This mission was unlike the usual cases handled by the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation. With Consultant Xiao's strong recommendation, Director Gao pondered carefully and decided that Xiao Heshang would lead the team. Along with Sun Fatty, myself, and a mysterious third party, we would escort Huang Ran to Hong Kong for the handover. After hearing Xiao Heshang's words, Sun Fatty frowned and said, "Old… Consultant Xiao, besides the few of us, who is this third party? I'm just saying, who is this guy? Can we trust him? We don't want all our hard work to be ruined by him messing things up."
When it came to this third party, Xiao Heshang hesitated for a moment, but Director Gao spoke up: "This person was found at the last minute; Heshang isn't very familiar with him." Saying that, Director Gao pulled out a photo from his desk and handed it to Sun Fatty and me. The photo showed a lean man in his late thirties. Director Gao pointed at the man and said, "This is Jin Xin. In the antiques and collectibles circle, he's nicknamed 'Jin Buhuan' ['Jin the Unexchangable']. He's a friend of Ouyang Pianzuo and somewhat well-known in the antiques world."
Sun Fatty glanced at the photo and looked at Gao with a sly smile. After hesitating a moment, he asked, "Director Gao, since you're sending me and Lazi to Hong Kong, there won't be any special troubles, right?" Director Gao smiled but did not answer. Instead, Xiao Heshang handed over a photo with a strange expression and said, "I recommended the two of you. The third party from the Religious Affairs Commission is an acquaintance of ours." The photo showed a Hong Kong man in his fifties—indeed, one of our acquaintances: Ma Xiaolin.
Sun Fatty recognized Ma Xiaolin and suddenly burst out laughing. After a few chuckles, he looked up at Xiao Heshang and said, "Consultant Xiao, I'm not joking, you really care about me." Xiao Heshang didn't avoid Gao's gaze and nodded, saying, "No need to be polite. One-third of last time's mess was on me. There's still a debt to settle with this Ma fellow."
Director Gao cleared his throat and glanced at Xiao Heshang. "I won't meddle in your affairs, but this trip to Hong Kong cannot be messed up." He paused, then picked up a prepared list and handed it to Xiao. "You've seen what Huang Ran took back then; you can tell real from fake. Pay attention to these few items below." Xiao Heshang scanned the list. When he saw the last few exchanged items, he suddenly looked up and said to Director Gao, "Why is there a Ten Directions Bronze Mirror on this list? Is… Min Tianyuan completely out of the picture? Did the Religious Affairs Commission bring out their most secret items?"
Gao smiled faintly and replied, "They're eager to get Huang Ran back, so naturally they had to meet a small demand of mine. I wanted that Ten Directions Bronze Mirror badly. Originally, I planned to negotiate, but Hao… Hao Zhengyi was so straightforward that he agreed right away. If I had known, I'd have asked for more."
After reading the list, Xiao Heshang put it away and muttered to Director Gao, "Why are they so generous? Hao Zhengyi must be repaying an old favor. If you didn't know better, you'd think Hao Zhengyi was a spy sent by the Bureau, while you're making sky-high demands here and he's just the scapegoat at the Religious Affairs Commission. But Huang Ran has been here so long—why are they only anxious now? What were they doing before?"
"Min Tianyuan is done for," Director Gao said lightly, not avoiding me and Sun Fatty. He sighed and continued, "Min Tianyuan's energy has long been exhausted. Before, Min Tianbiao and the Blood-Forged Ghosts supported him, but now it's just him alone. He can't hold on any longer. Min Tianyuan wants to exchange Huang Ran back before he dies. He probably has some final instructions for him—looks like Huang Ran is meant to keep Hao Zhengyi in check."
At this, Director Gao fell silent. Strictly speaking, Min Tianyuan's current state is thanks to him. Min Tianyuan is a senior figure in this circle and made many contributions during the Anti-Japanese War. But if he hadn't ordered Wu Rendi to handle the Blood-Forged Ghosts back then, a few years later when the Blood-Forged Ghosts really became a problem, it would have been impossible to get rid of them—unless Director Wu happened to be on the scene, otherwise even losing one or two directors wouldn't stop the Blood-Forged Ghosts from escaping unscathed.
Xiao Heshang knew Gao's thoughts and wanted to say something to ease the tension. Before he could speak, there was a knock at the door outside. I went to open it, but Director Gao's office door had already been opened from the outside. Standing there were two men. The one who opened the door was Ouyang Pianzuo, Director of the Fifth Division. The other person looked familiar—I stared for a moment and recognized him as the 'Jin Buhuan' from the photo earlier. The real Jin Xin looked older than in the photo, now in his early forties, sporting a slicked-back hairstyle popular twenty years ago. He wore a dull yellow mandarin-collar coat over a black suit, but on his feet were bright red Jordan basketball shoes.
"Hey… you're here too," Director Ouyang said as he led Jin Xin inside. He glanced at Director Gao and Consultant Xiao, sensing some tension in the room. After a few steps, he seemed to reconsider and said, "Director Gao, I've brought the person you requested. The rest is up to you guys—I have unfinished business and can't stay."
It seemed this was not Jin Xin's first meeting with Director Gao. He acted comfortably, nodding and smiling at us. Then, turning to Director Gao, he said with a grin, "Director Gao, it's been a while. You don't look a day older. Heard from Director Ouyang you have a good deal going on with my little shop?"
Director Gao took out a list like before and handed it to Jin Xin. "I'm asking you to make a trip to Hong Kong and bring these items back for us." Jin Xin glanced over the list casually, but that glance was enough to shock him. He widened his eyes, studied the list carefully again, and after reading, didn't dare take it. He put the list back on Gao's desk and said, "Director Gao, don't joke around. I don't recognize all these items, but I know a few. Please, let me live a little longer."
"You're just escorting the handover, not delivering them. At worst, you'll get your hands dirty. What's there to be superstitious about?" Gao's face turned stern as he said to Jin Xin. Then, nodding towards us, he added, "We'll have people accompany you, but our team can't appear openly during the handover. You just hand the items over to our people after counting."
Jin Xin glanced at the three of us and hesitated. Then, with some awkwardness, he said to Gao, "Director Gao, be honest with me—am I smuggling? You know, I haven't touched smuggling for years."
Xiao Heshang couldn't hold back and teased Jin Xin, "If it were smuggling, you wouldn't be needed. The list is from an overseas Chinese donor, but due to special reasons, we can't take it directly. Director Ouyang recommended you. If you don't agree, we'll find someone else."
Jin Xin forced a laugh. "Isn't that me agreeing? Leaders, when do we leave?"
The next morning, we departed from the Bureau straight to the Capital Airport. Huang Ran, who hadn't been seen for a long time, was finally released from the underground third basement. I had wondered if our group, two older and two younger, could keep an eye on this cunning fox. But seeing his current state, I had no such worries.
After more than two months without contact, Huang Ran looked even fatter than when he was in the Tomb of a Transcendent Beast. Possibly from staying in the basement and moving little, he was pale and chubby, but what surprised me was that his once black hair was now streaked with gray. He staggered just a few steps, panting heavily. The short walk from the main door to the parking lot left sweat pouring down his temples like he'd just washed his hair. I handed him a pack of tissues, and after a few wipes, they were soggy clumps of paper.
Huang Ran gasped as he got into the car, with Sun Fatty and me flanking him in the back seat. Sun Fatty shook his head, saying, "Old Huang, no offense, but it's only been a few days, and you look like this? Compared to your Third Granduncle, you two could pass as brothers now." Huang Ran gave a bitter smile and shook his head silently. Sitting in the front passenger seat, Xiao Heshang watched Huang Ran through the rearview mirror and sighed softly, saying to Sun Fatty, "Fatty, look carefully—this is what happens when you play with fire and get burned badly."
Sun Fatty blinked and repeated Xiao's words slowly, "Play with fire and get burned badly… is this the aftermath of destroying the Buddha Ash?"
Huang Ran's face showed no expression. Seeing Sun Fatty's pity, he simply closed his eyes and dozed off.
When we arrived at the airport, Jin Xin was already waiting. He was the classic easygoing type—after only meeting briefly yesterday, today he was already calling us "Xiao Shen, Xiao Sun, Consultant Xiao." Probably Director Gao or Ouyang Pianzuo had leaked some information about Huang Ran. Jin Xin only nodded slightly when he saw him, even skipping formal greetings.
Passing customs was smooth since we had pre-arranged duty-free clearance for our luggage. But when boarding, Huang Ran suddenly staggered on the gangway. His vision darkened, and he nearly fell off the stairs. Luckily, I caught him, massaged his philtrum and heart area, and he slowly regained consciousness. Sun Fatty and I dragged him onto the plane. This little incident startled the flight attendants, who asked about his sudden illness and whether he could continue. Sun Fatty reassured them, "It's nothing. He skipped breakfast and has low blood sugar. Don't worry, as long as your plane doesn't crash, he won't die…"
Three and a half hours later, our plane landed at Hong Kong International Airport. In the arrivals hall, three people waited conspicuously. Two held large signs reading the same five characters: "Reception for Mr. Huang Ran." The third was a skinny middle-aged man in a suit, peering inside. This was Ma Xiaolin, who had gotten Consultant Xiao and Sun Fatty arrested six months ago.
Ma Xiaolin's information was as limited as Jin Xin's—he just knew to pick someone up at the airport and hand over some historically valuable items, then collect his commission and be done. He never imagined the four of us would arrive together. Our eyes met briefly. Ma Xiaolin wore thick glasses for severe myopia; when he recognized us, he froze for a moment. Before he could react, we were beside him.
Ma Xiaolin tried to turn and leave but was blocked between Xiao Heshang and Sun Fatty, with only me supporting Huang Ran. Seeing this, Ma's two underlings dropped their signs and rushed to help, but Ma made a left-hand gesture to stop them. Awkwardly, Ma smiled at Sun Fatty and Xiao Heshang and said, "Mr. Sun, Mr. Shen, Master Xiao… you're all here…"
Sun Fatty chuckled, "Boss Ma, half a year no see, you haven't changed much—still that unlucky look. How's it going? Has that Misfortune Deity come to visit you? I bet he's forgotten how to get to your place. But no worries, I still remember the way, and this time I'll show him the right path."
Hearing this, the scene from six months ago flashed in Ma Xiaolin's mind again—a chill ran down his spine. "Mr. Sun, last time was a misunderstanding. I also heard the Pear family had troubles and feel very sorry. Those antiques were bought with real money—I never meant to cause such trouble. I have prepared a small token. Once this handover is done, I will present it to you."
"I say, gentlemen, this is no place for talking. People are coming and going. Why don't we find somewhere quieter to chat?" Jin Xin, who had overheard a lot, suspected most of what was going on. Seeing that Sun Fatty wasn't done, and with airport police nearby watching, and a wax corpse named Luo Simen in our luggage (though duty-free, it would cause trouble if inspected), he suggested moving on.
"Yes, yes, my mansion is ready. Let's continue there."