Chapter 145: Infiltrating the Bandits and Persuading Them to Surrender

A method doesn’t have to be good; it just has to work.

Gu Shengsheng cut to the chase. "I’m in this line of work, too. And I still think it’s not worth risking your life over. You’re already halfway to losing it all."

"Xiao Hei, come here. I have a question for you." Gu Shengsheng beckoned, looking perfectly composed.

The man called Brother Hei was furious. "Who are you calling Xiao Hei? My name is Heizi. Everyone else calls me Brother Hei."

"Alright, alright, Heizi." Gu Shengsheng didn’t see the point in arguing about it.

"Let me ask you. Now that you can’t get in touch with your contact, shouldn’t you be thinking of other options? Like finding a new buyer? Or considering that even if you get these artifacts out alive, you still need to be alive to sell them."

"What are you getting at? You think you know anything about these artifacts? And you’re already criticizing our haul."

"Are you even in the antiquities business? You’re just here running your mouth."

Gu Shengsheng rested her chin on her hands. "There’s only one way to tell a mule from a horse—trot it out and see."

Sure enough, the second brother immediately ran inside and brought out their haul.

"The three of us brothers found all this. It took a hell of a lot of work, and we even got hurt by the traps. So you’d better take a good, close look!"

Large, ancient tombs are generally fitted with traps to prevent the theft of their treasures.

Gu Shengsheng opened the cloth bundle. Inside were only three or four small items; they hadn’t taken anything large.

The police had found them quickly, so they were discovered before they could steal much.

The three items were spread out.

Gu Shengsheng started by asking, "Heizi, do you think this will make you any money?"

"..." Heizi was speechless. There was just a small sliver of wood, something that looked a bit like a tiny tiger, and another lump of who-knows-what.

They were just grave robbers; they didn’t know the first thing about this stuff.

Even though he sensed something was off, he put on a brave face. "I dug all this out of a tomb. It’s ancient stuff! No matter what it looks like, it’s gotta sell for a good price. It’s an antique, you know?"

Gu Shengsheng smiled. "That just shows you don’t really understand what makes an antique valuable. You think anything ancient will sell for a good price? There are tons of old Copper Coins out there, so why are only Kaiyuan Yuanbao coins or other rare ones worth anything?"

"Coins from the Late Qing Dynasty are a dime a dozen. You can find tons of them even today. Most of the ones sold at street stalls are real, but why aren’t they worth much?"

The second brother was actually listening intently and even took out a notebook to take notes.

"I think this master appraiser is right!" he said.

"..." It was the first time anyone had called Gu Shengsheng that, and it felt a little strange.

Then she continued, "As for your three items... the first one, this small piece of wood, is perfectly preserved. But it’s just a rice paddle. It’s also called a ’little rice rudder.’"

"Why ’rudder’? Because when our ancestors built ships, they would saw off the finest piece of wood to make these. It represents the spirit of shipbuilding, the spirit of seafaring."

"So how much is it worth?" the second brother asked, still scribbling in his notebook.

"It’s worthless. But it’s useful for research—it could help determine the identity of the tomb’s occupant, given its connection to seafaring."

Now Heizi was stunned too. "Look at the other ones, then."

Gu Shengsheng continued, "This little tiger-shaped bronze piece is probably a percussion instrument. It makes a sound when you strike it. They were common burial items in ancient times. As for that other bronze ware, it looks pretty rusty. The form is imposing, but it’s so corroded you can’t make out its original shape. You’d only know after it’s been restored."

"These two could probably sell for a bit of money." Gu Shengsheng sighed and shook her head, as if she wasn’t too optimistic about the market price.

Heizi immediately cursed. "Damn it! That guy told us to come here! He guaranteed we’d make a killing!"

"Isn’t he just messing with us? We only took three things. Are you saying that even if we sell them ourselves, we’re not going to get rich?"

Gu Shengsheng nodded. "Yes. I’m sure of it."

She was, after all, sent by the police, so she naturally had professional appraisal abilities. Furthermore, this young woman knew how to play the part, always seeming to think from their perspective. Because of this, they now considered Gu Shengsheng one of their own.

"Then what should we do?" the third brother asked, his eyes full of sincerity.

"You’re the only one who can give us advice now. You’re a good person."

Gu Shengsheng, in turn, focused her full attention on the task at hand.

She said, "It’s not that complicated. Think about it. The main reason you’ve ended up in this mess is your buyer, isn’t it?"

"I’d love to put a bullet in that bastard!" he snarled, the gun still pointed at Gu Shengsheng.

Gu Shengsheng said, "...Put that down. You wouldn’t want to shoot me by mistake."

"You want revenge, don’t you?" Gu Shengsheng said. "I have the perfect plan for it."

"It’s a win-win, even."

Seeing the three men sit down to conspire, Heizi shot a cautious glance in Zhang Lianqing’s direction.

Gu Shengsheng was a little speechless. ’Have they really not guessed that I’m wearing a wire that’s broadcasting everything in real time?’

’Oh, well. It’s not every day you meet such "like-minded" friends.’

"Here’s the plan. If I were you, I’d turn myself in. Things haven’t gotten out of hand yet. After all, we haven’t hurt any hostages or been rough with anyone. If you surrender now, you’ll be out in a few years. You can walk out with your heads held high."

"Wait a minute," the second brother said, feeling something was off. "It sounds a lot like you’re speaking for the cops."

"No," Gu Shengsheng said, her voice firm and her gaze unwavering. "If you turn yourselves in, the biggest benefactors won’t be the police. It’ll be you."

"Think about it. Admitting your mistakes makes you the good guy, right? So, if you admit your mistakes *and* you drag your buyer down with you, wouldn’t that be even better?!"

Then she said, "You have to think bigger. This is the only way your real enemy gets punished. Otherwise, the three of you can’t even find the guy, can you?"

"You’ve been deceived, and now you’re trapped here by the police. How long has it been? Isn’t this all their fault? You might be able to swallow this, but I can’t!" Gu Shengsheng said, full of righteous fury. "They’re treating the three of you like idiots, like you’re easy to fool!"

"That’s right!" the third brother exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

He said, "Brother Hei, this really is the only way. We can’t escape. It’s impossible. Let’s not make things worse. We really need to turn ourselves around now. The plan she gave us is the best we’ve got."

After ten minutes of silence, Brother Hei finally let out a sigh.

He tossed the gun aside.

"Alright," he said. "I’ll surrender!"

"I want revenge. I want every last person who screwed us over to get thrown in jail. Just wait till I get out. We’ll see who’s tougher then!"

"Thanks, little sis." After saying this, the three men walked toward the police, where they were apprehended and taken directly to a police car.

All that was left was for Zhang Lianqing to come over and untie the hostage, while Zhang Zhengyi rushed over to check on Gu Shengsheng.