Chapter 141: Unidentified Individuals

Lu Ming knitted his brows tightly and said into the phone, "Where are you right now? I'm coming over immediately."

"Right here at the Provincial History Museum. The Dragon Head is kept here," Yun Shengguo said anxiously.

"Understood, I'll be right there."

Lu Ming hung up the phone and said to the others, "Something has happened. You all go back first. Yun Ketian, come with me to the Provincial History Museum, and make sure A Duo is settled in properly."

Seeing the grave expression on Lu Ming's face, everyone realized the matter was serious and nodded one after another.

Immediately, Lu Ming and Yun Ketian departed first.

Fututu escorted them all the way to the entrance of the restaurant. After watching Lu Ming get into the car and drive away, he bowed deeply and watched them leave.

Lu Ming and Yun Ketian drove at top speed all the way to the museum. By the time they arrived, the museum entrance was heavily guarded, with multiple platoons of special operations troops and armed police standing in formation.

Lu Ming and Yun Ketian stepped forward to show their identification and, led by a squad captain, quickly walked inside.

Before long, the two of them arrived at Exhibition Hall Number One.

This exhibition hall was not large, measuring less than one hundred square meters, with only a single display stand in the center. At this moment, the crystal case on the stand was completely empty, and Yun Shengguo and a few others were pacing back and forth inside anxiously.

When Yun Shengguo noticed Lu Ming's arrival, his eyes lit up instantly. He hurried forward, shook hands with Lu Ming, and said, "Mr. Lu, you're here. The Dragon Head was taken from right here."

As he spoke, Yun Shengguo pointed to a one-meter-high pillar in the center that held a hexagonal, diamond-shaped luxury crystal case.

Lu Ming approached the crystal case and saw that it had blossomed open like a lotus flower, while the Dragon Head inside was gone.

"Are there surveillance cameras here?" Lu Ming asked.

"Yes, there is comprehensive, all-angle surveillance with no blind spots. The footage is already being retrieved, and we'll be notified once it's ready," Yun Shengguo replied.

Lu Ming nodded, figuring that there ought to be surveillance here anyway. Exhibition Hall Number One of the Provincial History Museum had always been the place where national-level cultural relics were exhibited; how could there possibly be no cameras?

Furthermore, Xijing was an ancient capital spanning eighteen dynasties, possessing a profound historical foundation and numerous cultural relics that ranked near the top in all of China. The museum's security and electronic facilities had always been first-class.

Just then, a young female police officer walked in hurriedly and said, "Secretary Yun, Captain Zhang, the surveillance footage from the time of the incident has been retrieved. Please come take a look."

The two men nodded, and the group headed toward the surveillance room.

A few minutes later, in the administrative area at the back of the museum, Lu Ming and the others stood in front of the large surveillance screen.

The footage showed the museum curator, Shi Jidong, wearing a retro cyan long robe, greeting the guards at the entrance and walking slowly into Exhibition Hall Number One.

Inside the exhibition hall, standing in a triangular formation near the diamond-shaped crystal case were three armed special operations soldiers wearing sidearms.

Shi Jidong walked up to the crystal case, took a close look at the Dragon Head inside, nodded with a satisfied smile on his face, and prepared to leave. This was part of his routine daily work—making a final check on the security of the Dragon Head before leaving for the day.

However, just as he turned around and was about to leave, the lights suddenly went out entirely, as if there had been a sudden power outage. The footage had no audio, so nothing could be heard, but Shi Jidong must have been startled as well.

After the power failure, the emergency lighting system seemed to malfunction and did not come on immediately; instead, it took several seconds before power was restored to normal.

When the lights came back on, the three special operations soldiers were seen acting as if facing a formidable enemy, with one hand resting on the pistol at their waist and the other hand extended forward—a basic skill that allowed them to sense someone approaching them to the maximum possible extent.

As for Shi Jidong, when the lights came on, he hastily looked toward the crystal case. By that time, the case was already open, and the Dragon Head inside was gone.

Shi Jidong looked utterly aghast, and the three special operations soldiers wore looks of blank bewilderment.

Shi Jidong walked up to the crystal case, took a few disbelieving looks, and then beat his chest in deep grief, putting on a heartbroken display.

A moment later, he appeared to give some instructions to the three special operations soldiers before leaving Exhibition Hall Number One, while the three soldiers remained on guard with tense expressions.

That basically constituted the entire video recording of the incident. Viewing further only showed the arrival of Yun Shengguo and the others, with nothing out of the ordinary.

After watching the video, the group looked at one another blankly inside the surveillance room.

Yun Shengguo said with a furrowed brow, "How could this happen? How could it vanish in just a few short seconds?"

At that moment, the middle-aged police officer wearing a police uniform and the shoulder insignia of a second-class police supervisor, who stood beside Yun Shengguo, spoke up. "Secretary Yun, Shi Jidong is the prime suspect."

Yun Shengguo raised his head abruptly and said with displeasure, "Don't talk nonsense. Shi Jidong is a renowned scholar of Xijing and a visiting professor in the History Department at Jiaotong University. He enjoys a very high reputation in the country. Without evidence, such words cannot be spoken."

"Secretary Yun, I am speaking strictly based on the facts of the case. Regardless of his status, I am simply deducing the problem from the perspective of a police officer," the man replied unflinchingly, facing Yun Shengguo.

Lu Ming couldn't help but glance at this second-class police supervisor in his forties.

Noticing this, Yun Shengguo quickly said, "I was too flustered and forgot to introduce you two. Mr. Lu, this is Zhang Shaofeng, the captain of our provincial criminal investigation team. He has rich criminal investigation experience and holds a doctoral degree in criminal psychology. This is Mr. Lu, one of our own."

Lu Ming nodded toward Zhang Shaofeng. Although Zhang Shaofeng nodded back to acknowledge the greeting, the expression on his face clearly revealed obvious dissatisfaction that an "unidentified" person like Lu Ming was participating in such a major incident.

Lu Ming paid it no mind; after all, his identity was merely that of a grocery store owner, and Yun Shengguo didn't have much else to say by way of introduction.

At this point, Zhang Shaofeng continued, "Secretary Yun, I still believe that Curator Shi and the three special operations soldiers are the prime suspects and should be detained first."

Hearing this, Yun Shengguo sighed and said, "Ever since the incident, Curator Shi has remained inside his office without coming out, and those three soldiers have already been placed under separate custody."

"Then we should go find Curator Shi and understand the situation," Zhang Shaofeng said.

Yun Shengguo nodded, made a gesture inviting Lu Ming to lead the way, and the group walked toward Shi Jidong's office.

Along the way, Yun Shengguo frowned and asked, "Judging from the surveillance footage, Curator Shi's hands were completely empty. Why would you suspect him?"

Zhang Shaofeng smiled with arrogant self-assurance and asked, "Secretary Yun, does Curator Shi always like to wear long robes like that?"

"Yes, Curator Shi has a special attachment to history, and his attire is very retro; everyone knows that. What does this have to do with the case?" Yun Shengguo asked.

Zhang Shaofeng smiled and said, "In a casino in Las Vegas, there is an old Chinese man with bowlegs who performs a fishbowl-switching magic trick for guests year-round. He can freely swap three fishbowls back and forth, and even make one of them disappear entirely without anyone ever figuring out the mystery, attracting huge crowds of spectators."

Having said this, Zhang Shaofeng deliberately paused to build suspense and stopped talking.

"What does this have to do with the case?" Yun Shengguo asked impatiently.

Zhang Shaofeng smiled. "In the end, a fellow magician refused to accept it. After months of continuous observation and tracking, he finally discovered the secret."

At this point, Zhang Shaofeng stopped talking once more.

Lu Ming frowned slightly, his impression of this person already turning rather poor.

Though Zhang Shaofeng appeared unflinchingly confident, he loved to show off and deliberately kept people in suspense at critical moments to display his own cleverness. Such a person was not all that impressive.

As soon as Zhang Shaofeng paused, the pretty female police officer behind him immediately asked, "Captain Zhang, what on earth is the secret?"

Expectation was written all over the female officer's face.

Only then did Zhang Shaofeng say, "It was because that old man wore a long robe year-round and was bowlegged that the secret was discovered. The reason is that the old man had trained himself to clamp a bulky fishbowl between his legs and walk around freely while wearing it. That's also the origin of his bowlegs and why he liked to wear long robes."

Yun Shengguo's expression shifted as he said, "You mean Curator Shi clamped the beast head between his legs and used his long robe to conceal it as he carried it out of the exhibition hall?"

"Precisely," Zhang Shaofeng said with confidence.

Upon hearing this, Yun Shengguo's face drained of color.