Chapter 721: The Arsonist Caught

"Fine, I'm leaving now." He Yuzhu rolled off the bed, threw on his clothes, and walked out, pulling open the car door to head straight for the Xiushui Warehouse.

When he arrived at that large courtyard, he saw from afar two people lying on the wall, throwing steamed buns into the yard.

Without a word, he flicked out two Flying Knives, which struck both men right in the shoulder.

The two men let out a scream and tumbled down from the wall.

The black-backed dog in the yard also lunged out.

Fearing it would eat the buns on the ground, He Yuzhu hurriedly fished two stones out of his space and threw them, knocking the dog unconscious.

He climbed into the yard, collected the poisoned buns into his space, and climbed back out.

Those two men were scrambling to run away.

He Yuzhu raised his hand and threw a few more stones, hitting them until they fell to the ground, then stepped forward and tied them up tightly with a Rope.

Two security guards from the Warehouse heard the commotion and ran out.

He Yuzhu said, "These two wanted to commit arson here; I helped you catch them. Stay alert tonight, and call the police while you're at it."

"Who are you?" one guard asked.

The other guard nudged him: "This is President Chen's husband, He Yuzhu. You don't even recognize him?"

He Yuzhu waved at them: "That's right, that's me."

He slapped Xu Xingfu across the face, and the man was hit hard enough to lose a tooth.

"Who told you to come?" He Yuzhu asked.

Xu Xingfu was stunned by the blow and couldn't speak.

He Yuzhu kicked him in the stomach, knocking him unconscious instantly.

He turned to ask the other one: "What's your name? Why did you come to commit arson?"

The man gritted his teeth and stayed silent.

He Yuzhu flicked his hand, and a Flying Knife plunged directly into the man's thigh.

"Ah—!" the man cried out in pain.

"If you don't talk, I'll stick two more into you."

The man confessed immediately: "My name is Sun Qiang, and he is Xu Xingfu, the younger brother of Xu Xinghai. It was President Xu who told us to come. Xueru Clothing is blocking our company's path; we haven't earned any money for almost a year..."

Sun Qiang spilled everything, like beans pouring out of a bamboo tube.

He Yuzhu didn't say another word, turned the car around, and headed for Xizhimen.

The car speed hit over a hundred, fortunately, the streets were empty in the early morning.

Arriving at Suojia Hutong, He Yuzhu scanned the surroundings; it was empty, not a single car in sight.

Had Xu Xinghai run away? Or was he hiding somewhere else? Even if Xu Xinghai were evil, he wouldn't just abandon his own brother.

He Yuzhu activated the Scanning Function and drove slowly, soon scanning a Toyota Crown in the next hutong.

He asked Sun Qiang: "What kind of car does Xu Xinghai drive?"

Sun Qiang glanced at Xu Xingfu and said, "A semi-new Toyota Crown."

He Yuzhu knocked the two men unconscious and put them into his space, then quietly got out of the car and climbed over a wall into another street.

Just as he was peering at the car from the wall, the car door suddenly opened, and a burly man climbed out, looking around sneakily.

He Yuzhu seized the moment and pounced directly from the wall.

Xu Xinghai hadn't even reacted before he was tackled to the ground. He relied on his strength to struggle desperately, so He Yuzhu simply dislocated both of his arms.

"Ah—!"

Xu Xinghai howled in pain on the spot, his voice carrying far through the empty street.

He Yuzhu tied him up, then pretended to pull Xu Xingfu and Sun Qiang from the corner—but actually from his space—threw them all into the car, and headed straight for the Municipal Bureau.

When he arrived at the Municipal Bureau, he happened to run into Li Xiangxiu escorting four people back.

He Yuzhu asked: "What happened with the fire in Xidan?"

Li Xiangxiu sighed: "Xu Xinghai pretended to knock on the door saying he was there to pick up goods. The two guards were off guard and were knocked unconscious by him. He brought a bucket of gasoline, splashed it into the Warehouse, and lit the fire. The fire trucks arrived and only put out the surrounding fire; everything inside was burned to nothing."

He Yuzhu sighed: "My fault, I should have anticipated they would be desperate enough to jump over the wall."

"It really isn't your fault." Li Xiangxiu shook her head, "Xu Xinghai is very cunning. He first spread rumors at a gathering that he would burn down the Xueru Clothing warehouse. Liu Guangtian's group didn't want to do it, so he pretended he was just testing everyone's loyalty. As it turned out, the next night he found six die-hard brothers to do it. Fortunately, we had an undercover agent among the six, otherwise, all four warehouses wouldn't have been saved... Go back and tell your wife, the warehouse security is too weak, they have no sense of safety at all."

He Yuzhu sighed: "Who would have thought they were this insane. They can't compete in business, so they use these low-down methods. How are the other two warehouses?"

Li Xiangxiu smiled: "They're fine. We called the local police station, and the people on duty were quite capable; they caught all those people."

He Yuzhu handed the three men over to Li Xiangxiu and turned to head back.

It was almost dawn when he got home.

Chen Xueru came to meet him as soon as she saw him, her face full of anxiety: "Zhuzi, I saw the fire! It was quite large, what exactly happened?"

He Yuzhu sat down and caught his breath: "Three of the four warehouses were saved, but the one in Xidan wasn't. Xu Xinghai went personally, pretended to pick up goods, knocked out the two guards, and set fire to the warehouse."

Chen Xueru sighed: "There wasn't much in the Xidan warehouse, but rebuilding it will still cost a lot of money."

He Yuzhu laughed instead: "I actually think this might be a good thing."

Chen Xueru was stunned: "A good thing?"

"If he hadn't burned this warehouse, he might have been sentenced to three or five years and gotten out. This time, he lit the warehouse and almost ignited the surrounding buildings; this crime is not small." He Yuzhu paused, "I reckon he'll have to eat a peanut."

Chen Xueru gritted her teeth, the more she thought about it, the angrier she got: "What is wrong with these bastards? They started the competition, and when they can't compete, they use these low-down methods?"

"It's a good thing those two Liu boys didn't participate, otherwise they'd have to eat a bullet too," He Yuzhu said.

Chen Xueru said: "Although Liu Guangtian didn't participate this time, he hasn't done fewer bad things!"

He Yuzhu smiled: "Don't worry, Li Xiangxiu sent people to infiltrate their ranks; they won't be able to escape for the bad things they've done."

In the Boguzhai antique shop in Panjiayuan, Xu Damao bowed and scraped as he ushered two blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigners into the inner room.

The room was not large, with only one window open, and it was covered by thick curtains.

Xu Damao turned on the electric light, and the room was filled with a dim, yellowish glow.

He blurted out words in broken English: "Ancient painting... Zheng Banqiao... Three hundred years, over three hundred years old!"

He pointed at a scroll on the wall and said, stammering.

The two foreigners leaned in to examine it closely.

In reality, this was a Wind Bamboo Painting by Zheng Banqiao, imitated by a highly skilled master.

On the painting, a few stalks of bamboo stood tall, the bamboo leaves were sparse and clear, and the use of ink was perfectly balanced in shade and tone.

The bamboo stalks were drawn with a single stroke from top to bottom, thin, hard, and straight, with each segment clearly defined, looking as if they exuded a stubborn spirit.

A tall foreigner leaned in and looked for a long time: "Is this painting of yours a replica?"

Xu Damao shook his head like a rattle-drum: "Brother, this is absolutely a treasure! I won't hide it from you, this painting came out of the palace. Look at this paper, it's from the Ming Dynasty! This texture, this patina—it's impossible to forge nowadays."

The other foreigner took out a magnifying glass and pressed it against the painting, examining it repeatedly—the brushwork of the bamboo leaves, the penetration of the ink, and the signs of age on the paper surface.

After looking for a long while, he straightened his back and asked in clumsy Chinese: "Mr. Xu, how much for this painting?"

Xu Damao held up two fingers: "We are good friends, and I never cheat friends. Twenty thousand! You won't lose out, and you won't be fooled. As long as you take this painting to Hong Kong, you can flip it for at least one hundred thousand!"

The tall foreigner kept shaking his head: "Too expensive. I will only give you five thousand."

"Five thousand?" Xu Damao's eyes nearly popped out of his head, "Gentlemen, for five thousand, let alone a genuine work, you couldn't even buy one imitated during the Republic of China period!"