Mu Feng glanced left and right, then lowered his voice. "Tang Dynasty court silver. The base of the pot is engraved with the three characters for 'Xuanhui Office.' A conservative estimate would be 1.2 million."
"What?!" Su Yuqing exclaimed, quickly covering her mouth.
Qin Yue’s eyes went wide. "Then why did you..."
"Distraction," Mu Feng said with a smug wink. "The shopkeeper was selling it as a Republic-era piece. If I’d acted too interested, he would have grown suspicious." He patted his backpack. "Besides, someone was tailing us. I had to move fast."
Su Yuqing suddenly grabbed his arm. "Wait, you said Tang Dynasty? That pot is over a thousand years old, then? How has it survived in such good condition?"
"High silver content in Tang Dynasty pieces actually forms a protective layer through oxidation," Mu Feng explained. "Look at the uneven, pitted oxidation marks on the body—those are 'fish roe' patterns deliberately hammered by craftsmen back then. This kind of technique..."
Before he could finish, Qin Yue gave him a sharp tug. "Feng, that guy is back!"
Mu Feng looked back and sure enough, saw the man in the black jacket heading toward them with two thugs. He immediately wrapped his arms around the waists of both women. "There’s a teahouse around the corner to the right. We’re going in."
The three of them ducked into the teahouse, and Mu Feng requested a private room. As soon as the waiter served the tea and left, he locked the door behind him.
"Zhao Jinya’s men?" Qin Yue’s face turned pale.
"Eight out of ten, yes." Mu Feng peered through a gap in the curtains. The three men were scanning the street across the way. "I snatched the painting Zhao Jinya had his eye on at the auction earlier. That old fox must be suspicious."
Su Yuqing nervously touched her silver bracelet. "What do we do now? Should we call the police?"
"It’s useless. They haven’t made a move yet," Mu Feng mused for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "I’ve got an idea."
He pulled the newly purchased silver pot from his bag, then fished a few hundred-yuan bills from his wallet and handed them to Qin Yue. "Go to the front desk, get a roll of plastic wrap, and buy a bottle of cola."
Qin Yue looked bewildered but did as she was told. By the time she returned, Mu Feng had already wrapped the silver pot in several layers of paper towels.
"Watch closely." He unscrewed the cola, poured a little onto the paper towels, and quickly sealed the damp bundle tightly with the plastic wrap. "Silver is most vulnerable to sulfides. The acidic substances in the cola will accelerate oxidation..."
"Are you trying to..." Su Yuqing suddenly caught on.
Mu Feng smirked. "Turn this treasure into 'junk'." He stuffed the treated pot back into his bag and took out his phone to send a message.
Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door. A young man in a courier uniform stood outside. "Mr. Mu? Local express delivery."
Mu Feng handed over his backpack. "Deliver it to the address. Make sure the recipient signs for it personally." He slipped him a bill. "Thanks for the trouble."
As soon as the courier left, Qin Yue couldn't help but ask, "Where did you send it?"
"To Qin Yue’s university professor’s house," Mu Feng said, sipping his tea. "The old man is an expert in bronzeware; it’s safer with him than in a bank vault."
Su Yuqing chuckled. "You are truly devious! But those people tailing us..."
"They’ll definitely assume the treasure is still on me." Mu Feng checked his watch. "Let’s sit here for another twenty minutes, then we’ll leave through the back door."
As he spoke, Mu Feng’s phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller ID, his expression shifting. "The silver shop owner?"
He answered, and the owner’s urgent voice came through. "Young man, that pot from earlier..."
"What about it?" Mu Feng felt a pang of tension.
"Did you... did you spot something?" the owner’s voice trembled. "I just checked the archives. The Xuanhui Office was Tang Dynasty..."
Mu Feng hung up immediately, grabbed the two women, and bolted. "Back door, now!"
The moment the three of them burst into the alley behind the teahouse, they heard the man in the black jacket shouting at the front entrance. Mu Feng led the women through a labyrinth of side streets before finally ducking into a large supermarket.
"What’s going on?" Qin Yue asked, breathless.
"The owner finally figured it out," Mu Feng said, tapping his forehead in frustration. "I should have haggled more instead of acting so desperate..."
Su Yuqing suddenly pointed at the supermarket’s glass doors. "Feng! Those men are following us!"
Mu Feng looked back and saw the man in the black jacket leading his team, scanning the supermarket entrance. He grabbed three baseball caps from a nearby shelf. "Put these on and follow me."
The three of them pulled their brims low and blended into the crowd while pushing a shopping cart. As they passed the fresh produce section, Mu Feng suddenly grabbed a live fish and tossed it onto the floor.
"Ah!" Su Yuqing shrieked on cue. The surrounding customers descended into chaos, and staff members rushed over to handle the mess.
Amidst the confusion, the three of them slipped into a freight elevator and headed straight to the underground parking garage. Mu Feng pressed his key fob, and a black SUV nearby flashed its lights.
"Get in!" He pulled open the driver’s side door, and as soon as the two women hopped in, he slammed on the gas and tore out of the parking garage.
In the rearview mirror, the man in the black jacket and his men reached the parking exit just in time to stomp their feet in rage.
"We lost them!" Su Yuqing cheered.
Qin Yue, however, was anxious. "Feng, that silver pot..."
"Don't worry, the delivery should have arrived by now." Mu Feng turned the steering wheel. "Let's head to a safe place first and wait for word from your professor."
The car merged onto the main road, the sunset painting the streets in gold. Mu Feng touched his Mystic Pupil, which was still burning faintly behind his brow, a smirk playing on his lips. Today had been perilous, but the rewards far exceeded his expectations. Tang Dynasty court silver—what an incredible steal!
"Where are we going next?" Su Yuqing asked excitedly.
Mu Feng glanced in the rearview mirror. "First, we’re going to get a good meal, and then..." He paused. "I have a feeling that something even bigger is waiting for us."
The car wound its way through the city for over half an hour before stopping in front of an old professor’s building covered in creeping ivy. Qin Yue took out her phone and sent a voice message: "Professor Zheng, we’re downstairs."
The entrance clicked open automatically. They climbed to the third floor, where Professor Zheng, his hair white as snow, was already standing at the door looking out, holding a small bronze blade he used as a letter opener—a habit the old man hadn't changed in twenty years.
"Qin, you child..." Professor Zheng began to grumble, but his gaze suddenly fell on Mu Feng’s backpack. "Did you bring it?"
Once inside and the door locked, Mu Feng pulled out the silver pot treated with cola. Professor Zheng gasped. The old man put on his reading glasses, pulled on a pair of white gloves, and stroked the oxidized layer on the base with trembling fingers. "This... this is..."
"It’s an artifact from the Tang Dynasty Xuanhui Office. I looked it up; it might have been used for court banquets," Qin Yue said, her eyes shining.
Professor Zheng dipped a cotton swab in a special solvent and carefully cleaned the inner edge of the base. When the three engraved characters for "Xuanhui Office" were fully revealed, the old man’s face changed dramatically. "Where did you get this?"
Mu Feng felt a jolt of alarm. "A silver shop in the Antique City. Why?"
"Interpol is currently tracking a batch of Tang Dynasty court artifacts that were smuggled abroad," Professor Zheng whispered. "In a Tang tomb unearthed in Luoyang last month, there was a silver plate with the same 'Xuanhui Office' mark. The epitaph records that this was a gift from Emperor Xuanzong to An Lushan!"
The teacup in Su Yuqing’s hand clattered to the floor. "An... An Lushan?"