Long Che and Tong Airui quickly arrived at the basent.
The butler pointed to a cylindrical object wrapped in red silk and said, "This is the item. I discovered it while inventorying the gifts."
Tong Airui reached out and pulled off the red silk. Once they saw what was inside, both father and son’s expressions subtly changed.
Inside the cylindrical glass vessel was a woman’s hand, beautifully rare in its elegance. Slender yet full, pale and flawless, its nails glimred with a faint bluish sheen, soft and pearl-like.
"Is the na of the sender listed?" Tong Airui turned to look at the butler.
The butler hurriedly handed the gift list to Tong Airui. "There’s not even a na, just the two characters ’An Old Acquaintance.’"
Tong Airui let out a faint laugh. "This is their way of throwing down the gauntlet for us."
Long Che raised an eyebrow slightly. "With no clues even after this much digging, it’s no wonder they’re looking down on us."
Tong Airui pressed his lips together tightly. "This thing can’t stay in the house—it might scare everyone. Grandpa Huang, have soone send this to the police station. Let them run a DNA test to see which body it belongs to."
The butler acknowledged with a brief nod, then rewrapped the glass vessel in the red silk and placed it in a box.
After the butler left, Long Che glanced at the shooting range nearby. "Let’s go fire a few rounds."
Tong Airui chuckled. "Are we being serious, or just ssing around?"
"I might not lose," Long Che quipped, raising an eyebrow as he led his son to the shooting range.
The two of them picked up pistols and began loading bullets one by one. Tong Airui’s voice lowered, "This is the first ti I’ve seen dismbered body parts like this. I have a hunch the person behind it is soone in the dical field—probably a surgeon who’s skilled with scalpels."
"Your mom said all the cut surfaces were incredibly clean, like the precision of a surgeon’s work. Did you notice earlier how beautiful that hand was? Such a stunning hand—we have one in our family too."
The hand holding Tong Airui’s gun trembled slightly.
Long Che’s lips curved faintly as he raised his gun and aid at the bullseye.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" After the gunshots echoed, Long Che glanced at the display screen beside him. "Your mind’s already in turmoil."
"I just thought of soone. He once praised Luo-wa’s hands in front of . He said he saw a work of art." Tong Airui chuckled lightly as he noted his score—five shots in the nine-ring zone—then continued loading his gun.
Only after loading his bullets did Long Che ask in a steady voice, "Who was it?"
"Park Shunyan. Speaking of him, you might not know him, but you know his father—Park Huanyan."
Long Che frowned slightly. "Which one of the siblings is that?"
"The eldest." Tong Airui narrowed his eyes slightly, aid at the bullseye, and fired five consecutive shots.
After glancing at the display screen, Long Che then raised his own pistol.
Tong Airui turned to look at him. "I think you might hit an eight-ring this ti."
Long Che chuckled faintly. "You’re underestimating !"
After Long Che fired his five rounds, he laughed. "Check my score for ."
Tong Airui smirked. "Fifty points. I really did underestimate you."
"No matter what happens, you must stay composed. Like , you value relationships deeply—your wife, your family, brothers who’ve shared life and death with you. These are our weaknesses. If we can’t overco this, our enemies will toy with us like puppets."
"Dad, I understand what you an," Tong Airui said with a firm nod. "But when it involves Luo-wa, I still fall short."
"You’re still young, you need more ti to grow. One day, you’ll surpass ." Long Che set down his pistol and looked at his son. He asked in a serious tone, "This Park Shunyan you ntioned, do you have any reason to suspect him?"
Tong Airui shook his head. "Just intuition. The mont you ntioned the hand, his na popped into my mind. I don’t like him. The way he looks at Luo-wa is far too blatant, with a touch of greed. He compared Luo-wa to a commodity and even suggested paying a high price for her. That day, I almost got into a fight with him."
Long Che was silent for a mont before speaking. "This Park Shunyan you’re talking about—he’s not from the Sumr Witch tribe, and his background is sowhat unusual. Forget that you’re only relying on intuition. Even if you do find solid grounds for suspicion, investigations of this sort can only be done in secret. The police can’t handle matters like this."
Tong Airui spoke in a low voice, "I’ll do it. We’re out of leads anyway. I’ll assign a few people to focus on him. Who knows, maybe we’ll stumble upon sothing useful."
Long Che gave his son a resigned look. "You rascal, I completely understand where you’re coming from right now. This is personal vengeance disguised as justice—you’re determined to dig sothing up even if there’s nothing there."
Tong Airui laughed. "Dad, my heart is broader than yours. Beyond intuition, I’ve also thought of so strange occurrences."
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