"Feibai, are you all right?" Even before reaching the location, Yu Fangkai was already calling out from a distance. "Brother, over here..." At this moment, Yu Feibai stood up, a blade of grass dangling from his lips, waving enthusiastically.

His face held little trace of anger; after waiting so long, any intense rage should have subsided. However, as soon as Yu Fangkai and the others arrived and saw the car, a third of which had been blown away, everyone was utterly shocked, followed by immense indignation.

"How dare they." Yu Fangkai glared, grinding his teeth, "Do they really think they can act lawlessly just because they've grown audacious? Investigate, find out immediately who did this.

They must be tired of living to cause trouble here..." Without needing any explicit command, others were already examining the blast marks on the vehicle. Soon after, they reached a conclusion: it was a makeshift "bomb" fashioned from a glass bottle filled with alcohol, the destructive power not particularly significant.

At least, compared to a real explosive, this was child's play. The reason the car was so severely damaged was due to the fire not being extinguished in time, allowing many things inside to burn.

"Wang Guan, it seems you guessed correctly. This was intimidation, a warning, not a pursuit to the death." Yu Feibai stroked his chin, "Of course, it was directed at us." "No matter who it was aimed at, this matter cannot be left unsettled." Yu Fangkai snorted coldly, then turned back, "Brother-in-law, I'm afraid this will have to trouble you.

My status makes it difficult for me to step forward directly." The military has its regulations, especially as times change and national control over the armed forces grows stricter. As an officer, despite his burning anger, Yu Fangkai had not lost his composure, nor did he dare casually use his authority for personal matters.

But some things didn't require his direct involvement; a simple phone call would suffice. Someone would naturally arrange everything properly.

"Brother Yu, you don't need to intervene in this; I will resolve it." Just then, Ouyang spoke up, his tone laced with anger, "I never imagined they would resort to such depravity. In truth, I implicated both of you brothers, so I should naturally be the one to provide you with an explanation..." As he spoke, Ouyang collected himself and immediately pulled out his phone, dialing several people in succession.

Since he made no effort to conceal the calls, Wang Guan could hear quite clearly; the contacts were various leaders in the police, transportation, and urban regulation departments. Vaguely, Wang Guan recognized one or two voices, feeling like he had heard them somewhere before.

After thinking hard, he suddenly understood: they were among the people present at the hunting convention two days prior... In that instant, Wang Guan fully grasped what a "network of connections" truly meant.

It wasn't just a network; it was a sprawling, inescapable net. While one couldn't claim jurisdiction over the entire Northwest region, simply mobilizing forces centered around Jiuquan, plus the neighboring cities, demonstrated an energy that absolutely could not be underestimated.

The subsequent events needed no recounting; in any case, the trip to Dunhuang was off the table. Wang Guan and Yu Feibai quietly returned to Murong Guang's estate, where they were treated like the center of the universe and enjoyed a 'calming' banquet while everyone offered reassurance.

From then on, they didn't need to worry about logistics. They just needed to stay put on the estate.

Meanwhile, word must have leaked out somehow, as calls from Elder Qian and others started pouring in incessantly. It took tremendous effort, beating their chests, to assure everyone that they were safe and sound—tougher than oxen.

After finally managing to placate everyone, Yu Feibai suddenly chuckled, "They say fortune and disaster follow one another; this might actually turn out to be a good thing." "Why?" Wang Guan looked perplexed. "The Old Man called just now.

Though his tone was normal, I could tell he was genuinely furious." Yu Feibai smirked, "The Old Man's thunderous wrath is not something most people can withstand. Let's wait and watch the show." "Oh." Wang Guan was inclined to believe it.

Having spent time together, he knew Yu Feibai's father had served in the Northwest Military Region and still maintained significant old connections here. Otherwise, Yu Fangkai wouldn't have been sent here for training.

If Yu Feibai was attacked here, even if General Yu said nothing, his friends and acquaintances would certainly not remain unmoved. Of course, after a moment of elation, the two sighed again.

They were confined to the estate, forbidden to leave until the culprits were caught—which felt no different from house arrest. Fortunately, Murong Guang considered this issue and updated them on the case progress periodically.

By evening, technicians from the police station, based on Ouyang’s recollection, had sketched out two vague wanted portraits. One was for the person who brought over the large Yongle blue-and-white plate; the other was naturally Zhu Da, as Ouyang described him.

However, they were called 'vague' because experienced police analysts determined these two individuals had disguised themselves, obscuring their true features. If they removed their disguises, even standing right in front of the witnesses, the witnesses might not recognize them.

Undoubtedly, both were habitual offenders, already prepared for countermeasures. At the same time, seeing the two portraits drawn from Ouyang's memory, Wang Guan and Yu Feibai understood why the police were certain these were disguised appearances.

The traces of disguise were simply too obvious: large-framed glasses and thick beards that almost entirely concealed their faces. It was no wonder Ouyang only had a hazy impression.

Under such circumstances, the moment they removed their glasses and shaved their beards, both wanted sketches would be instantly useless. "Cunning, truly too cunning," Ouyang muttered, a mix of anger and shame on his face.

"It’s all my fault for not being vigilant enough; I never considered their attire was suspicious." "Brother Ouyang, don't blame yourself too much," Wang Guan comforted him. "This organization is not only tightly structured but also extremely secretive.

Knowing they planned for a year before executing their scheme shows how cautious and meticulous they are. It wouldn't just be you; anyone else would have been deceived." "Exactly, exactly," Yu Feibai chimed in.

"Compared to others who fell for it, you’re lucky. You pulled back from the brink at the critical moment, preventing yourself from being trapped." "This is also thanks to you two..." Ouyang was deeply grateful.

"We're all family, no need for politeness!" After chatting for a while longer, Ouyang departed. His resentful expression showed he hadn't swallowed this insult and intended to hunt the culprits down to give Wang Guan and Yu Feibai justice.

Strictly speaking, Wang Guan and Yu Feibai were classic examples of collateral damage—the city gate burned, affecting the fish in the moat. Of course, it couldn't be entirely ruled out that this was an old grudge, perhaps stemming from the belief that Wang Guan was too much of an eyesore and needed a lesson...

Regardless, the fact remained that the two had faced danger. Not long after Ouyang left, police officers delivered the luggage that had been stored in the trunk of their car.

This luggage was physical evidence—evidence that their lives had been threatened. In the fire caused by the explosion, most of their luggage was burned.

The majority of the clothing was destroyed, and what little remained of miscellaneous items was scorched black and unrecognizable from the intense heat. Seeing this, Wang Guan felt immensely relieved that he hadn't brought any valuable items on this trip to Jiuquan; otherwise, he would have been heartbroken.

"Who says there were no valuables? My tens of thousands in cash vanished into thin air," Yu Feibai's expression was sour.

It wasn't just the cash; there were also several small jade ornaments he cherished, items he usually carried around to fiddle with, now blackened by the fire. Although generally, jade's smooth, reflective surface helps dissipate heat, making it difficult for fire's intensity to penetrate the outer layer, the jade ornaments were only superficially charred.

A simple cleaning and polish should suffice. However, during the explosion, objects were thrown around violently.

This impact was bound to cause damage, naturally filling him with sorrow. Examining the slightly cracked jade ornaments, Yu Feibai couldn't help but curse Mr.

Zhu again, unleashing a torrent of vile imprecations that, for the sake of passing review, will not be detailed here. "Huh?

What's this?" While cursing animatedly, Yu Feibai picked up a small, blackened, round stone that seemed strange. "I don't remember carrying anything like this...

Wang Guan, is this yours?" "What?" Wang Guan looked over, initially intending to shake his head in denial, but before the word left his lips, he suddenly remembered the origin of the small stone and immediately nodded, "Right, it should be mine." "Here." Yu Feibai, lacking the interest to ask more, tossed the stone over and returned to lamenting his possessions. At that moment, Wang Guan was also examining the stone.

It was raw jade material he had picked up from the wine pool on the mountain. Upon returning, he had casually tossed it into his luggage when changing clothes.

He had been too busy these past few days to pay it any mind. However, Wang Guan didn't consider the item particularly valuable, nor did he catch it when Yu Feibai threw it; he let it drop onto the sofa before picking it up with a towel, turning it over in his hands while rubbing it.

After rubbing for a while, the white towel wiped away the soot from the stone's surface, revealing a clear, snow-white, moist luster. "It looks quite nice," Wang Guan remarked.

After cleaning it, Wang Guan held the stone in his palm to observe it. It wasn't large, about the size of a thumb, smooth and rounded like a river pebble, lacking sharp edges.

With Wang Guan's current eyesight, after a moment of scrutiny, he made a preliminary judgment: this was likely seed material from some type of jade. Considering this was Jiuquan, perhaps this piece of material was Jiuquan Jade.

But it didn't seem quite right either, as he had some knowledge of Jiuquan Jade, and the texture of this round stone showed a slight difference. "What could it be?" Wang Guan pondered.

Suddenly, he noticed a faint trace of soot remaining on the pure white surface of the jade. This feeling was like seeing a smudge on clean white paper—an urge to wipe the smudge away.

Wang Guan did the same, taking the towel to continue rubbing. However, after several passes, Wang Guan found that the dark residue on the jade surface remained, like stubborn stains, frustrating him.

He simply poured some clean water into a cup and tossed the round stone into it... (To be continued...)RT