192: Chapter 191 Late Night Visit

It was 11:00 PM when Cao Xiao and Xiao Pinger finally left the police station. Before they left, to thank Cao Xiao for reporting the crime in a timely manner and helping the police crack a major case, the police gave him some small gifts as a token of appreciation. Thus, he found himself carrying a tote bag filled with "small gifts." The destination was not The Peninsula Hotel, but the hospital where Xiao Pinger's father was staying.

With the cooperation of the police, the wealthy tycoon from the United States, Hunter, was taken to the police station for questioning along with the mechanism box before the transaction could be completed. As the owner who reported the theft, Xiao Pinger, accompanied by Cao Xiao, also went along. Later, under strong interference from the US Embassy, the Hong Kong police were forced to compromise under pressure. Of course, this was all orchestrated by Cao Xiao; otherwise, given his temper, not even the US President would have been able to change anything. Consequently, after transferring a massive sum of 3.7 billion huaxia currency to Xiao Pinger, Mr. Hunter arrogantly left with the mechanism box. Although Xiao Pinger was reluctant, she knew this was the best possible outcome. Faced with a fortune that could sustain her family for a lifetime, this innocent girl was still blaming herself for not being able to retrieve the mechanism box.

The information regarding the mechanism box obtained from those foreign tycoons was very vague. Cao Xiao could not make an accurate judgment, so he had no choice but to visit Xiao Pinger's father late at night.

"Cao Xiao, thank you! I know you're not an ordinary person. I could tell; you were constantly communicating with those people using your eyes, and even the police were taking cues from you. If it weren't for you today, I wouldn't have been able to do anything. So, I can't accept this money." Sitting in the taxi heading to the hospital, Xiao Pinger summoned the courage to say to Cao Xiao.

Cao Xiao hadn't expected that he had given himself away, but he didn't feel guilty. To play the part fully, he instantly found a reasonable explanation for his presence. Pretending to hesitate, he waited until he had "manufactured" a police ID before taking it out to show Xiao Pinger, saying, "You silly girl, hehe! To tell you the truth, I'm an undercover police officer. Look, here is my ID. Going there today was part of a mission. Actually, it wasn't me helping you today, but you helping us. If we hadn't met you, we wouldn't have been able to convict Lei Bishen! I've made a great contribution this time and will definitely be promoted. I should be the one thanking you. I am a police officer; I refuse to be corrupted by money."

Xiao Pinger looked at Cao Xiao in surprise, muttering to herself in sudden realization, "Ah! You're an undercover agent? Oh! That makes sense!"

Seeing that she had accepted his fabricated identity without any suspicion, Cao Xiao was speechless. He then began to ask about her family situation. It turned out that Xiao Pinger's father, Xiao Xia, had once been a professor of history and archaeology at Xijing University. As a thousand-year-old ancient capital of Huaxia, Xijing was naturally rich in cultural heritage and archaeological resources. Xiao Xia had achieved remarkable success in the academic world, participated in many major archaeological excavation projects, and was quite famous both nationally and internationally. However, a few years ago, he suddenly quit his job, moved his whole family to Hong Kong to settle down, and stopped publishing any academic papers. Xiao Pinger's mother, who had once been Xiao Xia's student, was a museum archaeological research expert. Now, both husband and wife worked at a private museum in Hong Kong.

When they saw Xiao Xia in the hospital's intensive care unit, something unexpected happened. According to Xiao Pinger, Xiao Xia had contracted a very strange illness. The specific cause had not been diagnosed to this day; his internal organs were inexplicably failing rapidly, and he was delirious. During the half-month since the onset of the illness, he had repeatedly vomited foul-smelling liquid. The hospital had tried various treatment methods, but none helped; the condition had even accelerated. The results of a joint expert consultation were the same. According to the most optimistic estimate, Xiao Xia's body wouldn't last three months before his physiological systems collapsed, and the hospital had already issued a critical condition notice. However, a few days ago, when Xiao Xia was conscious, he had contacted a strange friend to come over. The two stayed alone in the ICU for half an hour, and when that friend came out, his face was terrifyingly pale. But from that day on, Xiao Xia's condition was controlled and stopped worsening, though there were no signs of improvement, and he remained in a coma most of the time. But now, the moment Cao Xiao appeared in the hospital room, Xiao Xia woke up. Furthermore, his mental state was excellent; he sat up from the bed in one motion, pulled off the sensors on his body, as if he had suddenly fully recovered.

"How is that thing in your hands? Who are you? Pinger, come here quickly!" Xiao Xia stared intently at Cao Xiao, speaking with caution.

"Uh... I..." Cao Xiao was a bit confused by the situation and didn't know how to start.

Seeing that her father was actually awake and able to get out of bed and walk around, Xiao Pinger happily ran over to support Xiao Xia. Seeing Xiao Xia so hostile toward Cao Xiao upon their first meeting, she hurriedly explained, "Daddy, are you better? You look so scary! Please don't be like this. He is my friend, Cao Xiao, a police officer. He came with me today to see you."

"Police? And from the mainland? You don't look like one! Who sent you? All of you, get out and close the door properly. Don't let anyone in. I want to talk to him alone!" Xiao Xia continued to stare coldly at Cao Xiao, using an imperative tone to drive Xiao Pinger and her mother out of the ward.

Observing Xiao Xia's behavior, Cao Xiao knew that he was suspicious of his identity. He was indeed an archaeology professor; he had seen through his disguise at a glance. Moreover, judging by Xiao Xia's tone, it seemed he already knew that he had brought the mechanism box, and that Xiao Xia's sudden recovery might have been caused by the mechanism box. This made him frown, but he hadn't done anything wrong, so he could naturally face Xiao Xia with composure. Since Xiao Xia already suspected something, he might as well get straight to the point. Thus, Cao Xiao took the mechanism box out of the tote bag, held it in his hands, and said to Xiao Xia, "Mr. Xiao, can you tell me the origin of this mechanism box?"

"State your identity!" Seeing the mechanism box in Cao Xiao's hands, Xiao Xia's eyes were filled with both surprise and panic.

"Haha! Mr. Xiao, there is no need to be so cautious. I can only tell you that I am from a special department of Huaxia, and I am under orders to bring it back. Meeting Pinger was also a matter of coincidence; you don't need to worry. We are a top-secret department, but this ID should clarify things." Cao Xiao smiled, took out his military officer ID, and handed it to Xiao Xia.

"Phew! I have dealt with your people before. Even if you don't say it, I can guess which department you are from—the Supervision Department, right? Only they could have retrieved the item so quickly. Actually, I was the one who passed the information to you today! However, I didn't disclose my identity. I didn't expect you to find me anyway." After reading the ID, Xiao Xia finally lowered his guard. It was as if all the strength had been drained from his body, and he slumped back onto the hospital bed, saying with emotion.

Cao Xiao said, "I also stumbled upon Pinger at the auction and only then realized the item belonged to your family, so I came here to understand the situation after handling things. Now, can you tell me about it? And what is going on with your body?"

"You should know my identity. Those of us who dig up the graves of our ancestors often deal with things from underground. This mechanism box is something I brought out from an ancient tomb. At the same time, this incurable, strange illness I have was also brought out from there."

"Five years ago, I was kidnapped by a gang of tomb raiders and coerced into going tomb raiding with them. In order to survive, I had no choice but to follow their demands and search for the specific location of the ancient tomb from geographical and historical documents. Based on the information they provided, it took me a week to find the general location of the tomb. It was a Tang Dynasty princely tomb located in Shangqiu. The identity of the tomb owner isn't important. The scale of that ancient tomb was immense, far exceeding the regulations for the tomb owner, and was even more magnificent than an imperial tomb. It took us half a month to successfully enter the mausoleum. Once inside, however, there were constant accidents, and we encountered many things I couldn't imagine. Fortunately, there were two people in that gang who knew how to restrain those eerie things, and the others had their own special skills for self-defense. I was the only one who was completely helpless. But when we went in, there were over thirty people; by the time we reached the main burial chamber, fewer than ten remained. The others had either gone missing or died in very miserable and strange ways."

"When we opened the coffin, another accident occurred. We were attacked by strange forces again. Four people died instantly, everyone else was injured, and even one of the two who seemed to know Taoist arts died before the situation was resolved. After opening the final layer of the jade coffin, the scene inside filled us with terror. The body stored in the coffin was not the tomb owner at all. The tomb owner, Prince Lin'an, was an elderly man nearing eighty, but the body in the coffin was a middle-aged Taoist priest wearing Taoist robes and holding a whisk. Moreover, despite having passed a thousand years, the body looked as if it were still alive. The skin and muscles were eerily transparent, and the chest seemed to be rising and falling slightly. Most horrifying of all was a slit in the center of the Taoist's forehead, which could faintly be seen as an eye. Not only me, but even the person who knew Taoist arts was so terrified that his soul almost left his body, telling us to close the coffin lid immediately and flee. But the leader didn't agree and insisted on continuing. The others were afraid of death, so they forced me, an outsider, to do it. Under the threat of their guns, I had no choice but to comply. At that time, the mechanism box was being held in the Taoist's hands against his chest, making it the most conspicuous object, so I took it out first. But it was at this moment that the nightmare began. The moment I picked up the mechanism box, the Taoist's corpse opened its eyes without warning. Then, I saw a scene I would never forget for the rest of my life. The person who knew Taoist arts vomited blood and fled the burial chamber rapidly. Except for me, the others were crazily clutching their heads, rolling on the ground, screaming in agony, while their bodies were constantly shrinking. In less than three minutes, all of them had turned into a pile of black ash. I only remember that the Taoist's corpse seemed to have become even more transparent at that time. Then, I clutched the mechanism box and fled the main burial chamber like a madman. In the tomb passage, I saw that the person who had fled earlier had only his clothes left; his body had also turned into a pile of black ash."

"After coming out of the tomb passage, I hid in a corner, avoiding those who had remained outside to keep watch and had gone in to check after hearing the commotion. Then I fled from the exit. I hadn't gone far when I heard a loud noise behind me; the entrance to the mausoleum had collapsed, burying those who had gone in to check underground. Except for me, no one survived."

"After I came out, I anonymously reported it to the police in a nearby town and returned home with the mechanism box, but I didn't dare to show my face. It wasn't until the police arrested many of the key members of that tomb-raiding gang based on the clues I provided that I dared to go to work. However, I discovered something terrifying happening to me. My body seemed to have developed a problem; as long as I was away from the mechanism box, my body would start to shrink like those tomb raiders who died in the ancient tomb, and my brain would become muddled, as if a strange voice was constantly calling to me in my ear. But as long as I was near the mechanism box, no problems would occur, so I would take it with me wherever I went."

"Three years ago, I accidentally discovered that someone was monitoring me. After I devised a plan to have someone catch the person monitoring me, I learned that the boss behind that tomb-raiding gang had been released from prison. At that time, due to insufficient evidence, he was only sentenced to three years. After that person was released early and learned that I was still alive, he prepared to kidnap me again to interrogate me about what had gone wrong during that operation. So, I had to take my family, quit my job, and settle in Hong Kong. For these past few years, I have been carefully hiding my tracks and even changed my name. I didn't expect them to find me anyway. I don't know how long they had been monitoring me, but they actually discovered the existence of the mechanism box. My place of residence had very tight security, so they didn't dare to make a move on me and instead sent people to steal the mechanism box. I didn't expect those people to be so ignorant; they couldn't open the mechanism box and actually colluded with the local thug Lei Bishen to have it appear at a charity auction, secretly promoting it everywhere in an attempt to hype it up."

"When I learned this news, my body had already developed serious problems. Although carrying the mechanism box with me for these few years had greatly improved things, that strange, curse-like pathological change would continue to worsen if I was away from the mechanism box for too long, as long as it wasn't eradicated. I only lasted a few days before I was admitted to the intensive care unit. I knew that ordinary treatment would have no effect on my illness. Later, when I was conscious, I asked someone to invite a friend from the mainland who had some Taoist skills to come over, and only then was it temporarily stabilized. However, that friend told me that this was a very evil curse and virus, and it could not be eradicated unless the person who cast the spell died. In my condition, I could hold on for at most one month. Knowing there was no chance of surviving and that once the mechanism box was in those people's hands, it would never be retrieved, I hardened my heart and contacted a friend in the Supervision Department, while also asking him not to disclose my information. I don't know what exactly is in the mechanism box, but all those supernatural events are handled by the Supervision Department. I didn't expect him to take what I said so seriously and resolve it in such a short time."

"You know what happened after that. I don't know how you handled it. Since you have obtained the mechanism box, others will certainly not be reconciled and will definitely track me down. As long as that eerie Taoist in the royal tomb cannot be killed, my illness will not get better. But how could a forbidden existence that even people in your Supervision Department talk about with fear be easily killed? So, I don't want the mechanism box anymore, but please help protect Pinger and her mother in the future."