So, without any evidence, even if I wanted to sue him, no one would take the case; it would only alert him. I wasn't willing to let my fiancé die in vain, so I came here… Sure enough… as soon as I arrived, I saw my fiancé's distant relative. He didn't mince words much before immediately revealing his true colors, resorting to threats and bribes, using every means possible, all to get the fragment of the treasure map my fiancé had sent me…”
"Of course I wouldn't let him have his way. While I was playing hard to get with him, I was secretly investigating the evidence that he had killed my fiancé. But... alas... that beast somehow found someone skilled in hypnosis, and somehow I fell for his tricks and was drugged. In my dazed state, the hypnotist managed to extract my secrets. Fortunately, just as the hypnotist was asking me to hand over the treasure map, my inner struggle finally brought me back to my senses, so I took advantage of a moment when no one was looking and ran away without a second thought..."
"You probably know what happened next... After I escaped back to the hotel, I was quickly caught by Qiao Mulin's men. If it weren't for you, I probably would have been captured immediately. I should have found you then and sought your protection, but... sigh... At that time, I seemed to have lost trust in everyone, and even suspected that this was another play orchestrated by Qiao Mulin, and that you were one of his people, trying to gain my trust and steal the fragment of the treasure map I had... Because of my suspicions, I missed my chance, didn't get your protection, and quickly fell into Qiao Mulin's hands again. But this time, I was determined not to use any means necessary, because I was prepared, and the hypnotist's hypnosis no longer had any effect on me. After persisting like this for several days, I finally got another chance to escape... and then I ran into you again..."
Zhou Ziwei glanced at the map pasted on the coffee table, then shook his head slightly and said, "So what do you mean by showing me this 'treasure map' now? Aren't you afraid I'll go and cooperate with Qiao Mulin to collect a complete treasure map and then go treasure hunting together?"
"Impossible!" Luan Yuqing said confidently, "I can tell that you are a very proud person and would disdain associating with someone like Qiao Mulin. Qiao Mulin, on the other hand, is an extremely greedy person, and he would not be willing to share half of the treasure with you. If he weren't so greedy, he would have already cooperated with my fiancé and we would probably have already unearthed all the treasure in that ancient tomb by now. Why would he wait until now? So... I'm sure it's impossible for you two to cooperate."
Zhou Ziwei smiled slightly and said, "Even if you guessed right! I really won't cooperate with Qiao Mulin, but it's not because of some damn pride. It's because... I have absolutely no interest in your treasure map... Right now... I just want to go home."
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 172: The Chase
Hearing Zhou Ziwei say he had no interest in the treasure map, Luan Yuqing looked at him with surprise, then looked down at the fragment of the "treasure map," slowly shook her head, and said, "What? You don't believe me? You think this treasure map is fake?"
"Maybe it's true, maybe it's false..."
Zhou Ziwei calmly said, "But none of this has anything to do with me, because I really have no interest in it. If you've come to me just to cooperate in finding some treasure, then you can leave now. If you're trying to use the lure of this treasure to get me to avenge your fiancé, then... I can only disappoint you."
Luan Yuqing was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then smiled bitterly and said, "You're right. The reason I was willing to show you this fragment of the treasure map was indeed because I wanted you to help my fiancé avenge his death. But since you're unwilling, then forget it... I just really don't understand why you have absolutely no interest in this treasure. I swear, what I just said was absolutely true; this treasure map isn't fake... Of course, whether there's any treasure in that ancient tomb is just speculation; nobody knows for sure. But since the tomb's owner was an emperor, there must be some valuable burial goods inside! As long as that tomb hasn't been robbed yet."
Zhou Ziwei nodded and said, "You're right, and I believe you're not lying. However... I really have no interest in tomb raiding, and it's not as simple as you imagine. It's full of dangers and crises... Hehe... Actually, if you really want to avenge your fiancé, I have an idea... You can give this fragment of the treasure map to that Qiao Mulin, and then he probably has at least a 90% chance of dying during the tomb raiding."
"No... I would rather die than hand this over to him!" Upon hearing this, Luan Yuqing immediately grabbed the fragment of the treasure map and pressed it tightly to her chest.
Luan Yuqing was only wearing a shirt on her upper body, with nothing underneath. Now, with her hands pressed tightly against her chest, her full breasts were fully exposed, and even the outline of her two alluring rosy nipples was clearly visible.
This hazy, ambiguous feeling is definitely more attractive to men than actual nudity. At least Zhou Ziwei felt his heart race and unconsciously swallowed. He quickly turned his head slightly to avoid revealing his lecherous nature, which would be embarrassing.
"Alright! I told you, I'm not interested in your treasure map. As for what I said earlier, it was just a small suggestion. If you don't want it, that's fine. I'm not Qiao Mulin's mouthpiece, so you don't need to be so wary of me... Besides, if I really wanted to take your treasure map, do you think you could keep it?"
Luan Yuqing paused for a moment, then smiled wryly and put the fragment of the treasure map down again. However, because it had been lifted from the glass of the coffee table, the thing naturally curled up into a wire-like shape, making it impossible to tell that it was a fragment of a treasure map.
Then, Luan Yuqing carefully slipped the wire-like fragment of the treasure map back into the edge of her bra, saying softly, "You're right. I really don't need to be on guard in front of you. If you really want to force yourself on me, I really can't..."
“Uh…” Zhou Ziwei was speechless when he heard Luan Yuqing’s ambiguous words. If others heard this, they would probably think that Zhou Ziwei was going to force himself on her!
"Alright... if you really don't want to give this to Qiao Mulin, then I suggest you just destroy it in front of him..." Zhou Ziwei hesitated for a moment, then said, "Otherwise... that guy surnamed Qiao might really keep chasing you to the ends of the earth, and I can't protect you forever. So... if you don't want to die, then let's cut off your supply lines! That's all I have to say, whether you listen or not is up to you. I've already said... I can let you leave Tengchong with me, at most leave Yunnan, but I can't let you stay by my side forever... so... you decide for yourself! I need to pack my things now, I'll be leaving Tengchong soon, I hope you've made a decision by the time I'm done packing."
After saying that, Zhou Ziwei really ignored Luan Yuqing and started packing his things while making a phone call to Li Yifeng.
He had assumed Li Yifeng would be catching up on sleep in his hotel room downstairs, but when he called to find out that the guy was indeed catching up on sleep, but not in a hotel room, but at the home of one of his confidantes.
God knows where this guy got such a confidante! I bet she's the woman he was fooling around with a few days ago when he was driving his Mercedes RV.
Zhou Ziwei didn't believe that this kid could actually pick up girls by dressing up as a migrant worker!
When Li Yifeng heard that Zhou Ziwei was about to leave Tengchong, he was quite surprised and asked him why he didn't wait until tomorrow morning to set off, even if he was going to leave. It was getting dark, and Zhou Ziwei was driving alone on the road... Driving on mountain roads at night is very dangerous.
Zhou Ziwei naturally had his own plans, but he wouldn't explain them to Li Yifeng. He simply said that there had been an emergency at home and he had to rush back immediately.
Seeing that he couldn't persuade Zhou Ziwei, Li Yifeng hurriedly said he would rush back to see Zhou Ziwei off, but Zhou Ziwei refused. "Two grown men, not poets or writers, what's the point of seeing me off?" He only told Li Yifeng over the phone to go and check on the construction site when he had time, even though there was no longer any treasure there and he didn't need to guard it every day.
However, we can't be too relaxed, otherwise we won't even know if someone cuts corners on the workmanship.
Once the house is built, Li Yifeng will have to guard it. If it turns out to be a shoddy construction project and collapses in just a few days, then it will be Li Yifeng's bad luck.
As for the construction costs, Zhou Ziwei has already paid half in advance. The rest will be paid after the project is completed and inspected. Zhou Ziwei will open a separate account for this money, and the funds needed to import jadeite rough from Myanmar will be transferred to this account together.
At that time, Li Yifeng will be the main manager of this jadeite rough stone exchange. However, Zhou Ziwei advised Li Yifeng to listen to Gu Dongfeng's advice and not to be arrogant.
After giving a few more scattered instructions, Zhou Ziwei had almost finished packing his things by the time he hung up the phone. Everything was gathered into his suitcase, except for the six darts that Wu Di had ordered for him, which he specially kept and tucked into his waistband.
Zhou Ziwei hadn't had a chance to practice the cross-shaped darts in practice yet, but the soul memories left behind by the assassin were quite complete. After this period of integration, Zhou Ziwei was 90% confident that he could unleash the power of the cross-shaped darts at a level no weaker than that of the assassin.
If Zhou Ziwei could create an independent soul within the cross-shaped dart before use, and if that independent soul could then subtly manipulate the cross-shaped dart, then Zhou Ziwei's mastery of the cross-shaped dart would be far beyond the reach of the original assassin.
However, this kind of cross-shaped dart is still an inanimate object after all. Even though it has an independent soul, its manipulable space is still very limited. Therefore, Zhou Ziwei is still very much looking forward to the new cross-shaped dart he designed himself.
However, he no longer had much time to stay here and wait for Wu Di's craftsmen to slowly complete the project.
Anyway, he had already given Wu Di the address in Dangyang, and he would mail those new cross-shaped darts to him as soon as they were made.
Otherwise, even if it were made now, Zhou Ziwei wouldn't be able to bring it all the way back to Dangyang unless he planned to drive back. Otherwise, it still couldn't be carried on a plane and would have to be checked in along with these ordinary cross-shaped darts.
After Zhou Ziwei finished packing, he dragged his suitcase to the sofa, glanced at Luan Yuqing who was sitting there in a daze, and said, "Well? Miss Luan... tell me your decision now! If you've thought it through... then we'll go find Qiao Mulin now and destroy your treasure map in front of him, so he'll give up on it. If you still can't bear to part with it... then let's leave immediately!"
Luan Yuqing sighed, shook her head, and said, "I've made up my mind... I don't care whether this treasure map is useful or not, but it... is, after all, the only keepsake my fiancé left me, and I... would rather die than destroy it. Besides... I think even if I really destroyed this fragment of the treasure map in front of Qiao Mulin, he might not really give up. I imagine he's heard my fiancé mention that this treasure map was copied from a stone coffin and then redrawn by my fiancé. And if my fiancé could draw one, he could also draw a second. So if I really destroyed this fragment of the treasure map in front of him, he would definitely think I have another complete treasure map, which is why he doesn't care about this one. In that case... I'm afraid I'll be in even more danger!"
Zhou Ziwei was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, then nodded in agreement with Luan Yuqing's words.
He hadn't considered things comprehensively. He thought that destroying the fragment of the treasure map in Luan Yuqing's hands would make Qiao Mulin give up completely, but he forgot that the more greedy a person is, the more likely they are to judge others by their own standards.
Qiao Mulin himself was willing to kill and rob for this "treasure map," the authenticity of which was still unknown. Therefore, he would certainly assume that everyone else treasured this treasure map just like him. Naturally, he would not believe that Luan Yuqing would actually destroy the only fragment of the treasure map, but would only believe that Luan Yuqing had another complete treasure map in her possession.
If Qiao Mulin really thinks that way, he might resort to even more unscrupulous means to kidnap Luan Yuqing, and if the kidnapping fails, he might even send someone to kill her.
After all, if Qiao Mulin believed that Luan Yuqing only had a fragment of the treasure map, he would only think about how to get that fragment to complete the treasure map in his possession.
If he suspects that Luan Yuqing still has a complete treasure map, then he will have to worry at all times that Luan Yuqing will dig up the treasure before him! So he might as well eliminate Luan Yuqing, this potential threat, even if he can't collect the complete treasure map himself!
Thinking it over, Zhou Ziwei had to admit that the idea he had just given Luan Yuqing was indeed a terrible one. Fortunately, Luan Yuqing was clear-headed and was not swayed by his words, otherwise... it might have really been a tragedy!
Through this incident, Zhou Ziwei finally realized his shortcomings.
Although he gained knowledge that ordinary people could not learn in several lifetimes after merging with the soul memories of more than a hundred people, it did not fundamentally change his way of dealing with people and things, nor did it make his analysis of a matter any more meticulous just because he had more knowledge in his mind.
Perhaps the possibility of integrating the memories of the soul of someone who is well-versed in logic and philosophy after death could solve this problem.
However, such things are rare and hard to come by, and Zhou Ziwei was not so ruthless as to deliberately kill a scholar in order to integrate a necessary memory.
So he only thought about it in his heart. Moreover, he was somewhat worried that if he changed his usual way of doing things and his thinking habits, would he still be the same person?
"Okay! I admit my idea just now wasn't very good. I'm sorry, I almost misled you! I apologize. Well... you can keep your treasure map!" Zhou Ziwei wasn't the kind of stubborn person who would rather die than admit his mistakes, so after realizing he had said something wrong, he immediately and sincerely apologized to Luan Yuqing. Then, frowning, he said, "But what about you in the future? Even if I'm willing to take you back to my hometown... you can't always follow me around, can you? I have a wife, yet I'm taking such a beautiful woman like you around every day. That... is really a bit unreasonable, isn't it?"
Luan Yuqing smiled bitterly upon hearing this and said, "I'm already very satisfied as long as Mr. Zhou can allow me to stay by your side for the time being. As for what will happen later... let's take it one step at a time! But Mr. Zhou, you can rest assured that even if I'm shameless, I won't ruin the relationship between Zhou Ziwei and your husband. If you feel it's inconvenient, you can send me far away at any time. Even if I'm captured by Qiao Mulin's people because of this, I will definitely not resent Mr. Zhou... Hmm, or if Mr. Zhou needs to manage any business at home, maybe I can help out a little!"
"Alright, alright..." Seeing how pitiful Luan Yuqing looked, Zhou Ziwei could only wave his hand helplessly and said, "Since you say so, then come with me first! Oh, by the way, if anyone asks, just say you're my personal assistant. Keep saying that when we get to Dangyang, so people won't gossip. I don't have any business there yet, but I'll be opening two companies soon, and I'll arrange things for you to do then."
Seeing that Zhou Ziwei had finally relented, Luan Yuqing was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, Mr. Zhou... Oh, now I should call you boss! Thank you for your kind words, Boss Zhou. I, Luan Yuqing, will certainly not let you down!"
Zhou Ziwei gave a noncommittal reply, then said, "Alright, let's talk about the nonsense on the way! Now come with me right now!"
"Okay... Ah... Please wait a moment, Mr. Zhou..."
Just as Luan Yuqing was about to stand up and leave with Zhou Ziwei, she remembered that she was still topless. She hurriedly grabbed her bra and went into the bathroom to change...
When the two went to check out together, Zhou Ziwei inevitably received a look of disdain from the receptionist.
These past two days, he's been sleeping in the same room with two beautiful women almost every day, which is already astonishing enough. The whole hotel knows about it. Now, those two women have disappeared, and another woman who also stayed at the hotel a couple of days ago and who clearly doesn't know Zhou Ziwei has started " fooling around" with him. How could the receptionists not look at Zhou Ziwei differently?
Seeing the strange looks from those people, Zhou Ziwei pretended not to notice. They were just irrelevant people anyway, let them think what they wanted. Zhou Ziwei wasn't going to explain anything to them... and there didn't seem to be any need for it!
The two people carried their luggage into the Audi, and then drove out of Tengchong County and headed straight for Baoshan City.
Once they left the county town and got on the national highway, Zhou Ziwei discovered that there were four or five off-road jeeps following behind them.
"Ah...no good! It must be Qiao Mulin's men catching up!" Although Luan Yuqing's senses weren't as sharp as Zhou Ziwei's, there were practically no other vehicles on the national highway besides them. And the purpose of those jeeps seemed quite obvious, with no intention of concealing it at all. If Luan Yuqing still couldn't tell that they were coming after them, then she must be out of her mind!
"It's good that they've caught up... If Qiao Mulin were here, that would be even better, it would save us a lot of trouble!"
Zhou Ziwei curled his lip and snorted disdainfully. He glanced at the rearview mirror and looked at the several aggressive jeeps chasing after him, feeling as if he were looking at a flock of lambs to the slaughter.
Although she had a lot of confidence in Zhou Ziwei, Luan Yuqing still found it hard to relax. She kept looking back at the cars that were chasing them. After carefully counting them, she found that there were five cars in total, four of which were jeeps and the other was a sports car.
If Qiao Mulin were to personally take action, he would probably be sitting in that sports car. And if Qiao Mulin were actually in one of these cars... "They might have guns!"
Luan Yuqing quickly reminded Zhou Ziwei that he hadn't been avoiding her when he was packing his things, so she knew he didn't have a gun. She felt she had to warn him, otherwise, if he relied on his martial arts skills and went head-to-head with those people, the outcome could be quite tragic!
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 173: Tragedy
"Oh... a gun... that's a bit of a problem."
Even without Luan Yuqing's reminder, Zhou Ziwei had already considered this possibility, and the possibility was very high.
In fact, Zhou Ziwei hadn't increased his speed at all, intending to let the other party get closer so he could take them down. However, he found that although the five cars were following closely, they didn't seem to be catching up. Otherwise, even if the jeeps couldn't catch up, the BMW sports car could easily catch up with just a little acceleration.
Since the other party followed but refused to catch up, it was clear that they felt this national highway wasn't desolate enough, and there were still some things they couldn't do. So their thoughts were quite obvious...
Since you guys want to play... then let's have some fun.
A slight sneer appeared on Zhou Ziwei's lips. He still didn't pay much attention to the group behind him and continued driving forward at his original, unhurried pace.
It was as if the cars following behind weren't driven by malicious intent, but rather by friends who had come to see them off.
Seeing that the car behind her was still keeping its original distance and had no intention of rushing forward, Luan Yuqing's expression softened slightly. Looking at the playful smile on Zhou Ziwei's lips, she felt even more at ease.
Then she remembered that she had been left alone in the fitting room of the clothing store earlier that day. Zhou Ziwei had already walked quite a distance, yet he was still able to take down all the thugs who tried to capture her. This showed that even without a gun, Zhou Ziwei was definitely capable of long-range attacks.
As soon as her worries disappeared, Luan Yuqing began to hope that Qiao Mulin was indeed in one of the cars behind her, if that were the case... If a conflict broke out between the two sides, Zhou Ziwei would likely help her completely resolve this trouble.
Then she would no longer have to worry about being relentlessly tracked down by Qiao Mulin's people. But... if this hidden danger could be completely eliminated this time, would Zhou Ziwei still allow her to continue following him? Would he still let her be his personal assistant?
Thinking about all this, Luan Yuqing felt a little lost and confused for some reason...
A line of six cars, one in front and five behind, gradually drove onto the winding mountain road leading to Baoshan. The five cars behind probably felt that the area was quite desolate, with no other cars in sight for a long distance, so they began to gradually accelerate and approach the Audi in front.
As soon as Zhou Ziwei saw the car behind him gradually accelerating, he also stepped on the gas, maintaining a safe distance from the other car and preventing it from catching up.
The drivers in the cars behind laughed when they saw this. On this winding mountain road, it was the domain of off-road jeeps like theirs. How dare an ordinary Audi try to race against these off-road jeeps? Wasn't that just asking for trouble? So all the jeeps slowly increased their speed to the maximum, preparing to overtake and stop the car in front in one fell swoop.
Then, a few minutes later, everyone in the Jeeps and the BMW sports car was dumbfounded... No matter how fast they sped up, the distance between them and the Audi in front remained unchanged, showing no sign of shortening at all.
If this were on a flat road, it would be easier to explain, but this is a long, winding mountain road with a rugged terrain... How could he drive an Audi like an off-road race car?
Meanwhile, Luan Yuqing in the car in front was so nervous that she was almost drenched in sweat. She had never seen anyone drive so recklessly before. Even driving slowly on the mountain road was dangerous, but Zhou Ziwei was increasing his speed instead of decreasing it. He didn't even slow down when going through a sharp bend of nearly 90 degrees, as if the brakes on the car had failed. Several times the car body tilted sharply due to the sharp turns, and even half of the car body was suspended in the air. It felt like watching a stunt in a movie.
Of course... seeing special effects in movies only gives people a little excitement and thrill, but experiencing it firsthand will multiply that thrill, but it will also bring immense fear.
No matter how scared Luan Yuqing was, she didn't utter a single stupid word like telling Zhou Ziwei to slow down. The cars chasing them could kill them at any moment, and Zhou Ziwei had his reasons for how to handle them. As long as Luan Yuqing glanced at the faint, cold smile on Zhou Ziwei's lips, she would feel much more at ease and inexplicably feel a sense of security.
Zhou Ziwei increased the sensitivity of his body's limbs to about twice the normal level, and then increased his vision to about four times the normal level. With the racing experience and memories extracted from the soul of a race car driver, Zhou Ziwei's driving skills were now comparable to those of the world's top race car drivers. Driving fast on a mountain road was nothing to Zhou Ziwei, and he felt no danger at all.
In order to prevent the cars behind from losing track of him, Zhou Ziwei had to control his speed so that he wouldn't fall too far behind them.
At the same time, Zhou Ziwei released the ladybug, which flew to the back to scout around and count the number of people in the five vehicles. He also paid special attention to the people in the vehicles and found that, as they had expected, these people were carrying at least five guns, two of which were even powerful automatic rifles.
The ladybug observed that the people in one of the cars had no choice but to take out automatic rifles and try to shoot Zhou Ziwei's Audi from behind.
Zhou Ziwei quickly increased his speed a little, widening the distance between them again, keeping the Audi out of the effective range of the other party's automatic rifle.