"Are you all dead?! I've been trapped here for so long—ouch!" Qi Maojin slammed his fist on the table in anger, but his palm unexpectedly hit the raised carving on the tabletop, and he immediately felt a sharp pain.

The bodyguards stood silently before him, heads bowed. Hearing the cry of pain, one of the younger, brown-haired bodyguards couldn't help but peek up. Seeing Qi Maojin's appearance, he almost burst out laughing—

He was a mess, with a red and swollen ring around his lips from when they forcibly pulled the vase out. He was grimacing and clutching his hand, his face contorted in pain. The snake blood in his body was surging, making the snake scales on his face even more prominent, making him look quite ridiculous.

The brown-haired bodyguard quickly lowered his head, biting his tongue to suppress a smile.

But Qi Maojin still saw it. His expression changed, and he picked up the long-necked vase and threw it at him.

The brown-haired bodyguard dodged to the side, and the vase fell to the ground and shattered.

Seeing this, Qi Maojin's face turned even worse, and his anger was almost about to burst out of his skull.

"How dare you dodge!" He gritted his teeth, stood up and rushed forward, raising his hand to deliver a loud slap across the face.

The brown-haired bodyguard's face was turned to the side by the slap, but he quickly turned back as if nothing had happened. His expression was indifferent, and his tone was even more detached: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

Qi Maojin finally felt a little relieved. His expression turned ferocious, and he sneered, slapping the man's cheek with his finger in an insulting manner. "Recognize your place. No matter what official position you held before, you're just a lousy bodyguard now. You dare to laugh at me? Believe me or not, I'll have my sister kill you!" As he said the last sentence, the smile on his face vanished, and a chilling coldness flashed in his pair of eerie green snake eyes.

The brown-haired bodyguard lowered his eyes and remained silent.

He was finally satisfied and sat back down. "Go, find her for me! Doesn't she like to run away? Then break her arms and legs!"

The bodyguards responded in unison.

As he stepped outside, the beaten brown-haired bodyguard glanced into the room with a gloomy expression, his fists clenched at his sides, knuckles cracking.

What is Qi Maojin anyway! If he hadn't gotten lucky and latched onto a powerful figure, he'd probably still be begging for food at someone's feet!

Just wait, once you fall into my hands, I will repay you a hundredfold for the humiliation I suffered today!

His companion passed by him, noticed that his expression was not right, paused slightly, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't rush. The leader instructed that after we've used him as a pawn, we'll—" He held his hand across his neck, palm down, and moved it back and forth, "to eliminate any future trouble."

The brown-haired bodyguard's eyes flickered slightly, and he nodded.

The group quickly dispersed, searching everywhere for Nan Xian's whereabouts.

Shixi Tower is filled with distinguished guests today, among whom there may be forces hostile to the First Leader. Since the First Leader took office, those who oppose her have been trying to find fault with her. This is why she sent so many bodyguards to monitor Qi Maojin. Qi Maojin is simple-minded and easily swayed, making him an easy target for those hostile forces to use as bait to suppress her.

To avoid alerting these people, the bodyguards acted discreetly, quietly infiltrating in all directions to conduct a thorough search, leaving no suspicious guest unchecked.

What they didn't expect was that Nan Xian was right under their noses.

After leaving the hall, Nan Xian used the same trick again and knocked down a waiter.

She hid him in the bathroom and changed into his work clothes.

She was tall, and the waitress happened to be quite thin, so the uniform didn't look out of place on her. She then pulled her long hair up and tucked it into her hat, and smeared a layer of ash on her eyebrows, the sides of her nose, and the hollows of her cheeks. At first glance, she looked like a tall, thin, handsome young man with deep-set features.

Furthermore, with the "cheat code" given to her by Diao Yu, she reduced her aura to a level that was even harder for ordinary people to detect, effectively minimizing her presence and causing others to subconsciously ignore her. As a result, as long as she blended into a crowd, unless they were truly familiar with her or used powerful magical artifacts, she would be completely invisible to them.

After completing her disguise, she walked out of the restroom, placed a "Under Repair" sign on the door, and then confidently walked towards the lobby on the first floor.

As she turned the corner, two bodyguards walked towards her from the other end of the corridor. Nan Xian didn't even flinch and calmly continued walking forward.

The two bodyguards glanced lightly at her face before quickly looking away.

The two passed each other by.

The two bodyguards, holding walkie-talkies, said, "The first-floor corridor has been searched; nothing was found."

Nan Xian's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she let out a barely perceptible sigh.

She quickened her pace, grabbing a tray for holding the wine as she went.

The lobby on the first floor is the busiest place, and the lighting is dim. It's difficult for two people sitting at the same table to see each other's faces clearly, let alone a waiter passing by from such a distance.

She stood in the corner, observing her surroundings discreetly.

A painting is being auctioned on stage; it's a work by an ancient master. Nan Xian doesn't know much about these kinds of paintings, but she had seen something similar in her father's study. Her father treasured it so much that he specially commissioned a glass display case to show it to him.

The painting was eventually sold to a guest on the second floor for 1.5 million.

The auctioneer on stage smiled and put down the gavel, beginning to introduce the next item for auction.

"Next up for auction is a jade screen from the Tang Dynasty—"

Nan Xian's spirits lifted instantly, and she looked up at the stage.

It's exactly what Mr. Pang specifically requested!

She was waiting there, hoping to find out the location of Mr. Pang's private room.

Although she had never actually seen what he looked like, for some reason, after overhearing that conversation by chance, a strange premonition suddenly arose in her heart—

This Mr. Pang is very likely closely related to the purpose of my trip!

But upon seeing this, she couldn't help but frown.

The name "jade screen" naturally suggests a screen made of or decorated with jade, but this is not the case here.

During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Yang Guozhong, a relative of the emperor, was in power and indulged in extravagance. In winter, he would often select the fattest servants and concubines and order them to stand in a row in front of him to keep warm by the breath of living people. This was called the "meat array" and was later also known as the "meat screen".

Perhaps because the name was considered inelegant, the flesh screen gradually came to be called the jade screen.

On the stage at this moment is a screen carved from jade, depicting a plump and beautiful woman.

These women were all naked, striking suggestive and alluring poses, their explicit content comparable to that of certain forbidden books and paintings from ancient times.

Nan Xian curled her lip, secretly spitting in her heart at the face of Mr. Pang, whom she had never met.