After coming out of the cafe. Ning Tao picked up Jiang Hao’s call.

“Tao, come over here for a while. Something has cropped up in the lab. Zhang Zeshan is mad at Jia Yinhong over nothing. He must have a motive. Could you come and take a look?” It was Jiang Hao’s voice.

“I will come straight away,” Ning Tao said. He wanted to talk to Jiang Hao about his meeting with Lin Qingyu.

Ning Tao rode his electric motorbike God’s Will back onto the road. As he passed by Haidi Elementary, he found a figure waving at him on the balcony of the tallest floor of the school building. But in the blink of an eye, that man had vanished.

It was Yin Molan, the secret agent from the Ming Dynasty.

The main reason why Ning Tao felt at ease letting Hu Xiaoji study in Haidi Elementary was because Yin Molan was protecting her. Without him, he would never have allowed the girl to go to school.

While he was passing by the school gate of Haidi Elementary, the suspicion which had been interrupted because of Lin Qingyu’s appearance resurface in Ning Tao’s mind. Before entering the school gate, Hu Xiaoji had asked him who Zhu Yuanzhang was. She also mentioned some history quiz competition. He was curious, did pupils in Grade One study history?

If it were other historical figures, he probably would not feel such suspicion, because Zhu Yuanzhang was the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty and Zhu Hongyu his descendant. In the story of Destroy Nun, Hu Ji had sustained grave injuries and married Crown Prince Zhu San under another name, giving birth to Zhu Hongyu. So it seemed Hu Ji was also related to Zhu Yuanzhang’s descendants.

As he rode, he pondered. Ning Tao had not come to a conclusion yet when God’s Will arrived at the laboratory site in Peach Blossom Village.

The laboratory base was still under construction, with many construction machineries still in operation. Hundreds of workers were working on this busy site. A framed type construction had already been erected, built primarily out of steel, with wall panels made up of new materials and a large amount of glass. The structure looked quite modern. There were a total of three floors. A large vertical slogan hung down from the balcony, which read, “50 days of hard work to build a new technological park!”

Ning Tao seldom came here. Most of the time, it was Jiang Hao who was doing the inspection. This office building surprised him a little. But what made him most surprised was that there were a few armed policemen at the temporary gate of this laboratory site. They were in uniforms and looked very imposing.

Ning Tao could not help but frown. He got off his electric motorbike and pushed it towards the temporary gate.

“Stay where you are! This is a control area. Back away!” A policeman said rudely.

Ning Tao answered, “I am Ning Tao. Don’t you know me?”

That police guard glared at Ning Tao. “Ning Tao? I don’t care who you are. Do you have a visit pass? If you don’t, get lost!”

Another policeman simply said, “Come any closer and I will take action!”

Ning Tao suddenly yelled, “Come out, Zhang Zeshan!”

The armed guards all froze collectively, their reactions strange. They were all brought here by Zhang Zeshan, and they had never encountered anyone who dared call the man like this.

A door on the third floor opened. The person who emerged was not Zhang Zeshan, but Jiang Hao.

Jiang Hao said, “Why are you still standing at the gate? Come in quickly.”

Ning Tao pushed his electric motorbike towards the gate.

The armed guards all glanced at Jiang Hao and seemed to have understood. This time, no one stopped Ning Tao.

As Ning Tao pushed his electric motorbike God’s Will, he said, “Be careful of your guns. Although there aren’t any bullets in them, you won’t be able to pay for my motorbike if you scratch the paint.”

The armed guards stared at each other, watching Ning Tao push his motorbike into the office building.

“How did he know there weren’t any bullets in our rifles?”

“Who’s this lad?”

“I don’t know. We must check him up later. But never mind. If he dares to call Director Zhang’s name again. I will smash his motorbike! Just look at his f**king face!”

“Keep your voices low. We can’t afford to offend that woman, Jiang Hao. I heard she’s from the secret department and very powerful. We can offend everyone here but her.”

While the armed guards were chattering away, Jiang Hao raced out of the office building and plunged headlong into the arms of that lad who had just parked the motorbike. Her intimate gesture resembled that of a young wife seeing her husband. Several jaws dropped to the ground.

“What took you so long?” Jiang Hao released Ning Tao. She did not dare embrace him for too long. If Ning Tao were to arouse her desires, she would not be able to control her demon power. The people and things around her would all freeze.

Ning Tao replied, “I was mulling over things, so I rode slow.”

“Mulling over what?” Jiang Hao asked.

“I’ll let you know later.” Ning Tao said. “Oh, by the way, why did Zhang Zeshan scold Jia Yinhong? And what’s with all these armed guards?”

“Come with me.” Jiang Hao entered the stairwell and spoke as they walked. “Those guards were brought here by Zhang Zeshan today. He claimed they were the first batch. Soon, more guards will be in charge of our safety. Then, he called Jia Yinhong into his office and gave him a dressing-down without any reason. They are still at it now.”

A cold sneer hovered on Ning Tao’s lips. “So he even has an office to himself and brought armed guards here? This laboratory base isn’t completed. Why the rush to take over it?”

Jiang Hao said, “He’s about to take over this place. What shall we do?”

Ning Tao smiled. “Let him take over. I will hand it to him and let him manage the project of ancestor seeking himself.”

As the two chatted, they arrived at an office on the third floor. Before they could knock, the voice of Zhang Zeshan rang out from inside the office.

“Comrade Jia Yinhong, I find your ideological issues quite serious. Very serious, in fact. I sent you here and did you give me any reports? Tell me honestly, did you take bribes from that Ning guy and forget your superiors?” This was Zhang Zeshan’s haughty voice which also sounded furious.

“Director Zhang, I did not…” This was Jia Yinhong’s aggrieved voice.

Then came Zhang Zeshan’s voice. “Still trying to make excuses? Let me ask you, that Ning guy hasn’t done any research all this while. Why didn’t you report such a serious matter to me? And you claimed not to have taken bribes from him!”

Ning Tao could not stand it anymore. He was too lazy to knock, so he merely pushed the door open and walked in.

A sudden angry look appeared on Zhang Zeshan’s face. But the moment he saw it was Ning Tao, he curbed his anger. He changed the topic quickly too. “Jia, go pour Doctor Ning a glass of water.”

“Okay. I’m going up.” Jia Yinhong seemed thoroughly relieved. He strode to pour Ning Tao water.

Ning Tao said, “Professor Jia, no need for that. I’m not thirsty. As a man in charge of scientific research, you are not good at toadying. Go and do your work. I want to talk to Director Zhang in private.”

“Okay then, I’m going back to work.” Jia Yinhong turned and left.

Zhang Zeshan did not make any more trouble for Jia Yinhong. He rose and advanced towards Ning Tao, his face wearing a smile. “Doctor Ning, you’re finally here. Today, we can have a good talk.” He offered his hand to Ning Tao.

Instead, Ning Tao walked to the sofa and sat down, crossing his legs. He asked nonchalantly, “What do you want to talk about?”

A tinge of fury flashed across Zhang Zeshan’s eyes but he did not blow up. He shifted his eyes to Jiang Hao. “Superintendent Jiang, please close the door.”

Jiang Hao did not move.

Ning Tao said, “Hao, close the door.”

Only now did Jiang Hao stretch out her hands and close the door.

Zhang Zeshan said with a smile, “Doctor Ning, I know you are not entirely pleased with my arrival. But I can’t help it. My superiors would like me to monitor this laboratory base. Can I say no?”

Ning Tao smiled. “That’s fine with me. You can supervise as much as you want. You can even take charge of the whole base, including all the scientific research under the project of ancestor seeking.”

The smile on Zhang Zeshan instantly disappeared. “Doctor Ning, what do you mean?”

Ning Tao replied, “What do I mean? You brought armed guards into this laboratory base, and won’t even let me in. Jia Yinhong was hired by me, but you made things difficult for him and even berated him. You are punishing him to warn me, right? Since you like power so much, I will let you have all the power. I won’t work for this project of ancestor seeking anymore!”

“No, no, no!” Zhang Zeshan immediately put on a smiling face to pacify Ning Tao, saying politely, “Doctor Ning, you’ve misunderstood me. I brought the armed guards here to protect myself.”

“Protect yourself? Is someone trying to harm you, that you need so many armed guards?”

“The whole matter is still because of you,” Zhang Zeshan said, his eyes staring straight at Ning Tao, as if trying to capture the latter’s minutest reactions.

“Because of me?” Ning Tao also stared at Zhang Zeshan, a keen look in his eyes.

Zhang Zeshan smiled. “Then I will be direct. I received intelligence that you have got a new formula. Just like the last time, I hope you can hand me that skull fragment so that I can present it to my superiors for safekeeping.”

Ning Tao was stunned for a moment. He expected Nicholas Conway and the practitioners behind the Genesis Biotech Company to take action. But he forgot about the “third party”.

“You wouldn’t deny it, would you?” There seemed to be some coercion in Zhang Zeshan’s eyes.

Ning Tao said nothing.

Zhang Zeshan took out his cell phone and found a photo. Then he showed it to Ning Tao.

It was a screenshot of the message Ning Tao sent to the Practitioners’ Club after returning from Mount Emei. Someone had made a screenshot out of it and sent it to Zhang Zeshan.

“This is the evidence. Doctor Ning, please hand us that skull fragment.” The coercion in Zhang Zeshan’s voice intensified.

Ning Tao was fuming inside, but he maintained a smile on his face. “That skull fragment has been seized by someone. But I remember its contents. I will write it out for you. You can still present that to your superiors.”

“Seized by someone? Who?”

“Those guys were masked. I don’t know who they were,” Ning Tao replied.

“Humph!” Zhang Zeshan snorted coldly. “Do you think I will believe you? Doctor Ning, we are all adults. Don’t make such elementary mistakes. If you insist on not giving it to me, the consequences will be dire!”

Ning Tao suddenly slapped a palm on the tea table.

Crash!

The tea table made out of solid wood instantly splintered, its flakes flying.