Chapter 349: Found a… Divine Artifact?!

“You found it?”

The two senior National Security Group leaders stared at their little brother like he was a freak of nature. Their faces practically screamed: What? Hero, are you pregnant or something?

Facing those looks and those faces, Xiao Yu was speechless.

‘Seriously, do these two have something wrong with their heads? No, wait, to say someone’s brain is broken, they’d need to have a brain first’

“I don’t know if I’m right or not. We’ll only find out when we check,” Xiao Yu spread his hands.

He had used his brain to deduce two possible locations. But just because he was smart didn’t mean he was always right.

Being spot-on every time wasn’t brains. That was fortune-telling.

Zhou Lie and Shen Mei snapped back to reality, nodding. But their eyes still carried that monster sighting look as they stared at him.

Xiao Yu said nothing and flipped them off in his mind.

He made a decision. Once this case was wrapped up, he was getting far, far away from these lunatics. Take a break. Go with his wife to some rich, prosperous city. And live out a few days of that boring, filthy-rich lifestyle.

***

X City.

An armed helicopter slowly landed on a pedestrian crossing.

Xiao Yu stepped off, sweeping his gaze across the area where police had blocked off the roads and set up checkpoints. Then, together with Shen Mei and Zhou Lie, he boarded a police SUV.

Around them, a crowd of onlookers, unaware of what was happening, stared at the spectacle with shock and curiosity.

There was a certain thrill. The feeling of power and authority, standing in the public eye with a display of force.

‘Yeah, this kind of privilege felt pretty damn good.’

***

Suburban Outskirts. An industrial complex.

On the outskirts.

A convoy of police vehicles barged through the gates. The workers inside the factory were stunned, frozen in fear.

Moments later, four military trucks rumbled in behind them.

Two hundred armed police swarmed the factory like dumplings dropping into a pot, sealing off the entire area. Next, two excavators rumbled in and headed straight for the factory grounds.

No one dared to stop them.

Even the factory owner, after seeing Zhou Lie flash his credentials and the surrounding armed officers, could only stand there trembling.

“Relax,” Xiao Yu said to the owner with a grin. “If there’s any damage, you’ll be fully compensated. And hey, if we do find something here, congratulations. You’re about to get rich.”

Because if they discovered a hidden site on this property, the owner was in for a windfall.

The government would seize the land for national security and pay out a hefty compensation package. Damages alone would be reimbursed at three to ten times their value. Anyone could see what that meant—cha-ching.

The excavators roared to life.

After digging just seven meters down, an underground passage emerged before their eyes.

“No way. It’s really here?”

Zhou Lie and Shen Mei stared, not at the tunnel but at Xiao Yu. Like they were looking at some kind of otherworldly espionage boss.

A ventilator was quickly brought in.

Underground spaces are oxygen traps, there could be toxic gases like methane. It’s ame principle as mining or digging wells. You don’t just jump in blind. That’s a first-class ticket to the afterlife.

Same thing with tomb raiding—go digging around without venting the bad air first, and you’re just asking to die.

After an hour of ventilation, a bomb squad arrived to clear the way.

Another half-day passed. The ninth hidden site was finally opened.

Xiao Yu and the others stepped inside and froze.

It was completely empty. There was nothing.

Why?

The site was probably never used back in the day.

The three senior National Security Group leaders felt like they had just been force-fed a mouthful of… yeah, you get it. Absolutely disgusting.

Without wasting a second, they rushed straight to the second hidden site in X City—the other location Xiao Yu had deduced. 

Same method, same outcome—the hidden site was found. But this time, the moment the entrance opened, even Xiao Yu—who had lived through two lifetimes—was completely stunned.

What could possibly leave him speechless?

Because inside he saw a palace.

It wasn’t just some fancy building. The place was dripping with gold—walls, columns, everything shining and extravagant. Piles of gold, silver, and jade treasures filled the room. And at the center, there was a dragon throne and a full set of imperial armor.

But something was off. This golden armor wasn’t in any style from their own dynasties. It was distinctly foreign—samurai-style armor, the kind you’d see from a certain other nation. And the golden gauntlet on the armor’s hand was gripping an ancient, weathered katana.

Xiao Yu snapped back to his senses, a frown on his face.

‘So this is what those foreign forces and Wu Hanran were after?’

He strolled through the miniature palace, scanning everything with sharp eyes. But nothing seemed worth the trouble.

Gold, silver, and jade? At a national level, that stuff was worthless—just shiny junk. Would they really risk exposing their agents for this kind of trash?

The answer was clear. Hell no.

Something was off.

Xiao Yu activated Falcon’s Eyes, meticulously inspecting every object in the room. His gaze swept from corner to corner until it stopped.

His eyes locked onto the samurai armor. More precisely, on the katana it was holding.

Could it be this?

Why would it be the sword?

Everything else in the room was flashy and over-the-top. Ironically, the most unremarkable thing was the sword—yet there it was, placed in the hand of the emperor’s golden armor.

Xiao Yu crouched down, his eyes locking onto the katana.

At first glance, it looked like an antique.

At a second glance, something felt wrong.

Third glance—

His eyes widened as he muttered in shock, “Yushin-to?!”

Yushin-to—what was that?

It was a sacred blade, typically enshrined in certain temples of a particular country. Rarely used in actual combat, most were crafted without handguards. Most importantly—they never left the country.

Slipping on a pair of gloves, Xiao Yu carefully pried the katana from the golden gauntlet. The blade measured about forty centimeters. Drawing it from the scabbard, he was greeted by a mirror-like sheen along its edge.

Intricate plum blossom and bamboo patterns were etched into either side of the blade.

But when his eyes reached the base of the blade—Xiao Yu froze.

There, clear as day, was a crest.

Aoi-mon. The Triple Hollyhock Crest.

Snapping back to reality, Xiao Yu’s voice rang out urgently, “Sister Shen! Brother Zhou! I think I just found something huge.”

“Huh?”

Shen Mei and Zhou Lie, who were busy inspecting the site, exchanged confused looks and walked over. Their eyes landed on the sword in Xiao Yu’s hands.

They glanced at each other.

Xiao Yu’s expression turned strange. “A divine artifact.”

Zhou Lie, “…”

Shen Mei, “…”

The way they looked at their little brother suddenly changed—like they were staring at someone whose soul had left the building.

And everyone knows what that means.

There were only two outcomes: a fool… or a vegetable.