Shen Bao nodded heavily, bent down to pick up a stone, and threw it at the guard.
*Crack~*
It hit a guard squarely on the head.
"Who is it?"
The guard immediately exclaimed, looking around, while Shen Bao shot out and ran wildly into the distance.
"Stop."
With a roar, two people swiftly gave chase in Shen Bao's direction.
A dozen breaths later, they disappeared into the dense forest.
Ye Fan quickly jumped out and ran towards the cave entrance. Glancing around and seeing no one, he slipped inside.
Familiar with the route, he soon arrived outside the stone chamber.
Conveniently, there was a protruding stone wall that provided cover.
Inside the stone chamber, Liu Yuan and others sat opposite the bearded man, all wearing smiles.
"Brother Li, how is the preparation for that batch of items going?" Wu Liuding asked excitedly.
The bearded man smiled mysteriously, "Young Master Wu, rest assured, those things are here in this stone cave, completely foolproof. However, I am puzzled. You are all from Jiangcheng, why are you doing this? Don't you care about Jiangcheng's antique circle?"
Looking at them with surprise, the bearded man asked in a deep voice.
Liu Yuan waved his hand, "Although our Dark Alliance is rooted in Jiangcheng, we don't care about the antique industry in Jiangcheng. What we want is profit, huge profits. Doesn't Brother Li dislike money?"
For money, nothing else mattered. This was Liu Yuan's motto.
"Naturally, I like it. Otherwise, why would I risk working with all of you?"
Saying this, he raised his wine glass and clinked it with Liu Yuan and the others.
Then, their laughter echoed, clearly pleased with the conspiracy they had plotted.
Ye Fan frowned slightly. What exactly were the bearded man and Liu Yuan plotting?
It seemed related to antiques. Could the batch of antiques Lin Yue mentioned be related to these people?
Ye Fan couldn't figure it out for a while.
"Let's go, let's go see those items."
After eating and drinking their fill, the bearded man and Liu Yuan and the others stood up and walked side-by-side towards the depths of the stone chamber.
Ye Fan wanted to see for himself, but once he entered the stone chamber, there was nowhere to hide, and he could easily be exposed.
After thinking about it, Ye Fan still didn't dare to act rashly, and then slowly retreated.
Outside the stone cave, the two guards had still not returned. Ye Fan quickly left and hid in the dense forest where he had hidden before.
"So soon? Any news?" Seeing Ye Fan return, Shen Bao emerged and asked in a low voice.
"This is not the place to talk. We'll discuss it back there."
Speaking in a deep voice, he and Shen Bao quickly walked down the mountain.
Back at the inn, Lu Sheng and Zhang Hao were waiting for Ye Fan. Seeing him return, they quickly went to greet him.
Seeing Lu Sheng about to speak, Ye Fan quickly gave him a look and gestured upwards with his chin.
Lu Sheng understood and swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
The few of them went to the room separately. After confirming they were not being monitored, Ye Fan asked, "What's up?"
He had previously asked Lu Sheng to pay attention to everything happening in Taiping Town. Judging by Lu Sheng's demeanor, there should be something.
"Recently, a large number of counterfeit bronzes have flowed into Taiping Town. Zhang Hao and I have investigated secretly. It seems to be brought by a group of outsiders. The quantity is not small, but their movements are extremely secretive. We searched secretly but found no clues."
Ye Fan frowned and fell into thought, "Where did such people come from? To carry such a large number of fakes?"
With such boldness and spirit, these people were definitely not ordinary individuals.
"Continue to investigate secretly. You must find information about these people."
Ye Fan commanded in a deep voice.
Lu Sheng nodded and quickly left with Zhang Hao to carry out the task.
After the two of them left, Shen Bao lowered his voice and asked, "Did you find anything in that stone cave?"
Ye Fan nodded, "That bearded man knows Liu Yuan and the others, and they are plotting something together, related to antiques. And this conspiracy will disrupt the order of Jiangcheng's antique industry."
"No wonder those people are hiding in the stone cave. It turns out they have something to hide. In that case, can't we just arrest them and interrogate them slowly?" Shen Bao's eyes flashed with joy.
He had been suppressed by them in the stone cave before, and now he finally had a chance for revenge. How could Shen Bao not be excited?
Ye Fan shook his head, "Not yet. We don't have any substantial evidence. Moreover, if we alert them, Liu Yuan and the others will definitely become vigilant, and it will be extremely difficult to track them down later."
Unless they figured out what their conspiracy was, they couldn't act rashly.
Hearing Ye Fan's words, although Shen Bao was frustrated, he still nodded.
"Immediately send people to monitor that stone cave. Pay attention to the movements of the bearded man and the others. Don't let them have a chance to slip away. We also need to monitor Liu Yuan. I always feel that this conspiracy might be related to the action."
Involuntarily, Ye Fan had this feeling in his heart.
Moreover, this feeling was growing stronger.
Shen Bao nodded and immediately notified his subordinates to make arrangements.
It wasn't until dusk that Zheng Zhiyuan came looking for him.
"I just received news that the first batch of goods will arrive tomorrow. You shouldn't be wandering around. Focus on the main business." Zheng Zhiyuan said to Ye Fan in a deep voice.
Ye Fan smiled, "President Zheng is joking. My freedom is in your hands. If I don't cooperate obediently, President Zheng probably won't agree, right?"
Ye Fan understood Zheng Zhiyuan's personality too well. This person was petty but also very timid. Therefore, the simplest way to deal with him was to appease and threaten.
Seeing Ye Fan being so obedient, President Zheng nodded with satisfaction.
"Ye Fan, the reputation of our Antique Association is all in your hands this time. If we cannot restore the dignity of the Antique Association, then the Jiangcheng antique market will be controlled by the Dark Alliance. At that time, the antique industry will inevitably fall into chaos, and it will be too late."
Looking into Ye Fan's eyes, President Zheng said earnestly. He looked like someone who was deeply concerned about Jiangcheng's antique industry, putting everything on the line.
"President Zheng is indeed the pillar of the Jiangcheng Antique Association. I admire your intentions. Please rest assured, tomorrow, I, Ye Fan, will go all out to protect the dignity of the Antique Association."
Receiving Ye Fan's affirmative reply, President Zheng left with satisfaction.
Watching President Zheng's retreating figure, Ye Fan couldn't help but snort coldly. What did the Antique Association have to do with him?
However, Zheng Zhiyuan's thoughts coincided with his own in one aspect: they must not let the Jiangcheng antique circle fall into chaos.
Just as Zheng Zhiyuan left, Elder Lei arrived.
The old man's face was grim, and he looked preoccupied.
"Elder Lei, what's wrong?" Ye Fan asked softly as he ushered Elder Lei into the room.
Elder Lei squinted his eyes, his face grim.
"There's something wrong with this Zheng Zhiyuan."
Ye Fan was surprised and frowned in confusion, "Elder Lei, have you found anything?"