Da Ge’s elaborate scheme was indeed quite cunning, but he hadn't accounted for the fact that Wang Guan and the others had already seen through his façade and had already notified the police, sealing their tragic fate.

However, at this moment, Da Ge remained oblivious to the impending disaster. After waiting patiently for a few minutes, he urged again, “Old Man Qin, have you looked at the items long enough? I can guarantee there’s absolutely nothing fake among them…,”

“Don’t move!”

Before Da Ge could finish speaking, a contingent of people, clad in uniforms and exuding an aura of authority—the police—surged into the hall without warning. They had crept into the village silently, taking nothing, and had stealthily reached the entrance. After assessing the situation inside, they lunged directly for their targets.

In an instant, in the blink of an eye, Da Ge and his associates were pinned firmly to the ground, caught completely off guard and wearing expressions of blank bewilderment.

“Stay put!”

Amidst the sharp shouts of the police, there were a few more sharp clicks—the sound of handcuffs—leaving them with no opportunity to resist further.

“What’s going on?”

Da Ge was stunned. He strained to lift his head and survey the sudden influx of police officers, his heart filled with panic, yet he still attempted to argue, “Is there some sort of misunderstanding…”

“Less chatter.”

At this juncture, an officer stated gravely, “Da Fei, you are suspected of tomb raiding and fencing stolen goods. The crime has occurred; you need to come with us.”

“Officer, this is a miscarriage of justice!”

Da Ge struggled desperately, crying out, “What tomb raiding and fencing stolen goods? That’s completely untrue.”

“Stop making excuses!”

Just then, an officer who appeared to be the leader walked in and sneered, “Four or five days ago, we received a report from Mr. Qin and have been closely investigating you ever since. We have already gathered evidence of your criminal activities, and now we have caught you red-handed with the loot—are you still not going to admit it?”

“Hmph.”

Hearing this, Wang Guan and the others exchanged glances, a degree of surprise on their faces. After all, when they saw the police rush in, they had assumed it was the team sent by Officer Yang, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.

“What?”

Simultaneously, Da Ge looked at Old Man Qin in horror, “You called the police?”

“You tried to sell stolen artifacts to me, so why shouldn’t I report it?” Old Man Qin smiled faintly at this moment. “Did you really think I was senile, unable to distinguish between excavated relics and ordinary antiques?”

“You…”

For a moment, Da Ge felt he had no recourse, his eyes flashing with malice.

“What, still unresigned? Planning to take revenge on me?” Old Man Qin remained unperturbed and composed. “I’m not afraid either. The evidence is conclusive now; you’ll be locked up for at least a few years. I already have one foot in the grave; by the time you get out, I might not even be around anymore…”

“You jest, Elder,”

The officer quickly interjected with a smile, “You will certainly live to be a hundred. As for these societal dregs, let them reflect on their wrongdoings in prison. If they dare to cause you trouble after getting out, just call me, and see if I don’t sort them out.”

This man’s face was a picture of righteousness, but inwardly he sighed, thinking how reckless Da Ge and his group were. Although Old Man Qin’s children were merely small-time merchants with seemingly no significant backing, his old chess partner from the park… had a son who was a high-ranking official in the Police Bureau. And yet, without even investigating this fact, they dared to try and extort benefits from him—wasn't that just courting disaster?

“Oh, what a lively gathering here.”

Just as the officer was lamenting internally, more people flowed in from outside the hall.

“Officer Yang.”

Yu Feibai frowned, “Why are you only arriving now?”

“It’s as fast as I could manage,”

Officer Yang explained, “This isn’t our jurisdiction, so coordination was required. But when we made contact, we learned that some of our brethren were already lying in wait here.”

As he spoke, Officer Yang smiled thinly, “Congratulations, Captain Song, on another major accomplishment.”

“Likewise, likewise.”

Different jurisdictions naturally meant no competition, so Captain Song was quite amicable, though also a bit puzzled. “Captain Yang, why are you here?”

“I came upon receiving their report,” Officer Yang explained, then added with genuine surprise, “Mr. Yu, are you absolutely certain these are the same tomb robbers from the other day?”

“Whether they are or not, you’ll know after you question them,” Yu Feibai replied with a smile. “We didn’t expect such a coincidence either—we had only just come out and ran into this group preparing to fence the stolen goods. Even more coincidental is that Old Man Qin had already set up an inescapable net, just waiting for them to walk foolishly into it.”

“You called the police too?” Old Man Qin couldn't help but chuckle, his gaze softening.

“It was a matter of fate for us,” Wang Guan explained. “Last night, we heard someone blasting a tomb on Mount Mang and went with Officer Yang to investigate. Following the trail led us to apprehend the criminals. But after research, we discovered that the large tomb had actually been excavated once before last night…”

Hearing Wang Guan recount the events, Old Man Qin and the others suddenly understood, marveling at the incredible string of coincidences.

“We saw the inscription ‘Qiān Niú Wèi’ on the armor earlier, which naturally made us think of something, so we sent a message to Officer Yang,” Wang Guan said, smiling. “It was just speculation at first, but looking at his expression now, I believe we can be certain.”

At that moment, everyone looked toward Da Ge. Seeing his face etched with deep dejection, tinged almost with the grayness of ash and despair, they knew Wang Guan was right—this matter was inextricably linked to them.

Meanwhile, Da Ge was silently cursing in anger, not only cursing Wang Guan and the others for meddling but also bitterly resenting his own cohorts for being so incompetent that they couldn't even dig a proper shaft, let alone be tomb robbers. Using explosives to blast a tomb had no technical merit whatsoever and would certainly attract high-level official attention—it was clearly a path to self-destruction.

These kinds of associates were like Zhu Bajie in Journey to the West; with pig-like teammates, where else could they go but disaster?

Nevertheless, no matter how resentful Da Ge and the others were, with irrefutable evidence and the stolen goods in hand, they were inevitably escorted away by the officers. Prison was certain; only the length of the sentence remained unknown. Most people didn't much care about the final fate of these individuals. Since the matter was resolved smoothly, everyone was quite pleased, lending an air of general satisfaction.

“But I still find something strange,”

Yu Feibai, puzzled, voiced his thoughts, “Elder Qin, since you weren’t genuinely planning to buy those stolen artifacts, why offer up your own treasured collection?”

“If I didn’t offer something, how would they know I had the money and was willing to buy the items from them?” Old Man Qin smiled, his tone carrying a certain veiled meaning.

“Hmm?”

Many intelligent people present sensed the hidden implication in Old Man Qin’s words and naturally fell into deep thought.

“You mean, Elder Zheng’s…”

Yu Feibai hesitated, stopping short of saying more. Old Man Qin smiled faintly, offering no rebuttal, which served as a form of tacit confirmation.

“I never would have guessed.”

At that moment, everyone felt a touch of awe. It wasn't awe regarding Boss Zheng tipping them off, or about some shadowy mastermind behind the scenes, but rather awe at the sheer scale of entanglement stemming from a single object.

No wonder Professor Wen always complained that the waters here were too deep; disturbing one thread pulled the entire tapestry.

And speaking of Professor Wen, no one knew who leaked his critique of the landscape painting, which had set off this entire commotion.

Of course, such trivial details were the police's responsibility; Wang Guan and the others couldn't possibly intervene. Moreover, even if they wanted to, the police likely wouldn't allow it, fearing the poaching of their jurisdiction.

However, just as everyone, at Captain Song’s courteous invitation, was preparing to head to the police station to give statements, Wang Guan’s phone suddenly rang—it was Elder Hou calling.

“Elder Hou…”

Wang Guan answered casually, but Professor Wen’s voice came through the receiver: “Wang Guan, where are you right now? Has the tomb raiding matter been settled? Can you return immediately?”

Wang Guan grasped the key point amidst the barrage of questions, asking with some curiosity, “Professor Wen, you’re in such a hurry for us to return—is there something urgent?”

“…Um, if you have time right now, please return to the camp immediately.” Professor Wen stammered slightly, clearly confirming Wang Guan’s suspicion.

“We can’t right now,” Wang Guan explained. “We are just about to head to the police station to file statements.”

“Statements again?” Professor Wen sounded taken aback. “Didn’t you already give statements this morning?”

It shouldn't be surprising that Professor Wen knew about this. Archaeological staff had gone to watch the excitement unfold last night. After leaving the police station this morning, they had returned directly to the camp and likely reported the specific sequence of events to Professor Wen.

“We encountered another group of tomb robbers…” Wang Guan briefly explained the situation here, which naturally astonished Professor Wen, who exclaimed over their remarkable luck.

“In that case, there’s no need for more statements,” Professor Wen said at once. “Hand the phone to the lead officer commanding the team; I’ll speak with him…”

Wang Guan paused, puzzled by the Professor’s sudden urgency, but he complied, handing the phone to Captain Song. What Professor Wen said next was unknown, but Captain Song nodded repeatedly.

After the call ended, Captain Song returned the phone to Wang Guan and said with a smile, “Since you have urgent business, you should go ahead. We will prepare the statements on our end and send them to you later; all you’ll need to do is sign for confirmation.”

With such an offer, Wang Guan and the others certainly weren’t going to refuse. They immediately agreed and then bade farewell to Old Man Qin before getting into a car heading toward the Mount Mang camp.

“Wang Guan, Professor Wen is urgently calling you back,”

Yu Feibai’s eyes darted around thoughtfully as he speculated, “Could it be that they’ve run into another mechanism problem? Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so kind as to invite us back to inspect the underground palace.”

Hearing this, everyone except Wang Guan expressed their full agreement.

“Perhaps…” Wang Guan smiled, tacitly acknowledging Yu Feibai’s deduction.

“If that’s the case, that’s excellent,”

A wicked-looking smile spread across Yu Feibai’s face. “Weren’t you quite pleased with yourselves yesterday for crossing the bridge and tearing it down? Now they’re begging us for help—we can’t let them off easy.”

“What are you planning?” Wang Guan frowned. “Don’t push things too far…”