I rushed out.
As I went out, I saw that Da Jinya had indeed been arrested, and was arguing with two policemen.
The police, looking impatient, adjusted their hats and yelled at Da Jinya: "You better be honest with me, or else I'll beat you up."
"Laogin, how come you're here?" Certainly, I couldn't ask, "Laogin, I told you not to go to deal in black cultural relics, and you went anyway, now you've been caught, right?" If I said that in front of the police, Laogin would immediately confess.
You should know that taking part in the smuggling of cultural relics carries a prison sentence of at least twenty years, and if it goes wrong, you could even be executed. This time, Laogin's in big trouble.
So I quickly went up to the policemen detaining Laogin, offered them cigarettes, and asked them what had happened to Laogin.
When Laogin saw me there, he was surprised and asked how I was there.
"That's none of your business." I glared at Laogin and smiled at the police.
The police didn't take my cigarette, pushed it back, and asked me, "Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm his friend. Did my buddy get in trouble?" I awkwardly lit a cigarette.
The police glared at Laogin, sneered, and said that Laogin traded in cultural relics, red-handed, and warned me to stay away from such people, as Laogin was not a good guy.
I was really anxious.
Red-handed, can Laogin run from this?
I started to think about who could help Laogin out, but most of my business and connections are in Beijing and Shanghai, and while I have some connections in Guangzhou, they are not very reliable, so I couldn't think of anyone to help at that moment.
Should I ask my aunt Han Li? She's just a criminal police officer, in charge of something else, and can't bail people out.
"In the future, stay away from such people, or you'll be next," the police warned me before leading Laogin away.
I nodded blankly.
At this moment, Laogin started yelling like a pig being killed: "Xiao Li, Xiao Li, you can't ignore me, I've fallen into someone's trap this time. I didn't do anything wrong; I was framed."
I was speechless at Laogin's calling, and seeing his aggrieved expression, I couldn't bear it. I had to go find Han Li and ask her to speak nicely to the two detaining police officers, letting me and Laogin have a few minutes to talk. At least let me comfort Laogin and tell him that I wouldn't abandon him.
Thinking of this, I made the two policemen wait, then quickly entered the interrogation room.
I told Han Li everything that happened outside and asked her to speak nicely to the police, allowing me and Laogin to have a private conversation for fifteen minutes.
Han Li initially refused, she is a very fair person and doesn't want to bend the law for personal gain, but later she softened after my pleading.
After she went out and spoke a few words to the police, and showed her "Criminal Police ID," the two detaining policemen finally allowed me to have a separate conversation with Laogin in another interrogation room.
As soon as I entered the room, I closed the door tightly, then turned and criticized Laogin: Laogin, what can I say to you? How did I advise you this morning? You didn't listen, and now karma is coming for you?
Laogin remained composed, reached out his hand, and asked for a cigarette.
I handed him the cigarette unkindly.
He took one, lit it, and his eyes became red, and his voice became much sadder.
"Xiao Li, if I really got caught for doing transactions in cultural relics, then I, Laogin, will take the blame, but I didn't do anything wrong. I've been really schemed against," Da Jinya blew a smoke ring and said, "And I was schemed against by a fellow northeastern. If I really get sentenced for this, I'm really aggrieved."
Da Jinya's face turned a purplish color, it seems there's really a hidden story inside?
I furrowed my brow and asked Lao Jin, "Is there something hidden? What's the hidden agenda?"
Lao Jin said, "The Unload Ridge Strongmen have come to Guangzhou."
"What? The Unload Ridge Strongmen are in Guangzhou? Weren't they always holed up in Changbai Mountain?" When I heard the four words "Unload Ridge Strongmen," I felt a bit dizzy.
In theory, those involved in the underworld have their own rules and territories. The Unload Ridge Strongmen haven't been to the South in many years, so how did they appear here?
"I have no f*ing clue," Lao Jin told me the entire story of this "cultural relics 'transaction.'"
It turned out that last night at Ma Minghui's house, Lao Jin received a message on his phone asking if he would be willing to attend a cultural relics 'transaction' the next day, to act as a lookout for 200,000 yuan.
Big Gold Tooth is a greedy person, and when he sees money, he can't sit still. He immediately said, "I can go," but to be on the safe side, Lao Jin asked the person, "Who is behind this?"
"What's behind this" is slang, meaning to ask who is backing the other person.
The person only sent Big Gold Tooth a picture, a silver "chainmail" vest with the character "force" engraved on it.
After seeing this chainmail vest, Big Gold Tooth knew who it was. This was clearly the pangolin of the Unload Ridge Strongmen.
I have also mentioned before that those engaged in tomb robbing in the Northeast are called "pangolins."
This nickname is because the Unload Ridge Strongmen, who dig up graves and rob tombs in Changbai Mountain, are as sharp as pangolins. Also, the pangolin is the tool they rely on - "pangolin."
Nowadays, our Chinese tomb robbers are divided into four factions - "Touching Gold Jailers," "Hair-Mound Titular Officials," "Mountain Moving Taoist," and "Unload Ridge Strongmen."
There's also a saying, "‘Touch'ing Gold has symbols, 'Hair-Mound' has seals, 'Mountain Moving' has skills, and 'Unload Ridge' has armor."
Wolf-tooth symbols, middle-ranking official seals, exorcism skills, and pangolin are all symbols of identity.
Seeing the pangolin, Big Gold Tooth knew what to do. He chatted with the Unload Ridge Strongman for a while about their hometown and agreed to be the lookout.
The next morning, Big Gold Tooth went to the 'transaction' location.
The 'transaction' party offered a total of fifteen cultural relics, each of which was exquisite. According to what Big Gold Tooth said, there were even cloisonné crane incense burners with fine workmanship. If this incense burner was genuine, it would be worth over a hundred million.
As the lookout, Big Gold Tooth went to the inner room alone to appraise the items.
After appraising them, he found a problem. None of these fifteen items were authentic.
This was strange. Big Gold Tooth hesitated about whether to tell the truth later when he went out. With such a large amount of cultural relics at stake, if he said the wrong thing, not only would he not get the money, but he might even lose his life.
So he didn't dare to go out and kept muttering to himself in the room, pacing back and forth.
He was still thinking about how to speak to the others later when suddenly a group of police officers arrived and directly apprehended Big Gold Tooth, accusing him of trafficking national cultural relics and immediately arrested him.
Then Big Gold Tooth ended up at the police station.
I asked Big Gold Tooth what happened to the other people.
Big Gold Tooth slapped his thigh: "D*mn, I only found out on the way back. They just caught me this time. Isn't this a set-up by someone else to trap me? A cultural relics 'transaction' involving over a dozen people, and in the end, they only caught me. It's clear that it's a trap specifically targeting me."
I was getting anxious and asked Big Gold Tooth who he had offended.
Big Gold Tooth was almost going crazy. He said he dared to offend anyone? He said he was just a fart. How could ordinary people play tricks on him? Wasn't that a joke?
Big Gold Tooth hadn't offended anyone and was being framed so miserably?
I clenched my fist and asked Big Gold Tooth what the Unload Ridge Strongman's name was.
"His name is Ayin," Big Gold Tooth said, then immediately lowered his head in dismay. This could be a pseudonym. How do we check that?
I told Big Gold Tooth not to worry first. I would go home and look for the contact information for the Unload Ridge Strongmen and ask them about it. If that didn't work, I would try to use my connections to see if I could get you released on bail.
"Okay, thank you, little Li, if things go well this time, I, Big Gold Tooth, will be your servant."
"Get lost, stop talking nonsense. You just stay put and don't make a fuss, wait patiently at the police station, I will go ask about your situation." I advised Big Gold Tooth and then left.
In the corridor, I told Han Li to postpone the transcript until next time and if we manage to extract from those directors where the fox-shaped stone coffin came from, she should inform me.
Han Li agreed.
After leaving the police station, I drove the van home.
At home, I found the parchment.
The parchment recorded the contact information of all the shady figures in the Northeast. Although the Unload Ridge Strongmen hadn't done business with us 'shady' people for over a hundred years, they were still 'shady' people, and we had to respect the rules of the 'shady' people.
I opened the parchment and began to look for the contact information of the Unload Ridge Strongmen.
Although the Unload Ridge Strongmen hadn't done business with us 'shady' people in over a hundred years, their descendants still managed to update their contact information.
After searching through the parchment, I actually found it.
Inside the Unload Ridge Strongmen, there was a person named Shiyin. Big Gold Tooth said the Unload Ridge Strongman was called Ayin, so it must be this person.
I called Shiyin.
As soon as that person answered the phone, without giving me a chance to say my name, he already spoke: "Looking for the 'shady' people, right? You found me quite fast. It's for Big Gold Tooth's matter, right? Lonely Teahouse on Baihui Street, Room 106, I'm waiting for you."
After speaking, he hung up the phone.
Huh?
This person actually knew that I was going to stand up for Da Jinya?
My heart drummed, could it be that this person's intention is not just about alcohol but harming Da Jinya, and it's to "force" me to come out?
"Alright, for Da Jinya, no matter what dangers I may face, I have to make a trip." [^ [Half (*)/ [Floating *(Life] ~]
I closed my sheepskin book and went out.
Although I'm timid, I know when to be brave.
However, on the way, a strange thought suddenly popped into my mind. This thought startled me even. I thought: The Fox Demon's coffin appeared in Guangzhou, and the Unloading Mountains and Rivers Master also appeared in Guangzhou. Now, Guangzhou can be said to be a gathering place of various events. Could these two things be related? Could the Fox Demon's coffin be dug up by the Unloading Mountains and Rivers Master? Did the Unloading Mountains and Rivers Master also kill the seven members of the Fox Fairy family?
As I thought about this, I shook my head. It can't be. The Unloading Mountains and Rivers Master is fundamentally an expert in grave robbing. Dealing with such "spirits" like the Fox Fairy's family, the Unloading Mountains and Rivers Master is really not adept at it.
Although I overturned the idea of the Unloading Mountains and Rivers Master killing the Fox Fairy and her family, I still felt that... something extraordinary might happen.
This idea received some confirmation when I met the Unloading Mountains and Rivers Master.