507: direct arrest

Jiang Si made the arrangements, exchanged a look with Zhang Xiaxia, and quickly split up, each chasing a different tomb raider.

Jiang Si chased Director Li Shiya, while Zhang Xiaxia targeted Second Brother.

Third Brother's travel bag had a red sticker on it; Jing Jiang and Xiao Lin went to chase Fourth Brother.

...

Although Xiang Haitian wanted to chase, the severe pain in his fingers prevented him from tracking them. However, he had already contacted the nearby Municipal Bureau, and people were waiting at the intersection. If the tomb raiders wanted to escape on foot, it was simply a pipe dream.

Even if he couldn't chase them himself, it didn't matter; the two disappearing waiters were also his targets.

He immediately contacted Officer Si waiting outside: "Chase them! Those two waiters we just saw!"

"Don't listen to anything they say, arrest them directly!"

...

The chase began.

After all, Jiang Si was alone, and her target was the tomb raiders' Director. Whether in speed or strength, Jiang Si was clearly at a disadvantage.

In this situation, Jiang Si knew she could only rely on cunning. Otherwise, simply chasing them would make her easily discovered, leading to more complications.

She looked at the direction Li Shiya left and quickly identified a shortcut.

"Since you can't go back, then keep going forward. I will definitely get ahead of you..."

Jiang Si made up her mind and immediately slipped into the small path next to her.

The fake Gu Zun Ding was still in her bag. The technique Mr. Wang mentioned flashed in her mind, word by word.

Soon, Jiang Si took the shortcut and got ahead of Li Shiya.

She walked towards Li Shiya.

Although there were other pedestrians on the road, Jiang Si's heart beat faster and faster. She knew Li Shiya was carrying a knife, and once she was recognized or discovered, her life could be threatened!

In this situation, she showed no difference, walking towards Li Shiya like an ordinary passerby.

Li Shiya walked quickly, looking back every few steps. His attention was completely not on the person walking towards him.

As he was walking like this, he suddenly felt tripped by something.

His eyes widened in astonishment, and his body tilted forward.

In his line of sight, a black shadow flew past...

Crash!

The sound of shattering echoed in his ears...

Li Shiya stumbled a few steps to stand firm, looked at the porcelain fragments scattered on the ground in front of him, his mind blank!

"Damn it!!"

He cursed angrily.

That unwillingness poured out of his mouth. He didn't expect something like this to happen at this moment!

Although there were four packages, Li Shiya would certainly not hand over the authentic item to others!

Passersby turned their heads one after another...

Although he didn't care how others looked at him, the police sirens had already sounded.

"Damn it!"

"Damn it!!"

He was furious but didn't dare to stay long. Once caught, he would be completely finished. He gritted his teeth and left quickly, leaving behind the fragments of porcelain worth tens of millions.

...

The few people who scattered made it difficult for Xiang Haitian to cope.

Moreover, the other party seemed to have chosen their escape routes early, making it impossible for Xiao Zhang and Xiao Wang to track them.

When Xiang Haitian received the news that they had lost track, he heavily punched the door frame.

But no matter what, this transaction was not successful.

As long as the transaction was not completed, they still had a chance in the end.

Moreover, this meeting also provided many new clues. That villager was the tomb raider, and his identity information could definitely be found.

He immediately took out his phone and sent a text message: "Artifacts taken away, check surveillance, don't miss any details!"

Then, he dialed the number of the Captain of the Municipal Bureau Criminal Investigation Team.

This operation was inadequately prepared. Although they engaged in close combat with the criminals, they still let them escape.

After contacting them, Xiang Haitian looked at the text message on his phone, his heart filled with surprise.

"These two groups clearly didn't know I was coming..."

"Who sent that message?"

"What do these tomb raiders mean? Coming here to eat?"

Doubts lingered in his mind.

"Could it be that internal strife occurred among them?"

"Did someone want to take it all?"

This possibility indeed existed. Most people who engaged in these illegal activities would not show mercy; there was only monetary gain, no camaraderie.

For money, anything could be done.

...

The four tomb raiders gathered at the meeting point.

They all looked disheveled. Fourth Brother was still soaking wet, emitting a sour smell.

Third Brother glanced at him and asked in a muffled voice, "Fourth Brother, what happened to you? Did you fall into a cesspit?"

Fourth Brother said while retching, "Don't mention it... The Municipal Bureau was chasing closely, I hid in a manhole cover."

"This damn..."

"Ugh..."

Second Brother was thoughtful. He saw Li Shiya's poor complexion and asked, "Director, what's wrong?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, his expression changed: "You..."

Third Brother and Fourth Brother heard the sound and immediately looked over.

Their expressions also turned gloomy.

Fourth Brother didn't care about retching and asked gloomily, "You... lost the item?"

None of them were easy to deal with. At this moment, the two and a half million that was about to be in their hands was gone, and no one could stand it.

Li Shiya's face turned even darker when he heard this.

"Damn it!"

"So what if I lost it? This was originally my idea!"

Second Brother spoke up: "How did you lose it? Where did you lose it?"

"We must find it! Otherwise, if the item is gone, we will still be arrested!"

"The Municipal Bureau has already seen us!"

Li Shiya gritted his teeth, feeling very weak inside.

The camaraderie among the four brothers was thinner than paper.

If he said he lost it, no one would believe him, and it would instead invite fatal disaster.

He was forced to say, "I was walking too fast, damn it, and got tripped..."

"That thing flew out and shattered!"

"Damn it..."

Hearing his words, the other three were stunned.

Their eyes turned fierce.

At this moment, Li Shiya's phone rang. He took out his phone in astonishment.

President Wang: "Where are you? Something just happened here? Are you alright?"

Seeing the text message, he became ruthless again.

He said: "The treasure is shattered, but there's still this fat sheep?"

"We can still get rich!"

How could Li Shiya know that all of this was arranged by "President Wang" Su Yue.

Li Shiya's plan was quite loud, but he didn't know that the so-called "President Wang" was actually Su Yue. He was not clear that he had already fallen into a trap.

"This President Wang is also rich. If we get rid of him, we still have other ways to get rich!" he said.

Third Brother's eyes changed slightly, and he said, "Director, don't forget the premise of dealing with President Wang. Now that ten million is gone, what's the use of killing someone and casually getting a hundred or eighty thousand?"

"If President Wang was really that rich, would he go to the village to sell fake goods? Don't be kidding."

Third Brother's words seemed to remind Fourth Brother. He was soaking wet, and the sour smell was suffocating. When he thought about everything he had gone through just for a fake item, he felt even more indignant.

Fourth Brother also spoke up: "Divide twenty or thirty thousand per person to live the rest of our lives? Don't be kidding. I won't get involved in this killing business."

Li Shiya heard them say this, his finger editing the text message stopped, and his eyes narrowed: "What do you mean?"

"Getting cold feet at this critical juncture? Don't forget, if something really happens, none of us can escape responsibility! Are your brains made of wood?"

Third Brother immediately retorted: "Who knows about the people we killed before? In the deep mountains and old forests, even if we killed them, so what?"

"You want to kill someone in the City now. You might earn this money, but I'm afraid you won't live to spend it. If you want to do it, do it yourself. Fourth Brother, let's go."

He decided to break up the partnership. Although this small group consisted of only four people, they also formed factions. Third Brother and Fourth Brother had a better relationship. At this moment, when Third Brother said he was leaving, Fourth Brother followed without a word.

Li Shiya also understood this logic. If it were him, he would also make the same choice. But understanding didn't mean he could allow it.

The anger of being betrayed surged into his heart for a moment. He drew his knife and rushed over but was stopped by someone.

Second Brother stopped Li Shiya and said, "Third Brother, wait."

Third Brother and Fourth Brother stopped and turned their heads to look at him in confusion.

The four of them were by the roadside. Second Brother's voice wasn't loud, but he continued, "The four of us, either we all quit together, or... none of us will see the sun tomorrow. You should understand this point."

Hearing this, although Third Brother didn't react much, Fourth Brother's body clearly stiffened.

Second Brother continued gloomily, "If you want to leave, then no matter where that President Wang is, I will definitely kill you."

"You know too much, and your brains aren't good. You're too easy to be caught and then expose us."

After he finished speaking, the atmosphere instantly became heavy.

Even as brothers, none of them trusted each other that much.

Third Brother stood with his hands in his pockets, about five meters away from Director and Second Brother, his expression serious, and asked, "What do you mean? We're brothers, do you think the two of us would reveal our affairs?"

Second Brother smiled sinisterly: "Brothers?"

"What a good brotherhood. If you aren't caught, I'll provisionally believe your words, but once you are caught, facing a reduced sentence, will you or will you not speak?"

"If Third Brother and Fourth Brother are caught together, then it will depend on who confesses first to get a reduced sentence."

Third Brother's expression froze. The answer to this question remained unchanged. Whether admitting it or not, as long as they were alive, they would ultimately be suspected.

Third Brother gritted his teeth, thought for a moment, and said, "How do you know I'll be caught?"

Second Brother said directly: "Because you're stupid. You should understand that I just saved your life. Look at this distance, Director was going to kill you, and you'd be dead by now."

Only then did Third Brother notice, and he quickly took a step back.

Seeing him like this, Second Brother sneered and continued, "I won't discuss anything else. Right now, I just want to know, where did that cop come from?"

"We just arrived, and he was already here?"

Second Brother's gloomy expression made Fourth Brother, who had always trusted Third Brother, also subconsciously take a step away.

Li Shiya finally understood, narrowing his eyes like a lion waiting to hunt: "Was it you who contacted the Municipal Bureau?"

...

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Jiang Si and the other three also gathered in one place.

Zhang Xiaxia eagerly asked, "How did it go, Jiang Si? Did you get the item?"

Jiang Si nodded, revealing a corner of the Gu Zun Ding from her arms.

Xiao Lin and Jing Jiang also smiled.

Jiang Si then said, "The method mentioned in the letter really worked."

Next, Jiang Si briefly described how she succeeded.

Ten minutes ago, Li Shiya tripped; it was Jiang Si who tripped him as she brushed past him. And the shadow that Li Shiya thought was the genuine article in that instant was actually a fake thrown by Jiang Si!

Jiang Si held the item securely in her hand, and seeing Li Shiya's reaction after seeing the fragments, she knew she had succeeded.

If it were fake, Li Shiya wouldn't have reacted that way; his angry curses further proved everything.

In his grief over losing a huge amount of money, Li Shiya didn't even consider why he had tripped, much less that the item in his bag had been swapped.

He didn't notice that Jiang Si had already tied a rope on the path...

After confirming the Gu Zun Ding in her hand was genuine, Jiang Si immediately sent a message for the others to abandon the pursuit and meet up.

Hearing Jiang Si say this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Xiaxia exclaimed, "Speaking of which, this Mr. Wang... is really amazing."

Jing Jiang nodded, his tone full of admiration: "This kind of feint and substitution tactic is extraordinary."

Xiao Lin nodded thoughtfully: "As expected, they are not on the same level..."

"Fortunately, the next collaboration can cont..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly thought of something and changed the subject: "That was really close! The Municipal Bureau people actually showed up, only about ten minutes after us. How could they be so fast?"

Jiang Si's smiling expression froze, and she said seriously, "The Municipal Bureau people coming must be Mr. Wang pulling strings."

"His goal in bringing us, the tomb robbers, and the Municipal Bureau together was to have us discovered by the Municipal Bureau, so we would be out of the game."

"He never expected us to get the item; his goal was simply to exclude us."

Hearing Jiang Si's words, the other three were stunned.

We were tricked just like that?

He never intended for us to participate in the transaction?

But what was he planning to do himself?

They suddenly realized that the line in the letter about "the next plan will be notified after getting the item" was just a smokescreen, because there was no next plan at all!

We were used!

But Jiang Si smiled: "But it doesn't matter, he didn't expect us to actually get the genuine article."

"Now we are one step ahead!"

"The setup was too big, there were bound to be oversights."

"He treated us like pawns, but he didn't expect that we, these pawns, would start moving!"

*Ding!*

Just then, Jiang Si received a text message.

She looked at the content of the message, and her face suddenly changed.

Seeing her face suddenly turn pale, the others also felt a jolt in their hearts.

After seeing the message, Jiang Si immediately took out the Gu Zun Ding from her arms.

She looked at it repeatedly several times, her face becoming increasingly grim.

"What's wrong?" Seeing Jiang Si's sudden change of expression, Zhang Xiaxia couldn't help but ask.

Jiang Si opened her mouth, at first unable to speak, then finally said, "What I got was a fake."

Her voice was even trembling slightly.

It was the chill of being watched intently, the feeling of everything being under someone else's control.

"A fake!?" Xiao Lin was stunned.

He took the Gu Zun Ding from Jiang Si's hand. Although he wasn't very good at authenticating items, this fake had barely been aged, and a closer look would reveal it was a replica.

He said in shock, "You took it from the tomb robber leader, how could it be fake?"

"And didn't you say that person's expression..."

As Xiao Lin spoke, his voice gradually faded, and he suddenly thought of something.

He hesitated and tentatively asked, "Could it be that even that tomb robber didn't know this was a fake?"

Jiang Si nodded heavily: "We were still played."

She said doubtfully, "How did this person manage to do this?"

At this point, the message read: "The Gu Zun Ding in your hands is fake, our collaboration has ended."

What was truly frightening wasn't being fooled, but not knowing how they were fooled.

It was impossible to prevent, and even after falling for it, they couldn't figure out the reason.

She murmured to herself, "Could it be that he already knew we would try to turn his plan against him and took precautions in advance?"

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Si shook her head, casting that thought aside.

Her gaze gradually became sharp.

She said, "We can think about these things later. The primary goal now is the ultimate purpose of this deception."

"No matter what, that Mr. Wang couldn't possibly know that we have already figured out the final target location."

"Dongdong, well done."

Zhang Xiaxia smiled when she heard this, not saying much more.

Previously, for double assurance, besides her, Xiao Lin, and Jing Jiang going to Guangrao Village, Jiang Si also had Zhang Xiaxia find an intermediary in the black market, copied the intermediary's phone card, and learned the specific destination.

Now they were actually one step ahead!

Jiang Si said with a determined look, "That guy's goal is to get us noticed by the Municipal Bureau and use this opportunity to kick us out of the game."

"But he doesn't know that we have already figured out the final target location. As long as we make good use of it, the final winners will definitely be us!"

...

On the other side, the standoff within the tomb robbers continued.

Second Brother's gaze was grim; he used words to intimidate Third Brother and Fourth Brother, making them not dare to act rashly.

Then, Second Brother put forward a statement that shocked everyone.

"We just entered the hotel, and the Municipal Bureau people arrived right after us. What does that mean?"

"They found our location so precisely?"

"I originally didn't want to suspect you, but now..."

"Honestly, I think all of you have something wrong."

Li Shiya immediately frowned and asked, "Second Brother! What are you talking about!?"

"Suspecting others is one thing, but you're suspecting me too?"

Second Brother said coldly, "You said it shattered... Did it really shatter?"

"Isn't it also possible that you called the Municipal Bureau people, made us scatter and run, and took the item yourself?"

"That's ten million!"

Second Brother raised his voice grimly: "That's not a small amount!"

"Comparing two and a half million to ten million, we all know which is more and which is less."

Hearing this, Third Brother immediately said, "That's right! Li Shiya! If you dropped the item and it shattered, where did it shatter? Let's go take a look together!"

Fourth Brother also nodded. Once money was involved, loyalty no longer mattered.

Second Brother continued, "Actually, there's no need to look. After all, compared to the Director, your suspicion is greater."

Third Brother's eyes widened: "My suspicion is greater? What kind of joke is that?"

"I'd say your suspicion is greater!"

"You were the one who brought this up! I think you just want to turn us brothers against each other! I've always disliked gloomy people like you!"

"You're always timid and afraid of everything, and now you're suspecting that I called the Municipal Bureau? Do you have any evidence?"

After Third Brother finished speaking, he almost immediately switched from attack to defense.

At this point, the four of them put some distance between each other, afraid of being suddenly attacked by a companion.

Second Brother said, "I said it's just suspicion. How do you prove you haven't contacted the Municipal Bureau?"

Third Brother frowned and said, "Then how do you prove yourself?"

Second Brother took out his phone directly: "Feel free to check."

"You also know my personality; I'm a suspicious person."

"It's impossible for me to contact the Municipal Bureau; the risk is too great."

"I wouldn't let any of you get caught, because that would inevitably implicate me..."

"But you, this fool, are different."

The other two looked at Third Brother again.

Under Second Brother's sharp verbal attack, Third Brother couldn't think of anything to refute and could only start explaining.

Third Brother gritted his teeth and took out his phone: "You can check mine too!"

"Besides, no matter what, I also want the money. If I called the Municipal Bureau, how could I let Li Shiya hold the package?"

"I wouldn't be so selfless as to just hand over the money I've gotten, would I?"

Hearing this, Second Brother narrowed his eyes.

He seemed to be discerning the truthfulness of what Third Brother said.

Then he sighed and said, "The real Gu Zun Ding is with me."

He patted his handbag.

Hearing this, everyone's expressions changed again!

Including Li Shiya, his expression was full of surprise, and his eyes widened!

"You have the real one?"

"Then the one I dropped..."

Second Brother nodded and said, "That was a fake."

Li Shiya pulled open the travel bag on Second Brother's shoulder and reached inside to feel it.

He immediately confirmed whether it was real or fake.

He had been with this "ten million" every day for the past few days, so of course he touched it often. The difference in feel between this and a replica, he knew the moment he touched it!

Second Brother continued, "I swapped the item when I went to the restroom earlier."

"When we split up and ran, all four bags contained fakes."

Third Brother's face turned red with anger: "Why did you do that!?"

He felt like he had been played.

Second Brother said grimly, "Because I suspected every single one of you."

Friendly Reminder: The website is about to be revised, which may cause loss of reading progress. Please save your "Bookshelf" and "Reading History" promptly (screenshot saving is recommended). We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause!