When Lin Ying asked him to pick up documents in the middle of the night, he harbored doubts.
But due to his trust in his senior sister, he didn't overthink it.
It wasn't until he encountered Shen Yishou waiting for him at the shop that he realized something was amiss, but the situation was dire, on the brink of life and death.
He couldn't think of anything else.
Fortunately, Old Cao arrived with Xiao Yun in time to save him.
However, he always felt there was something wrong with the situation, some illogical aspects.
It wasn't until Lin Ying revealed it herself that he suddenly understood.
It turned out his senior sister was creating a diversion to lure Shen Yishou into a trap, and he was the bait.
"Don't put it so crudely, as if your senior sister is utterly wicked," Lin Ying shot Li Chonglou a glance and smiled, "Only you are your father's true disciple; who else would I use?"
"Besides, you're just an ordinary person now, aren't you? Would you be so easily beaten to death?"
"What do you think Old Cao came to Qinzhou for?"
"And aren't you standing here completely unharmed? How does your senior sister plan to compensate you?"
With the most charming expression, she said the most chilling words.
Li Chonglou experienced this side of his senior sister for the first time and couldn't help but feel a pang of doubt.
Did his appearance not only change many destinies but also alter his senior sister's personality?
She wasn't this mysterious and capricious in his previous life.
Or perhaps his perception was insufficient back then, and he couldn't detect it at all?
A heavy mystery exploded in his heart.
Of course, he wouldn't trouble Lin Ying. Now that he thought about it, everything was within his senior sister's control. If he couldn't even last that half hour, he probably wouldn't even qualify to be her junior brother.
After all, he had practiced the cultivation method from the sheepskin scroll. Although it had only been a short time, his state of mind absolutely could not be weak.
This was a test, and also a form of trust.
"So it's you Lin Ying was talking about," Zhang Chen's gaze shifted rapidly, re-examining Li Chonglou, his face full of disbelief and disdain, "So scrawny, Shen Yishou could probably crush you with one hand, right?"
He knew about what happened that night, but he didn't know the details.
He only heard that Lin Ying had arranged a scheme to lure Shen Yishou into a trap, seizing many clues and making significant contributions to uncovering the secret of the Qin dynasty artifact.
But Shen Yishou, how could he not have heard of him?
He was cunning, his methods were extraordinary, and he had cultivated ancient martial arts since childhood. Although they had never sparred, he heard his martial prowess was superb.
Li Chonglou actually managed to escape from his hands?
Thinking about how he had forcefully squeezed Li Chonglou's hand earlier without any reaction, Zhang Chen couldn't help but wonder, was he also a martial artist?
It didn't seem like it!
His hands had no calluses, and he had none of the grounded energy of a martial artist.
He was just an ordinary person.
By what right?
For a moment, infinite curiosity arose in him for Li Chonglou, but this curiosity was mixed with much more jealousy.
Jealousy that Li Chonglou was valued by Lin Ying, and could be so close to Lin Ying.
He had been with Lin Ying almost every day for the past week, but he had never managed to shorten the distance to the extent Li Chonglou had.
Jealousy made people lose their composure.
"At least you can't crush me," Li Chonglou retorted.
This Zhang Chen had been looking for trouble with him, and he could have ignored it.
But he simply wouldn't.
Everyone has two sides to their personality: calm or active, mature or childish.
It all depends on who they are facing.
In front of Lin Ying, he could let go of all his defenses and be his true self.
The Tao Te Ching said, "Concentrate your vital energy, and become supple like a newborn child?"
Cultivators all strive to return to a state of infancy. He couldn't achieve it, but having lived his life, he now understood that the true state was that of an innocent and natural child.
Do what you like, act as you will, without reservation, but not at the expense of harming others.
This is what is called truth!
One sentence was enough to make Zhang Chen's face turn red and his ears burn.
He secretly glanced at Lin Ying, afraid she would know that he had tried to intimidate Li Chonglou as soon as he arrived.
Fortunately, Lin Ying's attention was on the photos in the file bag, and she didn't notice him at all.
"Zhang Chen, the clues obtained this time match what you provided earlier. It seems we are one step closer to the truth," Lin Ying put the photos away and mused, "We only know now that the treasure we are looking for is a bronze dice, but we have no idea what it actually is or what it looks like."
"Even where the dice was buried as a burial object is completely unknown."
This week-long expedition had yielded significant results, but the goal was still as distant as ever.
No one knew the purpose of the legendary bronze dice.
"I suspect it is very likely to be in the true Qin Mausoleum," Zhang Chen said seriously, "But the true Qin Mausoleum is still an unknown to this day; no one knows where it is, and that's the most troublesome part."
"You designed it so that Shen Yishou mistakenly believed we found the true Qin Mausoleum, creating a diversion to use him as our pawn."
"But this can't be confirmed in a moment."
"When do we have to wait?"
Zhang Chen's words carried a hint of anxiety.
Lin Ying pondered, only uttering one word: "Wait!"
"Senior Sister, the bronze dice you are looking for should be the Shi Bóqióng that Qin Shi Huang used as a plaything, right?" At this moment, Li Chonglou asked calmly.
Instantly, both Lin Ying and Zhang Chen's expressions changed to shock, their gazes fixed on him.
This matter was of great importance, and fewer than ten people in the entire country knew about it.
Her father, Lin Zhendong, was framed and imprisoned for investigating this Shi Bóqióng, forcing her to take over.
Zhang Chen was able to join the team because his major was related to her father's work, which was inherently connected to this matter.
As for Li Chonglou, he was only twenty years old with no background. Although he was taken as a disciple by Lin Zhendong, it had only been a few days. How could he know about this?
"Did my father tell you?" Lin Ying asked tentatively.
"Master didn't say, but I saw it in an ancient book. The most mysterious treasure of the Qin dynasty is none other than this," Li Chonglou said, half-truthfully, half-falsely. The matter of reincarnation and rebirth was too fantastical, and even his senior sister, whom he trusted wholeheartedly, he didn't intend to reveal everything to.
Moreover, Zhang Chen was present.
Shi Bóqióng was the key to his rebirth. It was precisely because he studied its function that Li Chonglou gained the opportunity of past and present lives.
This matter, for the time being, could not be told to anyone.
The only thing he could say was the clues he possessed about Shi Bóqióng.
They were limited, but he hoped they would help his senior sister.
"Continue, did the book mention what Shi Bóqióng looks like?" Lin Ying was more serious than ever.
In Zhang Chen's eyes, a sly glint appeared.
"A fourteen-sided polyhedron, inscribed with fourteen characters, corresponding to the ancient numbers one to twelve," Li Chonglou glanced at Zhang Chen and said unhurriedly, "The other two characters are 'You' and 'Jiao'."
"According to the book, it was indeed buried in a side hall of the Qin Mausoleum as a burial object."
"However, the book did not mention the location of the true Qin Mausoleum."
The location of the true Qin Mausoleum, let alone now, even during Li Chonglou's peak in his previous life, no one had ever discovered it.
Shi Bóqióng suddenly appeared in a museum, and no one could figure out its origin.
"Where is that book? Bring me that book!" As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Chen grabbed Li Chonglou's arm, his tone excited and commanding.