The relic was accidentally obtained by an ancestor of the Huo family. It was originally refined after a high - ranking Buddhist monk passed away. Only five relics were produced after the monk's passing, and this one was the most precious.
The ancestor of the Huo family got this relic by chance. Since the rise of the Huo family, this relic had always been in the family. It had witnessed all the ups and downs of the Huo family and had become an integral part of it.
This relic could be said to be the true heirloom of the Huo family. Most importantly, it represented the power and influence of the Huo family.
Just as the ancient emperors used the imperial jade seal to symbolize their power, in the Huo family, every head of the family used this relic to represent their authority.
There was another way to put it. The children of the Huo family were always outstanding. When it was difficult to choose a suitable heir, the family would use the relic to make the decision.
In fact, every time when choosing a family head, the children of the Huo family would fight over this relic. The winner would get the relic and become the head of the family, while the loser had to leave the Huo family forever and was not allowed to return.
In other words, whoever held this relic could become the next head of the Huo family, regardless of gender.
This might seem like a simple and easy thing, but in fact, if the person who stole the relic hadn't broken the mechanisms, it would have taken some time for Mrs. and Mr. Huo to get in.
The mechanisms on this floor were unexceptional. Even if one had the key to open the door, they still had to avoid all the mechanisms. Mr. and Mrs. Huo had already memorized these mechanisms by heart.
Before they came in just now, Mr. and Mrs. Huo had prepared to avoid the mechanisms, but unexpectedly, all the mechanisms had been destroyed.
This made people wonder who had stolen the relic. Who had the ability to freely enter and leave the Huo family and knew that there was a treasure in the family?
Those mechanisms were not easy to crack. It was already quite difficult to avoid them, let alone find and destroy them one by one. It would be a stroke of luck for an ordinary person to avoid them. To find the source and figure out the way to crack them was really not something an ordinary person could do.
The fourth floor of the Huo family had always been a restricted area, which was basically known to the servants and outsiders. But only the members of the Huo family knew about the relic treasure.
Outsiders had no idea about this, so this incident could not have been done by an outsider. It must have been one of the young people in the family. Mr. and Mrs. Huo automatically excluded their two daughters.
However, all the younger generation in the family only knew that this relic was extremely valuable and was the rarest treasure passed down from ancient times in the Huo family.
Compared with the calligraphy, paintings, and porcelain on the ground, the value of this relic was indeed much higher. It was also the priceless treasure of the Huo family.
But the younger generation like Huo Cheng in the family didn't know that this relic also symbolized the power of the head of the Huo family. Mr. and Mrs. Huo began to suspect whether the secret had leaked out and the children had learned what the relic represented.
Among the children of the Huo family, only one seemed to have the ability to steal the relic. Mr. and Mrs. Huo glanced at each other, as if looking for an answer in each other's eyes.
But everything needed to be investigated. Mr. and Mrs. Huo reached a consensus again.
So they waved their hands and led the children downstairs. Before going downstairs, Mrs. Huo carefully put the glazed pagoda back in place.
"As you can see, the relic, the treasure of the Huo family passed down from our ancestors, is missing," Mr. Huo said, looking at his five children.
"Only the children of the Huo family know about this relic," Mrs. Huo added softly, seemingly with a hidden meaning.
"So, mom and dad called us back for this? Do you think the person who stole the relic is among us? One of the five of us?" the youngest daughter, Huo Xin, finally couldn't bear it and asked.
"It's not what we think. It's the only possibility," Mrs. Huo said, looking at Huo Xin.
"Everyone, stop what you're doing. You're not allowed to leave in the next few days. You must stay in the Huo mansion for investigation." Mr. Huo's voice was more unarguable than Mrs. Huo's.
After Mr. and Mrs. Huo finished speaking, they turned around and left. Actually, it was mainly Mrs. Huo who left, and Mr. Huo naturally followed. Having locked up his wife for so many days, Mr. Huo needed to find a chance to apologize properly.
"Humph, it's obvious, isn't it? You can tell at a glance who did it!" the second son of the Huo family snorted disdainfully.
"Exactly. There's no need for investigation. It's a waste of time. I think we should just arrest the person and interrogate them to see if they'll talk," the eldest daughter of the Huo family echoed.
The more Huo Xin listened, the more something seemed wrong. She felt that these two people were insinuating something, as if they were referring to someone.
Hearing what the eldest daughter and the second son said, Mr. and Mrs. Huo stopped in their tracks. Mr. Huo stared intently at the second son of the Huo family. "What did you just say? Explain it clearly."
"Oh, dad, it's so obvious," the eldest daughter of the Huo family stamped her feet anxiously.
"Humph, then just say it. Don't beat around the bush," Huo Xin didn't like the eldest daughter's attitude at all. She couldn't help but retort every time she saw it.
"I'll say it. Am I afraid of you? Dad, the second brother and I were detained by Huo Cheng some time ago. We were only released today because of the first - level alert in the family."
"You don't know how dark, damp, and full of rats that dungeon was. Our fourth brother was so cruel. He just locked the second brother and me in there and ignored us."
"That's enough. Continue," Mr. Huo interrupted the eldest daughter of the Huo family.
The eldest daughter of the Huo family was very unhappy about being interrupted like this, but thinking that this was an opportunity to bring down Huo Cheng, she endured it.
"So the second brother and I are definitely out of the question. We were in the dungeon. We couldn't have come here to steal the relic. And the fifth sister is abroad. It's even more impossible for her to steal the relic. The third brother has a bad leg, so he's also impossible."
"So there's only one possibility."
"Is big sister trying to say that I stole the relic?" Huo Cheng stared at the eldest daughter of the Huo family with a cold look on his face.
If Huo Cheng still didn't know what was going on now, he would really be stupid. Suddenly, all his doubts were cleared up.
Why the eldest daughter and the second son of the Huo family had come to snatch his child together at that time, and why they had been so easily captured and had stayed in his dungeon obediently for so many days.
It turned out that this was their goal. They had been plotting for so many days, just waiting for this moment to bring him down.
Looking at the faces of the eldest daughter and the second son of the Huo family, a smile suddenly appeared on Huo Cheng's face. "If you're heartless, don't blame me for being unjust."