Just when it looked like everything around Huang Ran was spiraling into chaos, Sun Fatty walked up to the young man with a cheerful grin and said, "You must be Brother Qimu? Allow me to introduce myself—I'm a friend of Mr. Jin Beihai. He already spoke with you on the phone yesterday. We're very interested in the items you mentioned. Things are clearly a bit hectic here at Mr. Huang's end, so why don't we step aside and have a proper conversation?"
But Li Qimu's reaction took Sun Fatty by surprise. Spreading his hands, he said, "To be honest, selling those items to you or to Mr. Huang doesn't make much of a difference to me. Since you're both here, I actually have a better idea."
Li Qimu glanced at Huang Ran—who had just turned his head toward them—then paused before continuing, "I know both parties are only interested in the Heaven's Principle Scroll. I only learned what it really is this morning. Honestly, I have no interest in such arcane objects. As long as the price is reasonable, I'm more than happy to get rid of it quickly."
As Li Qimu spoke, Sun Fatty and Huang Ran exchanged glances. Both men wore polite smiles, but neither was willing to speak first. However, when Meng Qiqi heard the term Heaven's Principle Scroll, her eyes widened even further. Tossing aside the lamp, she glared at Huang Ran and shouted, "Huang! Wasn't the Heaven's Principle Scroll secured in your committee's vault? Don't tell me you actually lost it?"
Huang Ran gave a sheepish smile and replied, "That's a conversation for another time. Qiqi, come on—give me some face, for old times' sake. You're part of the Committee's legacy too. You wouldn't just stand by and let the Scroll fall into the wrong hands, would you?"
Meng Qiqi huffed but said nothing in response.
Sun Fatty, calm as ever, looked at Li Qimu and said, "Mr. Jin Beihai must've already told you—if the item's real, money is no object. But not to be blunt, how do you plan to prove that it is real?"
Li Qimu blinked in surprise. "Didn't I already send you photos of the Heaven's Principle Scroll?"
Before Sun Fatty could answer, Huang Ran chuckled and cut in. "Photos don't mean anything. I need to see it with my own eyes to verify if it's authentic."
Sun Fatty followed up, "Exactly. You guys in the Committee have multiple copies of the Scroll—if anyone can tell the difference between a fake and the real thing, it's you. Right, Old Huang?"
Huang Ran let out a heavy breath and chose not to respond.
Li Qimu hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Alright. You want to verify the item? No problem. But the Scroll isn't with me right now. If you want to inspect it, I'm afraid you'll need to come with me."
He had clearly made preparations in advance. The Heaven's Principle Scroll wasn't kept at his residence, but stored along with the rest of Li Jianghe's belongings at a hidden location. Li Qimu didn't reveal the exact address but got into Meng Qiqi's car and directed us out onto the desert highway, saying he'd point out the spot once we got close.
Unfortunately, Meng Qiqi's tiny Mini Cooper had a hard time coping after being stuffed with two men as hefty as Sun Fatty and Huang Ran. Once the engine turned over, the car visibly struggled. I was the unluckiest of the bunch—squeezed between the two to keep them from brawling, I felt like I was about to suffocate.
Once we were out on the open desert road, with nothing much to see, Sun Fatty's mouth began to move. His chosen target was, of course, the other fat man beside me. "Old Huang, the Religious Affairs Commission sure got wind of this quickly. You guys even landed a flight ahead of us. At first I thought it was Miss Meng who tipped you off—but then I figured… not to be blunt, what exactly did you offer Blind Jin?"
"Vice President of the Religious Affairs Commission," Huang Ran replied with a grin. "I figured that old geezer would play some tricks, but I didn't expect him to sell the same lead to both parties. If I'd known you guys were coming, I wouldn't have gotten involved at all. But now that I'm here, I might as well put on a show for those old codgers at the Committee. Everyone in this circle knows—when it comes to competing with your Bureau, not getting the prize is almost expected."
Sun Fatty burst out laughing. "Old Huang, I'm telling you, you're being way too polite. When we confirm that the Heavenly Principle Diagram belongs to the Bureau and things start getting tense, I hope you'll go easy on me and Lazi. Otherwise, if we die and you bump into Director Wu someday, you're gonna be in an awkward spot when he comes to avenge us."
Huang Ran narrowed his eyes, about to respond, but was cut off by a sharp rebuke from Meng Qiqi. She glared at the two of them through the rearview mirror as she drove, shouting, "Both of you, shut up! And you—yes, you, Fatty Sun—call your fat boss and tell him that now that this involves the Heavenly Principle Diagram, the price just went up. I want one more thing: 'Notes on the Trapped Battalion' by Yuan Qiu the Ghost Daoist, and that set of wooden talismans Old Huang gave you last time. Tell Fatty Gao if he doesn't agree, I'll report you two to the FBI for trafficking Chinese relics in Vegas. And that wouldn't even count as a false report."
Her words dropped like a bomb—silence filled the car.
After a few seconds, Sun Fatty laughed and said, "I thought you were gonna ask for gold mountains and silver seas. That old scroll and a couple of talismans? No need to call Fatty Gao—I'll approve it myself."
Meng Qiqi shot him a look through the mirror. "You? Since when did the Bureau have two fatties calling the shots?" Before Sun Fatty could respond, Huang Ran chuckled and said, "Don't underestimate this fat guy, Qiqi. He's the Bureau's Deputy Director now. Aside from Gao Liang, he's the one making the calls. Think hard—anything else you want? All it takes is a word from Deputy Director Sun."
While Meng Qiqi was still in shock, Li Qimu—who'd been quiet—suddenly pointed toward a solitary church near a gas station. "Ladies and gentlemen, we've arrived."
"This is it?" Sun Fatty looked out the window. "Who the hell builds a church in the desert? Who's coming out here to pray? That's some serious devotion."
Li Qimu replied, "This church was originally built for the construction workers who paved this stretch of road, so they'd have a place for Mass and prayer. My grandfather was baptized here and later became a clergyman in this very church."
"What?" Huang Ran was visibly startled. "Li Jianghe joined the Church?" He muttered to himself in disbelief. "No wonder we couldn't find him all these years… Who'd have thought someone from a Boxer Rebellion family like Li Jianghe would end up in a foreign faith…"
As Meng Qiqi parked the car in front of the church and we got ready to disembark, a low rumble echoed through the ground, which began to shake unexpectedly.
"Earthquake?" Sun Fatty looked around through the window. But Huang Ran's expression had already changed. "No… something's wrong," he muttered.
Just then, I saw the small church twist oddly, and a bone-chilling aura began seeping outward from within.
Huang Ran quickly pulled out a talisman from inside his coat. He flung open the car door and, with a flick of his wrist, launched the talisman straight at the church. The moment it touched the eerie aura, it burst into flames with a sharp whoosh, and the oppressive energy immediately weakened.
We all got out of the car. Looking at the unnatural spectacle, Sun Fatty asked, "In broad daylight? Things like this still happen? Old Huang, what's going on?"
He hadn't even finished speaking when a white man—wearing a long robe (I honestly still can't tell priests from pastors)—rushed out of the church. He was shouting frantically as he ran.
The moment he spotted us, he looked like he'd seen salvation and started running toward us. But after just a few steps, smoke began to pour from his body. He dropped to his knees in pain, repeatedly crossing himself over his chest.
But it seemed his God wasn't listening.
As the smoke thickened, the man began to wail in agony. Then a horrifying transformation began—his body started to shrink, losing nearly a third of his size, and his once pale white skin began to blacken.
Sun Fatty, clueless about what to do, turned to Huang Ran. "Old Huang, you're just gonna stand there and watch? Do something!"
"It's too late…" Huang Ran shook his head, watching the man shrink further. He suddenly turned to me and Sun Fatty. "Who else knows about the Heavenly Principle Diagram?"
Just then, the man on the ground finally stopped struggling. A dark mist spilled from his mouth. The moment it hit sunlight, it ignited like swamp gas—fwoosh!—and exploded with a loud bang.
Thankfully, we were far enough that the blast didn't harm us.
Right at that moment, a car screeched to a halt behind us. A man and a woman jumped out, guns already drawn. They pointed their weapons at us, and the man barked, "Hands on your heads! If any of you make a single wrong move, I'm authorized to shoot you dead on the spot!"
It was the same pair of Homeland Security agents who'd warned us hours ago not to stir up trouble in the U.S. Though this incident had nothing to do with us, it was clear they wouldn't give us the benefit of the doubt. If anyone moved suddenly, things could get ugly—fast.
We all raised our hands and clasped them behind our heads. Sun Fatty, however, couldn't help grumbling. He looked at Agent Martinez and began, "I'm just saying—"
He'd barely gotten four words out before Martinez exploded. "Shut up! I know you're trying to cast a spell! One more word and I'll shoot you right here!"
Seeing him flick the safety off his pistol, Sun Fatty wisely shut up. But I could still hear him muttering, "Casting a spell? I wish I knew how…"
After reading us our rights, the two agents handcuffed all five of us. With no right to speak, we couldn't explain ourselves. About twenty minutes later, several police cars arrived. Seven or eight state troopers threw us into cruisers and hauled us off.
Homeland Security didn't have a local office in Las Vegas, so they dumped us at the city police station.