"When you hold the pocket watch up to the sun, you can see a gorgeous rainbow. That's how the Rainbow Pocket Watch got its name!"
Boss Zhu paused to collect his thoughts before continuing.
"Also, inside the pocket watch is a photograph of my wife. After the two of us had a daughter, she already..."
As Boss Zhu spoke, his voice grew lower and lower until it became hoarse, heavy with sorrow.
"I'm sorry... My condolences."
Hearing this, Xi Yangyang offered a polite apology. After that, Xi Yangyang and Hui Tailang each asked a few questions about whether Boss Zhu had recognized anyone or made any enemies, though most of the questions came from Hui Tailang.
"There really is no scent at all. How is this possible?"
Xi Yangyang crouched down, sweeping his gaze across the entire area. He suddenly realized that his sense of smell couldn't match Mumu's, but he still wanted to test it for himself.
And indeed, the result was the same: the entire venue was completely devoid of any scent. How could this be? The Erying Museum wasn't expensive to enter, and plenty of people visited every day, so why was there no scent whatsoever?
"Ah, the reason for that is probably because I hire a large team of professional cleaners to scrub every single corner thoroughly! They usually work from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM every day."
Seeing Xi Yangyang lost in thought, Boss Zhu stepped forward to answer on his own initiative.
"6:00 AM and 9:00 PM."
Xi Yangyang muttered to himself. Thinking he had caught onto something, he turned his head and asked Boss Zhu, "When exactly was the Rainbow Pocket Watch stolen?"
This was a crucial question. Xi Yangyang figured it shouldn't be too difficult to puzzle out.
His gaze swept upward to the four corners of the museum, where surveillance cameras were installed. He knew Mumu must have checked the footage and found nothing, which meant the culprit had definitely tampered with it. But Xi Yangyang didn't need the cameras—all he needed was a timeline!
Hearing this, Boss Zhu hesitated for a moment, clearly struggling with a detail he couldn't quite pin down.
"Well, the surveillance cameras suffered a bit of a glitch last night. We have footage, but it's very blurry, and the timestamp isn't clear at all. All I remember is that it happened sometime between 8:00 PM and a little past 4:00 AM."
"The main reason is that the security guards were knocked unconscious, and the surveillance footage was obviously tampered with, though no fingerprints were left behind."
Hearing this, Xi Yangyang fell deep into thought.
First, the stolen item was a pocket watch. Second, inside the watch was a photograph of Boss Zhu's wife, adorned with precious rainbow diamonds.
There was one key question to answer: why did the culprit steal the pocket watch? Xi Yangyang suspected the primary motive was likely money.
The culprit had used something to mask their scent, or perhaps the cleaning routine had covered it up.
Then there were the knocked-out guards, the missing fingerprints, and the deliberately manipulated surveillance footage.
"This is..."
As if discovering a clue, Xi Yangyang stood up and walked over to a corner.
In the corner lay a patch of white powder. Xi Yangyang touched a pinch of it with his finger and brought it up to his eyes to inspect it. Before he could reach a conclusion, Hui Tailang's voice rang out.
"Hmph, if you ask me, this is a piece of cake! I can crack this case in a minute!"
Hui Tailang laughed heartily.
"Oh? And what brilliant insights do you have, Mr. Detective's Assistant?"
Seeing how confident Hui Tailang was, Boss Zhu walked over to ask about his reasoning.
Hui Tailang gave a slight smile—though "slight" was an understatement, as his grin stretched all the way to his ears.
"It's simple! It has to be him."
With an air of absolute confidence, Hui Tailang pulled a newspaper out of his pocket. The paper had been published about a month ago.
The article detailed a phantom thief who specialized in stealing jewelry. He had pulled off numerous heists, and no one had ever been able to stop him. If he set his sights on something, he was guaranteed to get his hands on it. He went by the alias Phantom Thief Shenhu.
"Oh, Phantom Thief Shenhu? The new name on everyone's lips... Well, it certainly sounds plausible. As expected of a detective's assistant, making progress so quickly!"
Hui Tailang puffed out his chest, laughing loudly, while Boss Zhu stood to the side, clapping in admiration.
Nearby, Xi Yangyang and Mumu were speechless. Xi Yangyang was speechless because Hui Tailang was pointing fingers without any logical deduction, while Mumu was speechless because he had considered that possibility earlier, but not a single detail pointed toward Phantom Thief Shenhu.
Most importantly, there was one crucial detail: Phantom Thief Shenhu always left a calling card before every theft, yet no card had been found when Boss Zhu's watch was stolen, which was why Mumu had ruled him out.
"This cake is so delicious."
"Lan Yangyang, could you please wipe the cream off your mouth?"
Lan Yangyang sat in the waiting room, stuffing his face with the complimentary cake until his entire mouth was covered in frosting. Reminded by Fei Yangyang, Lan Yangyang lazily scratched his head, reluctantly reached out to the nearby storage cabinet to grab a tissue, and accidentally knocked over an envelope.
The envelope fell to the floor, and a card slid out from inside, bearing the name Phantom Thief Shenhu...
"Really, who knows when Xi Yangyang and the others will finish up."
Lan Yangyang complained out of boredom. He crossed his legs and bounced his foot up and down until he lost his balance and fell straight backward.
"Aah!"
Lan Yangyang let out a yelp and crashed onto the floor, landing squarely on top of the envelope.
"That hurts!"
Rubbing his head, Lan Yangyang slowly scrambled to his feet, unaware that the letter had become wedged deep in his wool.
"I'm going to go find Xi Yangyang."
Finding the waiting room unbearable, Lan Yangyang turned to leave—though the truth was, he had simply finished all the cake.
"Lan Yangyang, where are you going?"
Seeing him ready to leave the waiting room, Fei Yangyang asked in confusion.
"It's so boring in here. I might as well go watch Xi Yangyang and the others. The sooner they crack the case, the sooner we can leave."
"But Mumu told us to stay put and wait."
Fei Yangyang argued. Hearing this, Lan Yangyang realized he had a point, so he instantly changed his destination. Instead of heading toward the main hall, he walked straight for the front exit.
"Hmm, I'm going to go buy something to eat."
Yawning as he walked, Lan Yangyang remembered a bowl of incredibly delicious snail rice noodles he had spotted earlier just before being dragged away here.
Besides, staying behind was useless since he couldn't solve cases anyway; he might as well go do what he wanted.
Muttering to himself, Lan Yangyang reached the main lobby, lifted his foot, and prepared to leave.
Suddenly, for reasons unknown, a terrible premonition washed over him.
He looked down at the floor, gripped by an inexplicable sense of dread. He couldn't bring himself to take a step forward.
"Whatever, it's probably just my imagination."
Shaking his head and dismissing the feeling as paranoia, Lan Yangyang lifted his foot to step down.
In a fraction of a second, his heart skipped a beat. Right before his eyes, sparks flew everywhere, and a terrifying wall of heat rushed toward him.
It was a bomb! Everything happened too fast for Lan Yangyang to react. Just as danger loomed over him, a dark figure lunged forward and tackled him out of the way.
"Ah!"
Lan Yangyang screamed as an explosion tore through the lower staircase. The moment the blast went off, a figure rushed in and violently shoved him, the sheer momentum carrying both Lan Yangyang and the mysterious figure crashing deep inside the Erying Museum.
"Agh, I'm dead."
Clearly terrified by what had just happened, Lan Yangyang thrashed about wildly before rolling his eyes back, instantly convincing himself that he had died.
"Well, at least there's no pain. I don't feel a thing."
Three seconds passed in silence, broken only by the imaginary caw of a crow. Puzzled, Lan Yangyang patted himself down with his hands and realized he had no wounds at all.
Eyes wide, Lan Yangyang looked up and discovered someone lying right on top of him.
The person was wearing a long black raincoat that practically covered their entire body, along with a black duck-bill cap and a black face mask.
They were lying flat on their stomach. In this position, Lan Yangyang had a clear view of the person's ankle, which was marred by a prominent scar.
It looked like the result of an injury sustained a long time ago.
Blood was steadily seeping from the person's back, staining the floor. The explosion must have destroyed the nearby stone staircase, shattering the slabs into countless sharp fragments that scattered instantly and pierced the stranger's back like a thousand knives.
"Are you okay?"
Though still shaken from the explosion, Lan Yangyang managed to push past his cowardice. Seeing the person who had been injured saving him, he slapped his own cheeks to snap himself out of it and asked about their condition.
Before Lan Yangyang could help them up, the stranger gave him a strange, forceful shove, pushed him away, and bolted out of the Erying Museum as soon as the blasts subsided.
"What is going on here?"
Lan Yangyang stood there in a daze, first bewildered by an explosion, then bewildered by a random rescue, only for his savior to run off immediately.
"What in the world is happening?"
Tilting his head in confusion, Lan Yangyang stood up and dusted the dirt off his clothes. By this time, the thunderous roar of the blast had already drawn Xi Yangyang, Mumu, and the others from the waiting room and main hall.
"Lan Yangyang, what happened?"
Xi Yangyang rushed over immediately to check on him.
"Xi Yangyang, I'm okay."
Hearing the voice, Lan Yangyang turned around and answered. By then, Mumu, Boss Zhu, and Hui Tailang had arrived as well.
"Lan Yangyang, what happened?"
Mumu asked the moment he reached the scene.
"There was an explosion right here!"
Though still nervous, Lan Yangyang took a deep breath and recounted what had just occurred.
"What is this?"
While Lan Yangyang was speaking, Hui Tailang noticed a corner of something white sticking out from Lan Yangyang's clothes.
Ignoring the others, Hui Tailang stepped forward, reached out, and pulled the white object free.
"It's a letter!"
Hui Tailang inspected the front and back before opening the envelope. As he scanned the contents, his eyes lit up with the missing breakthrough, and he turned around to hand the letter directly to Mumu.
"This is..."
Mumu stared at it in shock. The contents inside the envelope were none other than a calling card from Phantom Thief Shenhu.
The message was short but classic—in short, it stated: "I am coming for your Rainbow Pocket Watch."
"What?"
Shocked, Boss Zhu stepped forward to look at the envelope in their hands.
"I can't believe it really is him!"
"This letter is brand new! It looks like it was just written!" Boss Zhu said, bewildered as he stared at the envelope. The Rainbow Pocket Watch had been stolen today, but this letter looked like it had been sent at least yesterday.
Just as Boss Zhu was scratching his head, one of the security guards walked over and spoke up in astonishment.
"Oh, it's... this letter."
"What? You mean you've seen this thing before?"
Boss Zhu was stunned. Judging by the guard's words, he had clearly laid eyes on it.
"Where did you see it? Why didn't you tell me?"
Boss Zhu grabbed the guard by the shoulders and shook him frantically, desperate for an answer.
"Boss Zhu, t-this... I happened to see this envelope! Don't you remember? I brought it to you, and you said you didn't have time to read it, so you told me to throw it in the waiting room!"
The shaken guard spilled the truth. Hearing this, everyone fell silent. You mean it was a warning letter sent to you, and you're only looking at it *today*?
"Ah... well... um, I'm sorry. I suppose that did happen."
Boss Zhu awkwardly scratched his head. Deep down in his memory, the incident did ring a bell. Evidently, his own carelessness had caused him to miss the warning entirely.
"Since things have come to this, Detective Mumu and your two assistants... please, I beg you to help me find Phantom Thief Shenhu!"
With the case finally cracking open, Boss Zhu seized Hui Tailang's hand and pleaded earnestly.
"No problem, Boss Zhu! I will definitely help you solve this case, catch Phantom Thief Shenhu, and retrieve your Rainbow Pocket Watch!"
Seeing Boss Zhu place such high hopes on him, Hui Tailang immediately seized the opportunity to promote himself.
"You really give me peace of mind. You're so reliable—truly worthy of being a detective's assistant! If you can resolve this crisis, I'll pull every string I have to help you become a master detective!"
"Oh, I have one more request. If an emergency arises and you can't save the Rainbow Pocket Watch, please at least bring back the photograph inside!"
Boss Zhu added. Judging by the expression on his face, the photograph meant far more to him than the precious watch itself.
"Strange... why does he care so much about the photograph? The picture is of his late wife. It seems he truly loved her!"
Xi Yangyang mused to himself. Just as everyone was starting to settle down, *clatter*—something dropped to the floor.
"What's that?!"
Xi Yangyang turned his head toward the sound, and his pupils suddenly constricted. Right there on the ground was a pocket watch—the Rainbow Pocket Watch. And even more startling than that, it had fallen directly out of Lan Yangyang's wool.
"This is..."
At the sound of the drop, everyone noticed the Rainbow Pocket Watch lying beside Lan Yangyang's feet.
For a moment, everyone froze. But Hui Tailang reacted the fastest, lunging forward to snatch the watch off the floor.
"Boss Zhu, it's real!"
After inspecting it for a second, Hui Tailang gasped, realizing the watch in his hand was authentic. His words left Boss Zhu thunderstruck.
"What?! Wait—why is the Rainbow Pocket Watch on you?!"
Recovering his wits, Boss Zhu glared fiercely at Lan Yangyang. Poor Lan Yangyang was completely bewildered; he had no idea what was going on, let alone why everyone was suddenly looking at him with such grim expressions.
"I don't know! I swear I don't know how it got on me!"
Facing everyone's stern gazes and Boss Zhu's interrogation, Lan Yangyang could only stammer out desperate defenses as he backed away step by step, until his heel caught on a shattered stone slab.
*Clatter!* Lan Yangyang tumbled backward onto the floor. And at that exact moment, another sound rang out as a second object slipped out from his body.
The object was small, and the sound it made wasn't loud, but in the tense, dead silence of the interrogation, it sounded deafeningly harsh.
It was red, and looked remarkably like a button. Seeing this, Mumu stepped forward and picked it up.
"Does anyone recognize this?"
Mumu examined the object, clearly having no idea what it was. Just then, Man Yangyang and the others hurried over.
"T-this thing is..."
"This is!"
Hui Tailang and Man Yangyang cried out simultaneously as they stared at the item in Mumu's hand. As fellow inventors, they both recognized it instantly—it was a remote control.
"A remote control? Why would Lan Yangyang have something like this on him?"
Mumu was baffled. He couldn't understand why the Rainbow Pocket Watch had fallen from Lan Yangyang, why the threatening letter had been found on him as well, and why a remote control had just tumbled out of his pockets too.
"N-no, this isn't mine!"
Lan Yangyang waved his hands frantically, trying to explain, but the more he defended himself, the more damning it looked. Nerves made his tongue tie up, and his stuttering words were completely incomprehensible.
For some inexplicable reason, panic took over. In his nervous state, he instinctively lunged to snatch the remote control out of Mumu's hand.
During the tug-of-war between Lan Yangyang and Mumu, the remote slipped from their grasp and hit the ground, and Lan Yangyang accidentally slammed his foot right down onto the button.
*BOOM!*
In an instant, another deafening explosion tore through the air. As a wall of fire erupted, everyone instinctively threw themselves to the ground for cover.
Once again, the bomb went off near the entrance, leaving the people inside the museum largely unharmed.
"Why is the Rainbow Pocket Watch on you? Why was the letter on you? And why is the remote control for the bomb *still* on you?!"
Mumu stared at Lan Yangyang in disbelief. Lan Yangyang could only hold his hands up helplessly, completely clueless as to how any of this had happened.
"It wasn't me! You have to believe me!"
Lan Yangyang pleaded desperately. At that moment, Hui Tailang stood up and pointed a paw straight at him.
"I've figured it out, Boss Zhu! I know who the culprit is!"
"Who?!"
Seeing Hui Tailang stand up to deliver his deduction, Boss Zhu looked over with eager anticipation.
"Who is it?!"
"It's Lan Yangyang!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Hui Tailang directly accused Lan Yangyang.
"What?!"
The declaration left everyone in the room utterly stunned, their gazes snapping back to Lan Yangyang.
"What proof do you have, Hui Tailang?"
Xi Yangyang stood up, glaring at Hui Tailang. He had no evidence whatsoever—how could he just pin the crime on Lan Yangyang like that?
Hui Tailang smiled faintly. Evidence? Oh, he had evidence.
"Hmph! Admittedly, if we were talking about Lan Yangyang alone, pulling this off would be completely impossible!"
"Unless... Lan Yangyang was merely an accomplice!"
With that, Hui Tailang picked up the envelope and the Rainbow Pocket Watch.
"Here is how I believe the truth actually played out: Before coming here today, Lan Yangyang conspired with Phantom Thief Shenhu!"
"Phantom Thief Shenhu stole the Rainbow Pocket Watch from the museum earlier, but instead of taking it away, he hid it somewhere!"
"As for you, Lan Yangyang—I wager you must be his accomplice! You deliberately used Mumu's name to get us all to come here together!"