“Yuan Shucai!” Li Xiusheng tugged at the braid of the Taoist priest and gave a murderous glare. He added, “Do you think that having a braid makes you a deity?”
Slap!
Li Xiusheng gave the Taoist priest another tight hard slap on the face. The Taoist priest’s cheeks turned red and swollen…
Zhao Yu was astonished to witness all that had just happened. He did not expect that the Tomb Murder Case was related to the Female Corpse in Ancient Costume Case. On top of that, both Dong Peizhuo and the princess were both murdered by the same person, the Taoist priest!
In addition to murdering these two, the Taoist priest also murdered Huang Jing, Fu Jianxing, and his men. This Taoist priest seemed so ruthless, and must have an extensive criminal record!
Zhao Yu did not expect that Li Xiusheng was such a powerful character!
Since he was the disciple of Huang Jing, this meant that, after the death of Huang Jing, he would naturally take over his mentor’s business of trafficking cultural relics in Qinshan.
Really… I underestimated this guy!
Zhao Yu had never regarded Li Xiusheng as being a good person, and was always on his guard against him. However, all that had happened had made Zhao Yu feel that he had really underestimated him.
In particular, there was one time, when Zhao Yu brought Li Xiusheng in for questioning. He showed Li Xiusheng a photo of the princess, yet Li Xiusheng did not look flustered, bit rather, had behaved normally. Li Xiusheng executed the whole act so perfectly, without any flaw, in order to conceal his sins!
Now, in retrospect, it seemed that Li Xiusheng could have known that the Tomb Murder Case was related to this Taoist priest long ago. He secretly hid behind the scenes and waited for the police to fight against the Taoist priest. Then, just when both parties suffered great losses, he appeared. He was such a sly guy!
But…
Although Zhao Yu understood the whole sequence of the case, he was still unable to decipher Zhao Yu’s current actions. Had Li Xiusheng wanted to avenge his mentor and the princess, he would not have needed to take such a big risk. All he would have needed to do was to expose the whereabouts of Li Xiusheng to the police and get him caught.
But why did he what he did? In order to capture the Taoist priest alive, Li Xiusheng was risking the accusation of him murdering the police. Could there be other reasons behind this?
“Cough cough…Your business must be booming, Taoist priest?” Li Xiusheng said with a sneer. He added, “I had combed half of China and could not find a trace of you. It was… akin to searching for a shadow!”
“I was close to giving up! And I never dreamed that you would appear here on your own!”
“So, after 18 years, you are back here in Qinshan again. Do you feel emotional?” Li Xiusheng shook his head and sighed. “I do not understand. You had been successful in your business. Why were you not satisfied? What… was so attractive about the Gold Buddha? Where did Dong Peizhuo find you, and how had he managed to talk you into agreeing to this job?”
Li Xiusheng’s men burst into laughter when they heard this.
The Taoist priest gazed at Li Xiusheng coldly, and his right hand reached into his pocket slowly.
“Hey! Do not move. What are you trying to do?” Li Xiusheng had already noticed the movement of the Taoist priest, and had hurriedly loosened his braid, then stepped back.
At the same time, someone was aiming the crossbow at the Taoist priest.
However, the Taoist priest did not stop his movements, and eventually pulled out two things from his pocket. One was a very old piece of yellow colored cow skin, and the other was a square of ancient jade.
After taking out the two objects, the Taoist priest threw them in front of Li Xiusheng. When Li Xiusheng saw that there was no impending danger, he bent down and picked up the two things.
Before that, Li Xiusheng should have learned all about Gold Buddha by asking the Taoist priest’s men. When he picked up the two things, he was very clear what these items were. Although he was mentally prepared, as he looked at the two things, he could not help but have eyes light up.
Zhao Yu knew that the piece of cow skin must be something that the old experts had found on the corpse of the ancient man, the will left behind by Qiu Cheng. And the piece of ancient jade must be the hidden treasure map, which was buried with Qiu Cheng, and contained a clue about the whereabouts of the Gold Buddha!
“He… He he… He He… ” Li Xiusheng scrutinized the two things for a long time and started laughing. After laughing for a few second, he said to the Taoist priest, “Taoist priest, Taoist priest. I’m starting to understand how you feel. No matter how much money you earn, there would still be some dreams left in your mind to achieve!”
“But, I learned a valuable lesson from witnessing your bad experiences. I would rather pursue something more realistic. Cough… ” Li Xiusheng coughed and said, “Taoist priest, a man will do anything in his pursuit of becoming rich. Now that you are in my hands, you should know what I want!”
“First, tell me where you buried Huang Jing! After all, he was my mentor, and I was his apprentice. Without him, I would not be who I am today.”
“Second, tell me the whereabouts of all your vaults where you keep your loot. Eighteen years ago, you robbed my mentor of everything, and today you should return them. The surplus… should be treated as interest duly paid…After all, without having robbed my mentor, you could not have gotten rich! Am I right?”
Oh…
At this point, Zhao Yu finally understood Li Xiusheng’s actions and intentions. Putting in so much effort and taking such a big risk, Li Xiusheng’s intention was to make a fortune!
It fits the saying: “A man who is never contented resembles a snake trying to swallow an elephant”. Li Xiusheng was already a rich man in Qinshan. But he was not content, and thus, planned to usurp everything else!
This guy… is very ruthless!
“Huh!” The Taoist was slowly regaining his energy. He spit a mouthful of blood out and said to Li Xiusheng, “Now that you know all about me, do you think you can usurp my stuff?”
“To usurp or not is none of your concern! You do not have to worry about that!” Li Xiusheng replied to the Taoist priest angrily. and with a murderous look!
Not good!
Zhao Yu felt his heart pumping faster. It seemed that Li Xiusheng wished to harm many people!
Beforehand, he and Miao Ying were formulating strategies to deal with the situation. However, facing so many enemies with deadly weapons, they had no chance of winning, even if they were to put up a fierce fight against the enemies.
Now what?
Zhao Yu understood clearly that once Li Xiusheng mouthed the word “kill”, then it would be too late for them to do anything! Now, Li Xiusheng’s intentions seemed obvious. He only wished to keep the Taoist priest alive, and everyone else could be sacrificed.
No way!
Zhao Yu was very anxious. He scanned through all the props in his brain, but there was not a single prop which he could use to get him out of danger. At such a crucial time, he could only rely on his own strength to save himself…
At this moment, Miao Ying experienced the fear of death, and was prepared to put up one last struggle, but she knew that the struggle would only lead to her dying in vain!
Miao Ying quickly approached Zhao Yu and subconsciously held on to Zhao Yu’s hand. Although the two of them did not communicate with words, Zhao Yu could feel that Miao Ying wished to protect him, should the enemy launch an attack.
How would that work?
There were so many weapons directed at them, and no one could protect anyone else. At this critical moment, Zhao Yu was quick in his thinking. He even thought of dashing over and taking the Taoist priest hostage.
If Li Xiusheng wanted to have all the cultural relics and treasures for himself, he would not let the Taoist priest die. But… The distance between him and the Taoist priest was too far. If he were to dash over, the enemies would surely shoot at him.
What should he do?
Li Xiusheng walked towards the Taoist priest, bowed his head, and whispered a few words to the Taoist priest. Looking at the Taoist priest’s heavy breathing, it seemed like Li Xiusheng would not hesitate to sacrifice him too.
However, just as Li Xiusheng was about to speak again, Zhao Yu spoke first, “Wait! Wait!”
Suddenly, Zhao Yu thought of a very immature idea. But in the face of crisis, he had no choice but to try it.
“Wait, wait…” Zhao Yu raised his arm and shouted to Li Xiusheng, “Li Xiusheng, listen to me, as I just thought of something important!”
What Zhao Yu said attracted Li Xiusheng over to him, all guns aimed at him as well.
Hearing that, Miao Ying was as puzzled as the rest. She could not help but hold on to Zhao Yu’s hand even tighter.