With enemies ahead and pursuers behind, Mu Feng gritted his teeth and lunged into a nearby condemned building. No sooner had he climbed to the second floor than the entire level was bathed in blinding light. Three off-road vehicles converged, their high beams pinning him down. Zhao Jinya’s voice boomed from a loudspeaker:
"Mr. Mu, shall we talk? Someone is offering three hundred million dollars for those artifacts you’re holding..."
"Three hundred million? Boss Zhao is certainly generous." Mu Feng leaned against a crumbling concrete pillar and discreetly tapped the side of his phone three times. It was the emergency location signal he had pre-arranged with Professor Zheng.
In the glare of the lights, Zhao Jinya’s bald head glistened. "Young Master Mu, your eyes are more precise than any instrument. Why not come work for me?" Beside him, a blonde foreigner stepped forward, his right hand unconsciously rubbing a ring.
Mu Feng’s pupils constricted. The intertwined lotus pattern on that ring was identical to the secret mark on the base of a Tang Dynasty silver pot! His Mystic Pupil suddenly stung, and a vision flashed before his eyes: this foreigner standing at a European auction house, with a banner behind him reading "Sotheby's Special Auction."
"What should I call you?" Mu Feng deliberately tilted his chin toward the foreigner.
"William." The foreigner’s Chinese was standard, but the gem on his ring shimmered with an eerie blue hue under the intense light—the exact same color as the glaze beneath the silver pot’s oxidation layer!
Zhao Jinya waved his hand impatiently. "Enough with the pleasantries! Hand over the silver pot, the bronze vessel, and that lacquer box!" Behind him, six thugs brandished machetes in unison.
Mu Feng suddenly chuckled. "Boss Zhao, you’re not playing by the rules." He slowly pulled the bronze vessel from his jacket. "This is a piece from the second year of the Heping era of the Han Dynasty. Do you plan to chop it into pieces to smuggle it out of the country?"
While everyone’s gaze was fixed on the bronze vessel, Mu Feng’s Mystic Pupil suddenly flared with heat. His vision stuttered like a glitching videotape: two seconds later, the one-eyed boss would climb up from the conduit on the right, and William’s left hand would reach for his waistband...
"Look out!" Mu Feng dove to the left. Almost simultaneously, a gunshot rang out, and cement chips exploded from the spot where he had been standing!
"Fuck!" William cursed, holding a silenced pistol. Mu Feng rolled behind a load-bearing wall. The Mystic Pupil flashed another vision: three seconds later, a thug would flank him from the gap on the left...
Three, two, one! Mu Feng grabbed a half-length steel rod and swung it across the moment the thug poked his head out. "Ah!" The man screamed and tumbled down the stairs.
"He’s over there!" the voice of a man in a black jacket echoed from downstairs. Mu Feng seized the opportunity to bolt toward the edge of the balcony. The Mystic Pupil warned him again: in five seconds, Zhao Jinya would personally lead men to block the fire escape.
His phone buzzed. A text from Professor Zheng: "Police notified. Hold out for 15 minutes. Team Leader Wang Han from the provincial special task force, who cracked the Longmen Grottoes theft case, is leading the team personally."
Mu Feng’s heart lifted. He quickly replied: "William’s ring pattern matches the silver pot. It’s international smuggling!"
No sooner had he sent the message than a metallic clang rang out from the ventilation duct above. The one-eyed boss dropped down like a seasoned monkey, swinging an iron bar that whistled through the air toward Mu Feng’s face!
The Mystic Pupil gave a 0.5-second warning. Mu Feng ducked, the iron bar striking the wall and throwing off sparks. He took the chance to land an elbow into the old man’s ribs and snatched the walkie-talkie from his belt.
"All teams, take note! The target is on the second floor of Zone B!" Zhao Jinya’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie, frantic with rage. Mu Feng grinned and pressed the talk button. "Boss Zhao, that bronze vessel of yours is a fake. The real one is right here with me!"
The entire building erupted with the sound of chaotic footsteps. Mu Feng shoved the bronze vessel into a drainpipe and scrambled up the scaffolding on the exterior wall; the Mystic Pupil indicated there was still a functional tower crane on the roof!
At that moment, Professor Zheng’s battered Santana was speeding toward the south side of the city at 120 km/h. In the passenger seat, Qin Yue clutched the lacquer box tightly. "Professor, is this really the copy of the *Lantingji Xu*?"
"I saw it once at the Xi'an customs office thirty years ago." The old man steered furiously, his eyes reddening. "It was hidden inside a shipment of export toys back then. By the time I brought in the experts, the freighter had already left the port..."
In the back seat, Su Yuqing suddenly pointed ahead. "Police cars!"
Three armored riot control vehicles were screaming past them. Professor Zheng slammed on the accelerator. "Girl, call Mu Feng, put it on speaker!"
The moment the call connected, a deafening sound of clashing metal came from the other end. Mu Feng shouted, panting heavily: "I’m in the tower crane operator’s cabin! William is trying to run. His car is parked at..."
After a burst of static, the line went dead.
"Team Leader Wang! The target is in the tower crane!" Professor Zheng shouted at the lead riot vehicle. A scarred officer leaned out. "Old Zheng? How are you...! Attention all units, seal off all exits!"
In the tower crane cabin, Mu Feng was jamming the control lever with a wrench. Through the dust-covered glass, he watched William pacing like a trapped beast below, suddenly pulling a silver case from his trunk.
The Mystic Pupil flared with blinding light without warning! A clear image formed before Mu Feng’s eyes: the case contained a portable X-ray machine. William was going to use it to verify the authenticity of the lacquer box; the bastard didn’t trust Zhao Jinya’s judgment at all!
"Mu Feng! Jump!" Qin Yue’s voice suddenly came from below. Mu Feng looked back to see her and Su Yuqing having somehow climbed onto the roof of a building two stories lower, holding a fire-rescue air cushion they must have scrounged up somewhere!
There was no time to hesitate; Zhao Jinya’s men had already begun climbing the tower crane’s steel frame. Mu Feng kicked the cabin door open and leaped!
"Thud!" He slammed heavily onto the air cushion, rolling twice before coming to a stop. Qin Yue rushed over to pull him up. "William ran toward the west!"
Mu Feng gritted his teeth and scrambled up. The Mystic Pupil locked onto the sprinting blonde figure a hundred meters away. "He’s heading for the overpass!" The three of them took a shortcut through the alley, just in time to see William hailing a motorcycle.
"Stop him!" Su Yuqing grabbed a shared bicycle from the roadside and hurled it. The motorcycle swerved to avoid it, and William turned back, raising his gun.
"Look out!" Mu Feng shoved both women aside. The bullet grazed his shoulder, leaving a stinging trail of fire. But his Mystic Pupil was exceptionally sharp now; he could even predict the movement of William’s finger on the trigger!
At the critical moment, piercing sirens wailed from all directions. William cursed and accelerated toward the overpass ramp. Mu Feng suddenly spotted a delivery scooter parked by the road, its keys still in the ignition!
"Borrowing your ride!" He straddled the scooter and twisted the throttle to the max. The little electric bike somehow hit the speed of a motorcycle, drifting across the road to block William just as he reached the overpass!
"Get out of the way!" William raised his hand to fire. Mu Feng ducked half a second early, and the bullet shattered the rearview mirror. He grabbed the mirror stem and threw it like a dart, striking William squarely in the wrist!
"Ah!" The pistol hit the ground, and the motorcycle lost control, slamming into the guardrail. William tumbled and scrambled to his feet, the silver case spilling open to reveal the X-ray machine. He pulled a dagger with a savage glare. "Yellow monkey, you have no idea the value of this thing!"
Mu Feng sneered. "More than you do." The Mystic Pupil clearly showed the dagger’s trajectory: 45 degrees upward from the right... He side-stepped the strike and felled William with a sweep of his leg!
Police cars swarmed the scene. William suddenly roared in English, "Do you dare arrest me? I am with the European Antiquities Association!"