Just like that, after spending two days taking Jiuyue around to play, Yang Can prepared to get down to business.
Jiuyue, too, suddenly remembered that she had originally planned to steal the Colorful Cat's Eye, though there was still plenty of time.
Having made up her mind, Jiuyue decided to set out tonight.
"Are you free tonight?" Yang Can asked, looking at Jiuyue.
He intended to repeat what they had done over the past two days, taking Jiuyue to steal the Colorful Cat's Eye. The Colorful Cat's Eye currently on display in the exhibition hall was a fake; the genuine one was in his possession.
"I am! What are we going to do?" Jiuyue asked out of curiosity. If Yang Can had nothing planned, she might as well save the theft of the Colorful Cat's Eye for another day.
"I'll take you to see the Colorful Cat's Eye!" Yang Can said. In a few days, the truth would come out anyway, so he wasn't worried about Jiuyue guessing that he knew her identity.
"Great!" This was exactly what she wanted, though being with Yang Can would make it impossible to steal the Colorful Cat's Eye. Oh well, if she couldn't steal it now, she would figure something out later.
"Let me tell you, this Colorful Cat's Eye is a fake!" Yang Can said to Jiuyue as they arrived at the exhibition hall.
Hearing this, Jiuyue was startled, but then she thought it made sense. After all, a few days earlier she had suggested replacing it with a fake to guard against Jiuyue Tian, and Liuxing had also suggested making the gem movable. Now, she found herself in a bit of a dilemma.
Walking into the exhibition hall, they saw it was densely packed with infrared lasers.
"That guy really is all talk and no action!" Yang Can muttered speechlessly as he looked at the lasers. He was doing this just to win a smile from a beauty, but what on earth was Liuxing playing at?
"The old man handed the real one over to me for safekeeping!" Yang Can took out the Colorful Cat's Eye and showed it to Jiuyue.
"Well, there goes my chance of stealing it." Jiuyue gave a wry smile. With the Colorful Cat's Eye in Yang Can's hands—never mind that he was a powerful Armor summoner, she wouldn't try to steal it even if he were an ordinary person.
She would just have to wait for the next opportunity.
"Say, I've been thinking—what if I can't protect this Colorful Cat's Eye properly? I think it's better if I hand it back to you!" Yang Can said when he ran into the owner of the Colorful Cat's Eye.
With the gem on him, Jiuyue had zero chance of stealing it, and probably wouldn't even try, so she would have to change her target. With Qi Xiaosa absent, this was a prime opportunity; as long as the gem wasn't with him or Qi Xiaosa, everything else would be fair game.
"Very well then!" Seeing that Yang Can's attitude was resolute, the old man—the owner of the Colorful Cat's Eye—could only take the gem back with a reluctant smile.
On second thought, keeping it on his own person seemed safest, but now he worried that if Jiuyue Tian discovered the exhibit was a fake, the suspicion would inevitably fall on him.
Meanwhile, Yang Can had already brought Jiuyue to tour the exhibition hall, where they ran into Qi Xiaosa, Liuxing, and the others who had been waiting anxiously for three or four days.
Beside them, Jiuyue was busy plotting how to get her hands on the gem.
As for Yang Can, his eyes scanned Qi Xiaosa; among the people present, only Qi Xiaosa was worth his attention.
"Hello! The name is Yang Can!" Yang Can greeted politely.
"Hello, I am the handsome genius detective who has cracked 999 cases—Qi Xiaosa!" Qi Xiaosa struck a dashing pose and introduced himself narcissistically.
"Right, Qi Xiaosa," Yang Can thought to himself, marveling at how thick this guy's skin was.
It was practically thicker than Liuxing's shoe insoles.
Just as Yang Can and Qi Xiaosa were exchanging pleasantries, a massive swarm of flies suddenly flew into the hall.
Seeing this, the curator could only order the infrared lasers to be turned off. Suddenly, a thick fog rose around them—smoke bombs.
"Cough, cough! Protect the curator!"
"Cough, cough! Yang, are you guys alright?"
"Oh no, Jiuyue Tian is here!" Yang Can shouted, having calculated the timing.
"What?!"
"No! My gem!" the curator let out a heart-wrenching cry.
When the smoke cleared, the scene was left in utter chaos.
Accompanying the wreckage was the curator's broken expression and a group of people staring blankly at one another.
"My gem has been stolen!" the curator wailed in agony.
"At this point, our only option is to pursue!" Yang Can suggested. He glanced at Jiuyue; barring any accidents, the gem should be hidden on her. He had just stalled Qi Xiaosa—hopefully that wouldn't arouse suspicion—and now his goal was simply to muddy the waters.
"Can we even catch them?" Liuxing muttered, his confidence faltering since they couldn't even catch a glimpse of the thief.
"No, there is another possibility!" Qi Xiaosa's confident voice suddenly rang out.
"Jiuyue Tian hasn't escaped yet; she's still mixed in among us!"
"That's right! It's possible!" Hearing this, the curator agreed it made sense and immediately began taking a headcount.
"I have a plan!" Yang Can said, drawing the attention of everyone around. "We can have people vouch for where they were before the smoke screen went off, and then have everyone cross-check each other. Once checked, those people can immediately go out and pursue while sealing off the surrounding area! We'll weed them out step by step!"
Qi Xiaosa nodded. It was a decent plan—it allowed for internal checks while attempting a pursuit. Though its actual effectiveness was questionable, it was one of the few options they had.
"Alright, let's start with me!" Yang Can shouted immediately. "I was right here guarding the Colorful Cat's Eye with Mr. Qi Xiaosa just before this, so I can vouch for him!"
"I can vouch for Mr. Yang Can as well!" Seeing this, Qi Xiaosa quickly chimed in. Time was of the essence; completing this quickly gave them a chance to recover the Colorful Cat's Eye.
"I was with..."
"Alright, let's go after them!" After another round of cross-verification, Yang Can said in a deep voice. By muddying the waters, he had created the illusion that Jiuyue Tian had already escaped, and by providing an alibi for Jiuyue, thanks to the curator's trust in him, Jiuyue was exempted from being searched.
"Let's go!"
"Mr. Qi Xiaosa, where do you think Jiuyue Tian might have run off to while we were busy with the inspections?" Yang Can asked, tossing the question to Qi Xiaosa after a moment of thought.
"The rooftop!" Qi Xiaosa said after pondering for a moment, though he actually had another answer in mind as he cast a deep look at Jiuyue standing beside Yang Can.
"Correct!" Following Qi Xiaosa's train of thought and continuing with his plan to muddy the waters, Yang Can added, "And there's another place! The ventilation ducts!"
With that, everyone raised their heads to look at the slightly loosened ventilation duct.
Yang Can leaped up, gave it a tap, and knocked the ventilation grate right down.
Instantly, it was as if everyone had a clear target, and they hurriedly shouted about climbing up to check.
"Let's go check other areas too!" Yang Can said to Qi Xiaosa and the others.
As they entered the emergency stairwell, Liuxing took the lead—only to be instantly knocked unconscious by Baozi's super-alloy basin!
"Truly, the dao of heaven is cyclical; who has it ever spared?" Yang Can sighed with emotion to a snickering Jiuyue. Just two days ago, Liuxing had beaten Baozi with that very basin, and today he got smashed by it!
"Indeed!" Jiuyue agreed with a sigh, casting an appreciative look at Yang Can. He had suspected all kinds of methods and places, yet he had never suspected her! It was truly touching!