The old man, Wei Xiaoqing, Fu Ying and a few others were all there. Fu Ying, in particular, blushed and wouldn't even look at him. It seems he should avoid saying anything ambiguous to her in the future.
The bird's nest porridge was at the perfect temperature—not too cold, not too hot. Zhou Xuan drank two bowls.
Unlike the old man who had early-stage stomach cancer and couldn't eat much because of it, he wasn't sick at all and had a great appetite; he just had excessive energy depletion.
After Zhou Xuan finished his porridge, the old man asked him a few questions with concern, and only felt relieved after confirming that everything was alright.
Zhou Xuan was somewhat concerned about Wei Xiaoqing. He looked at her complexion and figured she was alright, but she had looked quite frightening yesterday.
The old man has confined her to her quarters today, not letting her go anywhere, not even her own home. If her parents want to see her, they can come here.
Zhou Xuan wanted to ask Wei Xiaoqing about the strange death aura substance, but before he could speak, the phone in the hall rang.
Wei Haihong answered the phone, listened for a long time without saying a word, and his face gradually darkened.
The whole family has been on edge lately, with a lot of things going on. Looking at Wei Haihong's expression, they're all a little scared, wondering if something else has happened!
Wei Haihong put down the phone without saying a word. After a long pause, the old man spoke first, asking, "Third son, what's the matter?"
Wei Haihong hesitated for a moment before answering, "Dad, it's someone from the National Security Bureau outside. They said they want to ask Xiaoqing about something."
Wei Xiaoqing was taken aback and asked, "Uncle, are you sure you're not mistaken? I have no connection with the National Security Bureau, why would you want to know anything about me?"
Wei Haihong didn't answer her, but instead said to the old man, "It's a high-ranking Blue official!"
"Oh?" The old man was a little surprised, then thought for a moment and said, "Let him in."
Zhou Xuan naturally didn't know who the "blue high-ranking official" Wei Haihong was referring to was, but based on what he had heard, he guessed it was probably a high-ranking official in the National Security Bureau. These national affairs had nothing to do with him; he was just an ordinary person.
Lan, a middle-aged man in his forties, was very dignified. Upon seeing the old man, he respectfully greeted him, "Hello, sir!"
The old man pointed at the sand and said, "No need to be polite, sit down and let's get straight to the point."
The senior executive nodded, then took a photo from his briefcase, handed it to Wei Xiaoqing, and asked, "Ms. Xiaoqing, have you seen this thing in the photo before?"
Wei Xiaoqing took the photo and looked at it. The photo showed a small, black, rectangular object. It was black and looked remarkably like a coffin. She immediately nodded and said with certainty, "I've seen it before. It's called a 'miniature coffin' at my classmate's house!"
"That's it!" the senior executive said gravely. "Miss Xiaoqing, all seven people who had the gathering at your classmate's house yesterday, except for you, are dead." (Monthly votes have been overtaken again, brothers, give it your support! Hehe, also recommending my friend Xiaoxin's new Xianxia novel, *A Commoner's Cultivation*.)
Volume 1, Chapter 88: The Vanished Ancient City in the Legend of Tomb Raiders
"What...what did you say?" The words from the higher-ups nearly stunned Wei Xiaoqing.
There were seven people at yesterday's gathering, including her. They were all female classmates from university. The gathering took place at Cheng Jing's home. Cheng Jing's father is a professor of archaeology in the history department of Peking University. Cheng Jing has been greatly influenced by her father, especially in her love for collecting antiques and collectibles.
After returning home, Wei Xiaoqing had nothing to do, so she and Cheng Jing invited a few female classmates to get together and have some fun. After a crazy time, Cheng Jing opened her collection in the storage room to show them. One of the items was the miniature black coffin in the photo. Cheng Jing said that she bought it from an old dealer she knew before for seven thousand yuan.
Wei Xiaoqing wasn't a collector and knew little about antiques. She wasn't interested in Cheng Jing's various bottles and jars either, but she found the miniature coffin strange and examined it closely. The coffin was about 30 centimeters long, 10 centimeters wide, and 10 centimeters thick, weighing about 1.5 jin (approximately 0.75 kg). It was strange; it was definitely not metal, but it didn't seem like wood either. It wasn't painted on the outside either; it was neither gold nor wood, and she didn't know what it was made of. There were three seal characters carved on the bottom of the coffin, which Cheng Jing explained meant "miniature coffin." Although it was called a coffin, the lid and the body of the coffin were tightly connected without a single gap. She didn't know if the coffin was solid or hollow inside.
I remember Cheng Jing smiling and saying that the miniature coffin might be carved from a meteorite. She did a simple test and found that the material of the miniature coffin did not belong to any known material on Earth, but it was not a valuable meteorite like the gold-plated stone, which is why she bought it for seven thousand yuan.
But what the higher-ups at Lan were saying now shocked and disbelieved Wei Xiaoqing. She had never truly thought about death before, nor cared about it, because she was still young. She had only considered it when talking about her grandfather, but it was always something too distant from her own life. But now, the six female classmates she had been drinking, chatting, and partying with just yesterday—were they really dead?
It's almost unbelievable!
Wei Xiaoqing was surprised, but the old man, Shu Haihong, and Zhou Xuan were confused and were waiting for an explanation from the Blue executives.
The senior executive looked at Wei Xiaoqing, scrutinized her carefully, and asked with some confusion, "Miss Xiaoqing, are you sick or feeling unwell? Or..."
Wei Xiaoqing was somewhat displeased and snorted, "What business is it of yours whether I get sick or not? Is my life or death a matter of national importance?"
She said this, but to her surprise, the senior executive nodded seriously and said, "Sister Xiaoqing, your life or death is indeed a big issue for us!"
The old man tapped his finger on the coffee table and said, "Xiao Lan, get straight to the point!"
"Yes!" Lan, the senior executive, responded, and then said, "Miss Xiaoqing had a gathering with six female classmates, including Cheng Jing, yesterday. Afterwards, four of them left and went home. These four included Miss Xiaoqing and the other three. The girls all died at home around midnight last night. Cheng Jing also died at home, along with three other people, including herself."
"
"The report was filed by the family of the three girls who died in their own home. The Xicheng 110 Center confirmed that the call was made at 12:11 PM. After arriving at the scene, the criminal police initially determined that the deaths were due to poisoning. According to the family members, the girls had all drunk too much at a gathering with classmates before returning home, and they had not eaten or drunk anything after returning home. The criminal police then pointed their suspicions to Cheng Jing's home, and the criminal police team immediately rushed to Cheng Jing's home, only to find that the three girls had also died!"
At this point, Lan, the senior official, sighed and shook his head, then continued, "After the criminal investigation team and forensic doctor examined the body at the scene, they confirmed that the cause of death was the same as that of the other three women who died in their homes. A thorough search of Cheng Jing's house, leaving almost no stone unturned, revealed no toxic substances. But strangely..."
The senior official looked at the old man and Wei Haihong, and said slowly in a deep voice, "Four criminal police officers and one forensic doctor also died around noon this morning!"
The old man and Wei Haihong were both stunned. Only Zhou Xuan did not find it strange. He knew from the strange substance in Wei Xiaoqing's body that the substance was deadly. Presumably, the criminal police and forensic doctors had also come into contact with the substance.
Zhou Xuan couldn't help but ask, "Did those criminal police officers and forensic doctors come into contact with that miniature coffin?"
The senior executive looked at him with some surprise. He asked, "How do you know it was the miniature coffin that caused the trouble?"
Zhou Xuan gave an awkward laugh and immediately shut his mouth. That was just his guess after seeing the photo, and he didn't want to get involved.
The Blue executives were only momentarily surprised by Zhou Xuan's appearance before quickly returning their attention to their account of the old man and Wei Haihong.
"Initially, the Xicheng branch treated this case as a regular case and handled it according to standard procedures. However, after a mysterious death of a person, the branch immediately took it seriously and reported it up the chain of command. Several similar deaths had also occurred in Henan, but because the deaths occurred earlier and the number of deaths was not as high, they did not attract much attention. Finally, after a detailed examination, the National Security Bureau's investigation department came to a conclusion!"
Lan Gaozhang said, placing the photos in front of him and sighing, "All the suspicious points point to this miniature coffin in Cheng Jing's collection. The three people from the National Security Department who came into contact with this coffin are now in the hospital. According to the time of death of the previous victims, the time of death after contacting the miniature coffin was twelve hours. The three people from the National Security Department have seven hours left to live!"
The old man and Wei Haihong were so surprised that they couldn't speak for a long time.
The senior official from the Ministry of Public Security added, "The National Security Bureau has now taken full control of this case because it's not just about the deaths of a few people; it involves a major issue in the history of a city where hundreds of thousands of people have died!"
"The more you talk about it, the more confused I get!" the old man asked, frowning. "What historical connection does this case have with it now?"
"Old sir, let me explain slowly. It's not something I can explain all at once." The senior executive gestured, genuinely unsure where to begin. After a moment's thought, he said, "That miniature coffin... our testing department examined it thoroughly. The coffin itself carries a special kind of radioactivity, which can be called radiation, though different from nuclear radiation, but still fatal. This radiation can stop the blood from functioning and mixes with the blood, making it impossible to break down. Moreover, once exposed to this radiation, both humans and animals will die within twelve hours. This is more terrifying than nuclear radiation. It's just that the radioactivity of that miniature coffin only reaches a range of three meters; that's a stroke of luck amidst misfortune!"
“In the core secrets of the highest levels of every country, sir, you are my former superior, and you know that,” the Blue executive said solemnly. “Things that pose a great threat to the country, or that could cause panic across the nation or even the world, are secretly eliminated by the country’s security agencies. If they were to announce them publicly, it would only cause widespread panic. That’s how it was in this case!”