-masked bandit rushed over to stop his bleeding. Qin Wen was also dumbfounded. The guillotine was installed on the upper part of the inner wall of the closet. Once someone reached in, it would activate the mechanism.
"If you enter, you have to cut off your own arm." Xiao Li's ancestor was truly ruthless.
Thinking back to how she had also intended to retrieve the box, Qin Wen felt a wave of fear.
After bandaging the third brother's wounds, the red-masked thug walked over menacingly, grabbed Qin Wen's collar, and said, "Go and get the box for me!"
Qin Wen trembled slightly and quickly shook her head.
"Weren't you afraid of even death?" he sneered, shoving her towards the closet and holding a knife to her neck. "Hurry up!"
Blood flowed from his severed hands, leaving gruesome streaks on the wall. Qin Wen gritted her teeth, grabbed his knife-wielding hand, and with a sharp crack, her knuckles snapped. The red-masked bandit screamed in agony, his other hand aimed a punch at her abdomen. She quickly dodged, her palm striking his shoulder joint. Another sharp crack, and his entire arm was ruined.
The red-masked bandit knelt on one knee in pain. He never imagined that this seemingly frail girl possessed such extraordinary skills! Despite the pain, he kept his grip on the knife handle and stabbed at Qin Wen's calf with his other hand. Qin Wen quickly retreated, but was still cut.
A piercing pain instantly spread throughout Qin Wen's body. She released his arm, took a few steps back, and knelt on the ground. The red-masked bandit rolled to his feet and viciously stabbed at her with his knife. Qin Wen quickly rolled on the ground, and the knife sank into the ground with a dull thud.
Qin Wen struggled to her feet, but the masked thug suddenly pounced on her, pinning her to the ground and yelling, "You bitch, you broke my hand, I'll make you wish you were dead!"
The red-masked bandit's knife reached out and slashed at her neck. Just then, a hand appeared from behind him like a ghost, grabbed his wrist, and tightened its grip. He cried out in pain and tried to break free, but the hand was like an iron clamp, rendering him unable to move.
Qin Wen was stunned for a moment, staring blankly at that person, that handsome smiling face, as if from another world.
end
"You dare touch my woman!" Caesar laughed dangerously. "You've got some nerve."
What kind of opening is this? Qin Wen's facial muscles twitched; that kind of thing wasn't even in fashion back in the 1980s!
“Baby, it’s been a long time.” Caesar said as he knocked the third thug to the ground. In less than two minutes, both thugs were unconscious. The basement suddenly became quiet, and they could hear each other’s breathing.
Caesar helped her up, but before he could say anything, Qin Wen's fist struck him squarely between his chin and ear, making him feel like his soul had left his body.
"What are you doing?" he shouted angrily.
"Looks like your plastic surgery went well." Qin Wen glanced at him sideways, then tore at his left cheek, making him yell in pain, "Hey! You have to pay me back for tearing my face off!"
"Serves you right!"
"Can't you two just shut up for a bit?" A familiar voice rang out, and Yin Li walked out, her eyes wide, her hair styled in a bun with a jade hairpin, looking at Caesar with displeasure: "I've been holding back all this time so you could play the hero and save the damsel in distress, but Xiao Wen still got hurt. Tell me, how are we going to settle this score?"
Qin Wen was stunned. Could it be that you two have been following me the whole time?
Caesar's eyes gleamed as he took a pink diamond from Qin Wen's pocket: "It seems this diamond is no ordinary item. It might be a treasure that can identify where treasures are hidden. I need to take it back and study it carefully."
Qin Wen snatched the diamond back: "Don't try to fool me. Tell me, what about my leg injury?"
He chuckled dryly, turned and walked towards the sandalwood box, continuing to change the subject: "I'll help you take the box out."
Both girls couldn't help but snort.
He carefully took out the box and placed it on the octagonal table: "Miss Yin, this is your property. Only you have the right to open it. Please."
"Wait!" Qin Wen asked, "What's the story behind these Ming Dynasty furniture and clothing?" Yin Li glanced at the clothes scattered on the ground and said, "When the Ming Dynasty fell, people shaved their heads and changed their clothes. My ancestors swore to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty to the death. In order to prevent these clothes and furniture from being looted and burned by the Qing soldiers, they built a storage room and moved everything underground. I once heard my grandfather say that the underground storage room was very ingeniously designed and had anti-corrosion properties. I didn't expect it to be so well preserved to this day."
Qin Wen and Caesar couldn't help but sigh that modern people weren't much smarter than people in ancient times.
Yin Li carefully examined the wooden box. Sandalwood was extremely precious, and the intricate carvings on it made it even more valuable. A lock lay before her; she touched it and discovered it was made of gold. She gasped—her ancestors had been so wealthy!
"Do you have a key?" Qin Wen asked.
“No key needed.” Yin Li pulled out her jade hairpin, slipped it into the key, and gently turned it. The lock opened with a click. Qin Wen and Caesar were dumbfounded, staring at her in astonishment. She smiled mysteriously, “When I was little, I often played treasure hunts with my grandfather. I don’t know how many locks I’ve opened that were much harder than this. I’m even considering that if writing makes it impossible to make a living, I’ll go outside and put up a sign to open locks for people.”
The two people's facial muscles twitched rhythmically and in perfect unison; you'd be more likely to put up a sign that could cure all diseases.
Upon opening the box, Yin Li was immediately stunned.
Inside lay a black ceramic bottle, decorated with patterns distinctly in the Western Regions style. Artistic depictions of red spider lilies and lotus flowers swayed above the River of Oblivion, a breathtakingly beautiful sight, truly a work of art.
She paused for a moment, then said, "Xiaowen, do you think this looks like Yuan Dynasty blue and white porcelain?"
Qin Wen's heart trembled. Why did this bottle look so familiar? She took it out and examined it closely, discovering that there was a string of Khotanese characters on the bottle!
“Dedicated to the greatest king—King Ebony,” she read, glancing at Yin Li and noticing her expression change.
"How come my family has pottery from Mano?" Yin Li was a little excited. She found a contract in the sandalwood box, written in Italian and English. Although she was not good at foreign languages, she could tell that it was a purchase contract. The signature in the lower right corner was: Willem de Caesar, dated June 18, 1945.
The two girls' sharp gazes fell on Caesar, who smiled broadly. "You're right, I put this pottery in there. Wen, do you remember our guess in the desert? Your great-great-grandfather brought something from Mano back to Milan, Italy, and that thing was closely related to your birth. After returning to England, I suddenly remembered this bottle. It was an heirloom left by my grandfather, lying idle in the storage room for many years. Twenty-two years ago, I was only five years old. One night, I sneaked into my father's treasure room and found this bottle with a cork. Out of curiosity, I took the cork off, and a bright red butterfly flew out. No matter how hard I tried to catch it, it flew away, and I got a good beating from my father. Wen, look at the contract and see who the seller is."
Qin Wen's heart pounded. She glanced at the bottom left corner, where the pinyin clearly read: Chen Xiyun.
Chen Xiyun is the mother of her maternal grandfather, Mai Tianyun!
Her hands trembled, barely able to hold the contract. So, her background must be inextricably linked to Caesar? Caesar leaned close to her ear and chuckled wickedly, "According to the development of ancient Chinese romance novels, the butterfly demon rescued by the male protagonist has to return and repay him with her body. Wen, shouldn't you...?"
Yin Li stroked the three characters "Ebony King," her heart aching slightly. If she could, she truly wished she could forget everything from the past, then she wouldn't have to suffer so much.
"Wait!" Qin Wen suddenly exclaimed, "Anthony, where's Xiao Li's blue and white porcelain?"