In the car, Qi Yun was quite surprised by Yao Yuzhong’s unexpected contact, pondering how to stall for more time to let Guo An lock in the location on the other side.

But Yao Yuzhong’s next words were even more unexpected.

"I’m sorry, Director Qi, I didn’t intend to run away. I just had a wish unfulfilled. Now that it’s done, I’m surrendering. I’m at Qin Sizhi’s place."

At Qin Sizhi’s?

Qi Yun squinted his eyes—a voluntary confession?

"Haha, then tell me, what was this unfulfilled wish of yours?"

There was silence on the phone, and after a while Yao Yuzhong replied with a sigh: "I went to King Zhou You’s tomb."

"King Zhou You?"

Qi Yun frowned, pondering for a long time before remembering who King Zhou You was—the one who made history with his beacon fire jest.

"Before I got caught last time, I had been searching for King Zhou You’s tomb for five whole years; eventually locked the location near Qishan, but hadn’t had time to act when I got arrested."

"I was unwilling, so that day I ran when you weren’t paying attention, made another trip to Qishan, and this time I found it."

Qi Yun considered the truth in the other’s words and asked, "And then?"

Yao Yuzhong’s hollow voice came again: "I entered the tomb, found King Zhou You’s coffin, there were no remains inside, just a jade pendant, a dragon-shaped jade pendant."

"I brought the jade pendant out, and it’s now in my possession."

Dragon-shaped jade pendant?

Qi Yun was silent for two seconds.

"Old Yao, telling me all of this, is it to trade that jade pendant for your freedom for the rest of your life?"

"No, Director Qi, you’ve misunderstood."

"I’m just telling you the whole truth and willingly handing over the jade pendant to you, willing to go back and continue serving my sentence." Yao Yuzhong’s response was straightforward.

A tomb raider, risking getting his head chopped off to raid King Zhou You’s grave, carrying out a priceless treasure, and then so easily willing to hand it over?

And willing to go back to prison?

Qi Yun was stunned, a bit unable to understand what trick this guy was playing.

"Old Yao, you’re becoming harder for me to understand? You’re originally a serious offender, yet ran off to raid such a national treasure-level tomb, and then voluntarily surrendered."

"What are you playing at? What’s your motive?"

On the other end of the phone, Yao Yuzhong seemed to chuckle bitterly: "I have no motive, just wanted to complete this last big job after a lifetime of raiding tombs."

"Haha, so you still have a touch of craftsmanship spirit, huh?" Qi Yun’s voice had a hint of playfulness, he couldn’t discern the truth in this guy’s words, as he had been deceived by this guy twice before.

Anything Yao Yuzhong said now, he had to question.

"Craftsmanship spirit is a bit much, just an obsession."

"Director Qi, I know whatever I say now, you won’t believe it, that’s okay, I’m at Qin Sizhi’s place now, you can send someone over right away."

Qi Yun nodded: "Alright, then wait there."

After hanging up, Qi Yun immediately dialed Qin Sizhi’s number to verify the situation Yao Yuzhong had just mentioned.

Turns out this guy wasn’t lying; he was really at Qin Sizhi’s house in Chang’an.

"Mr. Qi, I was about to report this to you, but Old Yao asked for your number, saying he wanted to explain to you himself..."

Qin Sizhi likely feared Qi Yun suspecting him of withholding information, and added another sentence.

"Alright, I understand, watch him for me first, I’ll arrange someone to come over soon."

Putting down the phone, Qi Yun rubbed his chin, still unable to figure out what trick Yao Yuzhong was playing.

Ultimately, he decided to meet this guy first to see if he could get any intel from him.

With the decision made, he immediately contacted colleagues in Chang’an through the internal system, asking them to have Yao Yuzhong brought back, planning to deal with him after sending off Wei Zhe and his group.

To be able to travel from Yunnan Province to Chang’an amidst today’s widespread surveillance, Old Yao indeed has some tricks, truly worthy of being a seasoned tomb raider.

...

On the other side, in the office building on Zhongshan Road.

It was already past office hours, but Old Hou hadn’t left his office.

He stood by the large floor-to-ceiling window, his face gloomy enough to drip water.

Secretary Wang cautiously pushed the door open, holding a document, seeing Old Hou’s figure, instinctively lightening his steps.

"Sir..."

Old Hou turned around, his eyes gloomy, saying nothing.

Secretary Wang’s heart tightened, knowing the mood was exceedingly poor, hurriedly stepped closer, placed the document on the wide office desk, whispering a report: "Just got a call from air traffic control, they’ve received a flight plan for that private plane, taking off tomorrow night at eight to Shanghai..."

He didn’t dare explicitly say Wei Zhe and the others were leaving tomorrow, just faithfully conveyed the information.

Old Hou’s face grew even darker, after a full half-minute, he finally spoke: "You personally go and invite Qi Yun over, tell him I want to see him."

Secretary Wang quickly nodded: "Okay, I’ll go right away." Saying so, he quickly turned around and left, only after closing the office door, did he let out a long breath.

...

Meanwhile, in a hotel in the New District, Liu Guangxin was exchanging drinks with Qi Yun.

"Xiao Qi, the idea you mentioned to me about car manufacturing, I thought about it seriously afterwards, feel that although there’s some risk, the chances of success are quite high."

"You indeed have a leading edge in battery technology, by using this as a breakthrough, you can carve out a path in the market."

Qi Yun smiled and agreed: "Yes, you said last time too, the core of new energy vehicles is battery technology, plus Guanghui Group’s resources, I’m very confident in making a competitive product."