Chapter 1: The Disappearance

  In the hall of a two-story building, a red wood sofa emitted a faint scent of wood, on which sat two men, anxiously waiting for something, the atmosphere was heavy.

  The young man sitting in the middle of the sofa was slender and robust, his body slightly leaning forward, his tightly clenched hands supporting his forehead, his eyes slightly closed, his slightly sunken eye sockets and chin with a faint stubble made this angular face look exhausted, I don't know how many nights he hadn't had a good sleep.

  His name is Ou Fei, 27 years old, a well-known military doctor in the city, young and promising. At this time when his career was going smoothly, a thunderbolt-like news made him fall into pain: His father had gone missing!

  To know, his father was the only relative he had in this world. The only one? Yes, his mother had passed away early, and his fiancée had died in a car accident not long ago. In this world, his father was almost everything to him.

  His father was a physics professor, and his obsession with physics was something that Ou Fei couldn't understand. Even after retirement, he would still run to the university's research institute every day, with the habit of writing research notes. He flipped through his father's notes, and apart from the incomprehensible physical formulas and data, only a few words on the last page caught his attention: "Seeking the secret of the family heirloom map". Family heirloom map? Ou Fei searched his brain, focusing his attention on a wooden box that his father never let him touch. He remembered his father saying that what was inside this box was more important than his life, and that their ancestors had used their lives to protect it. During the Cultural Revolution, if not for his grandfather's protection, the embroidered map would have long been reduced to ashes.

  When Ou Fei opened the wooden cabinet, he was almost speechless with surprise. A handmade embroidery picture carefully mounted in a sandalwood box appeared before his eyes. His astonishment was not only due to the exquisite embroidery of the picture but also because the two characters embroidered on it were like ancient insects and did not resemble Chinese characters at all. Could it be that the history of this embroidery was so long that it could no longer be judged? Upon closer inspection, a deer-like animal that didn't look like a deer or a horse was embroidered on top. Apart from these, Ou Fei couldn't find any other clues on the picture and didn't know if his father's disappearance had anything to do with this picture. So he brought this so-called family heirloom to Chen Jun, an old friend who ran an antique shop, hoping that he could provide some enlightenment.

  When Chen Jun first got the picture, he studied it for half a day but couldn't make sense of it. Suddenly, a name flashed into his mind: Weng Habie, a famous collector of totems. Such an ancient embroidery could only be recognized by him. So Chen Jun made an appointment with Weng Habie over the phone and rushed here with Ou Fei to Weng Habie's private residence.

  "Can he really help me understand the meaning of this picture?" Ou Fei suddenly opened his slightly closed eyes, and saw that his deep eyes were filled with bloodshot lines, which made people feel a little heartache.

  "This embroidery of yours, judging from the era, should be a totem from ancient times. He is an expert in collecting and studying totems, he must be able to explain it for you." Chen Jun stood up, pacing back and forth in the hall while rubbing his big belly, this rotund man pushed his large glasses up the bridge of his nose and said seriously.

  "This is the totem of Qilin, it should be correct, but Qilin is a auspicious totem widely used by many ethnic groups in China, I can't judge which ethnic group this one comes from. And those two characters on top, I couldn't make out what they are...". Chen Jun paused for a moment, seeing Ou Fei's furrowed brow, and then patted his chest full of fat with a smile, "But don't worry, I've got this covered, the person I introduce will definitely be able to solve this problem."

  Ou Fei listened and forced a smile, hoping so.

  He stood up and looked around the hall. His gaze stayed on several paintings hanging on the wall, which were three different paintings.

  The first one is a simple line drawing, with a sharp-eyed wolf staring intently ahead; the second one looks more complicated, and Ou Fei can't help but take a closer look, only to find that it's actually a pattern made up of two small snakes. The two small snakes have sharp teeth, colorful heads, and are entwined together in a terrifying way; the third one is a fierce eagle with its sharp beak grasping a python, about to spread its wings and take flight.

  These paintings gave Ophelia a sense of eeriness and oppression she had never felt before, and she couldn't help but wonder what kind of person this totem collector was.

  "He has been collecting totems for over 20 years. Look at this one, the Mongolian Snow Wolf Totem, it was bought at an auction for tens of thousands of yuan," Chen Jun pushed his glasses and pointed to the first painting, then looked at the second one, "This is an Indian totem, he even went all the way to India for it. And this third one is the ancient Egyptian sacred eagle. These are all ancient ethnic totems, worth a fortune."

  Inside the living room, there was a room with its door slightly ajar, and red light emanating from within. Ou Fei couldn't help but walk over, peeking through the gap to see inside. There was an altar, upon which sat a statue of a deity that looked somewhat strange - it had the head of a dog and the body of a man, wearing armor like a general!

  Ou Fei suddenly felt footsteps behind him, and before he could turn his head, a slender figure flashed by like the wind, and the door was shut with a "bang". A cold and proud voice said: "Father has said that outsiders are not allowed to see our divine image!"

  Ou Fei was startled by her sudden appearance, and the proud woman in front of him made him a bit unhappy. His eyebrows were furrowed together, and his father's disappearance had already made him feel uneasy. Now he just wanted to know what this painting had to do with his father's disappearance, whether he could find some clues from it. He didn't have the mood to go peeking at other people's private affairs!

  Although he didn't like it, he still noticed the woman in front of him. It seemed that she had just returned from exercising outside, her hair was tied up high, and her face was flushed with a healthy glow from exercise. The tight-fitting sports vest and shorts accentuated her figure, and on her pale and pretty face, a pair of lively and wild eyes were now scrutinizing him with a certain intensity.

  At the moment when their eyes met, Ou Fei hastily shifted his gaze away from her. Having not been in close proximity to a woman for many years, Ou Fei felt that this woman had a certain magnetism that made people involuntarily stare at her, and this feeling made him slightly uncomfortable!

  "Ou Fei, this is Miss Weng Lan, the daughter of Mr. Weng Ha Bi, a collector of Totem artifacts. Miss Weng Lan, she's my friend Ou Fei... Ah, we agreed to meet here today with Uncle Weng!" Chen Jun hastily walked over, forcing a smile to mediate the situation, and pulled Ou Fei down to sit beside him on the sofa.

  Weng Lan's gaze retracted, her eyes no longer hostile, but a strange smile played on the corners of her mouth, making it impossible to discern her intentions.

  "Sorry to keep you waiting." A low, powerful voice sounded, and Chen Jun and Ou Fei immediately stood up, looking towards the stairs. They saw an old man in his seventies slowly coming down from upstairs, although he was advanced in years, but he still looked spirited and energetic, with his white hair combed back smoothly. What was strange was that in this era, he was wearing a blue-green long gown, he must be the Totem Collection expert, Weng Habo, mentioned by Chen Jun.

  "Dad, slow down." A woman named Weng Lan hurried forward to support him.

  "Please sit down." said Wong Haibin in a loud and clear voice, with every gesture exuding an air of elegance and refinement that seemed to be characteristic of a noble.

  Ou Fei and the other person also sat down.

  Weng Lan was half-kneeling on the side, skillfully manipulating the tea utensils on the table to make them tea. The tea utensils looked like they were from an older era, made of black sandalwood, looking simple yet exquisite. At this moment, Weng Lan seemed to have transformed, completely putting away her wild nature from earlier, becoming gentle and demure like a traditional lady. It was really hard to connect her with the woman who had just appeared so full of herself.

  "Mr. Weng, this is my friend Ou Fei, the one I was telling you about on the phone!" Chen Jun said with a respectful smile, wondering if he should say something else before getting to the point.

  Who would have thought that Weng Haobi seemed to disdain any small talk and directly asked: "Did you bring the map?"

  "Here it is." Ofei saw that Weng Ha was so direct, and hurriedly took the Totem out of the wooden box to hand it over to him.

  "Come, have a taste of our Wu Long tea." Weng Lan handed a cup of fragrant tea to Ou Fei. She smiled at Ou Fei with a sweet and charming smile that seemed to cast a spell on him, making him dazed for an instant.

  Ou Fei hastily took over the tea to cover up his own awkwardness, then heard her giggling, as if she was teasing him.

  "Gecko." Wong Haibei blurted out the two words as soon as he opened the picture. Ou Fei and Chen Jun were taken aback, clearly Wong Haibei had recognized the peculiar characters in the picture, which meant that he was certain about this painting.

  Weng Habo stared at the embroidery, carefully examining it. The red and yellow qilin on the picture seemed to leap out before his eyes, with exquisite workmanship that was beyond reproach. But what was strange was that if this tapestry was indeed from ancient times as Chen Jun said, why were the colors still so vibrant and the fabric well-preserved without any signs of decay? Perhaps only Weng Habo's "sharp eyes" could explain it clearly. Suddenly, his gaze became deep and distant, as if he had fallen into a scene far away from them, and he didn't say a word.

  Ou Fei was about to ask, but Chen Jun stopped him. He waved his hand, indicating that he shouldn't make a sound. Then, Weng Ha Bi took out an old magnifying glass, put it on, and looked carefully. After that, he stroked this piece of fabric that had been around for many years, lost in thought.

  "Dad, isn't this..." Wong Lan was about to say something. But Wong Ha's face turned displeased and he immediately stood up.

  Chen Jun on the side was also confused, and felt that Weng Haobi's expression was somewhat abnormal.

  "Chen Jun, you take him away, I don't know what this totem is." Weng Habai's voice was slightly trembling, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.

  "Mr. Weng, you can't possibly not know this, after all, you're a seasoned collector with the most authority on totem collection. How could you have never seen this Qilin picture? You must know its origin, please take another look." Ou Fei hastily begged Weng Haobi, as this concerned his father's life, which was more important to him than anything else.

  "Sorry, I won't be able to help you. You'd better leave, I won't see you off." Weng Ha said coldly and turned to leave with a flick of his sleeve. Weng Lan shrugged her shoulders, indicating she couldn't do anything about it either, and followed him running up the stairs. The unreasonable scene left the two of them standing there in confusion.