Chapter 1 Morning, Songhai Fujiawan.

During a video conference, Fu Qingyang saw his phone screen light up, displaying the caller: Xiao Zhang (Little Zhang).

He frowned and immediately paused the important meeting, "Pause for half an hour!"

Exiting the online meeting room, Fu Qingyang answered the call, his opening remark laced with sarcasm:

"I thought you were lost while having fun abroad!"

After Yuan Shi Tianzun's (Primordial Celestial Venerable) return to the Lingjing (Spirit Realm), Zhang Yuanqing changed his phone number. Naturally, Fu Qingyang had to update his contact information as well. A name like "Xiao Zhang" was the easiest to overlook.

"Boss, I'm in trouble," Zhang Yuanqing said.

Fu Qingyang chuckled, "I knew it. You wouldn't call me unless you were in trouble. After all, when you're free, you're busy with video calls with Guan Ya."

*That's what he says, it's Fu Qingyang when there are problems, Guan Ya when there aren't? Actually, it's not just Guan Ya, but also the Palace Master and Xiao Yuan.* Zhang Yuanqing silently complained, pretending not to hear his boss's sarcasm, and said:

"I sent you an encrypted email."

Hearing this, Fu Qingyang pulled out his chair, sat down, opened his laptop, logged into his email, and downloaded the attachment.

After entering the password, he clicked on the document to view its contents, while listening to Zhang Yuanqing's description:

"The thing is, the Chairman learned from the Underworld God that the 'Bounty Hunter Guild' is backed by the League of Freedom. He wants me to infiltrate the enemy and ferret out the League of Freedom members hidden in the orthodox organizations.

"The Hunter Guild assigned me a mission..."

He went on and on, explaining the cause and effect of the matter.

"In a war between two armies, espionage comes first! The intelligence war is even more important than the real battlefield, but your mission is a key part of the Chairman's plan. You shouldn't have told me," Fu Qingyang commented.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately said, "Boss, that's too distant. I don't trust anyone in this world, not even my own mother, but you are someone I can trust without reservation."

"That kind of sweet talk is for Guan Ya, there's no need to use it on me."

*You don't need sweet talk for Guan Ya, you can use the ancestral chromosomes!* Zhang Yuanqing said loudly, "My trust in the boss is higher than in Guan Ya. Well, don't tell Guan Ya that."

"I'm not that bored." Fu Qingyang stopped dwelling on the topic and said:

"I've finished reading the information. Since you called me, it means that Stargazing divination cannot locate the other bronze pieces. You can only bet that the Pope gave the entire disc to Huo Zhengkui, otherwise, you won't be able to find the bronze pieces."

"Yes, yes!" Zhang Yuanqing agreed without thinking. In front of Fu Qingyang, he could appropriately give up thinking.

"So, Huo Zhengkui divided the relic into four pieces, one heirloom, and the other three hidden away."

"Where would he hide them?"

"That requires thinking about why Huo Zhengkui wanted to make the bronze piece a family heirloom." Fu Qingyang's thoughts were clear and he spoke eloquently:

"You obtained one of the bronze pieces, but you still can't deduce its location, which means the bronze pieces can't be divined or deduced. In that case, the best way to completely hide the existence of the bronze pieces is to sink them into the sea."

"That makes sense." Zhang Yuanqing nodded, following his train of thought, "But Huo Zhengkui passed it on to his illegitimate son, which means..."

Fu Qingyang gave a "hm" sound and said:

"It means he wanted someone to obtain the Pope's relic, but he didn't know who to give it to. After the fall of the Papal State, the orthodox organizations became untrustworthy, and the evil professions were even more impossible. So, he had to pass it on to his illegitimate son.

"Remember what the founder of the Anti-Black and White Alliance said when you saw him receiving the relic in Jia Feizhang's memory?"

Zhang Yuanqing said in a deep voice, "Don't give it to the foreign devils; don't give it to the trash; don't give it to the bad guys."

"That's right, that explanation is the best verification." Fu Qingyang said, "Since Huo Zhengkui wanted someone to get it, he must have left clues. The character information you got from Tianfa (Heavenly Punishment) is too complex. If you check them one by one, it will take a long time."

The life of a gangster boss is destined to be wonderfully exciting. He has befriended too many people and done too many things. To find the clues to the bronze pieces, it would take a long time to investigate and verify.

"So, according to the information in the will, we can take a gamble!" Fu Qingyang said.

"How to bet?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

"I bet he's a patriotic person!"

Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up on the other end of the phone, and he blurted out, recalling a record in the character information: "In 1955, he donated a cultural relic lost overseas to the country."

That cultural relic is called "Zhou Ji Fengniao Zun (Zhou Ji Phoenix Bird Zun)", a bronze ware from the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

Fu Qingyang said, "In the era when Huo Zhengkui was active, the Lingjing Xingzhe (Spirit Realm Awakened) of the Second District had just risen, and the predecessor of the Five Elements Alliance, the five major organizations, had not yet become official organizations. It was impossible for Huo Zhengkui to give the bronze pieces to them, so hiding them in cultural relics and donating them to the country was the safest method."

*Compared to a real scout, my insight is still far behind.* Zhang Yuanqing said excitedly, "That makes sense!"

"Then that's it for today. I'll take care of that cultural relic. I still have an important meeting. Also, send me the phone number of the president of the Merchant Guild." Fu Qingyang hung up the phone directly.

He leaned back in his chair, his eyes deep, lost in thought.

A dozen seconds later, his phone dinged, indicating a message had arrived.

Zhang Yuanqing sent the Chairman's private number.

Fu Qingyang immediately dialed the phone number. A dozen seconds later, the other side answered the call, his tone deep:

"Who are you? How did you know this number?"

Fu Qingyang sneered, "Your arranged spy sold it to me."

"." There was a moment of silence on the other end, and the Chairman sighed, "This ungrateful wretch!"

Fu Qingyang said coldly, "You want him to infiltrate the League of Freedom and ferret out the corrupted members of the orthodox organizations?"

"Is there a problem?"

"No problem. This move is ingenious. The game between camps has never been just about fighting and killing." Fu Qingyang's tone became deep: "But it's too dangerous. I'm worried."

"The chess piece has been placed and cannot be turned back."

"Then increase the stakes and power of the chess piece." Fu Qingyang said bluntly, "I want you to apply to the Five Elements Alliance for assistance in the name of the Merchant Guild. The struggle between the Merchant Guild and the Dionysus Club is behind the struggle between the two major camps. The Five Elements Alliance, as an orthodox camp, has an obligation to assist its allies."

"Continue."

"I will send a few teams to New York County to assist you. I think the members of the Returned from the Dead gang are very good."

"No Dominators?"

"Aid is just a cover. Yuan Shi (The First Beginning) needs a team, Saint level is enough. Dominators are too eye-catching."

"Okay!" The Chairman agreed.

Fu Qingyang hung up the phone, picked up the landline, and notified the bunny girl downstairs:

"Prepare the plane, I'm going to the capital, contact the Beijing Museum."

New York County, Red Brick Building.

Zhang Yuanqing put down his phone, left the bedroom, and knocked on Annie's door.

"Good evening!" The blonde beauty in silk pajamas opened the door with a smile.

"Good evening." Zhang Yuanqing nodded slightly, entered the bedroom, and sat down on the single sofa by the bed, "Annie, have you heard of a person named Catherine, an Eros profession, Dominator level."

He described Catherine's appearance in detail.

"You think Catherine is a high-level executive of the Eros profession's New York County branch in disguise?" Annie shook her head slightly:

"If you think so, the association executives will think so, and so will Tianfa (Heavenly Punishment). The high-level executives of the Hunter Guild on the surface must have no problem with their identities and cannot have identities in orthodox organizations."

"That makes sense, maybe I'm overthinking it, but from a different perspective, is there a possibility of darkness under the light?" Zhang Yuanqing theorized:

"Catherine may not be a high-level executive of the Beautiful God Association. If her internal identity in the association is Extraordinary, or Saint level, wouldn't she be able to perfectly hide herself?

"No one would think that the bottom and middle levels of the Beautiful God Association have anything to do with the vice president of the Hunter Guild, right."

Annie frowned, "That makes some sense, but this is just your baseless speculation."

"Make bold assumptions and carefully verify them!" Zhang Yuanqing said, "It doesn't matter if you guess wrong, the point of finding spies is to suspect everyone, Annie, I'm going to arrange a mission for you now."

"You want me to go to the New York County branch?" Annie was a smart girl.

Zhang Yuanqing nodded: "I will continue to contact Catherine to get more information and details about her. You stay in the New York County branch and help me find someone. You're probably bored to death being my personal secretary lately."

As expected, Annie was full of fighting spirit: "I'll pack my luggage now!"

One o'clock in the afternoon.

The director of the Beijing Museum, dressed in a neat suit, stood in front of the museum gate with two staff members, waiting for the arrival of distinguished guests.

At noon, he received a call from the director of the Beijing Cultural Bureau, informing him that distinguished guests would be visiting the museum at one o'clock in the afternoon.

The director did not explicitly state the identity of the distinguished guests, but told him to treat them well, meet all their requirements, and never say "no".

The director had been waiting in the scorching autumn sun since half past twelve.

Soon, a shiny black business car drove into the museum square. A driver in a neat suit and white gloves hurried out of the car and bowed to open the door.

Seeing the distinguished guests coming out of the car, the director and the two female staff members behind him lit up.

The distinguished guest was wearing a white suit, his features were carved, his handsomeness was hard to look directly at, his temperament was elegant and aloof, like a lotus blooming on a snow mountain, or a white orchid on a cliff.

The director hurried up to greet him, "Hello, I am Xu, the director of the Beijing Museum."

The white-clothed noble son nodded slightly, without expression or smile, and said, "I want to see the Zhou Ji Phoenix Bird Zun (Zhou Ji Fengniao Zun)."

*Zhou Ji Fengniao Zun* The director was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly looked at the staff behind him.

The female staff member on the left immediately said:

"The Zhou Ji Phoenix Bird Zun is in exhibition hall No. 3, I'll take you there."

Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Fu Qingyang. Being able to see such a romantic figure with both temperament and appearance was a reward in this life.

So, led by the staff, Fu Qingyang came to exhibition hall No. 3 and saw the cultural relic.

Its appearance is a gorgeous phoenix bird, covered with copper green, with its head raised, four feet, and its tail drooping slightly upturned. It has round convex eyes, a large curved beak, and the inside of the zun is hollow, with a cylindrical wine container on its back.

It stood quietly on the exhibition stand, covered with tempered glass.

The female staff member enthusiastically introduced:

"This is a bronze ware from the Western Zhou Dynasty, 56 cm long and 44.5 cm wide. It was lost overseas in modern times. In 1955, a Chinese bought it for 100 million Federal currency and donated it to the country."

Fu Qingyang said coldly, "Take it out!"

The female staff member was stunned.

The director was also stunned for a moment, but immediately reacted and said, "Xiao Wu, ask someone to open the cover."

"Ah, okay." The female staff member hurried away.

Soon, two male employees in work clothes came over, wearing white gloves, and carefully removed the tempered glass cover.

Fu Qingyang slowly put on white gloves and picked up the bronze ware, which was quite heavy for ordinary people, with one hand.

He turned the Phoenix Bird Zun over, his thick sword eyebrows furrowed.

As a scout, he knew exactly what a bronze ware should weigh. If there were foreign objects hidden inside, he could detect it as soon as he picked it up.

But this bronze ware was completely normal, just a precious but ordinary cultural relic.

*Was my judgment wrong?* Fu Qingyang held the bronze ware in one hand, frowning and thinking, the information about Huo Zhengkui quickly flashing through his mind.

The director and staff next to him were nervous, trembling with fear, but they did not dare to speak, preparing to pounce on the bronze ware if it fell.

But as time passed, the distinguished guest's arm remained motionless, *is he actually a noble son with the strength to lift mountains?*

At this time, Fu Qingyang revealed a look of realization, he knew where the mystery lay.

ps: Fix typos later.

(End of this chapter)