Since the prison guard who was planted beside Lin Zhendong relayed the last conversation between the two to Lu Weishen, it made him feel he had the capital to turn the tables and converse with Li Chonglou's master and disciple.
During this time, he had not been idle. He had pulled many strings to confirm the existence of Kunling.
Furthermore, it was being kept secret by the higher echelons of the archaeology circle, with the news being withheld to prepare for a secret archaeological expedition.
However, the surrounding area had already been cordoned off by the army.
Without extremely deep personal connections, it would be impossible to gain entry.
He felt this matter was a trump card against Li Chonglou.
"Tell me, what kind of transaction do you want to make with me?" Li Chonglou replied noncommittally, slowly sipping his tea.
"Lin Zhendong has been released from prison. He will inevitably continue searching for Shi Boqiong's whereabouts. All you need to do is tell me which clues he has found," Lu Weishen said with a hidden sense of triumph. "Young man, don't you dare lie to me. These old eyes of mine are certainly no worse than yours."
Shi Boqiong, such an ancient treasure, was his lifelong pursuit.
For this, he even didn't hesitate to fall out with Lin Zhendong and oppose him.
Unfortunately, no matter how many ancient texts and materials he searched, he couldn't find a single clue.
It was only then that he reluctantly decided to learn more through Lin Zhendong.
Since Li Chonglou was Lin Zhendong's last disciple, he was bound to know quite a bit.
"So it's for this." Li Chonglou finished his tea in one gulp, his smile turning cold. "If you want to know, go ask my master yourself."
"As for whether I can enter Kunling, you don't need to worry about it."
"Farewell!"
With that, he stood up and left.
This scene greatly exceeded Lu Weishen's expectations.
He had originally thought that Li Chonglou would surely care deeply about his father's whereabouts and would be looking for him.
From everything he had done for his mother, it was clear that he was an extremely filial child.
But his current demeanor made it seem as if he didn't care at all.
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Name your price. Take any of my collections you fancy, as long as you tell me Shi Boqiong's information. I'll compete with Lin Zhendong fairly and won't play any dirty tricks, you can rest assured!" Lu Weishen panicked and called out.
Li Chonglou was his only hope of obtaining clues about Shi Boqiong.
Besides that, he had the desire to find Lin Zhendong and his daughter, but not necessarily the courage.
His composure and confidence from moments ago had completely crumbled with Li Chonglou's departure.
In their line of work, they were accustomed to speaking differently to different people.
Every one of them was shrewd. They wouldn't even look directly at true treasures, relying instead on their peripheral vision.
Today, this was a psychological battle between him and Li Chonglou.
He had lost.
He had lost his composure.
The initiative had instantly fallen into Li Chonglou's hands.
"You should keep these things for yourself. I advise you not to have any ideas about Shi Boqiong, or I won't consider your age anymore," Li Chonglou said without looking back, striding out of the villa.
This left Lu Weishen's eyes filled with malevolence.
He was so angry that veins bulged on his forehead, yet he had nowhere to vent his frustration.
"Master, why did he leave?" Lin Ao rushed in from outside upon seeing this and asked.
"Find a few good men to follow him. From now on, you must report to me about everywhere he goes!" Lu Weishen took a deep breath before suppressing his anger and giving the order. "I must know where Lin Zhendong has gone."
"We absolutely cannot let him gain the upper hand!"
"I'll do it right away," Lin Ao replied.
After leaving Lu Weishen's villa, Li Chonglou returned home.
Jiang Yuxin had already woken up and was having a late breakfast. Xu Lie had also arrived by car.
"Wife, Brother Xu and I are going to Chang'an for a while. I'll entrust everything in Qin Zhou to you," Li Chonglou said dotingly after Jiang Yuxin finished eating.
"I know. Be careful," Jiang Yuxin clearly didn't want him to go, but knowing she couldn't stop Li Chonglou, she could only pretend to be cold.
However, this coldness was no longer the same heartlessness as before.
Instead, her passionate heart became even more evident.
To prevent his mother from feeling sad, he left directly with Xu Lie without saying goodbye again.
After getting into the car, Xu Lie asked curiously, "Chonglou, did your sister-in-law encounter something? She seems to have changed..."
"Heh heh, she's like this after her first time," Li Chonglou chuckled smugly.
Xu Lie immediately looked enlightened and almost burst out laughing.
The car first drove to Yongan.
They first went to Ning Lang's house. The moment they met, they shared a bear hug.
After introducing Xu Lie, Ning Lang gave him a thumbs up.
"Brother Ning, I've come to find you because I need your help preparing some tools for entering the tomb," Li Chonglou stated frankly. He didn't need to hide anything from Ning Lang.
"Leave it to me!" Ning Lang agreed immediately.
He made a call to Zheng Rui and asked him to handle it.
Then they started chatting about Xiao Yun and Lin Weiwei.
The renovation of the antique shop was nearing completion, just waiting for him to return and open it.
"I definitely won't have time for now. Brother Ning, please manage it for me. When I return from Chang'an, I'll give you half of the shares as compensation," Li Chonglou said, pushing the responsibility onto him.
Ning Lang pretended to be flattered. "You're so generous. Half of it is half, clearly you're letting me be free labor while you play the role of the hands-off boss."
"See but don't say, still good brothers," Li Chonglou said, laughing.
Within half a day, the tools were all prepared.
Safety ropes, military shovels, portable steel pickaxes, various outdoor knives, and so on... everything was there.
There were even a bow and arrow and a black donkey hoof.
"What are these things for?" Li Chonglou asked, picking up the hoof with a speechless expression.
"Aren't you going into a tomb? Ghost Blows Out the Light says black donkey hooves can ward off evil. I specifically asked someone to cut it," Zheng Rui said proudly.
Seeing Li Chonglou's expression turn grim, he smacked Zheng Rui's butt with the hoof, "You idiot, keep it for yourself to ward off evil."
After loading the items into the car, they bid farewell to Ning Lang and left Yongan.
Heading straight for Chang'an.
Li Chonglou leaned back in the passenger seat, resting his eyes, imagining the scene he was about to encounter, and whether he could find his father.
At that moment, his phone suddenly rang.
On the way back from Zhonghai, he had already switched to his own SIM card.
Seeing the number, he realized it was his senior sister calling.
"Chonglou, how is everything on your end?" Lin Ying's tone was slightly different from usual, heavy and lacking its usual ease.
"The matters in Zhonghai have come to an end. I'm currently en route to Kunling," Li Chonglou replied truthfully.
"My dad is in trouble..." Upon hearing this, Lin Ying sighed deeply.
Li Chonglou's heart skipped a beat. "What happened!"
"It's hard to explain in a few words. He was attacked and is still unconscious. I don't know if he can make it," Lin Ying's voice choked for the first time. "Before he lost consciousness, he said he wanted to see you."
She knew Li Chonglou was on an extremely important national mission and wasn't sure if he had completed it, so she hadn't dared to ask.
"Brother Xu, turn back to Yongan!" Li Chonglou said without hesitation, changing their itinerary.
He then comforted Lin Ying, "Senior sister, don't panic. I'll go back to Yongan now to buy a plane ticket."
"We'll meet this afternoon."
Xu Lie knew something had happened and drove the car directly to Yongan Airport.
Leaving the supplies in the car and the car in the parking lot, he boarded the plane to Xihai with Li Chonglou.
"This period of time is full of variables. Everything is constantly changing. The only constant is change..." Li Chonglou's mind was filled with his master's past teachings.
But he still couldn't accept this variable.
In his previous life, his master died in prison, his cause of death a mystery.
In this life, fate had already changed, with him being released from prison early, but losing all his martial arts and becoming an ordinary person.
He had originally thought that his trip to Xihai to search for the ancient site of Xihai Commandery would not be dangerous, but he never expected such a major incident to occur.
If something were to happen to his master, he would forever regret it.
He shouldn't have rashly concluded that there would be clues in Xihai based on his senior sister's and his own speculation.
If he hadn't gone to Xihai, this wouldn't have happened.
At this moment, his desire to find his father had even faded. After all, he had lived two lives and so many years had passed; he didn't mind waiting a little longer.
But his master's life was now in peril. The priority was self-evident.
Meanwhile, Lu Weishen received the news that Li Chonglou had suddenly bought a plane ticket to Xihai.
He frowned deeply. "He should be in a hurry to find his father. Why would he suddenly change his itinerary and run to Xihai at this time?"
"There must be something more important. Besides his mother, who else could it be for him?"
"Lin Zhendong is in Xihai!"
"Buy me a ticket immediately. I want to fly to Xihai myself."
Lin Ao didn't dare to delay and immediately arranged the travel plans.
The total journey from Yongan to Caoliapu Airport in Xihai City, Xihai Province, took two hours and twenty minutes.
As soon as Li Chonglou landed, he immediately took a taxi straight to the hospital.
An hour later, he finally met Lin Ying, who was waiting for him at the elevator entrance, looking haggard.
The moment Lin Ying saw Li Chonglou, she could no longer maintain her composure and embraced him, bursting into tears.
Li Chonglou felt his senior sister trembling all over and couldn't suppress his heartache.
The senior sister in his memory was strong, independent, and heroic, as if the sky falling would not be enough to faze her.
She had always been calm, composed, elegant, and generous.
Yet now, she had completely broken down in front of him, her junior disciple, which showed how serious the situation was.
His master meant too much to her.
He was not just a father, but also a spiritual guide, a beacon.
"Master is blessed with good fortune; he will be fine, senior sister," Li Chonglou said, patting Lin Ying's back to comfort her. "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Xu Lie, being considerate, turned his body away to spare Lin Ying any embarrassment.
He was now like a brother to them, like family. Although he didn't outwardly show his anxiety for their master's predicament, his heart was already burning with impatience.
"After arriving in Xihai, my father contacted a friend in the archaeology circle named Liu Zhibo," Lin Ying explained, finally calming down after her emotional outburst, revealing her strong psychological resilience.
Letting go of Li Chonglou, she explained, "We temporarily formed an expedition team and have been searching for the ancient site of Xihai Commandery."
"Our goal was the same, but neither of us expected that Liu Zhibo had long ago turned into a villain who committed grave robberies under the guise of archaeology."
"As soon as we found the ancient site of Xihai Commandery, they tried to silence us."
"My father was shot in the chest. I killed two of them on the spot and carried him away as I escaped."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Lie let out a low growl, "Beasts! I'll crush them!"
"Liu Zhibo," Li Chonglou's eyes blazed with killing intent.
The entire corridor seemed to drop five degrees in temperature, causing the other patients waiting for the elevator to get goosebumps.