The Lord of the Rings

Over here.

Liu Zheng frowned as he looked at the list and contents sent by Lin Mo.

“What’s wrong, Captain Liu? What are you thinking about?” An agent walked over.

“We’ve got work to do. Arrange for people to head to Bucha. There are over a dozen primary names here and more than twenty secondary ones.”

“That many?! What kind of case is this?” The agent was baffled.

“Just go investigate as instructed. The target’s abilities are unknown, but they might be of the illusion type. Tell the brothers to stay cautious. We only need to lock onto the targets.”

Liu Zheng wasn’t sure if Lin Mo was testing their skills or just giving them something to do.

Still, Yangcheng had been fairly stable lately, with no major issues cropping up.

Jiang Yeqiu returned to the company but didn’t head straight to his office. Instead, he paused at the front desk.

He rubbed the ring, the bone-chilling coolness spreading along his fingertips.

An experiment needed a control group.

He slipped the ring back onto his finger and strolled over to the front desk, casually tapping his knuckles twice on the polished counter.

The front desk girl had been staring at her computer screen with an air of icy indifference. Hearing the sound, she instinctively looked up.

The moment she recognized Jiang Yeqiu, the frost on her face melted at a visible pace, replaced by a pool of spring water that could drown a man.

“Director Jiang, standing must be tiring.” Her voice was eight degrees sweeter than usual, syrupy enough to cloy.

“Is there something you need? Want something to drink? I just brewed some rose tea—good for the skin. Or would you like to try some of my tea?”

As she spoke, her slender fingertips lightly pushed her own ceramic mug across the desk toward Jiang Yeqiu.

On the rim of the mug, a distinct lipstick mark sat provocatively.

Jiang Yeqiu’s eyelid twitched.

This front desk girl was famously the company’s untouchable ice queen. On a normal day, saying an extra word to her would make her act like you were wasting her time, eager to clock out.

Today, she was like a completely different person.

In truth, Jiang Yeqiu rarely grazed on grass near his own nest—it was too risky.

But testing the ring’s effect today was turning out to be surprisingly amusing.

He found it funny inside, but his face remained passive, wearing only his trademark gentle smile as he shook his head lightly.

“No need. I’m just getting some air here.”

With that, he turned and walked toward his office. Once inside, he quietly slipped the ring off his finger and tucked it into his pants pocket.

A minute passed.

He came back out again.

“Lisa, check for me—are there any visitor appointments this afternoon?”

This time, Lisa didn’t even raise her eyes. Her gaze stayed fixed on the computer screen as she tapped her keyboard matter-of-factly, pulling up the log.

“Director Jiang, all of today’s appointments have ended.”

Her voice was cold and crisp, strictly professional—a world apart from before.

Jiang Yeqiu’s gaze drifted to the mug on her desk, with its lipstick mark. He studied it with playful interest for a moment.

“Alright. I’m going out to meet a client. If anyone comes looking for me unexpectedly, please log it and send me a message.”

“Understood, Director Jiang.”

Lisa’s reply was brisk and precise, without a single extra word.

Jiang Yeqiu turned to leave. The moment he stepped out of the company’s front door, the curve of his lips couldn’t be held back any longer.

Confirmed.

The ring’s effect was indeed powerful.

But a new question arose.

The face of Chairman Chu floated into his mind.

Why was she completely unaffected?

Was it because she had stronger willpower?

No. Lisa had plenty of suitors too, and she wasn’t immune.

Was it her status and aura? Could the presence of a chairman commanding a massive business empire truly be strong enough to resist this kind of supernatural power?

Or did the ring’s effect have some unknown exemption mechanism?

Something about this felt off.

After thinking it over carefully, Jiang Yeqiu decided to go back and ask Zhafu what was going on.

In a dimly lit room, a strange smell lingered, mixing herbs and aged wood.

A faint, rasping sound continued steadily. Zhafu was bent over, slowly polishing something in his hands with a rough piece of deerskin. It looked like some kind of animal skull, its eye sockets dark and hollow.

Sensing the familiar footsteps and the door opening, Zhafu didn’t look up. He kept working as he casually asked, “How’d it go? Did it work?”

“Well… it worked, but it also didn’t work.”

Jiang Yeqiu’s voice carried a note of frustration. He walked to the table and set the bone ring down—the clink of bone against glass cutting sharply through the room.

Hearing that, Zhafu finally stopped.

He put down the skull and deerskin, his clouded eyes shifting to the ring, still trembling slightly on the table.

“What does that mean?”

Jiang Yeqiu set the ring on the table and sighed.

“I used it on the chairman of our group. No effect. But when I tried it on a female employee back at the company, it worked.”

Zhafu stretched out his withered hand, picked up the ring, weighed it in his palm, and brought it to his nose to sniff.

“Your group’s chairman has someone—or something—protecting her from behind. Looks like trouble,” Zhafu said. He couldn’t quite tell what was shielding Chu Lintian. After a moment’s thought, he added, “We’ll need another way to test it. Let’s see if your chairman has a hidden expert backing her or some kind of protective object.”

Jiang Yeqiu wasn’t naive, but he was cautious.

“We’ll have to be careful. If we can’t control her, we can still control others.”

Zhafu shook his head. “The more people you control, the higher the risk. If something happens to me, all these talismans lose their power. Then you’ll be in real trouble.”

Both men were cautious, each weighing the risks.

“In that case, we’ll take it slow. But how do we figure out what her protective charm is?”

“Leave that to me.”

Zhafu picked up the deerskin again, wiping the crevices of the bone. “I have my ways to probe the situation. Don’t worry—no one will trace it back to us.”

“Good! If you need anything, just tell me. I’ll get it for you however I can.” Jiang Yeqiu quickly showed his usefulness.

But Zhafu shook his head again.

“No need. The materials I require—you can’t get them. I’ll have to do it myself.”

Zhafu ignored him, lost in his own thoughts, then suddenly seemed to figure something out.

“Oh, right.”

He looked up at Jiang Yeqiu.

“Money, though—you can still get me that.”

Zhafu stretched out his hand, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Give me money. A lot of money. Some materials have to be bought with cash.”

When it came to money, Jiang Yeqiu could deliver. By now, even their company’s general manager had become a walking moneybag.