“Why have you suddenly taken a fancy to The Romance of the Western Chamber?”
In the evening, Lin Wan was nestled in Lu Zheng’s arms watching television when she spotted a hardcover copy of The Romance of the Western Chamber on the coffee table.
“As the foremost of China’s four great ancient dramas, The Romance of the Western Chamber boasts an absorbing plot, vivid and lively characters, brilliant literary style, and poetic charm. It possesses exceptionally high reading value.” Lu Zheng declared with utmost seriousness.
Lin Wan was speechless. “Speak plainly.”
“I’m utterly bored, so I picked it up to read.” Lu Zheng nodded. Whether it would be performed in the ancient world or not, reading it first could do no harm.
“Utterly bored, and you’re not reading web novels?” Lin Wan asked curiously.
“I’ve hit a book drought lately. Nothing worth reading.” Lu Zheng said helplessly. “I’m getting on in years, can’t keep up with the times. I struggle to get through the books young people enjoy now.”
Lin Wan could not help rolling her eyes. “You’re only in your twenties.”
“And?”
Lin Wan’s lips curved into a mischievous smile. She reached out with a grin. “So you’re still full of vigour.”
Lu Zheng: ???
…
The song of Yingying echoed all night without pause.
…
Though both were cultivators now, the pleasure of a lie-in remained delightful. The next day was a weekend, so Lu Zheng and Lin Wan slept until well past noon.
Too lazy to cook, they washed and dressed, then went out to a hotpot restaurant to replenish their energy.
“Still no news on the sheep-head bronze statue?” Lu Zheng suddenly recalled that one of the twelve zodiac heads remained unfound, and Lin Wan had been pursuing the matter.
Lin Wan shook her head. “None at all. Not a single lead. I don’t know if the artefact thieves scared everyone off, but the European and American collecting circles have gone very quiet lately. Only assassins, mercenaries, detectives, and information brokers are poking around.”
Lu Zheng raised an eyebrow. “They haven’t given up?”
“The bounty has reached five hundred million euros.” A smile played on Lin Wan’s lips. “A job this size is rare in history. Pull it off and you can retire comfortably. Naturally it’s tempting.”
“Tsk tsk, gone up again?”
Lin Wan nodded. “It has, and after the CIA’s failure, some official elements from the Five Eyes Alliance have joined in, laying several traps. Unfortunately, no one has bitten.”
Lu Zheng was lost for words. “Because even we don’t know about them.”
Lin Wan could not suppress a laugh. “But judging by the artefact thieves’ previous capabilities, they probably do know.”
Lu Zheng grinned. “So you know?”
Lin Wan nodded with a smile. “Because I spotted the traps.”
Lu Zheng glared. “Their security is that poor? Don’t they suspect an inside leak?”
“Of course not. I worked it out myself, thank you very much. You’re underestimating me.” Lin Wan rolled her eyes. “They did it cleverly: anonymous tips, some collector hinting they’re selling the sheep head, a certain family hiring security to transport a Persian statue, a museum discovering a secret basement from two centuries ago containing a pharaoh mask, and so on.”
“Fishing operations?” Lu Zheng asked. “Including the sheep-head one?”
Lin Wan gave a derisive laugh. “Every piece of news that’s surfaced in the last few months is bait. I checked the collector tied to the sheep head. His speciality is the Inca Empire. They didn’t even fake it convincingly. It’s an insult to my profession.”
“Impressive stuff.” Lu Zheng gave her a thumbs-up.
Lin Wan shrugged. “So I’ve little on at the moment. The biggest case is a fraud one. The suspect fled abroad. We’re cooperating with the host country to extradite him. Straightforward. I don’t even need to travel.”
Lu Zheng shook his head. “Dull case.”
Lin Wan smiled. “Not that dull. The amount is substantial, over ten billion. Still counts as major.”
Lu Zheng said, “Southeast Asian telecom scams. Don’t they rake in hundreds of billions from the country every year?”
Lin Wan nodded, then shook her head. “It’s an entire industry chain now, mostly small-scale, numerous, mixed elements. Hard to crack. Another team specialises in it domestically. It takes huge time and effort, which is why the country has focused on anti-fraud measures. The results are decent.”
“I think I’ve heard that… those scam groups are starting to involute?” Lu Zheng recalled seeing similar news recently.
Lin Wan nodded. “Both sides must be tackled firmly. We liaise with domestic teams and only take the big cases.”
“Impressive. Truly admirable.” Lu Zheng expressed his respect.
“By the way, you haven’t been following overseas networks lately?” Lin Wan asked.
“Why would I bother with that?” Lu Zheng replied. “You mean the video of us teaching that foreigner a lesson last time? Wasn’t it throttled overseas?”
Lin Wan shook her head, then nodded. “Not that video.”
Lu Zheng’s eyebrow arched. “That person?”
Lin Wan nodded. “Burns. On Twitter he claimed you, a mysterious Chinese man, put a curse on him.”
Lu Zheng’s lips curved. He chuckled quietly. “Anyone believe him?”
Lin Wan nodded. “Yes.”
Lu Zheng: ⚆_⚆?
“Yes?” Lu Zheng looked utterly baffled.
“Don’t forget, half the people in the lighthouse country believe the Earth is flat.” Lin Wan said. “Pastors are respected. Many believe in angels and evil spirits. He even live-streamed inviting two archbishops to exorcise him.”
Lu Zheng was speechless. “And then?”
“Then he was committed to a psychiatric hospital.” Lin Wan said calmly.
Lu Zheng: “…”
The twist came too fast. He hardly knew how to respond.
Lin Wan smiled. “Besides the nightmare curse, you also hit him with the mind-bewildering curse, so his outward symptoms looked exactly like mental illness. No choice. Since the two archbishops couldn’t lift his ‘curse’, it had to be mental illness. This is the realm of science, not God.
Rumour has it he suffered such trauma from losing to you that he takes female hormones daily, fantasising he’s a woman to save face, leading to confusion, then blamed it all on you…”
Lin Wan shrugged. “Because of that, the video gained a bit more traction overseas. Chinese kung fu broke out in small circles. Of course, most people just see you as Jackie Chan or Jet Li, since you never actually fought in a ring.”
“Oh, that’s fine. I don’t want real attention.” Lu Zheng gave a cold laugh. “Also, I hope he enjoys his time in the psychiatric hospital.”
After all, beyond the nightmare and mind-bewildering curses, Lu Zheng had also applied bone-softening, yin-gathering curses, and more. As time passed, the suffering would only intensify.
…
The pair naturally paid no further heed to the unnoticed psychiatric patient Burns. After lunch, they spent a leisurely afternoon at the Wuyue Full-Armour Fighting Club.
Inside the club, an internal exchange match was underway. Zhang Tiexia was instructing some interested rich second-generation members.
“Come on then. Who was it last time wanting to watch me spar with my wife?” Lu Zheng strode in and grinned at the most boisterous muscular youths. “Tsk tsk, look at those muscles. Well trained. Come, put on armour, choose your weapons, let’s have a bout on the stage.”
“Brother Lu, I was wrong!”
“Brother Lu, no… We were only joking!”
“Sister Wan, help! It was just friendly banter!”
…
Moments later, cries of pain rang throughout the club.
