“It was definitely not done by locals in Qinshan!” Li Xiusheng replied to Zhao Yu in a very certain manner. Then, he realized that he had revealed his knowledge of the business, and his face grew awkward.
“Why?” Zhao Yu quickly asked. “Our Qinshan is a thousand-years-old town. There must be quite a number of grave robbers here, right?”
“No… That…” Liu Xiusheng sighed, then he said, risking everything, “There’s nothing to hide from you. If it was a local that touched the prefect’s tomb, I would have heard some news about it! But I’ve asked around and no one admitted to it! So, from what I see, the grave robbers must be from elsewhere!”
“Tsk tsk…” Zhao Yu said sympathetically, “Then, the relics may be sent to other places to be sold?”
“This…is quite hard to say!” Li Xiusheng said again, “Even if they were from other places, they wouldn’t be able to take such a large amount of relics away under my watch! Without me being informed anyways!”
“Yo?!” Zhao Yu looked at Li Xiusheng carefully. He was wearing a casual set of Mandarin clothing, with splayed eyebrows on his square face. Although he was slightly older, his skin complexion was nice, and he looked energetic. It seemed like Li Mengqi was right. Li Xiusheng was definitely no commoner.
“Seems like I got the right person!” Zhao Yu rolled up his sleeves and urged him, “Tell me, where would they hide the relics? And are those people professional? Where would they most likely be from? And, why did they kill the person and put him in the coffin?”
“Huh? Coffin? It can’t be?” This time, Li Xiusheng was shocked and said, “Officer, don’t rush me… Mm…” He thought about it seriously and replied, “Why not, I will go all out as well! If you want me to help you, you have to bring me to the crime scene. And you have to tell me the entire process of the murder case! Then, I will see what I can figure out from there.”
Good idea! Zhao Yu was delighted. “Sometimes, to solve such cases, instead of asking for help from the official expert, why not get an experienced criminal for help!” Zhao Yu thought happily. “Li Xiusheng was like an important figure for ancient tombs and relics. Not only does he understand the market, but he also has insights into the profession. If he were to help me, that’d be great!”
“But,” Looking at Zhao Yu nodding his head, Li Xiusheng bowed slightly with his hands folded in front of him, “Officer, do not go back on your word. The thing in your arms, I can give it to you as a gift! But if you solve the case, I hope you don’t go back on your word! In the future—”
“That’s not a problem, of course!” Zhao Yu nodded and said, “The more enemies, the more nuisance! To be able to be friends with Mr. Lee, I am more than happy to do so! Hehehe…” Zhao Yu patted the treasure in his arms happily.
“Alright! Then…” Li Xiusheng pointed at his car, and he gestured at Zhao Yu’s car.
Zhao Yu understood that there was “stock” in Li Xiusheng’s car, so he couldn’t drive the BMW to Yunyang to see the ancient tomb now. Zhao Yu got out of the car and said, “Come on, my car is right outside. We will take my car!”
Li Xiusheng then called for his wife and talked to her about something again. He then sat in the passenger seat in Zhao Yu’s car, and they started off to Yunyang County.
On the way, Zhao Yu beat around the bush and chatted with Li Xiusheng. But the man was an old fox. He corresponded casually without admitting that he himself was the head of a professional organization that dealt with stolen relics. To not miss a single detail, Zhao Yu even showed Li Xiusheng the photo of the female corpse in ancient clothing during the conversation, and asked him if he knew any woman with the nickname “Gege”.
Li Xiusheng said that he didn’t know but through the photos, he could tell from one glance that it was the Female Corpse in Ancient Costume Case that had happened during the upgrade of the Qin River Bridge. Thus, it could be seen that it had created a big stir back then in Qinshan city.
“The embroidered mandarin sleeve jacket!” Li Xiusheng pointed at the costume that the female corpse was wearing. “It is a Han female costume from the last years of the Ming Dynasty. The costume was embroidered with red flowers, and it should be used when a girl gets married!”
“Amazing! Amazing!” Zhao Yu thought. He nodded quietly. “It seems that Li Xiusheng is a master. He can analyze like an expert without looking at the actual item.”
“Police officer, why are you showing me this?” Li Xiusheng was confused. “This is a case from eighteen years ago. Are you investigating that case now? How can you investigate that?”
“I have no choice,” Zhao Yu lied. “Why am I so unfortunate! I am in charge of all cases related to ancient tombs and relics. Sigh!”
“What? It can’t be. There’s a detective in charge of relics too?” Li Xiusheng couldn’t believe it.
“No! You don’t understand!” Zhao Yu said. “As long as no one died, ancient tombs and relics belong to the Cultural Relics Protection Department, but once someone dies, it’s different. Then it’s transferred into my hands. Do you understand? My higher-ups gave me an order to solve the case. If I can’t solve the case, I will be running around, trying to bite people like a crazy dog!
Zhao Yu said that and scared Li Xiusheng. Regardless of the profession, everyone is most afraid of people who are shameless and those who bet on their life!
Zhao Yu drove really quickly. After a two hour drive, the two of them got to the crime scene of the ancient tomb. By then, the corpse had been moved but there were many archeologists that were still doing an excavation. What surprised Zhao Yu was, when he was entering the ancient tomb, he suddenly saw Fu Jianxing from Moyang Branch! Fu Jianxing was discussing something with a few white-haired old men. It seemed to be something related to the tomb.
“It’s him?!” Zhao Yu thought to himself. He was surprised to see Fu Jianxing there, but he also found it weird. It was weird to be investigating a crime scene now. “Did Fu Jianxing find another new clue?” he wondered.
When Fu Jianxing saw Zhao Yu, he had the same feeling too. He didn’t even greet Zhao Yu but straightaway left with the old experts from the side entrance.
“Tsk tsk… Guilty…” Zhao Yu squinted at Fu Jianxing’s receding figure and found it odd.
When he turned around to walk into the tomb, he suddenly saw that Master Li Xiusheng wasn’t in a hurry to enter but was looking at something while he stood on top of a mound of earth!
“Master Lee, what’s wrong?” looking at Li Xiusheng’s face grow strange, Zhao Yu asked curiously. However, Li Xiusheng did not answer but shook his head while he followed Zhao Yu through the pathway down the tomb. When they got into the coffin chamber, Zhao Yu explained the entire situation to Li Xiusheng, including details of where the corpse had been laid, how they died, and so on…
Li Xiusheng listened to Zhao Yu while he closely observed the relics that the workers were cleaning. He paid extremely close attention, and he even checked the robber’s entrance carefully. He almost went through the entrance himself. But as he investigated the tomb further, Li Xiusheng’s facial expression grew even more complicated.
In the end, just when Zhao Yu was showing him the skeleton of the tomb owner in the coffin, Li Xiusheng suddenly recalled something. He opened his eyes and mouth wide, and said, trembling, “Oh my God! Is it…” He was exclaiming in surprise as he looked around. In the end, even his body was shaking. “This is an amazing discovery! Oh my God! The legend might be true! Officer, we…you must arrest these grave robbers. This is a magnificent incident!!!”