Hushan District.

This is a villa area, a self-built residential neighborhood belonging to the Third Investigation Bureau.

Chen Shouyi rode his bicycle and was stopped by the security guard at the entrance: "Who are you looking for?"

Chen Shouyi didn't waste words, directly taking out his Security Consultant ID from the Downtown Police Substation: "Do you know where Director Cao's family used to live?"

The Security Consultant ID was almost identical to a police officer's ID, and the security guard immediately cooperated: "Hello, officer. Their family moved away long ago. After Cao Zhenhua's incident, their house was confiscated, and his wife and son also left."

"Do you know where they went?" Chen Shouyi quickly asked.

"I'm not too sure about that!"

At this moment, Chen Shouyi noticed a young security guard nearby who seemed hesitant to speak. He turned and asked: "Do you know?"

"I... I saw his wife once when I passed by Qingyi Lane. It seems they've moved there." The young security guard, face turning red, stammered.

"Where is Qingyi Lane, is it far?"

Although the young security guard was puzzled by how unprofessional the enquiry seemed, he still cooperated: "Not far, not far. Follow this road, turn right at the intersection, then left at the third corner, and you'll be there.

Next, Chen Shouyi asked for the names of his wife and son.

Thankfully, since Cao Zhenhua was once the director of the Third Investigation Bureau, his family naturally received focused attention from security. If it had been an ordinary Martial Artist, these two security guards might have just recognized their faces.

...

The cold wind howled, leaden clouds densely packed overhead.

Chen Shouyi pedaled leisurely on his bicycle, a few snowflakes drifted down, landing on his face, melting into a chill.

He looked up at the sky.

It's going to snow again.

Qingyi Lane arrived quickly, Chen Shouyi pushed his bicycle, asking door to door.

With his Security Consultant ID, the process went smoothly; even if some didn't know, they were exceptionally helpful. It didn't take long for him to find out where Cao Zhenhua's widow had settled.

He locked his bicycle at a corner of the alley and walked into an old, rundown house where even the wall paint was peeling off.

Going up to the second floor, he knocked on the door.

Soon, the door opened a crack, and a young lady stood warily at the door: "Who are you, who are you looking for?"

"Are you Miao Huilan?" Chen Shouyi asked with slight surprise.

Cao Zhenhua was around forty, yet his wife seemed not even thirty, quite young; Chen Shouyi guessed it might be a second marriage.

The young lady grew more alert upon hearing this: "You've got the wrong person; I don't know anyone named Miao Huilan."

With that, she attempted to close the door.

Chen Shouyi quickly put his hand against it: "Don't be nervous, I mean no harm."

The young lady pushed hard against the door, her face red with exertion but unable to budge it: "If you keep this up, I'll scream for help!"

Chen Shouyi had no choice but to show his Security Consultant ID, and the lady instantly became compliant, her strength waning.

Taking the opportunity, he pushed the door open and walked inside.

He glanced around; the furnishings were quite simple, indicating the family's difficult situation after Cao Zhenhua's exposure.

"Mom, who is this uncle?" At that moment, a five or six-year-old boy with a tiger-like head appeared from the bedroom, showing a hint of hostility toward Chen Shouyi.

"Little Tiger, don't come out. Go play in your room," Miao Huilan instructed sternly.

"Oh!" The boy was startled and quickly ran back to his room.

After a lengthy silence, Miao Huilan spoke coldly: "What do you want to ask? I don't care about Lao Cao's matters. We know nothing about what he did or what crimes he committed."

She assumed the police had found new leads and came to investigate.

Chen Shouyi sat on a shabby sofa and stated bluntly: "Sister-in-law, I think you misunderstood! I'm not here to investigate this time; I'm here for personal reasons. Cao Zhenhua should have left some belongings, right?"

"What belongings? Didn't you already take away all the belongings?" Miao Huilan replied evasively, clearly on guard.

Chen Shouyi shook his head, took out a golden ball roughly four centimeters in diameter from the briefcase, and lightly placed it on the nearby table, producing a soft thud: "This is gold, weighing about 3 kilograms.

Of course, its purity is only over 80%. By the way, do you know the current gold price? Before the power outage, I recall it being 541 per gram. Now that society has started descending into chaos, it's likely much higher."

"What do you want?" Miao Huilan's breathing quickened slightly, a flush appeared on her face. After a moment, she spoke.

"Cao Zhenhua's weapons!" Chen Shouyi replied sternly: "His weapons are still here, right?"

Seeing Miao Huilan hesitate while looking at the gold, Chen Shouyi observed her reaction, feeling pleased in his heart. It seemed the weapons were indeed still there, though she was suspicious about the authenticity of the gold.

Noticing her uncertainty, he grabbed the gold and squeezed it with force; the entire golden sphere instantly flattened like soft clay, with deep finger impressions on its surface, then pushed it over: "Gold is relatively soft; you can verify its authenticity."

Miao Huilan glanced at Chen Shouyi in surprise, having initially thought he was just an ordinary cop, not expecting him to be a powerful Martial Artist.

However, she wasn't shocked by the squeezing of gold; she had seen such feats often, considering her husband Cao Zhenhua was once a great Martial Artist.

She took the now pancake-shaped gold, suddenly feeling its weight align closely with Chen Shouyi's claim. After a rough examination finding no leads concealed inside, she relaxed and smiled: "His weapons are still here; wait a moment."

She carried over a stool, placed it at the door, climbed on, and opened a hidden wooden window in the bathroom's air-space layer.

After a strenuous effort, she took out a large leather bow bag and two sword boxes, both covered in dust.

"These are all his weapons!"

"I need to check them." Chen Shouyi said.

He opened the bow bag, took out one of the bow limbs for a look; it was very light, clearly made of carbon fiber composite material. He checked the markings: 800 pounds, and was satisfied.

He quickly assembled the bow, adjusted it, then exerted great force to draw the bowstring, feeling its impressive strength far beyond five hundred pounds, and it suited him perfectly as his hands showed no tremor.

"The bow is great!" Chen Shouyi nodded.

He disassembled the bow again, placed it back in the bag, then picked up one of the sword boxes, drawing the sword from within.

A sword with a nano-hardened coat; the blade showed little wear, much better than his heavily chipped hardened sword, saving him from having to buy another.

Next, he examined the other sword.

The moment he picked it up, he felt his hand slightly sink.

This sword weighed over ten kilograms; examining it, the gray-black long sword had a thick spine, and reflecting in the light, fishscale-like dense patterns at the edge that were extremely smooth with no hint of roughness.

At first glance, it appeared to be an ordinary Alloy Sword, but Chen Shouyi instinctively felt the sword was anything but ordinary.

He firmly flicked it with his finger, the sword hummed dully, the sound faintly perceptible.

Such a hard material.

"Is there something wrong with this sword?" Miao Huilan asked nervously: "It was Lao Cao's favorite sword when he was alive!"

"No problem!" Chen Shouyi replied.

"Then the price?" Miao Huilan probed, attempting to bargain.

Though she was unaware if the price was high or low, Chen Shouyi's generosity impressed, offering such a large piece of gold right away, instinctively prompting her to want more.

"Sister-in-law, are you dissatisfied?" Chen Shouyi smiled: "Don't be greedy; your weapons are all second-hand, used for four or five years, worth at most a third of their original value. Even if they were bought for three million, now they wouldn't be worth even a million.

Moreover, this bow is a great Martial Artist's War Bow; if I don't buy it, I believe you won't sell it easily as no great Martial Artist would use a second-hand bow. This gold alone is worth at least one hundred fifty thousand, and combined with the two swords, is more than enough to cover payment."

"No... not at all!" Miao Huilan exclaimed, startled.

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