Xu Qingqing frowned, a look of confusion flashing across her delicate face.
"By the way, has Liu Shicheng replied to you?"
Maybe they could find a breakthrough by approaching from both sides.
Lu Chuanbai nodded and showed Xu Qingqing the chat history on his phone.
"He told me that he's going to explore a major tomb in the country these days. If I want a treasure, he can save one for me, but I have to pay a deposit first."
"Pay a deposit before even seeing the goods?"
Xu Qingqing thought this whole thing was getting more and more unreliable. What if Liu Shicheng took the money and ran? They wouldn't even know where to look for it.
"What do you think? Should we pay the deposit?"
Lu Chuanbai let Xu Qingqing make the decision. He would support whatever she decided.
Xu Qingqing bit her lip tightly. She wasn't sure either and wanted to ask an experienced senior first.
"Let's ask Song Fuqiang. He bought something from them last time. If he also paid a deposit first, then we'll pay it too."
"Okay."
Lu Chuanbai readily agreed.
Xu Qingqing took out her phone and got Song Fuqiang's number from Xiao Hei.
Song Fuqiang had been fighting a lawsuit with Jing Zhen these days. There were also problems in his company, and he was in a huge debt. He was extremely annoyed.
When Song Fuqiang answered the phone, he thought it was another boss coming to ask him for money, so his tone was humble.
"Hello, who is this?"
"It's me, Xu Qingqing. Do you still remember me?"
Xu Qingqing said with a smile. She had taken a painting worth tens of millions from him.
Song Fuqiang probably wouldn't forget her for the rest of his life.
Hearing that it was Xu Qingqing on the phone, Lao Song cursed under his breath. The next moment, he wanted to hang up.
Xu Qingqing anticipated Song Fuqiang's intention in advance.
"If you dare to hang up, I'll send you to jail right now!"
Xu Qingqing's threat made Song Fuqiang stop in his tracks. He pretended to soften his tone.
"What do you want from me?"
"I want to ask you. When you bought the vase from the White Lotus Sect last time, did they ask you to pay a deposit first?"
Hearing this sensitive question, Song Fuqiang was worried that not answering would affect him, so he answered honestly, "Of course. I paid 50,000 yuan."
"Don't worry. It's just to test your sincerity. They'll return it to you."
50,000 yuan was worth the risk. As for whether it would be returned or exchanged for a treasure, Xu Qingqing didn't really care.
The main thing was to get the next piece of information. With Song Fuqiang's affirmative answer, Xu Qingqing hung up the phone and told Lu Chuanbai to reply.
"Ask him how much the deposit is."
Lu Chuanbai's slender fingertips danced nimbly on the keyboard as he typed and sent the message.
Liu Shicheng replied quickly. The price was the same as what Xiao Li had said, 50,000 yuan.
Lu Chuanbai asked how to pay, and Liu Shicheng sent a bank account number for Lu Chuanbai to transfer the money.
Lu Chuanbai transferred the money according to the account number, but the transfer was rejected, and the money was returned to his bank card.
Sure enough, just as Song Fuqiang had said, this guy was just testing them with the money.
Xu Qingqing stroked her chin, looking at the returned amount. She couldn't figure out what the point of this was.
Liu Shicheng said that he had seen Lu Chuanbai's sincerity and would bring out a treasure from the ancient tomb that would make him look good. They could pay later.
Seeing this conversation, Xu Qingqing couldn't help but sigh in her heart. She didn't expect this tomb - raider to have some integrity.
On the other hand, Liu Shicheng looked at the bank account number of the transfer and immediately asked the hacker of the White Lotus Sect to check the information behind the bank account.
He got the forged personal information that Lu Chuanbai had prepared in advance. After confirming that the person placing the order was just a small boss with no real threat, he felt relieved.
He would do this job personally and make sure there were no more mistakes.
There were enough people betting on the website, and there were also many people placing orders with him.
He was going to the ruins of Yang Tianfu that night to take out all the treasures inside.
Liu Shicheng immediately arranged for the members of the White Lotus Sect who were staying in the country. They temporarily formed a small team of five people, rented a Wuling Hongguang, and were ready to go to Dongchuan Province.
The ruins of Yang Tianfu that he had been longing to find were located in the mountains of Dongchuan Province.
Yang Tianfu was once known as the "Land of Abundance" in the records, but it only existed for a very short time. It was a very bright pearl in the long river of history.
Xu Qingqing was looking up information about Yang Tianfu, which had the highest bet on the White Lotus Sect's website.
What made Yang Tianfu different was that it was built by a group of Taoist priests and was located in the mountains.
The Taoist priests meditated and practiced here, and it was very famous. There was a saying at that time:
If you don't practice in Yang Tianfu for a few years in this lifetime, then your whole life of practice is in vain.
Moreover, several emperors had once asked for the pills from Yang Tianfu. It was said that the pills were very effective, and the emperors had rewarded a lot of treasures.
In addition, various Taoist priests brought treasures here. It would be more appropriate to call Yang Tianfu the "Treasure Basin".
But one day, Yang Tianfu suddenly disappeared.
The general view in modern times was that Yang Tianfu was destroyed by a mudslide, burying all the Taoist priests inside.
The ancient people's view was a legend that a Taoist priest in Yang Tianfu had refined the elixir of immortality.
This elixir of immortality should not have existed in the world because it would disrupt the cycle of reincarnation.
So the Taoist priests in Yang Tianfu, in order not to attract attention, used magic to sink the whole Yang Tianfu underground.
They took the elixir of immortality and continued to rest underground.
Although this ancient legend was very absurd, it sounded rather romantic.
A group of Taoist priests were willing to sink underground in order to practice Taoism whole - heartedly and not break the balance of the world.
It took Liu Shicheng's convoy five days to reach the largest mountain range in Dongchuan Province, the Dongchuan Mountains.
Before entering the mountains, a colleague was worried about the risk of being discovered and asked Liu Shicheng if they should wait until the special cultural relics action team had forgotten about them before going in.
But Liu Shicheng couldn't wait to make a fortune. The bets alone were almost reaching 100 million yuan.
If he could swallow it all, he wouldn't have to live a life of hiding and taking risks on the edge of a knife anymore. He could be promoted to the management level and just operate behind the scenes.
"Don't worry. I've already made a plan."
Liu Shicheng smiled with a calculating look in his eyes. He took out his phone and sent a message to Xiao Wang, asking him to instruct his step - mother to pass a message to Xu Qingqing again.
After receiving the message, the step - mother used the reason that Xu Qingqing hadn't accepted her apology last time and prepared a family dinner at home, hoping that the whole family could get together for a good meal.
Father Lu hadn't seen his children for a long time, so he didn't object to the step - mother's suggestion. He even took the initiative to call Lu Chuanbai and asked him to come home for dinner.
Lu Chuanbai wanted to refuse Father Lu, but Xu Qingqing thought that something strange was going on.
The step - mother used to wish they would stay away from Father Lu, but now she was holding a family dinner. They definitely had to go and check it out.