Chapter 273: An Unexpected Encounter
Huo Yao looked around casually after entering the cultural relic exhibition. All the relics were placed in special cabinets and completely sealed under gla.s.s covers, so visitors could only view them from one meter away.
The exhibition consisted of two floors. Priceless antiques ranging from the Qin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty were placed on the ground floor.
Huo Yao looked around on the ground floor but failed to locate what she was seeking, so she went upstairs.
The relics on the second floor were more precious and were deemed to be world-cla.s.s antiques. Considering how rare these antiques were, the second floor’s security was far tighter than that on the ground floor.
Huo Yao stood at the steps and re-adjusted her cap in easy movements. Then she moved two steps closer to the wall on the left before retrieving a pair of ordinary-looking gla.s.ses and put them on.
In an instant, the maze of infrared beams around the cultural relic exhibition objects came into her sight. The moment she touched them, the alarm would get activated, and she might even die in the process.
So only the pa.s.sage which was one meter away from the antiques was safe for walking.
Huo Yao pursed her lips as she moved her cap slightly sideways. She looked up a little and studied the entire second floor layout for a minute before she removed her gla.s.ses and put them away.
All the best pieces were placed in the display case at the center of the hall. A dragon and phoenix engraved jade lay quietly in the transparent cabinet while the lights over it brought its beauty to life.
The white jade was translucent and almost flawless. The lifelike engraving showed how talented the Western Zhou artisans were. Huo Yao’s eyes lit up and she exclaimed in astonishment.
It was beautiful and certainly lived up to its name as Western Zhou jade.
Other than Huo Yao, there was another group of visitors looking at the jade. Among them, there were two foreigners who stood there chatting with their arms crossed.
They were conversing only in English.
Yang Yi had come out of the CCTV control room and entered the ground floor through an internal pa.s.sageway. He scanned the visitors with his sharp eyes and slowly left for the second floor when he did not detect anything amiss there.
He walked up the steps, dressed in a black suit and bright leather shoes without making any sound. A murderous aura oozed from him as he moved swiftly. He came to a stop the moment he reached the last step.
Yang Yi’s subordinates updated him through his headset, informing him that all was clear. His eyes landed on the Western Zhou jade placed at the center of the hall before he turned to scrutinize the visitors around it.
Huo Yao raised her hand to check her watch for the time before she headed to the bathroom.
She could keenly sense a sharp gaze sweeping over the room while the employees’ voices from downstairs could be heard, asking the visitors to produce their pa.s.ses.
Huo Yao narrowed her eyes and continued walking nonchalantly. A pair of eyes glanced at her briefly before veering elsewhere. She pursed her lips.
Before Huo Yao made it to the pa.s.sage leading to the bathroom, the bright lights in the exhibition hall went out, leaving nothing but total darkness.
Someone in the exhibition screamed anxiously, and everything turned to chaos in an instant.
Huo Yao pursed her lips in the darkness and stood stock-still. She took out her night vision gla.s.ses, and the darkness dissipated to reveal the Western Zhou jade cabinet at the center of the hall.
The two foreigners standing before the jade previously were now nowhere to be seen.