Chapter 51 – Returning with a Full Load

When they left, it was with one car for escort, but when they returned, they were accompanied by three cars in a grand procession. Seeing Wei Yang stride confidently through the door, Sun Muhua looked as if he had seen a ghost: “Brother Yang! You, you… what’s this about?”

Secretary Li, standing nearby, directed people to move several wooden boxes of varying sizes into the room. He then took out a small brocade box and handed it over with great respect: “Master Wei, this is a token of apology from Director Sun. He said he will personally visit Jieshui Studio in a couple of days to present a commendation banner and bring the remuneration.”

Wei Yang didn’t stand on ceremony. He took the brocade box and opened it to find two car keys inside, corresponding to two of the three cars they had arrived in—one BMW and one Audi, together worth nearly a million yuan. Wei Yang smiled and put the box away. “Director Sun is too kind.”

Secretary Li was quick to read the room and noticed that Master Wei seemed genuinely pleased. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly added with a smile, “It was truly a lot of effort for you two masters, and this is just a small token of appreciation. Master Wei, I’ll take my leave now to report back. Please rest well.”

With that, he didn’t dare linger any longer and left with his subordinates. Sun the Otaku finally got a chance to interject and scurried over: “Brother Yang, what’s going on? Did you deal with those cops?”

“Not just those local cops, I’ve even handled the head of the provincial police force,” Wei Yang said with a grin, no longer putting on airs in front of his friend. He pulled out one of the keys from the brocade box and tossed it to Sun the Otaku. “This one’s for the company. Our car’s been busted for a while now, and we can’t keep driving that old van.”

Sun Muhua fumbled to catch the key and then exclaimed, “What do you mean, the head of the police? Brother Yang, you can’t keep leaving me out of these missions! It’s really hurtful! I even called the old man in a hurry and almost got him to come back…”

“Oh, what did the old man say?” Wei Yang leaned back on the sofa and leisurely began unpacking the wooden boxes in front of him.

“What could he say? He just said you’d handle it yourself and that he’s off to Korea for some cosmetic surgery and tourism… Holy crap! What the hell is this?!” Sun Muhua’s eyes nearly popped out of his head as he saw the contents of the boxes, immediately forgetting what he had been talking about.

It was no wonder he was stunned. Inside the four wooden boxes were various antiques: a translucent red-glazed willow-leaf vase, a unique one-foot-tall Hetian Jade Guanyin statue, an elegant ancient bronze wine vessel, and the last one was a scroll—could it be a painting or calligraphy?

“Did you rob an antique shop?!” The fool’s eyes gleamed as he carefully picked up the willow-leaf vase. “Holy shit, is this the legendary Kangxi imperial kiln piece? I saw one on Antique Appraisal not long ago…”

“Hold it steady. If you drop it, that’s a million yuan gone,” Wei Yang teased with a raised eyebrow.

Sun Muhua’s hands immediately trembled, and he quickly put the vase back on the table. Wei Yang chuckled and picked up the bronze wine vessel, examining it carefully before remarking, “Director Sun must have quite the collection at home. Even bronze pieces like this—who knows where he got them from?”

Bronze artifacts were mostly from the Han Dynasty or earlier, and almost all of them were unearthed relics. Regardless of size, they were strictly prohibited from being traded. For Director Sun’s father-in-law to have such an item, it was likely obtained through some shady means. As for the red-glazed willow-leaf vase and the Hetian Jade Guanyin statue, both were probably worth over a million yuan. While some of the antiques in the homes of wealthy tycoons might be fakes, it was unlikely that the current Provincial Public Security Director would have anything counterfeit. To part with four antiques and two luxury cars in one go, Director Sun’s influence was far greater than Wei Yang had imagined.

Finally, Sun Muhua caught on: “You mean Director Sun, as in the head of the Provincial Public Security Department? Holy crap, Brother Yang, you’ve even got him wrapped around your finger?!”

This went beyond surprise and straight into shock. Sun Muhua’s eyes sparkled as if he wanted to leap at his idol and cling to his leg. Wei Yang laughed and shook his head. “Brother Qi and I put in a lot of effort this time. Whatever we got is well-deserved, right, Brother Qi?”

Zhang Xiuqi, who had been sitting quietly nearby, watched the animated young swindler for a moment before nodding. Wei Yang couldn’t help but smile wryly. It seemed the toll from last night’s exorcism had been too much. Over the past couple of days, Brother Qi’s reactions had been as sluggish as if his battery was low. Who knew how many Soul Stabilizing Talismans it would take to recharge him.

His interest in admiring the treasures waned. Wei Yang gestured to Sun the Otaku with his chin. “You take care of these things. Put them in the company safe for now, and we’ll figure out what to do with them when the old swindler gets back. Come on, Brother Qi, let’s go home and rest.”

Sun Muhua’s eyes widened. “Wait, Brother Yang, you’re leaving already? What about the company’s orders…”

“Just leave them for now,” Wei Yang waved his hand dismissively, brushing off the work. Then, as if remembering something, he coughed lightly. “By the way, Muhua, how’s Lao Ye been these days?”

Having left in a hurry that day, Wei Yang had entrusted Lao Ye to Sun Muhua’s care, essentially asking him to feed the turtle and change its water daily. It had been almost a week now, and Wei Yang wondered how the turtle was doing.

Hearing this, Sun Muhua burst into tears. “Brother Yang, I’ve had four pairs of pants torn! Are you going to reimburse me?”

Wei Yang was momentarily embarrassed and awkwardly patted the fool’s shoulder. Alright, he’d better buy some prawns before heading home, just in case Lao Ye decided to take a bite out of him.

Standing behind Wei Yang, Zhang Xiuqi stared expressionlessly at the hand on Sun Muhua’s shoulder and frowned. For some reason, he felt the urge to pull the two apart. But after a moment’s thought, he didn’t act. Instead, he relaxed his brow as Wei Yang stood up and followed him out the door.

Since both of them were injured, Wei Yang didn’t bother with the new cars and simply hailed a taxi to take them home. Of course, he made a stop at the supermarket along the way to stock up on groceries and fresh seafood for Lao Ye. When they got home and opened the door, they saw Lao Ye perched on a pile of tattered cloth, glaring at the entrance. Wei Yang quickly put on a smile and handed over the plastic bag in his hand. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Lao Ye. I was really on a business trip this time, not off doing something else. Next time I’ll definitely let you know in advance…”

Before he could finish, Lao Ye had already crawled over to his feet, stretching its neck to sniff at the bandage on Wei Yang’s left hand. Then it poked its head into Wei Yang’s chest, either nuzzling in affection or complaining. This moved Wei Yang deeply, and he quickly reached out to pat the turtle. “Oh, Lao Ye, you knew we were in trouble, didn’t you? It’s alright, just some minor injuries. I’ll tell you all about it when we get inside, okay?”

Perhaps sensing its owner’s distress, Lao Ye slowly moved aside, its beady eyes lingering on Zhang Xiuqi for a moment before retracting its neck and waddling into the living room after Wei Yang, even biting onto the bag of prawns and refusing to let go. Watching the relaxed young swindler happily picking out shrimp for the turtle, Zhang Xiuqi walked into the study, took out the travel bag he had left in the cabinet, and pulled out a bamboo tube about the length of a finger. He tossed the piece of Dead Jade from his pocket into the tube and sealed it with a Yellow Talisman. After a moment’s thought, he didn’t put the bamboo tube back into the travel bag but instead placed it in the bag he carried with him. Having finished this, he walked back to the living room.

By now, Wei Yang had finally calmed Lao Ye and greeted Zhang Xiuqi with a smile. “Brother Qi, I’ve already ordered dinner. Just sit in the living room for a bit, and it’ll be here soon.”

This seemed like something he had heard countless times before. Zhang Xiuqi nodded but didn’t sit on the sofa. Instead, he helped Wei Yang sort through the groceries they had bought, putting them away in the fridge and cabinets. Although both of them had injuries on their hands, they worked together efficiently, and soon everything was put away. Just as they finished, dinner arrived. Wei Yang handed a boxed meal and some porridge to Zhang Xiuqi with a smile. “Brother Qi, you injured your right hand. Do you need a spoon?”

Zhang Xiuqi shook his head and picked up the chopsticks with his left hand, eating with ease. Surprised that the young Celestial Master was ambidextrous, Wei Yang raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. After a quiet meal, they tidied up the room a bit, and Wei Yang noticed that the young Celestial Master was still sitting in the living room, seemingly not planning to return to the study.

“What’s up? No need to draw the Soul Stabilizing Formation today?” Wei Yang asked casually.

Zhang Xiuqi shook his head. This time, Wei Yang was genuinely surprised. By now, he had some understanding of what these formations were for. Without the Soul Stabilizing Formation, the young Celestial Master’s soul wouldn’t be stable, making him sluggish in daily life—like running Windows 7 on an XP machine, where everything took a few extra seconds to process. This would be unbearable for anyone, so why had he suddenly decided not to draw it today?

However, Zhang Xiuqi didn’t answer. He simply sat quietly on the sofa, seeming quite content with his current state. Seeing this rare moment of “relaxation,” Wei Yang finally smiled, sat down on the sofa, and picked up the remote to turn on the TV. “Since there’s nothing else to do, let’s watch some TV. Brother Qi, you haven’t watched much TV, right? What do you like—action, thriller, or romance?”

Not minding the other’s wooden demeanor, he got up again to grab some snacks and opened a bottle of beer, happily watching TV with the human-shaped block of wood. Zhang Xiuqi stared at the moving images on the screen for a while, then reached down to pick up a piece of candy from the table and handed it to Wei Yang. “Nougat candy. It’s good.”

Wei Yang blinked in surprise but eventually took the candy and popped it into his mouth, smiling. “Thanks, Brother Qi.”

This action seemed to please the young Celestial Master, who also picked up a piece of candy from the table, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth. A familiar taste spread across his tongue, and Zhang Xiuqi pursed his lips, a faint smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.

Watching soap operas was always a great way to kill time. Before two episodes had finished, Zhang Xiuqi stood up. Wei Yang glanced at the clock. “It’s already nine. Brother Qi, are you going to bed? That’s right, you haven’t had much rest these past few days…”

Zhang Xiuqi didn’t respond to his words but instead pointed to his head. “Wash hair.”

“Huh?” Not understanding, Wei Yang made a questioning sound.

Zhang Xiuqi didn’t mind repeating himself and pointed to his head again. “Need to wash hair.”

This time, Wei Yang got it. Was the young Celestial Master asking him to help wash his hair? With the stitches on his head and his arm in a sling, of course, he’d need someone to help. But… washing Brother Qi’s hair!

Gulping audibly, Wei Yang suddenly felt a bit flustered. Zhang Xiuqi, however, didn’t notice this. Feeling that he had made himself clear, he turned and headed for the bathroom. Watching that tall, straight-backed figure, Wei Yang felt his heart suddenly beat faster. After a moment’s hesitation, he finally stood up and followed.