Chapter 11: Scholars and Their Academic Destiny

“Haha, what a coincidence, we meet again. My name is Wei Ze.”
“Hello, I’m Lu Qingfei.”
Wei Ze scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. “I know.”
Lu Qingfei regarded him coolly, her expression unreadable.
Wei Ze was dressed in a police uniform. His face was still youthful, his features carrying a certain gentle softness.
“Miss Lu, didn’t you call Senior Jin Yu?” Wei Ze tried to find a topic.
“No, I didn’t.”
“Senior Jin Yu asked us for your contact information,” Wei Ze stammered a bit, “But of course! We wouldn’t give it to her!”
“Thank you,” Lu Qingfei said politely.
“But you’re really something. You just casually made a ceramic jar, and it ended up looking exactly like the artifact lost from the ancient tomb!”
Wei Ze’s eyes were full of confusion. “How did you manage to do that?”
“There’s no special reason,” Lu Qingfei replied. “It’s simply because my graduation thesis was on this subject.”
That answer left Wei Ze blinking in astonishment.
How simple and sincere a reply!
A door to a new world had opened before him!
Lu Qingfei hadn’t lied. When she chose her thesis topic, she had done extensive research, poring over information again and again, until she knew every detail of the five-colored dragon-patterned porcelain jar’s history and intricacies.
So, after leaving the Celestial Summit Sect in the cultivation world to study ceramics elsewhere, her very first work was a replica of the five-colored dragon-patterned lidded jar.
Scholarly pursuits are lives of toil and tears.
“I see,” Wei Ze replied awkwardly.
Since he brought it up, Lu Qingfei followed his lead and asked, “Still no leads on the artifact?”
Wei Ze shook his head. “No.”
Lu Qingfei’s eyes flickered as she asked, “Are you trying to locate the artifact by tracing the evil aura from the tomb?”
“It’s a last resort. The tomb robbers all claim they’ve never seen the artifact, but it can’t have just vanished into thin air.”
Wei Ze continued, “So Senior went to invite Master Liu from the Daoist temple to help us with the case.”
Lu Qingfei nodded. “A case without a single clue—seeking help from a master isn’t a bad idea.”
Her phone began to vibrate.
Wei Ze gave her an apologetic smile before answering his phone and pressing it to his ear.
“Senior.”
“What! They found the artifact again at the antique market?”
“No, how many times has this happened now? Every time they say it’s real, every time it turns out not to be!”
“This time it’s been confirmed by the tomb keeper? All right, I understand. I’ll come back right away.”

He hung up.
Wei Ze rubbed his hands, about to say goodbye, when he heard Lu Qingfei’s voice: “Is Senior Jin Yu at the police station?”
Wei Ze, unsure of her intention, nodded.
“Can I see her now?” Lu Qingfei asked.
Wei Ze was stunned for a moment, then quickly smiled. “Of course!”

*

At the police station.

Jin Yu, wearing gloves and holding a magnifying glass, was carefully examining the porcelain jar standing on the table.
With every spot she scrutinized, her brows furrowed a little more. Before long, her whole brow was tightly knitted.
“Is it genuine?” The middle-aged policeman stood rigid, like a bow drawn to the limits.
Jin Yu hadn’t answered yet.
Liu Guanyun, serene and unruffled, declared, “This artifact holds a heavy evil aura—there’s little doubt about it.”
He said “little doubt,” but his tone was utterly certain.
Jin Yu’s gaze on the porcelain jar grew increasingly complex.
“What do you say, Senior Jin Yu?” the middle-aged policeman pressed.
“This porcelain jar is indeed over a thousand years old. The glaze is lustrous and even, and its appearance matches the five-colored dragon-patterned lidded jar almost exactly.”
Jin Yu’s assessment was cautious, but then she added, “Yet something about it just feels off.”
Jin Yu had appraised many artifacts before and always trusted her judgment.
Yet sometimes, judgment and instinct were at odds.
“But didn’t Master Liu say this has the aura of the ancient tomb?” the policeman insisted. “It must be the real thing! If the timeline and appearance match, it has to be the lost artifact!”
“Senior, I’m back!” Wei Ze called out.
Only the man sitting in the center with his legs crossed looked up at Lu Qingfei and Wei Ze.
He appeared to be around thirty, with cropped hair, refined features, and a string of sandalwood prayer beads around his wrist.
Lu Qingfei met his gaze without flinching, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
“Mr. Mei, thank you so much this time,” the middle-aged policeman said gratefully. “If not for you, who knows where the artifact might have ended up!”
“Guarding the ancient tomb is my duty. The theft was my failing. Now that it’s been recovered, I can be at ease.”
“It’s the greed of tomb raiders…” The policeman caught the implication and paused. “Mr. Mei, are you stepping down as tomb keeper?”
“I am.”
Listening to their conversation, Lu Qingfei understood everything.
Mr. Mei—Mei Kaihan—was the tomb keeper and the one who reported the theft.
“Senior Jin Yu, look who’s here,” Wei Ze said with a smile.

Jin Yu, lost in thought, snapped to attention. When she saw Lu Qingfei, her face lit up with delight.
“Professor Jin.”
After greeting her, Lu Qingfei’s gaze drifted to the porcelain jar and, as if by habit, shifted the topic. “This artifact…”
“We’ve recovered it!” the policeman interrupted eagerly. “What wonderful news! National treasures must never be lost—they will be transferred to the museum!”
Lu Qingfei tilted her head, her tone puzzled. “Not kept in the tomb?”
“It was originally, but at the start of this year it was decided to move it to the museum,” Jin Yu explained.
Lu Qingfei appeared thoughtful.
“May I take a closer look?” she asked politely.
Mei Kaihan interjected coldly, “Not everyone can just touch an artifact. Do you even understand porcelain?”
“I do,” Lu Qingfei answered, her eyes clear and sincere.
Mei Kaihan sneered. “You think watching a few online videos means you know ceramics?”
Wei Ze tried to smooth things over. “This artifact is covered in dirt. It’s not suitable for someone as neat as you ladies.”
He was trying to give Lu Qingfei a way out, to spare her any embarrassment.
But Lu Qingfei simply said, “I’ve taken courses in artifact appraisal and conservation.”
Liu Guanyun remained lost in thought, detached from the conversation.
The policeman added, meaningfully, “Taking a few classes doesn’t mean you’re competent. You’re a student—you should know your limits.”
“I’m not a student,” Lu Qingfei replied.
Mei Kaihan frowned at her.
“I’ve graduated,” she said calmly. “Now I’m unemployed.”
She seemed entirely untroubled by her lack of employment, utterly at ease.
Mei Kaihan snorted. “If you break it, you couldn’t afford to pay for it.”
“She’s just a young girl curious to take a look—what harm is there?” Jin Yu raised her voice. “If anything goes wrong, I’ll take responsibility.”
Having crafted a near-perfect replica herself, Jin Yu believed that Lu Qingfei understood the five-colored dragon-patterned lidded jar even better than she did.
With Jin Yu’s endorsement, no one else could object any further.
Lu Qingfei put on gloves, forwent the magnifying glass, and pressed her hands to the porcelain surface, bending low, her focus absolute as she examined every inch inside and out.
Everyone held their breath, anxiety rising and falling with her every movement, terrified that the hard-won artifact might be damaged.
After a pause,
Lu Qingfei’s brows arched ever so slightly, and she said softly, “This is a fake.”