This celestial master cultivates both physical and magical arts; why did you provoke him?

One million.

Fang Zijian, who was standing nearby, stared wide-eyed when he heard the number.

Xia En remained calm: "No need."

Liu Zhiyuan was taken aback: "What do you mean you don't need it?"

"You don't need to handle this," Xia En said. "I'll check it myself, and I'll contact President Qian once I find out."

"This...this isn't quite right, is it?"

Liu Zhiyuan's tone was somewhat reluctant, "President Qian entrusted me with full responsibility for this matter. Is there anything you need...?"

"Vice President Liu," Xia En interrupted him.

"Um?"

Where are you now?

Liu Zhiyuan was taken aback for a moment: "I...I'm at the company. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing."

Xia En said, "I was just asking casually."

He hung up the phone.

Fang Zijian leaned closer: "Is he lying?"

Xia En glanced at him:

How did you know?

"Feel."

Fang Zijian said, "He paused just now, and his tone wasn't quite right either."

Xia En didn't comment, but simply said, "Let's go find Chen Guodong."

That evening, the Jiangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Brigade.

Chen Guodong spread a stack of documents on the table.

"Liu Zhiyuan, male, 27 years old, a local of Jiangzhou, joined Qian Youcai's company three years ago and rose all the way to vice president. On the surface, there is nothing wrong with him, but I checked his bank statements."

He pointed to several of the transactions.

"In the past three months, his account has received three additional payments, each amounting to 500,000 yuan, totaling 1.5 million yuan. The remittance account is a shell company registered overseas, and the actual controller cannot be found."

Fang Zijian leaned over to take a look:

"One and a half million? Where did he, a vice president, get such a large sum of unexplained income?"

"besides."

Chen Guodong pulled out another piece of paper. "His entry and exit records show that he went to Southeast Asia three times in the past six months. Each time it was a short trip, and he would come back in two or three days."

Xia En looked at the documents without saying a word.

"Most importantly..."

Chen Guodong pulled out a photo from the documents. "This is a screenshot from the surveillance camera near the East Suburb Chemical Plant at 6 PM tonight."

In the photo, a figure is seen climbing over the wall of a chemical plant.

Although blurry, the outline and clothing were exactly the same as Liu Zhiyuan's.

Fang Zijian gasped.

"Did he go to the chemical plant?"

Chen Guodong nodded:

"I went in at six o'clock and came out at six forty. After coming out, I drove straight back to the company."

Xia En stared at the photo and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he laughed.

"interesting."

He said, "He's confirming something."

"Confirm what?"

"Confirm whether we have discovered the chemical plant."

Xia En stood up. "He thought I would go to the chemical plant to investigate, so he went to check the situation beforehand."

Fang Zijian frowned: "So what do you plan to do? Go to the chemical plant?"

"I'm not going," Shane said. "I'll wait for him to come to me."

Chen Guodong was taken aback: "Wait for him to come find you?"

Xia En nodded and looked at Chen Guodong: "Captain Chen, do me a favor."

"What is it?"

"Call Liu Zhiyuan and tell him that I found a clue at the chemical plant and that I will go there again tonight."

Chen Guodong understood: "You're trying to lure the snake out of its hole?"

Xia En nodded.

"OK."

Chen Guodong picked up the phone. "I'll call right now."

Twenty minutes later, at Qingheju.

Xia En sat on the edge of the bed, folded the three talismans into a triangle, and put them into his pocket.

The female ghost Cuihua floated in the corner of the wall, looking at him curiously.

"You don't need to come with me tonight."

Xia En said, "Stay in the hotel and keep an eye on that reporter next door."

The female ghost Cuihua nodded.

Fang Zijian, standing nearby, grew anxious:

"I don't need anyone to watch over me! I want to go with you!"

"What are you going there for? To cause trouble?"

"I……"

"Stop talking nonsense."

Xia En interrupted him, "Tonight might be dangerous. You'll have to stay with me, and I'll have to take care of you. Just stay put and don't go anywhere."

Fang Zijian opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

He knew that Shane was telling the truth.

"Then be careful."

He said sullenly.

Xia En nodded and went out the door.

The night was deep, and the wind was strong and the moon was dark.

Instead of going to the chemical plant, Xia En went to Qian Youcai's villa.

He climbed over the wall and landed silently in the backyard.

The lights were on in the villa, but the curtains were drawn tightly shut.

Xia En went around to the side window and looked inside through the gap in the curtains.

In the living room, Qian Youcai sat on the sofa, clutching his phone, looking anxious.

His wife was crying beside him.

Liu Zhiyuan is not here.

Xia En waited a while, and then her phone vibrated.

It was a message from Chen Guodong:

"Liu Zhiyuan has left the company. He headed towards the eastern suburbs."

After reading the message, Xia En put his phone back in his pocket.

He didn't move, continuing to stare at the living room.

Five minutes later, Qian Youcai's phone rang.

He answered the phone, listened for a few seconds, and his expression changed drastically.

"What?! What did you say?! You have Xiao Bao?! What do you want?! I'll give you anything you want! Just don't hurt him!"

When his wife heard this, she burst into tears.

Qian Youcai hung up the phone and slumped onto the sofa, his face deathly pale.

Then he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Xiao Liu! Where are you? The kidnappers just called! They want the property ownership certificate for that land! Come back right now and get the documents ready!!!"

Xia En heard everything clearly from outside.

He turned and disappeared into the night.

A chemical plant in the eastern suburbs.

Liu Zhiyuan stood outside the wall, clutching an envelope in his hand, looking around.

The person he was waiting for never came.

But the person who came was not the one he was waiting for.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the darkness, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and slammed him against the wall.

"Ugh—!"

Liu Zhiyuan struggled desperately, but the hand was like an iron clamp, not moving an inch.

Shaun's face emerged from the darkness, almost within reach.

"Vice President Liu, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

Liu Zhiyuan's face turned deathly pale, and his lips trembled:

"I...I came to check...to see if there are any clues..."

"clue?"

Xia En laughed. "What clue? A clue about Qian Xiaobao? Or a clue about the person behind you?"

Liu Zhiyuan's pupils suddenly contracted.

"W-What did you say? I don't understand..."

"Don't you understand?" Xia En released his grip, and Liu Zhiyuan fell to the ground with a "thud".

Xia En squatted down, took the envelope from Liu Zhiyuan's hand, and opened it.

There was a document inside.

Qian has the property ownership certificate for that piece of land in the eastern suburbs.

"What are you going to do with this?" Shane waved the document in front of him. "Give it to the kidnappers?"

Liu Zhiyuan collapsed to the ground, trembling all over, unable to speak.

Xia En put the documents away and looked at him.

"Liu Zhiyuan, I have a few questions for you. Answer honestly and I'll let you off the hook. If you're not honest..."

He didn't finish speaking, but Liu Zhiyuan was already terrified and turned ashen-faced.

"I'll talk! I'll talk!"

"Who told you to do this?"

"It's...it's that person..."

"Which person?"

"I don't know his name..."

Liu Zhiyuan's voice trembled, "He... he met me in Southeast Asia... He said he would give me five million if I helped him get the property rights to that land..."

"Five million? What does he need that land for?"

"I...I don't know...he didn't say..."

Where is Qian Xiaobao?

Liu Zhiyuan trembled and dared not look Xia En in the eye.

"I...I don't know..."

Xia En looked at him and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he laughed.

But that smile sent a chill down Liu Zhiyuan's spine.

"Liu Zhiyuan".

Xia En stood up, looked down at him, and said, "Is this how you ask me for a favor?"

Liu Zhiyuan was stunned: "W-what?"

"Qian Youcai asked you to help him find his son, but instead, you've been working with the kidnappers from the inside."

Xia En's voice was calm, but every word struck Liu Zhiyuan's heart like a hammer blow: "Now I'm asking you where Qian Xiaobao is, and you say you don't know."

He squatted down and patted Liu Zhiyuan on the shoulder.

"Tell me, which Celestial Master couldn't withstand such a test?"

Liu Zhiyuan was stiff all over and couldn't utter a single word.

Xia En stood up, took out his phone, and dialed a number.

"Captain Chen, come to the East Suburb Chemical Plant. Liu Zhiyuan is here; he's confessed to everything."

After hanging up the phone, he looked down at Liu Zhiyuan, who was slumped on the ground.

You only have one chance.

He said, "Before the criminal investigation team leader Chen Guodong arrived, he told me where Qian Xiaobao was."

Liu Zhiyuan opened his mouth, then finally broke down.

"Underground..."

"What underground?"

"Underground of the chemical plant..."

Liu Zhiyuan's voice trembled, "There's a basement... Xiao Bao is locked inside..."

Xia En squinted his eyes:

"lead the way."