Rebirth 09: Starting from taking charge of Running Man on CCTV

"She said she couldn't find it no matter what."

"That's even stranger."

Brother Hu nodded. "Brother Hua, you mean...?"

Wallace Huo didn't rule out the possibility of a definitive answer.

"I have no evidence. But I think we need to keep an eye on her from now on."

Brother Hu nodded, his expression serious.

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind too."

Huo Jianhua glanced at him, then turned and left.

Hu Ge stood by the window, watching Huo Jianhua's figure disappear at the top of the stairs.

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

Yang Mi is not an undercover agent.

He is the one.

But it couldn't be better for Huo Jianhua to focus his attention on Yang Mi.

Brother Hu strolled out of the corner tower.

Keep dawdling.

Meanwhile, in the lobby on the first floor of the Vermilion Bird Tower.

Deng Chao led the Running Man team back empty-handed from the southeast corner.

"Brother Chao, are you sure it's the southeast corner?"

Zheng Kai looked doubtful.

"I...maybe I read it backwards."

Deng scratched his head, looking completely innocent.

Shen Teng leaned against the pillar, looking at him with a smile.

That smile sent chills down Deng Chao's spine.

"How about we change direction?"

Deng quickly changed the subject, "We haven't even been to the northwest corner yet!"

"Brother Chao".

Shen Teng spoke up.

"Um?"

"Is your sense of direction a little off today?"

Deng Chao's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained expressionless.

"I've always had a bad sense of direction, you know that."

Shen Teng smiled and didn't say anything more.

But something was hidden in those squinting eyes.

Deng Chao didn't dare to think too much and clapped his hands.

"Let's go, let's not waste time!"

The seven people dispersed again and continued searching inside the Vermilion Bird Tower.

Deng Chao walked at the very back, glancing back at Shen Teng's retreating figure.

This person's intuition is incredibly accurate.

We need to find a way to distract him.

Otherwise, his undercover identity might not last long in the upcoming name tag ripping segment.

Shen Teng followed behind the main group, walking slower and slower.

Deng Chao led his men towards the southeast corner, their steps quick, shouting, "Hurry, hurry, it's just ahead!"

Shen Teng stopped.

He watched Deng Chao's retreating figure and narrowed his eyes.

The clue we just saw—that the dragon's tail pointing to the lower right—leads to the southeast?

What kind of logic is that?

Shen Teng stood in the corridor and glanced back at the six people who had run away in the southeast direction.

Then he turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

"Teng-ge! Where are you going?"

Chen He's voice came from afar.

"My back hurts, I can't walk anymore, I'm going to rest for a while."

Shen Teng waved his hand without turning his head.

Chen He hesitated for a moment, then Zheng Kai dragged him away.

"Never mind him, Brother Teng is out of shape, let him rest."

As the footsteps behind him gradually faded away, Shen Teng's lips curled up slightly.

He walked slowly along the east corridor of the Vermilion Bird Tower, his gaze sweeping over the rooms on both sides.

The first one was empty.

The second room had a few chairs.

The third one...

Shen Teng stopped.

The door was ajar, and warm yellow light shone from inside.

He pushed open the door.

A study filled with ancient books.

Three walls are lined with bookshelves, stretching from the floor to the ceiling, densely filled with thread-bound ancient books, bamboo slips, and scrolls.

In the very center is a mahogany desk, upon which are placed writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.

Shen Teng walked in, looked around, and smiled at the camera crew filming him.

"Look at the production team, they've put all their effort into the set design."

He reached out and pulled a book from the shelf, flipped through it, and put it back.

"These books really do look like ancient books; the paper has been artificially aged."

I picked up another book and flipped through it.

"But it was all blank paper inside."

He shoved the book back in, put his hands on his hips, and looked up at the three walls of books.

"Bamboo slips...bamboo slips..."

He muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping upwards.

The bottom layer is filled with thread-bound books.

The middle layer is the roller.

The highest level...

Shen Teng's eyes lit up.

On the top shelf, there was a row of antique-style bamboo slips neatly arranged, with several particularly thick, finely bound ancient books next to them.

"It's you."

Shen Teng moved a chair over, stepped on it, and reached out to touch the top shelf.

The first scroll of bamboo slips, when unfolded and examined, was empty.

Volume Two is empty.

Volume Three...

It's still empty.

Shen Teng wasn't in a hurry.

His gaze shifted to the thick books next to the bamboo slips.

The first one is normal.

The second book.

The moment Shen Teng pulled the book out, he felt something was off.

It's too light.

Such a thick book, yet it's as light as an empty box.

He opened the cover.

The book block was hollowed out, with a rectangular groove carved out in the middle.

Half a bronze token lay quietly in the groove.

Shen Teng pinched the edge of the token with his fingers and slowly took it out.

Turn it over.

The front is engraved with half a coiled dragon, with clear scales and outstretched claws.

It's not a bull's head.

It is the Azure Dragon.

Half of the Azure Dragon Token.

Shen Teng stood on a chair, holding up the token, smiling so hard his eyes disappeared into the camera lens.

"Did you see that?"

He waved the token in his hand.

"That's the power of the brain."

He jumped off the chair, stuffed the token into his pocket, and dusted off his hands.

"Deng Chao led six men and ran to the southeast corner. I'll stay here alone and take care of it in three minutes."

He gave a thumbs-up to the camera.

"Shen Teng is the smartest member of the Running Man cast, bar none."

The cameraman was trying not to laugh behind the camera.

Shen Teng straightened his clothes, pushed open the study door, and peeked out to look around.

The corridor was empty; there was no one there.

He closed the door and walked quickly toward the direction where the Running Man cast was gathered.

She walked lightly, humming a little tune.

"etc."

He suddenly stopped and glanced back at the camera.

"Deng Chao must not know about this."

He thought for a moment, then added another sentence.

"We can't let Chen He know either; that kid's a sieve."

He patted the token in his pocket and continued walking.

"Keep it hidden for now, and reveal it at the crucial moment."

The second floor of the Vermilion Bird Tower, the west corridor.

Zheng Kai and Baby walked together, and the two of them had already searched four rooms, all of which were full of fake bull heads.

"I don't think the real token is even in the room."

Baby whispered.

"Where is it?"

Zheng Kai looked completely bewildered.

"Think about it, it would be so boring if the production team hid all the tokens in cabinets and drawers."

Baby walked along, looking around as she went, her gaze sweeping over the decorations on both sides of the corridor.

Flower stands, potted plants, paintings, porcelain vases...

Her steps suddenly slowed down.

"Kai Kai, look at that."

She pointed to a large blue-and-white porcelain vase, about half a person's height, at the corner of the corridor.

The vase sits on a mahogany base, with a few dried flowers inserted at its mouth; it looks like an ordinary decorative item.

But Baby stared at it for several seconds.

"What's wrong?"

Zheng Kai leaned closer.

"The placement of this vase is too deliberate."

Baby tilted her head and said, "Look, this is the only large piece of furniture in the entire corridor, and it's placed right in a dead corner. You can't even notice it if you don't look carefully."

Zheng Kai was skeptical.

"Do you think there's something inside?"

"Give it a try."

Zheng Kai walked over, took out the dried flowers and placed them on the ground, then put his hand into the mouth of the vase.

The vase wasn't very big; he could barely fit his hand inside.

He fumbled around the bottom of the bottle for a few seconds with his fingers.

"There's something there!"

Zheng Kai's expression changed. He pinched a hard object between his fingers and slowly pulled it out.

With a "pop," my hand was pulled out of the bottle.

He held a bronze token between his fingertips.

He turned it over and took a look.

A half-piece of a pattern of a tortoise and a snake intertwined.

Xuanwu (Black Tortoise).

Holy crap!

Zheng Kai almost jumped up, "It really is! It's Xuanwu!"