The Chizuru Family Crashes

Su Yuan had known the password to the metal briefcase hours ago, back when he was still at home.

Click. With the password entered correctly, the exquisite metal briefcase popped open.

Inside the briefcase lay a vibrant green jade box.

The five-hundred-year-old Tianshan Snow Lotus was kept within that jade box.

Strictly speaking, the jade box itself was quite valuable; it was designed to isolate the interior from the outside, slowing the dissipation of the Tianshan Snow Lotus's medicinal properties as much as possible.

Picking up the emerald jade box, Su Yuan felt a wave of icy coldness, as if he were holding not jade, but a miniature iceberg.

"Finally got it."

A smile appeared on Su Yuan's face.

He had waited at the Yuan'an Hotel for six or seven hours—wasn't it all for this five-hundred-year-old Tianshan Snow Lotus?

He tucked the jade box away, and as for the metal briefcase? Su Yuan tossed it to the side of the road.

According to the plan provided by the Grey Mirror, this metal briefcase had to be discarded because it was equipped with a miniature tracking device.

Through the tracker inside, members of the Chizuru Family could pinpoint the exact location of the briefcase.

"That should be about right."

Only then did Su Yuan head toward the Jinshan Villa District.

At the same time, he began to mentally review his actions, checking for any potential oversights.

First, the appearance he had displayed from start to finish had been achieved by altering his bone structure; it was worlds apart from his true self, with significant differences in both height and build.

Second, he had left behind no biological information, such as fingerprints or hair.

As a life form who had reached the Great Perfection of the Transformation Realm and balanced all six dimensions, Su Yuan possessed absolute control over his body; he hadn't even left behind a stray drop of saliva, let alone obvious traces like fingerprints or hair.

On his way back to the Jinshan Villa District, Su Yuan glanced at the time.

In ten minutes, the three people from the Chizuru Family assigned to the rendezvous will realize something is wrong.

And then they will discover that the Tianshan Snow Lotus has been intercepted.

Su Yuan thought to himself.

This was an inevitable realization.

Although Chizuru Qi had never doubted Su Yuan's identity from beginning to end, the three men waiting for the handoff would eventually contact the family when the Snow Lotus failed to arrive. Once the family contacted Chizuru Qi and the three parties compared notes, the truth would naturally come to light.

Yuan'an Hotel, Room 6006.

Three members of the Chizuru Family sat upright.

These three members were named Chizuru Kami, Chizuru Takahashi, and Chizuru Tanaka.

Chizuru Kami was the only Onmyoji among them, while the other two, Chizuru Takahashi and Chizuru Tanaka, were Great Samurai.

"Once this mission is over and we deliver the Snow Lotus, the status of our Chizuru Family is bound to rise significantly."

While waiting, Chizuru Takahashi and Chizuru Tanaka chatted casually.

The Chizuru Family of the Fusang Kingdom was already a powerful force.

If the family's strongest member, the Great Onmyoji Chizuru Ichiyo, could heal his damaged essence and return to action, the Chizuru Family's influence would certainly soar.

When that time came, they, as family members, would also see their own status rise accordingly.

"Do not be careless."

"The Snow Lotus is not yet in our hands."

Chizuru Kami spoke up.

"True."

Chizuru Tanaka and Chizuru Takahashi exchanged a glance.

Caution is the parent of safety; until the Snow Lotus was secured, they had to remain vigilant.

Time slipped by.

Fifteen minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

"What is going on?"

Chizuru Kami frowned. Their agreed-upon meeting time with Chizuru Qi had been ten minutes ago.

They had waited an extra ten minutes, accounting for the possibility that Chizuru Qi had encountered some accident on the road, but now another five minutes had passed, and Chizuru Qi still hadn't arrived.

"Has Chizuru Qi run into trouble?"

Chizuru Kami stood up immediately, pondered for a moment, and began to contact the family.

Two minutes later.

The Chizuru Family, far away in the Fusang Kingdom, sent a reply.

"Chizuru Qi says he has already handed the Tianshan Snow Lotus over to us?"

Chizuru Kami was somewhat bewildered. The Tianshan Snow Lotus had been handed over to them? And Chizuru Qi said this?

Beside him, the two great samurai, Chizuru Takahashi and Chizuru Tanaka, also wore expressions of disbelief. Since the three of them had entered the designated hotel, they hadn't even seen a hair of Chizuru Qi, let alone the Tianshan Snow Lotus.

In a flash of insight, Chizuru Kami took a deep breath.

He immediately explained the situation to the family, even swearing on the honor of a samurai and an onmyoji, with Chizuru Takahashi and Chizuru Tanaka as witnesses.

The three of them had never once seen Chizuru Qi, let alone received the Tianshan Snow Lotus.

Faced with this explanation, the Chizuru Family in the Fusang Kingdom was clearly stunned, unsure for a moment who to believe.

A full ten minutes passed before the Chizuru Family sent another reply—

"Chizuru Qi says that half an hour ago, he went to the Yuan'an Hotel, successfully entered the agreed-upon Room 6006, exchanged the secret code with the contact inside, had a brief conversation, and after confirming the other party's identity, handed over the Tianshan Snow Lotus..."

Staring at the reply from the family, the three of them fell into silence once more.

Before Chizuru Kami could even speak, the Chizuru Family sent another message—

"Chizuru Qi further claims that he has repeatedly confirmed the contact's identity is correct, and he is now asking if the contact currently communicating with the family is an imposter from another faction..."

"Baka!" Rage surged in Chizuru Kami's heart. That Chizuru Qi was actually questioning their identities?

"I demand a video call to verify our identities!" Chizuru Kami steadied himself, suppressing the anger in his heart.

"Agreed." The Chizuru Family immediately consented.

In truth, the Chizuru Family also wanted to re-verify the identities of the contacts, as Chizuru Qi had been adamant that he had found the right person.

If the contact Chizuru Qi found was correct, then who were the contacts currently communicating with the family?

Soon, through a video call verification, the Chizuru Family confirmed that the identities of Chizuru Kami and the other two were genuine.

With this premise established, everything could be re-evaluated.

"Chizuru Qi said he entered the Yuan'an Hotel, took the elevator to the sixth floor, and walked to the corner on the left to Room 6006. Wait, that's wrong. Room 6006 is not in the corner to the left of the elevator."

As an onmyoji, Chizuru Kami possessed powerful spiritual strength and a superior memory; he realized something was wrong almost immediately.

"I remember that to the left of the elevator exit, there is an independent suite, and the room number is 6009."

"Someone... someone swapped the room numbers, leading Chizuru Qi into the wrong room."

Chizuru Kami immediately relayed his deduction to the Chizuru Family.

Three minutes later.

The Chizuru Family sent another message.

The content of the message was a live location tracker.

"The metal briefcase containing the Tianshan Snow Lotus is equipped with a tracking device. Find this location, and you will find the Tianshan Snow Lotus."

"Remember, at all costs, retrieve the Tianshan Snow Lotus. If you cannot retrieve it, destroy it."

Looking at the message sent by the family, Chizuru Kami stood up immediately, took the two great samurai, Chizuru Takahashi and Chizuru Tanaka, and rushed toward the location.

Ten minutes later.

The three of them found the metal briefcase, which had been discarded in the roadside greenery, completely empty.