Volume 1 Chapter 5 "Black Button" Group

  "Manman" is a strange bird described in the "Shan Hai Jing". In the "Xi Shan Jing", it says: "On Chongwu Mountain, there is a bird, its shape is like a duck, but with one wing and one eye. Only when they find each other can they fly, and are called Manman." It can be seen that this bird is not a flying creature that should exist in the world, or it may be a divine object created by totem worship.

  The ancient tribal relics found in the deep mountains of Tengchong County have many totems with "Man" inscriptions on their stele, and excavations from the soil yielded turtle shells, animal bones, and slave remains. Many of these artifacts had already fossilized into rattan objects, but the rock layer where the relics were found consisted of igneous and metamorphic rocks that do not meet the conditions for fossilization. It can be seen that these rattan fossils are not from the same era as the "Man" totem relics. The origin of this type of prehistoric cultural relic remains a major mystery to this day.

  However, the "Jin Hao" in the Wu Wang tomb near the ruins of the totem came into being, and this "Man Man" totem ruin is mostly left by the Ya Shen tribe. The Wu Wang of the Ya Shen tribe held a grand sacrificial ceremony here, and the divination symbols carved on its turtle shell are similar to those of the Zhou Tian Gu Fa, all of which are methods for inquiring about heaven and asking for fate.

  Below the ruins, several feet down, there is a stone platform. On all four sides of the platform are patterns of "Manman". Although this phenomenon can be explained as an ancient fertility cult, it was carved on top of the altar, indicating that this divination was for the survival of the Ya Shen tribe by their shaman king. People today do not know about these secrets, but legend has it that the Ya Shen tribe was later destroyed in a great flood, which shows that this divination is quite unclear. The "Manman" also has the symbol of "Hongnan" in legend, perhaps the Ya Shen tribe suffered this disaster because of this bird, still unknown.

  But I and Youzi had received the news, originally planning to plan, to quietly steal that corner of gold. Originally, it was already calculated in detail, even if the password of the safe was in Su Qing's hands, it could be obtained through intimidation and temptation. However, when approaching Su Qing, Youzi made a mistake, making me speechless with suffering. Fortunately, later I also exchanged a few words with Su Qing, shook hands, and finally got to know each other.

  Just as we were talking outside the exhibition hall, a loud explosion was heard from inside, and thick smoke suddenly billowed out from behind the building. The tourists rushed out in a hurry, the police were busy evacuating the crowd, and for a while, it was chaotic, but most people didn't know what had happened.

  I exchanged a glance with Youzi, then we both took off running towards the exhibition hall, but there were too many people rushing out and after squeezing for half a day, we still couldn't get in. Two security guards saw that they had been dispersing the crowd with great difficulty, while the two of us were still trying to rush in, suddenly became furious, ran over and pulled us apart, shouting: "What do you two want to do?"

  You Zi reacted quickly, and with a look of anxiety, grabbed the security guard's hand and said: "Comrade Security Guard, my sister is still inside!"

  The security guard's face gradually calmed down, but still looked cold: "You can't go in now, there are also security guards in the exhibition hall. I believe your sister will be fine and should come out soon."

  Youzi still wanted to squeeze in, maintaining a nervous expression and just about to say something, when suddenly someone in the crowd shouted: "Quick! Block the crowd! The thief is hiding among them!"

  I and Youzi immediately turned our heads to look, only to see that the person shouting was Su Qin. She was squeezed among the crowd rushing out of the exhibition hall, with several guards by her side. The guards and security personnel outside reacted quickly and rushed forward to intercept the people running out. However, at this moment, the crowd had already been frightened, and could a few security personnel block them?

  Youzi's face looked very unsightly, from Su Qin's words, it can be known that this time someone came to the museum to steal cultural relics, and most of them were aimed at this exhibition. Among these cultural relics, there is a "Jiao Jiao Jin Hao" worth a city, I'm afraid we calculated the exhibition this time, but there is a "Huang Que" behind.

  I finally understood why there was an explosion, it must be that the thief wanted to create chaos and take advantage of the situation to escape in the crowd. The two security guards who were interrogating us had already run off to help, and neither I nor Youzi dared to slack off at this moment, thinking that apart from us, no one else would pay attention to the cultural relics, so we hastily observed the crowd rushing out.

  Oil son swept a glance, brow immediately wrinkled: "Bad!"

  As he spoke, he pointed at the crowd and had me take a look. I saw that among them were seven or eight people carrying guitar cases mixed in with the surging crowd, running outward.

  I suddenly understood and said: "Quickly chase after them. It seems that these 'guitarists' were all arranged by the thieves, and there must be one of these guitar cases with an artifact inside!"

  Oil son blocked me and said: "Don't be busy, this group of people's skills are high, I think the cultural relics were not installed in the guitar case at all. These 'guitar hands' are probably ordinary people they hired, definitely not their accomplices. Even if we catch these people, I'm afraid we won't get anything out of them."

  If what was stolen this time is the Simu Jiao Jin Hao, then this cultural relic is about half a meter long and is an extremely heavy bronze ware. If it's not hidden in a guitar case, where else could it be hidden? Oil seems to have thought of this question too, bowed his head and pondered for a moment, suddenly pulled me up and ran towards the side of the museum.

  "He's been had! The thief wasn't even in the crowd!" Oil Lamp said to me while running, his face getting darker and darker.

  "I exclaimed in surprise: 'Not mixed in with the crowd? Could it be... could they have taken the route we planned?'"

  Youzi nodded and said: "Right, it seems that there are also their people in the internal guard, and they have a better relationship with them than my people."

  The two of us originally planned to take the ventilation route, and according to Oil Zi, this group of people might also be taking this route. I immediately sped up and followed Oil Zi as we rushed towards the external exit of the ventilation shaft.

  Unfortunately, we were one step too late. The cover on the outside of the air vent had already been locked up. This kind of cover can only be locked from the outside, so we could only wait for the thief to come out before it would be locked again.

  Youzi said that the route of this group must be exactly the same as our plan, and they climbed out from that wall, outside is a small alley, if they really escaped, then there's no way to catch them back.

  He was about to climb over the wall and chase after him, I quickly stopped him and said: "Don't be reckless, there are surveillance cameras!"

  Youzi said: "If a thief dares to climb out from here, this camera must be useless. What we can think of, they won't think of?"

  I thought to myself, just like Oil Zi had flipped over the wall. At this moment, the front and back of the museum were in a mess, but no one noticed this corner, it seemed that the thief who stole the treasure was really clever, and did it so flawlessly, even more thorough than Oil Zi and I had planned.

  Oil son has been mixed in the Tao for many years, with very old experience, judging the route of the thief's withdrawal, taking me to turn left and right in the alley, finally chasing to a small street outside. As soon as we rushed out, we saw two people wearing worn-out sportswear getting into an Audi sedan.

  These two were dressed like ordinary people, but they got into a high-end sedan. It was unusual at first glance. I often watch police and bandit movies, so when I encounter this situation, my first reaction is to stop a taxi to follow them, but Oilzi stopped me.

  "I know what kind of people they are. Let's go back," said Youzi, his expression becoming increasingly solemn.

  Back at Oil's residence, Oil finally told me about the origins of the treasure thieves.

  This gang originated from an international criminal organization called "Black Button", which first appeared in the UK at the beginning of the 20th century. It is said that Interpol has investigated many times and even arrested many members of the "Black Button", but so far, it has not been possible to eradicate them. In recent years, the "Black Button" has become more and more rampant, often active in China, and no one knows what they are up to. According to underworld news, this gang has also set foot in Yunnan and frequently contacted a leader called "Blood Swallow". When we chased after them earlier, Oil saw that one of the people getting on the car had a tattoo of a blood-red swallow on his arm, so he guessed that this might be a joint operation between the "Black Button" and "Blood Swallow".

  "I said: 'What should we do? Has your security guard friend sent a message? Was the stolen item a corner gold number plate?'"

  Yóu zǐ shuō: "Wǒ gū jì bǎo ān hé jǐng wèi zhèng nèi bù yán chá, wǒ nà ge pēng yǒu xiàn zài kěndìng bù gǎn lián xì wǒ, bú guò wǒ cāi, nà huǒ rén duō bàn jiù shì chòng zháo cuī jiǎo jīn hào lái de, zhè dōng xi tài zhēn guì le, shì wú jià zhī bǎo, zài guó jì hēi shì shàng yào shì mài chū qù, bù zhī dào dé gòu duō shǎo pín rén guò yí bèi zi le. Zán men yào xiǎng zhuī chá nà dōng xi de xià luò, yě xǔ zhǐ néng cóng nà ge 'xuè yàn' shēn shàng xià shǒu."

  After the two of us finished settling accounts, we went downstairs for a meal. Then Oil Lamp took me to find someone.

  His surname is Jin, known on the road as "Boss Jin", a man with great influence, who has connections in both the underworld and the legitimate world. I met Youzi at a bathhouse, where he seemed to know him quite well, after exchanging some pleasantries, he asked if he knew anything about the whereabouts of "Blood Swallow".

  "Old Jin said, "What are you looking for him for? This guy is now mixed up with the 'Black Button' gang, breaking the rules of the way, and many brothers have vowed to take him down."

  He casually found an excuse: "Nothing much, just some personal grudges."

  "Actually, I'm also looking for him. This kid still owes me 2 million. But you know 'Blood Swallow', if he really wants to hide, not many people can find him, especially now that 'Black Button' has arranged bodyguards for him..."

  "You sighed and said: 'So, you don't know his whereabouts either?'"

  "Temporarily don't know. It's like this, if there is news, I will inform you."

  "You're right... Uncle Jin, I won't disturb you anymore."

  "Hey, no need to be so polite," said Old Jin with a wave of his hand and a hearty laugh. "You're welcome to come over and play anytime you're free."

  As I walked out of the bathhouse, I heard Oil Jar muttering under his breath: "Damn it, can't even find this little punk with 'Golden Boss' around!"

  Later, Oil Sub went to ask the two partners who had fought with his uncle before, but these two people didn't know where "Blood Swallow" was either. The tracking action was stuck again for a while. However, later Oil Sub thought of another person, this person used to be Blood Swallow's senior fellow apprentice, named "Mao Sandou". He had the best relationship with Blood Swallow, if it were him, he would definitely know where Blood Swallow was.

  However, Mao San Dou has been in seclusion for a long time and doesn't ask about Jianghu affairs. You Zi is not very familiar with him either. If you want to find out the whereabouts of "Blood Swallow" from his mouth, it's likely to be difficult. So this time, I'll have to take care of it myself.

  "I'm surprised," I said, "I've never even heard of Mao San's name, what can you expect me to do?"

  "You were still in diapers when your dad left. Do you know what kind of business Mao Sandou used to do on the road?"

  I said: "Isn't it going to be a reversal?"

  Oil son nodded: "You're smart, this Mao San Dou Jin Pen washed his hands before, was actually a upside-down fight, and was your father's partner. Later, for some reason, maybe he broke the rules, your father swept him out of the door."

  What Oil said is true, I didn't know anything about my father's past, and Uncle Liu didn't tell me much either. Oil said that Mao Sandou was a former partner of my father's, which surprised me greatly. However, since Mao Sandou was later driven out by my father, it's possible that old relationships have been severed. Even if I were to step forward, it would be difficult to get any leads.

  But now there's no other way, we can only go find him. Oil son made a few phone calls and asked about Mao Sandou's whereabouts, so the two of us rushed to Mao Sandou's house again in a flurry.

  This is a rather old house, and when we knocked on the door, it was opened by Mao Sandou. It's hard to imagine what he looks like - his face is full of wrinkles, his eyes are dull, and he has a bit of a hunchback when he walks - someone of this age used to be under my father!

  Mao Sandou led us into the courtyard, letting us sit wherever we pleased, and he himself sat down in a rattan chair. Before we had even opened our mouths, we heard him ask: "You've come to find me, it's about 'Blood Swallow', right?"

  I was taken aback, not expecting this old man to be so direct. It seemed that many people had asked him the same question during this period of time. Seeing the situation like this, I could only force myself to say: "Mao senior, please tell us."

  Mao Sandou slowly shook his head and said: "I no longer ask about the affairs of the Taoist sect, and I don't know where my junior brother is either."

  I had previously heard Oil Zi say that he must know, so this time I paid attention to observe. At a glance, I found that his expression was uncertain, as if hiding something. At that moment, I looked at Oil Zi.

  Youzi nodded slightly at me and suddenly pointed at me saying: "Mao Lao, who does he look like?"

  Mao San Dou heard this and also raised his head to look at me carefully, as if he vaguely saw something, but of course couldn't figure out who I was. So he raised an eyebrow and asked You Zi. You Zi observed the situation and when the timing seemed right, suddenly came up with another sentence: "Mao Lao, do you still remember Er Ye from Long Shan?"

  He heard the words "Second Master of Longshan" from my mouth, and his eyes suddenly widened in shock, turning to look at me incredulously. His words became disjointed: "You are... you are..."