Chapter 161 - 129: Three Stone Tokens! The Bizarre Golden Triangle

Li Jianye had found something, and he claimed it was what Xu Huo had asked him to look into.

However...

Xu Huo couldn’t recall it off the top of his head.

Although he was a consultant, he hadn’t requested law enforcement authority, so searching for things unrelated to a case would naturally be overstepping his bounds.

But if he had searched for it despite knowing the rules...

’It was highly likely it had something to do with the case!’

"Something’s come up at the precinct. I have to go."

Xu Huo hung up the phone and turned to look at the other two.

Hearing this, Chu Xi’s brow furrowed again.

Xu Huo thought for a moment, then added,

"Do you want to come along?"

Chu Xi’s brow relaxed, and she nodded her head. "Okay."

"Brother Huo, I wanna go too! Me too!"

Wang Chao wasn’t about to be left behind. He was still eager to pitch the plans and knowledge swirling in his head.

His entrepreneurial spirit was undying!

He had a notebook full of plans, any one of which could be pulled out, fleshed out a bit, and used to create a millionaire.

Even though his entrepreneurial ventures had a tendency to go bust... bust... bust... bust... bust... bust... bust... partway through...

Even though they always went bust.

Wang Chao still considered himself a start-up guru!

It was just that opportunity hadn’t been on his side.

"Fine, just don’t cause any trouble."

Xu Huo couldn’t be bothered to say more. With that one warning, he headed for the door.

The three of them tidied up the room a bit and then got in the car.

Wang Chao had intended to take the front passenger seat.

But under Chu Xi’s silent, pointed gaze, he consciously moved to the back seat.

"VROOM!"

Xu Huo stepped on the gas, and the car started moving.

The hotel was pretty cheap, which meant it was also fairly close to the police station.

This was because of frequent anti-prostitution raids, but it suited Xu Huo’s needs just fine, making the trip to and from the station very short.

In about ten to fifteen minutes, no more than twenty, the car pulled back into the station.

"Alright, go find something to do."

Xu Huo instructed Chu Xi. She had spent enough time at the station to make friends with some of the female officers, who were quite fond of this cute, dazed "little sister."

"Go write up a detailed business plan and give it to me when you’re done."

Xu Huo said to the ever-scheming Wang Chao.

"Watch me work!"

Wang Chao’s face lit up with delight. He felt it was time to add the name "Wang Chao" to this city’s list of new millionaires!

Xu Huo paid him little mind and turned to walk toward the office.

Detectives in small towns are usually short on funds.

Zhaozhou City was one such small place. As a county-level city, it didn’t have a municipal bureau, just a criminal investigation division. Thus, its office building was only slightly larger than the division’s typical scale and a far cry from a proper municipal bureau.

The building had only six floors and no elevator. The office was on the fourth floor.

When Xu Huo arrived and pushed open the door, he saw Li Jianye.

"What is it?"

Hearing the noise, Li Jianye turned around just in time to see Xu Huo.

"A small piece of info. No idea what it is yet. Doesn’t seem related to the case for now."

Li Jianye yawned, sporting two dark circles under his eyes.

He pulled open a drawer and plucked out a transparent evidence bag.

Inside the bag was a hard object, not too large, about the size of an ID card. Most importantly...

’It looked very familiar!’

"Where did you get this thing?"

Xu Huo’s eyes narrowed. He took the object and examined it in his palm.

What was it?

Nothing much, just a piece of stone.

A piece of black, translucent stone. It was made entirely of obsidian, inky black in color, the size of an ID card, and not particularly thin, with a thickness of about five millimeters.

It was made of two pieces layered together, and...

there was a triangle in the middle.

A golden triangle!

"A Pyramid Stone Token?"

"Where did you find it?"

Xu Huo repeated his question, frowning as he observed the Stone Token.

"On Cheng Yang,"

Li Jianye said.

"The boat was moved to the docks, and we began a detailed search of the body."

"The people from the Special Fifth Bureau initially thought it was a valuable piece of jade, but it looked familiar to me, so I brought it over."

Li Jianye explained, pointing to the label on the evidence bag.

The name of the Special Fifth Bureau was written on it.

"It was hidden very well. Cheng Yang had cut open his clothing and placed the stone in the lining. If we hadn’t searched the clothes themselves so thoroughly, we never would have found it just by patting down his pockets."

This Stone Token...

’It wasn’t the first time one has appeared.’

"I also found one in the beauty salon case,"

Xu Huo said suddenly.

"There’s another one?"

Li Jianye froze, his brow furrowed. "Where?"

"In a suitcase. I didn’t bring it with me, but I’m sure it looks exactly like this one!"

Xu Huo said, but then he paused and shook his head.

"No, that’s not right. That Stone Token wasn’t as exquisite as this one."

"This one from Cheng Yang... has gold threads around the edges."

The Stone Token the Special Fifth Bureau found on Cheng Yang was clearly more refined.

The rectangular Stone Token had a golden border on every edge, embroidered with beautiful decorative patterns.

The Pyramid inside was also clearer and filled in with gold, not just a simple triangular outline.

The Stone Token was also a bit thinner, making it seem more delicate.

Xu Huo paused, turning the card on its side.

"You can see the gold from the side, too. It’s not a flat design, but a three-dimensional one."

"Judging by the weight... the gold inside isn’t just a casing. It’s a solid gold nugget!"

The price of gold wasn’t high these days, but it wasn’t low either—eighty yuan a gram.

Gold is a hard currency in any era—ancient times, periods of chaos, modern times, whether at home, abroad, or even across the universe. It’s a hard currency. It’s rare, therefore expensive.

"This isn’t a decoration. You wouldn’t bother taking a decoration with you when you’re running for your life."

"Then what is this thing?" Li Jianye wondered aloud.