Movie variety show soul travels between two worlds to become a rich man

Chapter 458 Dream Collaboration - Unexpected Events
Inside the police station's detention cell, the damp, cold air was filled with a mixture of sweat and rust.

Jin Wantang was handcuffed to an iron chair, his wrists red from being rubbed raw by the metal edges. He tilted his head, his signature gold tooth occasionally gleaming in the dim light, his brows furrowed into a deep frown.

"What the hell did I offend?" Big Gold Tooth muttered under his breath, his voice echoing in the empty detention cell. His throat was parched; he hadn't had a drop of water for seven or eight hours since he was brought in that morning, and hadn't even been allowed to go to the toilet once.

Memories flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern. Three days ago, he received a task from Jude Kao—to successfully lure Wu Xie into a trap using a copy of the Warring States silk scroll. He thought he would receive a generous reward, but before he could even enjoy the money, he had barely walked a short distance from the Xiling Society when his two uncles pinned him against the wall and took him back to the station.

However, Big Gold Tooth, once brought back to the station, immediately sensed something was wrong. He wasn't unfamiliar with being in jail, but this time was clearly different. His uncle hadn't shown an arrest warrant or stated any specific charges; he had simply arrested him.

In the interrogation room, the uncles kept asking the same question over and over: "Confess."

"What are you going to confess, officer? I'm a law-abiding citizen!" Big Gold Tooth feigned ignorance, but his heart was pounding. His past was anything but clean—tomb raiding, selling unearthed artifacts, forging antiques... any one of those offenses could get him ten or eight years in prison.

"Behave yourself!" the interrogating uncle suddenly slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "Do you think we would arrest you without evidence?"

Big Gold Tooth panicked even more. He tentatively asked, "Could you give me a hint, officer?"

The uncle sneered and closed the notebook: "Take him away and let him think about it."

And so, Big Gold Tooth was thrown into the detention cell and held there for most of the day. No one paid him any attention; no matter how much he cried out for justice, it was as quiet as if no one was there.

Gradually, he realized that this was not a normal case-handling procedure, that someone was setting him up, and that this person had considerable influence to make his uncles cooperate so much.

"Who could it be?" Big Gold Tooth licked his dry, cracked lips. You see, he had spent years in Beijing and Tianjin, and had never offended anyone in Hangzhou. He thought of everyone he could possibly have offended, but he couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Gollum—

His stomach rumbled, and Big Gold Tooth gave a helpless, wry smile.

Just then, the iron gate was suddenly pushed open, and two uncles walked in, expressionlessly unlocking his handcuffs.

"I'm truly innocent!" Big Gold Tooth immediately put on a dramatic act, his face contorted in a mournful expression. "I'm a law-abiding citizen; I wouldn't even dare run a red light."

"Stop talking nonsense, someone wants to see you." The uncle grabbed him roughly.

Big Gold Tooth's heart tightened—the real boss was finally about to show up. He pretended his legs were weak, but in reality, he secretly observed all the layouts that passed by, a habit he had developed over many years of life in the underworld.

He was led to a small conference room on the third floor. The moment he pushed open the door, the aroma of tobacco wafted out. On the leather sofa beside the conference table sat a young man in his late twenties, leisurely exhaling smoke rings. The man was tall, with sharply defined features, but his eyes were as cold as ice.

But even more striking were the two women standing behind him—identical twins, with exquisitely beautiful yet icy expressions. They wore well-tailored trench coats, their hands clasped in front of them, their eyes sharp as two drawn swords.

Big Gold Tooth's eyelid twitched. This guy's attitude was clearly hostile.

The two uncles pressed Big Gold Tooth into a chair, unlocked his handcuffs, and then respectfully nodded to the young man before quickly leaving the room.

The conference room door closed softly behind the policeman, making a barely audible click. Big Gold Tooth subconsciously swallowed, feeling his throat as dry as if it were stuffed with sand.

Big Gold Tooth stretched his aching wrist, his gold teeth flashing under the light: "Sir, I was blind to your greatness. I don't know where I offended you. Please be lenient."

"Mr. Jin, I've long admired your name." Gao Dongxu spoke, his voice deep and magnetic, yet carrying an undeniable air of authority.

Looking at the perennial underdog with graying hair in front of him, Gao Dongxu flicked his cigarette ash and said, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Gao Dongxu." He added, "You might have heard of me."

A layer of cold sweat seeped out from Da Jinya's back. He had heard of Gao Dongxu, a ruthless man who dared to challenge five major clans. Before the Lunar New Year, Gao Dongxu's name was so well-known in Liulichang that it was practically a household name.

"Young Master Gao," Big Gold Tooth forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, "I've only ever heard of your great name, but never had the chance to see you in person. To have the honor of seeing you today is truly a blessing beyond measure..."

Listening to Big Gold Tooth's flattery, Gao Dongxu slowly exhaled a smoke ring, the smoke slowly spreading in the air, blurring his handsome, almost sharp face.

"Jin Wantang, fifty-six years old, owner of Surentang in Liulichang. On the surface, he deals in antiques, but secretly he's involved in tomb raiding and artifact smuggling. Oh, and he's also a middleman, specializing in all sorts of brokerage work..."

Gao Dongxu's voice was neither loud nor soft, but it sent another cold sweat down Da Jinya's back. He did some things extremely discreetly, and by all accounts, no one should know his background.

Instinctively, Big Gold Tooth thought Gao Dongxu was bluffing him. "Master Gao, isn't there some misunderstanding...?" Big Gold Tooth forced a fawning smile, revealing his signature gold tooth. "I'm just an antique dealer, and my shop was sold a long time ago. I haven't been active in the industry for ages. How could I possibly be involved in tomb raiding or smuggling..."

Gao Dongxu chuckled and stubbed out his cigarette in the crystal ashtray. He stood up, walked over to Big Gold Tooth, looked down at him, and said with a faint smile, "Hu Bayi, Fatty Wang, Dragon Ridge Caves—"

Big Gold Tooth's pupils contracted slightly. Although he wanted to control his expression, Gao Dongxu's piercing gaze made his face twitch and sway. He couldn't help it; he really hadn't expected Gao Dongxu to mention Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang, let alone mention Longling. You have to know, very few people know about this.

That was his first time going down into a tomb, and it was a near-death experience that he still remembers vividly.

Looking at Da Jinya's expression, Gao Dongxu immediately understood that this Da Jinya was the same Da Jinya from Ghost Blows Out the Light.

That makes sense. You should know that in the original version of The Seven Stars of the Thief's Chronicles: The Palace of Lu, there were not only Wu Xie and Wu Sansheng, but also Hu Bayi.

It was later modified and deleted. Of course, Gao Dongxu was in the world of the film and television version. However, because it was a film and television variety show world, it actually achieved a dream collaboration between Tomb Raider and The Lost Tomb.

"Do you know Master Hu and Master Fatty?" Big Gold Tooth asked tentatively.

Gao Dongxu didn't answer directly. Instead, he took out Panda cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and handed it to Big Gold Tooth.

Big Gold Tooth, of course, knew his stuff. His pupils contracted again, and he hurriedly took the cigarette. He tilted his head, shielded the flame with his hand, lit the cigarette, took two deep drags, looked at Gao Dongxu, and said with a wry smile and clasped his hands, "Master Gao, please ask whatever you want. I promise to answer everything I know."

"Are you still in contact with Hu Bayi and Fatty Wang?" Gao Dongxu lit a cigarette, walked back to the sofa, sat down, and looked at Big Gold Tooth with a smile.

“Yes, we contact each other two or three times a year. They opened an antique shop in New York…” Big Gold Tooth said with a wry smile.

"Help me contact them. I have a business deal I'd like to discuss with them." Gao Dongxu wanted to push Hu Bayi and the others to find the Qin King's Bone-Illuminating Mirror. Thinking of the dragon in the deep sea that was about to transform into a dragon, a fanatical and greedy light flashed in his eyes.

"I can't guarantee they'll answer, but I can help you contact them." Big Gold Tooth didn't dare to make a sure thing, secretly glancing at Gao Dongxu's expression, only to catch a glimpse of the fervor flashing in Gao Dongxu's eyes, causing his heart to skip a beat.

“Okay.” Gao Dongxu said with a smile, “Now, tell me about how you brought the Wu family into this mess.”

"Huh?!" Big Gold Tooth was startled again. Meeting Gao Dongxu's sharp gaze, which seemed to see right through people, he revealed a smile that was more like a grimace.

"Sir, it wasn't my intention to lure the Wu family into this; I was simply hired..."

"Jude Kao." Gao Dongxu narrowed his eyes, his expression turning cold. He looked sharply at Big Gold Tooth and directly said Jude Kao's name, warning Big Gold Tooth once again not to play any tricks.

Sure enough, upon hearing Jude Kao's name, Big Gold Tooth's hand holding the cigarette trembled, his eyes flashed with panic, and he swallowed hard.

He knew he was completely finished this time. The other party knew everything, yet they were still asking him questions. If he continued to talk about petty cleverness, he might really be going to spend the rest of his life in jail.

"Yes, it was Jude Kao. He paid me 500,000 to spread the news about the Warring States tomb in Shandong Province. Besides informing a few tomb raiding teams, Jude Kao specifically asked me to come to Hangzhou in person to deliver the copy of the Warring States silk manuscript to the Wu family..."

"Why did Jude Kao release this information?" Gao Dongxu asked, raising an eyebrow. This was information he was completely unaware of.

"It's because Jude Kao sent a group of people to rob that Warring States period tomb early on, but all of his men got trapped inside and none of them came out alive. He had no choice but to come up with this dirty trick. First, he wanted to let the people who went later investigate. Second, he wanted to buy the treasures in the tomb at a high price after the tomb robbers succeeded."

He was also worried that the tomb raiders weren't skilled enough, which is why he had me lure the Wu family's tomb raiders into the trap. "Big Gold Tooth met Gao Dongxu's sharp, penetrating gaze and dared not hold back any longer, revealing everything he knew.

Gao Dongxu looked at Big Gold Tooth without showing any emotion, and asked again, "Tell me about the events at Mount Siguniang back then."

"Ah! You, you..." At this, Big Gold Tooth's expression changed drastically with even greater shock.

Gao Dongxu remained calm, his eyes slightly narrowed, smoking a cigarette as he patiently watched Da Jinya's constantly shifting expressions, his expression hesitant and conflicted.

Gao Dongxu discovered that in this real world, there are many things, details, and information that far exceed what he learned from movies, TV dramas, and books, and some of them are quite different.

For example, if he hadn't taken Big Gold Tooth, he really wouldn't have known that at this moment, A Ning's team was already trapped in the Lu King's Palace, and he would have foolishly let Fu Gui lie in wait to find people.

"Master Gao, I'm impressed. I didn't expect you to know even about this. Fine, I have nothing to hide. If you want to know, I'll tell you. I just hope that after I finish, you'll be lenient and let me off the hook." Big Gold Tooth lay down completely, feeling that he had no secrets from Gao Dongxu.

(End of this chapter)