Li Chonglou was waiting for his response.
A Qing imperial family ivory carving of Han Zhongli, once given away, could not be without a reaction, as if thrown into water.
But he still underestimated Ning Lang's comprehension and attitude.
This gang leader was so decisive and straightforward.
He had the bearing of an ancient righteous hero.
"Indeed, there is something." Since that was the case, Li Chonglou stopped playing coy. "Two of my friends have been kidnapped and gone missing."
"I've tracked them all the way here, but the route is too long, and there's too much video footage for one person to sift through."
"Help me track a car and a person, as quickly as possible."
After speaking, Li Chonglou took out his phone.
He opened the footage and photos copied from the convenience store's video surveillance.
Since his mother and wife were inside the car and not clearly visible, he omitted their details.
Reading people's intentions was a skill in the antique business.
Although Ning Lang's demeanor did not evoke any ill feelings, one could never be too sure about people's true intentions.
Furthermore, the individuals behind Li Hanlong, who could disregard the Yongan powers, also needed to be guarded against.
"This is simple," Ning Lang stated immediately.
He then called Brother Chang arm in and instructed him to gather his men and begin searching from where Li Chonglou was encountered, checking every piece of video surveillance.
They were to find the person wearing sunglasses and the car as quickly as possible.
"Brother Lang, why are we helping him? What about my dispute with Old Six?" Brother Chang arm said indignantly, glaring at Li Chonglou through gritted teeth.
He hadn't suffered such a setback in years.
Not only had he been utterly defeated in front of his men today, but he hadn't even had a chance to retaliate.
Now his boss was ordering them to help Li Chonglou.
It was like a mute eating bitter herbs, unable to express his suffering.
What kind of ability did this kid possess to make Brother Lang speak up for him?
Could he know some sort of hypnosis?
"Stop the nonsense and do as I say, as quickly as possible."
Ning Lang's face turned stern. "No slacking off. I will compensate you for your issues with Old Six."
"If this is not handled well, you'll face the family rules!"
Hearing "family rules," Brother Chang arm shivered.
His face, a mixture of pale and green, dared not delay further. He responded and turned to walk out of the courtyard.
Zhang Dongxu was also sent out by Li Chonglou to accompany them.
Leading Ning Lang's men, they headed straight for Chendianbei Road.
Then they began checking door to door.
Li Chonglou waited in the large courtyard.
Ning Lang was a man of principle.
After carefully putting away the ivory carving, he insisted that Li Chonglou pick something from his collection as a reciprocal gift.
As the saying goes, it is impolite not to reciprocate.
Although he was involved in the underworld, he considered himself a gentleman. Wealth was external to him; a good heart was priceless.
Li Chonglou thought for a moment and did not refuse, casually picking a white jade pendant carved with two tigers, from the late Qing Dynasty.
This item was a replica of the Yuan Dynasty style.
It was circular in overall shape, with a diameter of about 5 centimeters and a thickness of 1.2 centimeters, and was considered a former Qing palace possession.
This jade pendant was rather interesting.
The white jade had a skin, with hollow carvings of a mother and son tiger, accompanied by mountains, rocks, and oak trees. Below it was a round loop for attaching a cord.
The theme was clearly of Yuan Dynasty style.
"Although the value of this pendant is far less than the ivory carving, it is still a standout piece in my collection. Brother has sharp eyes," Ning Lang praised, giving Li Chonglou a thumbs up.
Li Chonglou smiled without speaking.
Ning Lang's discernment was quite good; judging by his collection of books, he also enjoyed reading history and research.
However, he had not yet been able to thoroughly integrate antiques with history.
Or rather, he couldn't integrate them very harmoniously.
This twin tiger pendant, while appearing ordinary, actually carried great meaning.
During the Liao and Jin dynasties, the Khitan and Jurchen nobles had a traditional custom of "nabo" throughout the four seasons. "Spring Hunt" and "Autumn Mountain" were the most distinctive activities.
"Spring Hunt" referred to the practice of ice fishing in rivers and hunting swans with sea buckthorn in early spring when the ice and snow had just melted.
"Autumn Mountain" referred to hunting tigers and deer in the forests during late autumn.
This twin tiger pendant, with its skillful use of color and theme, vividly depicted the custom of "Autumn Mountain."
Both were imperial artifacts; the ivory carving was a ritual object, while this jade pendant could be considered a historical artifact.
Furthermore, Li Chonglou was born in the Year of the Tiger.
Its significance was actually greater than that of the ivory carving.
However, if he were to explain these things to Ning Lang, while Ning Lang was broad-minded, it might be fine.
But if he were a little petty, he might be unhappy for days.
Therefore, it was unnecessary.
Li Chonglou put away the jade pendant and drank tea, occasionally chatting with Ning Lang about antiques. Each sentence brought Ning Lang a moment of enlightenment, his eyes shining.
It was only at this moment that he truly believed Li Chonglou had not been bragging earlier.
Perhaps there really were people who had seen hundreds of thousands of artifacts and had decades of experience.
Unfathomable, truly unfathomable!
Being able to make such a friend, it was worth helping him with not just one matter, but ten.
Ning Lang was a person with extremely high self-expectations.
Otherwise, he would not have been able to forsake pleasure-seeking, power, and wealth, and choose to hide in his residence.
In others' eyes, it might seem like carefree leisure, an unproductive life.
But how could Li Chonglou not see that he was clearly cultivating his mind?
So after they had talked more deeply, Li Chonglou brought up the topic and asked, "With your understanding and knowledge, unifying the underground forces of Yongan should not be difficult."
"Why do you remain confined to one corner, and even incur the wrath of the Old Ghost from the South City?"
"Old Ghost... Humph... I cannot stand his methods. In the past, he made Yongan a mess, causing widespread discontent." Ning Lang's eyes flashed with hatred, but he did not elaborate.
Li Chonglou didn't know that his path was forced upon him by Old Ghost.
Years ago, his Ning family was considered a renowned noble family in Yongan.
At that time, Old Ghost had already emerged, opening casinos, engaging in loan sharking, and earning ill-gotten gains.
He even sold drugs in bars, harming countless people.
And his father was one of the victims, becoming addicted and a "dao you."
Furthermore, he was lured into gambling, causing his vast family fortune to be squandered.
His family was destroyed, and his wife and children were scattered.
It had brutally erased a respectable scholarly family from Yongan.
Even their ancestral home was seized. His father, seeking justice, was beaten to death, and his mother followed him soon after due to shock.
He was forced to wander the streets, fighting for territory with beggars under overpasses.
Ultimately, unable to bear the oppression of fate, he abandoned his pride and entered the profession to survive. With his intelligence, he quickly gathered a group of brothers and became a rival to Old Ghost.
He didn't want to recall the tragic events that occurred during that period.
At that time, his sole focus was on killing Old Ghost and avenging his father.
But as he grew more powerful, he realized that the underground forces of Yongan were far more complex than he had imagined.
A large hand was manipulating things from the shadows.
Even he could not escape the control of that large hand. If he killed Old Ghost, the hundreds of brothers under him would all die tragically.
Fortunately, for the sake of balance, the higher powers tolerated his existence.
This led to the situation where they were rivals.
He redeemed his ancestral home, remained law-abiding, and thus avoided any major incidents for such a long time.
"It seems you are concerned about something. Otherwise, with your character, you wouldn't be bowing your head like this," Li Chonglou, discerning a clue from a brief sentence and his expression, deliberately provoked him.
Ning Lang frowned and sighed, "In this world, one is not their own master."
"Someone like me, with the current severe crackdown on organized crime, should have been arrested long ago."
"But as long as that person is still alive, no one can touch us."
"It's the same for me, and also for Old Ghost."
Upon hearing this, Li Chonglou's eyes flashed with a strange light. "That person? Who is that person?"
He could understand people like Zhang Dongxu flaunting themselves to appear important, relying on borrowed power.
But for someone of Ning Lang's caliber, there was no need to borrow someone else's influence to bolster his courage.
Moreover, judging by his demeanor, there was no pride, but rather a great deal of bitterness.
"Brother, you and I are fellow antique enthusiasts. I admire your skills and discernment, but it's best not to get involved in matters of the underworld. It will only bring harm and no benefit," Ning Lang said sincerely.
He was lonely.
Until Li Chonglou arrived, he had been alone, unable to find like-minded individuals, let alone someone he could respect.
For someone like him, who had self-expectations and desired to improve, this was indeed painful.
Li Chonglou's appearance perfectly compensated for this.
Therefore, he felt grateful, not entirely because of the ivory carving.
Objects are inanimate; people are alive.
He also didn't want to see this fellow enthusiast provoke that person and be utterly annihilated.
Li Chonglou nodded. He could see Ning Lang's good intentions but pretended not to understand.
He continued to ask, "It seems that person is someone you cannot afford to offend."
"I am very curious to see them."
"To see what kind of influential figure it is that makes someone like you willing to submit and bow."
Far more than submitting, Li Chonglou did not know the depth of hatred between Ning Lang and Old Ghost.
If he knew that Ning Lang couldn't even avenge his father's murder, he would undoubtedly be even more shocked and curious.
"Too much curiosity can kill the cat. Even if I wanted to tell you, I couldn't," Ning Lang said, shaking his head in refusal.
Even if he didn't consider himself, he had to think about the brothers under him.
Once certain words were spoken, they could never be taken back.
Seeing this, Li Chonglou did not press further.
It would be counterproductive; going too far would be as bad as not going far enough.
They quietly drank tea until Li Chonglou's phone rang.
It was his senior sister calling.
She asked him how his investigation was going. There was new information from the Water Bomb Club; the person in charge, Liu Ping'er, was collecting evidence of Li Hanlong's smuggling of antiques.
Li Chonglou's spirits were immediately lifted.
This matter was likely revealed by Yan Bin to Liu Ping'er and the others when he was alive.
Now it had become the direction to take down Li Hanlong.
It seemed he needed to speed up his own efforts. Li Chonglou wasn't concerned about whether Li Hanlong lived or died; he only cared that his mother and wife were not harmed.
After hanging up the phone, Li Chonglou suppressed his anxiety and waited for Zhang Dongxu and the others to bring news.
Finally, as dusk approached, everyone returned to the large courtyard.
They informed Li Chonglou of the investigation results.
The man in sunglasses drove all the way north from Chendian Road, out of Yongan City, and finally disappeared into the mountainous area adjacent to Yongan.
This was not the result of everyone's continuous investigation.
Instead, Brother Chang arm directly used his connections, which allowed them to quickly investigate such a wide area.
"That mountainous area is called Wuning County. It is located at thirty degrees north latitude and is very mysterious... many areas are still primeval forests. Be careful yourself," Ning Lang advised kindly, seeing Li Chonglou's expression turn solemn.
This was all he could help with.
The rest would have to be faced by Li Chonglou himself.
"When I find my people, let's get drunk together!" Li Chonglou clasped his fists, and with Zhang Dongxu, left the large courtyard.
They drove towards Wuning County.