Chen Yutian nodded as well and set about demolishing the fast food in front of him. Qiu Lingshan said nothing while they ate, so Chen Yutian went hunting for a topic that had nothing to do with work: "You... you know Wei Zhao?"

"What are you getting at?" Qiu Lingshan frowned.

"You two seem to know each other quite well? He seems like quite the man?" Chen Yutian ventured.

"More capable than you," Qiu Lingshan said without a shred of mercy.

"Naturally!" Chen Yutian agreed, in perfect earnest.

"..." Qiu Lingshan was rendered momentarily speechless. She had expected Chen Yutian to bristle; she had never imagined he would simply reply, "Naturally!" She could not help but shake her head. Was Chen Yutian really this much of a spineless pushover? With a nature like that, he would never be a strong man in his entire life.

Only Qiu Lingshan did not know the reason behind it. Were it anyone else, Chen Yutian might not have conceded so readily — but before Wei Zhao, all that was left in him was pure admiration.

When the conversation goes nowhere, even half a sentence is one too many. Seeing that Qiu Lingshan had little appetite for talk, Chen Yutian let it drop and finished the fast food before him in a hurry. Qiu Lingshan, too, had come up through the special forces, so she ate without a hint of fuss — brisk and businesslike, no slower than Chen Yutian.

Once the meal was over, the two went one after the other to the parking lot. Chen Yutian drove an Audi 6 on armed-police plates — a car that was the very picture of an official vehicle. Qiu Lingshan, for her part, had the civilian-plated Cheetah.

Both cars left the hospital and made straight for the Songshan City police department. In Qiu Lingshan's office she poured Chen Yutian a cup of purified water, and the two sat facing each other on the sofa. "Major Chen, you may continue."

"Right." Chen Yutian nodded. Once he turned to business, his earlier fawning manner fell away, and Qiu Lingshan found him rather easier on the eyes. "We found the working notes of the husband-and-wife thieves. The notes record the time of their next job — and the location is a tomb near Songshan City."

"A tomb? Near Songshan City?" Qiu Lingshan started slightly. She had never heard of any dynasty making its capital anywhere around here. Logically speaking, even if there were small tombs out this way, they would belong to ordinary folk — the sort grave robbers wouldn't even bother with.

"I wouldn't know either," Chen Yutian said. "The notes don't give the exact location — only that they were to reach Songshan City first. So it stands to reason it's somewhere in the neighborhood."

"You want to find this tomb? That hardly falls under your jurisdiction, does it?" Qiu Lingshan could not fathom what Chen Yutian wanted with a tomb.

"Three bands of grave robbers discovered this tomb together, back at the start — the husband-and-wife thieves were one of them..." Chen Yutian said.

"You mean to sweep all three gangs up in one net?" Qiu Lingshan was no fool; she saw through to Chen Yutian's meaning at once.

"Exactly." Chen Yutian nodded. "First, to net them all at once. Second, to borrow their skills and sound out this tomb. A tomb that catches the eye of men like that is bound to be no ordinary place. With them blazing the trail, our archaeologists gain both material and a smoother road."

"What do you need from us?" Qiu Lingshan understood what Chen Yutian was driving at. The mission was somewhat dangerous — not only would they have to apprehend these dangerous tomb robbers, they would have to follow them into the grave itself.

"According to the husband-and-wife thieves' notes, when they first scouted the tomb they found it extraordinarily perilous. But the more perilous a tomb, the greater the treasures it yields — so none of them wanted to give up, and none felt confident going in." Chen Yutian paused. "So they contacted Liu Bojia, one of the best-known archaeologists in the country..."

"Liu Bojia?" Qiu Lingshan froze at the name. "You mean our Liu Bojia, from Songshan City? That Liu Bojia, the freelance explorer?"

"That's him," Chen Yutian confirmed, and went on. "Liu Bojia is nominally a freelance explorer — a special correspondent and contributor to any number of magazines. In truth, though, he has covert ties to the tomb-raiding syndicates."

"Liu Bojia's family was attacked by that madman killer a while back — I take it you know about that?" Realization dawned on Qiu Lingshan. "You came to us over this very Liu Bojia, didn't you?"

"Indeed. Liu Bojia has been in Songshan City police custody all along. If we're to find the tomb, we have to start with him — he's the only one who knows where it is." Chen Yutian went on: "Those tomb-raiding gangs, the husband-and-wife thieves among them, tracked Liu Bojia down and wanted his help getting into the tomb. But after a precise survey, Liu Bojia backed out of the partnership, declaring the place far too perilous, and chose to walk away. They feared he would leak the secret — or slip back in alone to claim the treasure once they had abandoned it — so they decided to silence him for good."

"So that's how it is! No wonder Liu Bojia has refused to cooperate with us. He must have known why he was attacked — but say it aloud and he'd be implicated himself, and whatever charges came of it would be no light ones." At last Qiu Lingshan understood what Liu Bojia had been afraid of: all along, he had been a grave robber himself.

"Did Liu Bojia leave behind any statement — anything at all — before this?" Chen Yutian asked.

"No. He wouldn't cooperate, and at first we didn't think much of it — never imagining there was such a hidden story behind it all." Qiu Lingshan shook her head, a pang of regret rising in her. Had she known, she would have moved heaven and earth to keep Liu Bojia safe.

"How is Liu Bojia now? I heard from Yang Huaijun that things don't look good?" Chen Yutian sighed. Every clue led back to Liu Bojia. If something truly happened to him — with all the hills and waters around Songshan City, where on earth would they ever find that tomb?

"He still hasn't woken up — he's being kept alive on a ventilator..." Qiu Lingshan broke off as Wei Zhao suddenly crossed her mind. Hadn't that man promised he would treat Liu Bojia? Why hadn't she heard a peep? Surely he hadn't simply forgotten? Looking at it, that was entirely possible!

Lately the kidney-harvesting syndicate case had been giving Qiu Lingshan a splitting headache, so she had put Liu Bojia's business to one side for the time being and never raised the matter with Wei Zhao — and Wei Zhao, for his part, acted as if the whole thing had never happened?

Qiu Lingshan knew that was simply Wei Zhao's way: if it wasn't his problem, he held it at arm's length. Waiting for him to come looking for her was hopeless — the only way was to keep chasing after him herself. RO

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