Qingyi's weapon pierced through the wall, startling the old man into letting go. With a loud thud, he crashed to the ground.
Qingyi slowly walked over to the wall. With a light jump, she grabbed her three-section staff and pulled it free. "At your age, why risk everything for Denny? You'd be better off pleading guilty and raising chickens on the farm."
The old man was already numb with shock: "..."
Zhu Yuan snapped back to reality. "Whoa, that was smooth!"
She immediately picked up the handcuffs from the ground and formally arrested the old man.
With the leader of the Antique Thief Hole organization taken into custody...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
The security personnel Zhu Yuan had brought quickly secured the area, arresting all the antique smugglers present and confiscating the traded artifacts.
At last, the case they had been investigating for days had finally reached a conclusion.
Qingyi turned to Sam Li, intending to say a few words of thanks, but suddenly staggered and nearly collapsed.
Zhu Yuan hurried over. "Senior, are you injured?"
Qingyi shook her head. "It's just a scratch, nothing worth mentioning. But that treasure appraisal master... I need to thank him properly."
With that, she freed herself from Zhu Yuan's support and walked alongside her toward Sam Li.
"Sam Li, thank you. You saved me back there."
Given the situation at the time, if all those attacks had landed on Qingyi, her body would have been severely damaged. Replacing it would have been a major hassle.
Before Sam Li could respond, Zhu Yuan, standing nearby, was already in shock. "Senior, did you just say Sam Li saved you? Sam Li can fight?"
One was a refined and scholarly professional agent, known to be a clerical worker mainly responsible for attracting clients...
The other was a constable in the Criminal Investigation Task Force.
Qingyi had been paired with Sam Li not just to capture the antique smugglers, but also to ensure his safety in case they got desperate and tried to target him.
If anything, Qingyi should have been the one protecting Sam Li.
And yet, she was claiming that he had saved her?
Noticing Zhu Yuan's confusion, Qingyi chuckled. "As the ancients say, you can't judge a person by their appearance, nor measure the sea with a bucket. And as it turns out... you shouldn't underestimate Sam Li either."
She had to admit—when she first met Sam Li at the Hare's House, she had been struck by his handsome features and refined demeanor, which perfectly fit the image of a treasure appraisal master. She had overlooked his strength entirely.
Now, she realized that Sam Li's power far exceeded her expectations.
The golden radiance, the flickering starlight, and the spear that appeared out of nowhere before vanishing in an instant—those images were now burned into Qingyi's memory.
And along with them, a growing curiosity.
If the opportunity arose, she definitely wanted to learn more about him.
Qingyi smiled slightly. "I'm a constable in the Criminal Investigation Task Force, and you're a professional agent at the Hare's House. If you ever get caught, feel free to mention my name."
Sam Li nodded. "Sounds good."
Though it was unlikely he'd need to...
Still, you never know—maybe it would come in handy while shopping someday.
Zhu Yuan was astonished. "Huh? Senior, isn't that against regulations?"
A constable and a professional agent from the Hare's House—weren't their roles fundamentally at odds?
Qingyi, however, was unfazed. "Against regulations? Well, technically, hiring an agent to help with a case isn't exactly by the book either. As they say, if you burn the bridge after crossing, next time, you're bound to get wet..."
Zhu Yuan was speechless. "..."
Just then, the security personnel finished cleaning up the scene.
They escorted the arrested antique smugglers before Zhu Yuan and placed the confiscated artifacts on the ground.
"Reporting to the captain, we've arrested a total of nine antique smugglers and seized six artifacts..."
From the looks of it—
The arrest operation was a complete success, taking down the entire antique smuggling ring in one sweep.
Seeing the results of the day's efforts, Zhu Yuan nodded in satisfaction and gave the order, "Call headquarters immediately and have them send more vehicles to transport these antique smugglers."
A security officer responded, "Headquarters has already been notified."
Then, Zhu Yuan turned to the crates filled with antiques. "Senior, how do you think we should handle these?"
Qingyi pondered for a moment. "Let me think..."
She had always been fond of collecting relics from past eras. If these antiques were genuine, she would have been quite interested.
Unfortunately, they were all counterfeits.
Qingyi walked over to Sam Li and asked in a low voice, "Sam Li, are you sure these antiques are all fake?"
"Absolutely," Sam Li replied.
"What about that bronze tripod?"
With that confirmation, Qingyi lost all interest.
Clearing her throat, she remarked, "I hear the higher-ups at the Security Bureau love collecting antiques but lack the expertise to tell real from fake. If we send these their way, they'd probably be thrilled—after all, they wouldn't know the difference anyway."
Zhu Yuan was stunned. "Huh? These are all fakes?"
Qingyi mused, "As the ancients said: 'When the fake becomes real, the real becomes fake. When the real becomes fake, the fake becomes real...' In any case, we don't even need to send them. Their noses are sharp enough—once they catch wind that there are antiques here, they'll come for them on their own."
With that settled, they waited in the abandoned building for a while.
Before long, several Security Bureau vehicles arrived.
Just as Qingyi had predicted, one of them specifically inquired about the antiques and promptly loaded them all onto a truck before driving away.
During this time, Qingyi and Sam Li remained idle, casually chatting.
Meanwhile, Zhu Yuan was kept busy, personally overseeing the security team as they escorted each captured smuggler into the vehicles. Only after ensuring that everyone was properly restrained did she finally relax.
With everything wrapped up, Zhu Yuan, Qingyi, and Sam Li boarded the same vehicle and headed back to Janus District.
As they passed through Sixth Street, Sam Li enthusiastically treated Zhu Yuan and Qingyi to coffee.
When it came time to pay, Qingyi patted her pockets and turned to Zhu Yuan. "Did you bring any Denny today?"
Zhu Yuan was puzzled. "Yeah..."
Qingyi slowly said, "I'm out of Denny. Could you cover the bill for Mr. Sam Li?"
Once the bill was settled, the three of them got back into the car.
At that moment, Qingyi casually produced 50,000 Denny from seemingly nowhere.
Zhu Yuan was dumbfounded. "Senior, didn't you just say you were out of Denny?"
"I was," Qingyi replied matter-of-factly.
"This is a special fund allocated by headquarters. It's Sam Li's payment for playing the role of a treasure appraisal master."
Zhu Yuan mulled over the situation, but something about it just didn't sit right.