Chapter 1166: Actor, and Actor

Chapter 1166: The Actor, and the Actor

"How did you hide it so deeply?" Chen Ling looked up, realizing he couldn't even see the light from the cave entrance anymore. It had to be at least several hundred meters underground.

"Nonsense. What if I don't dig deep enough and someone finds it?"

Sun Bumian landed next to the several chests. His gaze was fixed on them as if pulled by a magnet. He forcibly opened one, revealing a heavy load of gold.

Seeing this, Sun Bumian finally relaxed a little.

However, he wasn't fully at ease. He opened all the other chests and checked them, only letting out a long sigh of relief after confirming that not even a single piece was missing.

"I didn't lie to you," Chen Ling said at the opportune moment. "I haven't touched a single piece of your gold."

Sun Bumian looked at the gold in front of him, then at Chen Ling.

"You go up first."

"...What?"

"Now that you know about this place, I need to find somewhere else to hide it."

Chen Ling was speechless.

Chen Ling was momentarily speechless, but seeing Sun Bumian's persistent expression, he nodded and flew directly out of the cave entrance.

Immediately after, Chen Ling heard a series of rumbling roars from deep underground. They lasted for a long time before fading, and he had no idea where Sun Bumian had moved the gold.

Just then, a hurried phone ringtone sounded.

"Hello?"

"Director Chen, how are things on your end?" Yang Xiao's voice came through the phone.

"It went fairly smoothly. How about you all?"

"We've all regrouped, and no one is seriously injured. Dr. Su even tied up a hostage."

Chen Ling was startled.

"A hostage??"

"Yes, a hostage."

Yang Xiao glanced at the tightly bound university student, his expression somewhat subtle. "Everyone else ran off, leaving only the youngest one. We're still interrogating him."

Chen Ling, on the other end of the phone, was silent for a moment.

"Can you... make sense of his answers?"

Meanwhile,

Lu Xun slowly walked to Zhou Liang, grabbed him from the ground, and his voice was bitingly cold:

"Speak! What was your purpose in abducting Chu Changqing? Where were you going to take him?"

"I don't know," the young university student said stubbornly, with an expression that looked ready to die. "I don't know anything!"

Su Zhiwei's eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you really think we have no way to deal with you?"

"Whatever methods you have, just use them. I won't say a single word."

Lu Xun and Su Zhiwei exchanged a look, and the air fell silent.

Yang Xiao sighed and answered truthfully:

"...We can't get anything out of him."

Chen Ling was not surprised by this answer.

Ultimately, all three were researchers who had spent their lives immersed in study. Not to mention bullying someone, they hadn't even killed a chicken. Asking them to torture a young university student was simply asking too much.

Chen Ling wanted to say he'd handle the interrogation, but then he suddenly remembered that Sun Bumian had brought him to Badong, which was incredibly far from Shanghai—several hours even by high-speed rail.

If he went back now, the save deadline would probably be reached during the journey.

"However, we found something on him," Yang Xiao suddenly said.

"What?"

"It's a badge, and an invitation... something for what seems to be the Wushan Conference, dated the day after tomorrow."

"Wushan Conference?" Chen Ling frowned. "What's that...?"

"You're going to the Wushan Conference?"

Sun Bumian's voice came from behind him.

Chen Ling turned to look, seeing Sun Bumian covered in dirt, as if he had just emerged from the earth. Chen Ling would have believed him if he said he'd buried the gold in the earth's core.

"You know about it?"

"Of course I know. If you hadn't made that damn call, I would already be in Wushan, riding my shuttle straight to the hotel to rest," Sun Bumian grumbled resentfully.

"What's this conference for?"

"Nothing much. It's just a gathering of Shen Dao practitioners for a meeting, to meet new people... I remember it used to be called the Intangible Cultural Heritage Conference, but it seems to have changed its name this time."

Chen Ling's mind immediately recalled the Intangible Cultural Heritage Conference that Xiao Chunping had mentioned to him at the Su embroidery museum. She had met most of the people in his phonebook at that conference... including Sun Bumian.

What was Ying Fu doing at this Wushan Conference?

Chen Ling's brows furrowed more and more, as if he realized something important.

"Can I go to this conference?"

"You? Did you receive an invitation?"

"...No."

Chen Ling was currently a wanted man by the entire 749 Bureau. It was already good enough that he wasn't being chased worldwide; how could they possibly send him an invitation?

"Then you can't go," Sun Bumian shrugged.

"This conference has very strict restrictions. They cross-reference the identity of every participant in detail. You can't get in without an invitation."

Chen Ling could easily forge the invitation and badge, but it would be troublesome if the 749 Bureau cross-referenced the participant list... unless he eliminated someone who was already qualified and took their place.

Chen Ling's first thought was the university student who had just been caught, but he quickly dismissed the idea. The student was one of Ying Fu's people. If he entered the conference using the student's identity, Ying Fu would see through him immediately, putting him at a disadvantage.

"Is there really no other way?" Chen Ling looked at Sun Bumian.

"There is... but why should I help you?"

"I'm your future companion," Chen Ling said seriously. "Otherwise, I wouldn't know where you hide your gold, would I?"

Sun Bumian was silent for a long time.

"That's just your side of the story... What if you're my enemy?"

Chen Ling slowly extended one finger.

"What does that mean? Shhh? Telling me to shut up?"

"A thousand kilograms of gold to get me into the Wushan Conference."

"I suddenly find you quite agreeable; you shouldn't be an enemy after all." Sun Bumian grabbed that finger, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Deal!"

"How will you do it?"

"Simple, I'll just say you're my assistant."

"...It's that simple? Don't I need an invitation and a badge?"

"Oh, come on, let's go, I guarantee you'll get in!"

Pushed by Sun Bumian, Chen Ling walked away with a strange expression.

As the figure in the large red opera robe gradually disappeared into the distance across the wilderness, the smile on Sun Bumian's face faded. A faint glint flickered in his ring-like eyes.

If Chen Ling could have seen through Sun Bumian's eyes at that moment, he would have noticed the golden and black auras of good and bad fortune had, at some point, completely filled his pupils.

Fortune-telling.

Sun Bumian watched the figure in the opera robe, slowly walking between good and bad fortune, as if he had guessed something, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

He brushed the dust from his sleeve and unhurriedly followed behind Chen Ling, muttering to himself:

"I knew he looked familiar..."

"The Way of the Actor is truly rising..."