"Lop Nur!?"

Qi Yun shivered involuntarily upon hearing these three words.

"That's right, this is the result my teacher and I have calculated." Ignacio confidently replied, "However, at the moment we can only determine the general area of Lop Nur, without pinpointing specific coordinates."

"What does this place signify?" Qi Yun quickly asked.

He recalled clearly that the purple coordinates which appeared for the first time a few days ago mentioned a coordinate point that was precisely in the Ancient Loulan, located at the northwest corner of Lop Nur!

Are these two linked? Or perhaps...

The Ancient Loulan was extremely mysterious in history. Though merely a small country on the Silk Road, its legends are endless and full of a legendary aura.

Ignacio pondered for a while: "I can't answer you this question for now, but it concerns the thousand-year-old secret of the Louis Family. If such effort is put into finding this, it must not be ordinary relics or antiques."

"But my teacher already has some guesses, and we will continue to examine historical materials to confirm this hypothesis."

Qi Yun withdrew his thoughts and nodded: "Alright, thank you, Mr. Ignacio. I'm waiting for your good news."

"Sure, I'll notify you as soon as I have any progress."

The two ended their call, and Qi Yun took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one.

Perhaps it's time to go to the desert… and see if any discoveries can be made. If any clues are found, they should be helpful for Ignacio's research.

After taking a few puffs, he took out his phone and called the guide Mamati, who he had worked with before.

"Hello, Boss Qi." Mamati greeted politely.

Last time when he went to the desert to find the Qingnang Book, he brought three people along, and two got lost in greed over that batch of treasures, ultimately making grave mistakes, making Mamati deeply regretful.

Qi Yun's way of handling the aftermath was also very considerate, as the criminals were incarcerated, yet the promised pay was given without a penny missing, making Mamati feel guilty even more.

Qi Yun chuckled lightly and asked, "Do you have time recently?"

"I just took on a job and plan to enter the desert in a couple of days." Mamati answered honestly, "Do you need a guide, Boss Qi?"

"Yes, I also plan to go into the desert in a few days, but since you already have a job, I'll look for someone else then." Qi Yun said, blowing out smoke rings.

He was still quite satisfied with Mamati, though the previous operation had some minor accidents, the fault was not with Mamati, and he also proved his professional ethics.

Going to such dangerous places, especially forbidden zones like Lop Nur, requires a guide who is highly trustworthy.

If you encounter someone with bad intentions, they might leave you stranded in the desert, and even if you manage to contact rescue, it would be useless; that forbidden land has swallowed countless lives.

Next is professional capability, which Mamati possesses on both counts, hence Qi Yun would immediately think of him.

"Boss Qi, I can cancel my current job and guide you." Mamati replied without hesitation.

Qi Yun was slightly surprised: "Is that feasible?"

He knew that being a guide is a profession that highly regards reputation.

"It's no problem; the customer's destination isn't far, and I can recommend other guides to them, besides, I haven't taken their money yet." Mamati explained.

"I see." Qi Yun didn't say more after hearing this, pondering, "This time, I need to go to Lop Nur."

"No problem." Mamati confidently assured, "I have crossed Lop Nur three times and am somewhat familiar with the terrain there."

"That's good." Although Qi Yun trusted Mamati's abilities, Lop Nur remained daunting; knowing Mamati had rich experience there made Qi Yun much more at ease, "Go ahead and prepare, you take care of the desert vehicle arrangement; there will be around three to four people with me."

"Alright, Boss Qi, rest assured, I will make thorough preparations, and this time, no mistakes will happen." Mamati quickly guaranteed.

Qi Yun smiled: "Heh, alright, let me know when you're ready."

"Okay, goodbye Boss Qi."

After hanging up the phone, Qi Yun tossed away the cigarette butt, turned around and returned to the dining table, and began eating rice enthusiastically.

With nothing much planned for the afternoon, after eating, he went to Shi Feng's shop on Antique Street.

Upon seeing Qi Yun arrive, Shi Feng was extremely obsequious, offering cigarettes and pouring tea.

The reason was simple—since Qi Yun's last splurge at his shop, he had become Shi Feng's number one patron.

Though he didn't earn much from that deal, it greatly eased his cash strain.

In their line of work, despite being quite wealthy, most money was tied up in inventory, and with the cold market these past two years, turnover was slow, so they actually don't have much liquidity.

"Heh, Boss Qi, anything for me today?"

Qi Yun sipped his tea, glanced askance at him: "Could you stop acting like a bootlicker? I'm not used to it."

Shi Feng wasn't offended, still grinning: "By the way, I sold that Eight Immortals table you mentioned last time, it fetched 1.2 million, already deposited in your account."

Qi Yun was slightly taken aback: "No commission taken?"

Shi Feng shook his head vigorously like a rattle drum: "Serving Boss Qi is an honor, why would I take commission?"

"Heh." Qi Yun sneered, "If you have something to say, just say it; right now you really seem like an ill-intentioned gay guy."

"In that case, I'll just say it." Shi Feng pulled a chair over and sat next to Qi Yun, placing his hand on his shoulder.

Qi Yun pushed Shi Feng's hand away disdainfully and moved his chair to the side: "Why are you sitting so close? Have you been to Rongcheng lately?"

Shi Feng didn't seem upset, grinning he edged closer: "Hehe, something suddenly came to my mind these past few days."

"What is it?"

Shi Feng turned his head to look at the direction of the shop entrance, lowered his voice and said, "I remember you told me last time that those tomb raiders dug up nine artifacts, right?"

"Hmm? I did say that." Qi Yun turned to look at him, suspiciously asking, "What's up?"

"Just look, I've been keeping an eye on the news lately. Now, all those tomb raiders have been sentenced, but not a word about that batch of artifacts has been mentioned, which clearly doesn't make sense."

"According to past practices, if the authorities find those artifacts, they would definitely announce it. That would be a huge achievement."

"I guess those tomb raiders haven't confessed about the artifacts, which also means that those treasures are most likely still out there..." Shi Feng fixed his burning gaze on Qi Yun.

Qi Yun squinted back at him, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Hehe." Shi Feng rubbed his hands together, "Your information is so well-connected, haven't you checked it out?"

Qi Yun took a sip of tea and casually said, "Buddy, those are artifacts. Even if they were given to you, would you dare to take them?"

Shi Feng hurriedly shook his head, "Of course I wouldn't dare. I'm not strong enough."

"But you're different, you have connections." His voice lowered further, "Although those items can't be circulated on the market, giving them to certain special people isn't a problem because they'll never see the light of day, you get what I mean?"

"Some people, they don't like money, but they're obsessed with these old objects..."

Qi Yun naturally understood what the other party meant, but those things were too valuable for him to touch, at least until the dust settled, he wouldn't consider it.

Besides, he's not short of money now, so there's no need to take that risk.

However... this seemingly correct decision of his would soon be forced to change...

"You've overestimated me. I can't handle the turmoil either, let's just live honestly and not think about those things."

Hearing this, Shi Feng paused, seeing Qi Yun genuinely uninterested, he dropped the subject: "By the way, Chen Lao's seventy-year birthday is coming up. Do you still have that Maotai from last time? Give me a box so I have something decent to present..."

Qi Yun laughed sarcastically, "That's Maotai from the eighties, and you treat it like Erguotou? Should I give you a truckload instead?"

Shi Feng scratched his head awkwardly.

Given Chen Lao's status, ordinary antiques wouldn't impress him, it's indeed better to gift something else that would please him.

Qi Yun lifted his watch to check the time, "Alright, I have to pick up my daughter. Let me know ahead regarding Chen Lao's birthday, and we can go together."

"Okay."

...

On the first floor of the mall, by the window at Starbucks, Dong Anyun held coffee in her hand, wearing Bluetooth earphones, reporting the situation to Zhao Weilin.

"I've already raised the price to seventy million, but that Qi Yun still disagrees, he actually wants two hundred million."

"Chairman Zhao, I think it's unlikely he'll let go of his shares."

On the other end of the call, Zhao Weilin contemplated for a while, "I see. You can come back now."

Dong Anyun nodded, "Alright, I've booked a flight for tomorrow morning."

"Are we just going to leave Dawn Technology behind then?"

"Heh." Zhao Weilin chuckled lightly, "Some young people always think they can control everything, but only when they feel immense pressure will they understand the lesson of knowing when to stop."

...

At the kindergarten entrance, Nuannuan had just walked out of the classroom, and immediately spotted Qi Yun waiting at the gate, sprinting into his arms with little, short legs.

"Daddy, why did you come to pick me up today?" The little girl raised her round face, the pink bow in her braid nudging his chin.

Qi Yun kissed his daughter on the face twice, making her giggle as his stubble tickled her.

He took her school bag and lifted her up, "Sister Qing has something to do today. Dad will pick her up with you, then we'll go eat big pizza, okay?"

"Yay! Add lots and lots of cheese!" Nuannuan gestured with her little chubby hands, her face beaming with joy.

"No problem!"

The father and daughter headed to the parking lot, Qi Yun driving his BMW 5 Series while Chen Wei followed in his car.

It wasn't rush hour yet, so traffic was smooth, and ten minutes later, they arrived at a nearby mall.

At the mall entrance, Zhao Qing spotted them from afar and quickly waved to signal them.

Qi Yun came closer while holding his daughter and reached out to brush Zhao Qing's hair from her forehead, "All done?"

Zhao Qing looked somewhat exhausted, "Yeah, went shopping with her all day, there's just too much to buy for the wedding."

Qi Yun smiled, taking her hand, "Let's go, let's eat first."

"Okay."

Zhao Qing nodded, hugging Qi Yun's arm, and the three headed into the mall.

Two meters away, inside the Starbucks next to them, Dong Anyun covered her mouth, her gaze following the trio's movements until they walked far away, before she slowly lowered her hand.

She turned back, shocked, muttering to herself, "Qi Yun... The woman next to Qi Yun looks so much like Chairman Zhao..."

Dong Anyun had been surprised to coincidentally meet Qi Yun, but after seeing Qi Yun and Zhao Qing together, she couldn't take her eyes off Zhao Qing's face.

As a long-time secretary of Zhao Weilin, she naturally knew some details of his private affairs; she even came to Jiang Province with him once when he returned to the country in search of his long-lost daughter.

Furthermore, Zhao Weilin often stared at an old photograph for hours, a photo of a little girl who, despite being just two or three, had features almost identical to his.

Based on all this, Dong Anyun was so shocked at the first sight of Zhao Qing.

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