Everyone became a little suspicious when they saw Young Master Tang exclaim in surprise and look ‘incredulous’ at the obvious imitation.
However, Young Master Tang seemed like an expert who had been studying antiques since very young. Otherwise, how would he pick up that Han jade annulus?
“Don’t tell me that it’s real?”
“That’s impossible!”
Everyone was whispering among themselves.
Fatty Diao became alert. He looked closely at Tang Hao.
“What are you so excited about, Younger Brother-in-law? Anyone can see that it’s an imitation!” Qin Gang walked toward Tang Hao and played along.
“Shh!” Tang Hao turned toward him and shushed him, then shouted at the worker, “Hey! I want this cauldron, Quick!”
Fatty Diao’s expression changed immediately. “Wait!” He roared.
He walked over quickly and said, “I want this cauldron too. I offer sixty thousand yuan!”
Sixty thousand yuan was not a lot of money to him. He was afraid of losing out, and he did not mind losing a small amount of money to an imitation.
Tang Hao acted shocked. Then, he shouted, “I offer a hundred thousand yuan!”
Fatty Diao was shocked, and he became more suspicious about the genuineness of the antique.
‘Don’t tell me… this is a genuine Xuande incense burner?’
“You’ve lost your mind, Younger Brother-in-law!” Qin Gang seemed worried.
“You’re the one who’s lost your mind. I’ve seen a genuine Xuande incense burner before. It’s exactly the same,” Tang Hao said softly, but loud enough for Fatty Diao to overhear.
Fatty Diao’s expression changed completely. His eyes sparkled with greed.
He had completely taken the bait.
Tang Hao’s acting was too convincing. Furthermore, Fatty Diao had let down his guard because Tang Hao had successfully picked up a bargain earlier.
A genuine Xuande incense burner was worth tens of millions, while the price tag on the antique was only 50,000 yuan.
“One hundred and fifty thousand!” Fatty Diao shouted urgently.
“Two hundred thousand!” Tang Hao shouted without hesitation.
“Three hundred thousand!” Fatty Diao was becoming nervous.
“Four hundred thousand!” Tang Hao shouted while glaring at Fatty Diao, pretending to be angry.
Fatty Diao looked more gleeful than ever.
He was completely convinced that the cauldron was genuine.
“Five hundred thousand!” Fatty Diao yelled. Then, he looked provocatively at Tang Hao. “You’re still too young to fight against me, kid! Give up as soon as you can!”
Tang Hao looked furious. He gritted his teeth and shouted determinedly, “One million yuan!”
Fatty Diao was shocked. He had not expected Tang Hao to increase the bid by so much.
“F*ck, you’re one hot-tempered kid! Alright, I’ll fight you until the end. One and a half million!”
Everyone stared incredulously at the bidding war.
That was an obvious imitation in their eyes, but why were they bidding furiously as though it were the real thing?
Even more dumbstruck were the employees of Spirit Atelier.
They were beginning to doubt their appraisal abilities.
If it was an imitation, why would the two people be fighting each other over it?
Fatty Diao became impatient when the offer reached three million. “Five million!” He roared.
The hall descended into complete silence.
Everyone’s eyes glazed over.
Tang Hao hesitated. He struggled for a while, then gritted his teeth and shouted, “Six million!”
It was Fatty Diao’s turn to hesitate.
However, he remembered that a genuine Xuande incense burner was worth tens of millions. He would be able to flip it for a profit as long as the price was within ten million yuan.
He gathered his courage again. “Seven million!”
Tang Hao hesitated. “Seven and a half million!” His tone of voice wavered.
Fatty Diao became happier than ever. He could sense that the kid was reaching his limit.
“Eight million!” Fatty Diao said arrogantly while spreading his arms.
Tang Hao hesitated. A while later, he shook his head and looked disappointed.
Fatty Diao was ecstatic when he saw that. He pounced at the bronze cauldron and said happily, “Treasure! Treasure! You’re mine!”
Words could not express the victorious feeling in his heart!
He could feel a heavy burden lifted from his shoulders.
Then, he immediately paid for the item, in case Tang Hao wanted to top his bid again.
All the people from Spirit Atelier, including Boss Mo, were dumbfounded throughout the entire exchange.
“Look at this, it’s a genuine Xuande incense burner! It’ll be a family heirloom from now on!” Fatty Diao said happily.
Then, he left the store, hugging his spoils of victory happily.
The hall remained silent for a long while.
The people had not returned to their senses yet.
Meanwhile, Tang Hao and Qin Gang had a curious look on their faces.
Eventually, Qin Gang started shaking and burst out laughing. He could not hold it back anymore.
“Finally someone taught that Fatty Diao a lesson!” Qin Gang was gleeful when he was reminded of Fatty Diao’s self-satisfied look earlier.
Even Tang Hao broke into merry laughter.
Fatty Diao was an idiot. He took the bait so easily.
Everyone around them was taken aback. Then, they realized that Fatty Diao had been tricked!
“Hahaha!” Everyone laughed merrily.
None of them liked Fatty Diao because he always snatched their finds.
“I’d like to see that fat bastard’s face when he realized that he spent eight million yuan on an imitation!” Qin Gang said happily.
“He’d have a heart attack!” Someone said.
“Nice one, Young Master Tang! That Fatty Diao has been a thorn in our sides for a long time!”
“Young Master Tang, you were very convincing earlier! I nearly fell for it!”
Everyone crowded around Tang Hao and said happily.
Even Boss Mo came over. “I’ll have to thank you, Young Master Tang. You managed to sell a fifty-thousand-yuan imitation piece for eight million!” He said with a grin on his face.
Qin Gang bought a few more trinkets in the store. Meanwhile, Tang Hao was not interested in the other items.
They left the store and Tang Hao went along the street to visit the stores one by one. He inspected every item in those stores.
He did not leave empty-handed. Late in the afternoon, he found a mysterious mirror in one of the stores.
Chapter 229 - A Visit From the Police
Tang Hao stood in the middle of an antique store.
An ancient mirror was displayed on the shelf in front of him.
It was a very strange mirror. The entire item was black, including the face fo the mirror which reflected nothing at all.
Tang Hao tried sensing the qi it contained and sensed nothing at all. That was the weirdest aspect of the mirror and was what attracted his attention in the first place.
All antiques had some qi contained within them, no matter how weak it might be.
Even modern items have qi on them, just that the qi was usually too weak to be detected.
The mirror in front of him had no qi at all, which was extremely unusual.
‘Perhaps it’s a problem with the material?’
Tang Hao fondled the ancient mirror in his hand and discreetly channeled some qi into it.
The mirror absorbed the qi. Like a stone thrown into the sea, the qi was nowhere to be detected.
“That’s strange!” Tang Hao became even more curious. “Whatever. I’ll have to buy it!”
“How much is this?” He turned to ask the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper was an old man in his sixties. He had snow-white hair and wore a pair of bifocal glasses. He was surprised when he heard Tang Hao’s question.
“I remember that I bought this mirror from a grave robber many years ago! I’ve heard that they’ve delved into a tomb and many lives were lost, though they did not find many treasures. This mirror was their only worthwhile haul.
“No one could discern the origin of the mirror, and that’s why nobody bought it.
“It cost me twenty thousand yuan back then. I’ll sell it to you for sixty thousand!”
Tang Hao nodded and paid for it.
“Why are you buying this useless mirror, Younger Brother-in-law?”
Qin Gang came over and took the mirror from his hands. He inspected it curiously. “This is strange. I can’t even see my reflection in it!”
“I bought it because it’s incredibly strange! I’d like to study it!” Tang Hao said.
The sky was becoming dark when they stepped out of the store.
Qin Gang brought Tang Hao to a sumptuous dinner.
After dinner, Tang Hao called Han Yutong to pick him up.
While they were driving back home, Tang Hao’s phone rang.
It was a call from Shabby Taoist Master.
Tang Hao furrowed his brows. Did something happen again?
Twelve days ago, Shabby Taoist Master was caught in a car chase near Westridge District.
He answered the call.
“Hey, Fellow Cultivator Tang!” Shabby Taoist Master’s cheerful voice was heard over the phone.
“What’s up, Taoist Master?” Tang Hao asked.
“Do you still have any more jade talismans, Fellow Cultivator?” Shabby Taoist Master said loudly.
“I have a lot. Why?”
“Can you give me some? No, can you sell all of them to me?” Shabby Taoist Master said urgently.
“Alright. Where are you now?”
“I’m coming from Province J heading toward Westridge District, it should take another five or six hours and I should be there after midnight. It’s a little urgent, and I’m calling you in advance so that you can prepare the talismans.”
Tang Hao smiled and said, “You can come to Provincial City instead! I’m here in Provincial City attending college!”
“Ah? Attending college?” Shabby Taoist Master was surprised. “Oh, I nearly forgot that you’re only eighteen years old!
“That’s better. I’ll come immediately, and I should be there in half an hour.”
“Alright, I’ll wait for you at Octagon Alley.”
“OK!”
Shabby Taoist Master ended the call after that.
Tang Hao’s expression was grim. He could sense that Shabby Taoist Master was in some sort of trouble. Otherwise, he would not need that many jade talismans.
The last time they met, Shabby Taoist Master had purchased several dozen jade talismans from Tang Hao.
“What’s wrong, President Tang?” Han Yutong asked as she looked at the rear-view mirror.
“There’s an incident. Let’s not go home for now. We’ll head to Octagon Alley!”
“Alright!” Han Yutong did not ask too many questions. She turned a direction and headed to Octagon Alley.
They waited for about twenty minutes at Octagon Alley before they saw a car driving toward them. Soon, the car stopped and Shabby Taoist Master came out of it.
“Here, quick, Fellow Cultivator!” Shabby Taoist Master said urgently as he rushed over.
Tang Hao was already prepared. He handed a bag containing more than a hundred jade talismans to Shabby Taoist Master.
Shabby Taoist Master opened the bag to inspect the contents and grinned widely. “Thanks! How much is it?”
“Friendship discount, three million!”
“Alright!” Shabby Taoist Master retrieved a hemp sack from his car. Tang Hao was stunned when he saw the stacks of red banknotes inside.
He knew that Mao Mountain Taoist masters were loaded, but that was too extravagant!
Shabby Taoist Master passed him the stacks of money.
Tang Hao could not hold all the money in his hands, and so he threw the stacks of money into the backseat. Han Yutong was surprised when she saw that.
“What happened, Taoist Master?” Tang Hao asked.
“Sigh, it’s a long story! It’s the descendant branch of the Wang family. They’re closing in on Mao Mountain.
“What’s more troublesome is that their ancestor Wang Changsheng is sealed on top of Mao Mountain. The descendant branch found out about that and are planning to stage an invasion!”
Tang Hao was shocked when he heard that.
‘Invading Mao Mountain? Isn’t that a suicide mission?’
Mao Mountain was one of the most sacred places in the cultivation world, and Mao Mountain disciples were known for their power.
“They’re so brazen?”
“Of course! These bastards think they can beat us!”
“Aren’t there many Mao Mountain disciples? There should be many master cultivators, right?”
“Sigh! They have more people than us! Don’t you know what they’re bringing to the fight? They have machine guns and bazookas! I won’t be surprised if they bring a missile.”
Tang Hao was surprised and had no reply to that.
‘Machine guns? Bazookas?
‘Is that a joke?’
He was not afraid of those weapons, but Shabby Taoist Master would not be able to withstand that, not to mention the younger and less powerful disciples of Mao Mountain.
“Don’t worry, they won’t cause too much trouble. It’s not the first time Mao Mountain is in peril, and the descendant branch won’t pose too much trouble. Alright, I’ll have to go!”
Then, he waved at Tang Hao, then rode in his car and quickly left.
Tang Hao remained on the spot. He looked worried.
“I hope they’ll be fine!” He mumbled, then got on the car.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
It was the weekend. Tang Hao did not have classes, so he stayed at home to cultivate and craft talismans.
The doorbell rang some time in the afternoon.
Tang Hao went to look at the peephole. He saw several police officers in uniforms standing outside.
Tang Hao was surprised.
‘Police officers? Why are they looking for me?’
He pondered the question for a while and understood that they must be looking for him because of Gao Wenqiang.
Nobody had ever looked for him for the people he killed. Chen Sandao was a fugitive and everyone thought that he had disappeared in another province. Huang Haijiang was a good-for-nothing scoundrel and no one cared for him. Gao Wenqiang was different though.
Someone must have informed the police in those three days. Furthermore, Gao Wenqiang had a public fight with him, and he was of course the prime suspect.
“Can I help you with anything, Officers?”
The police officer in the lead displayed his identifying document to Tang Hao. His name was Zhao Wuyang.
Chapter 230 - A Crisis At Mao Mountain
“You must be Tang Hao! We’re from the Criminal Division of Provincial City Police Station!” The police officer in the lead said sternly.
The police officer named Zhao Wuyang was in his early twenties. His body was tall and burly and his face looked rather handsome. His brows were thick and straight like swords, which gave him a masculine charm.
His gaze was sharp and animated, as though they could pierce one’s heart.
He glared straight at Tang Hao as he spoke.
Tang Hao remained composed. “Criminal police? Is there anything?” He asked curiously.
Zhao Wuyang continued staring at Tang Hao. “You should know Gao Wenqiang, right? Your teacher has gone missing, and we suspect that he’s met with an accident.
“According to our investigations, he argued with you just on the day of his disappearance…
“Also, we found out t
hat Gao Wenqiang had paid twenty thousand yuan to a bunch of hooligans to beat you up. However, you are proficient in martial arts and you fought them off.
“Gao Wenqiang disappeared that night. One of the hooligans told us that he confessed to you about the person who hired them.
“So, we have sufficient reason to suspect that you are related to Gao Wenqiang’s disappearance. We would like to bring you back to the police station for questioning.”
Tang Hao was slightly taken aback, but he showed no expression on his face.
“Gao Wenqiang has gone missing? I thought I’d teach him a lesson! That guy is a total bastard and an animal!” Tang Hao pretended to be angry.
Zhao Wuyang furrowed his brows.
He thought carefully and remembered that Gao Wenqiang had indeed done some outrageous things. It was normal for a student to react like that.
‘This student has been reacting normally. Don’t tell me… he’s unrelated to the case?’
However, many leads pointed to the boy.
He could even say that the boy was the prime suspect.
Of course, that was just a guess. He did not have solid proof, and that was why he tried his luck at the boy’s apartment.
“Let’s go to the city police station anyway. Please cooperate with us so that we can find the truth. If you are innocent, we won’t give you any more trouble,” Zhao Wuyang said.
“Well… alright then!” Tang Hao agreed to it after a brief hesitation.
He needed to go with them to the police station. Otherwise, he might attract more suspicion.
Tang Hao was not afraid though. Gao Wenqiang was turned into ashes, and the police should not be able to find any incriminating evidence.
He changed his clothes, then followed the police downstairs.
Two police cars were parked outside.
“This way, please!” Zhao Wuyang opened the police car door.
Tang Hao stepped forward and was about to sit inside.
His phone suddenly rang at that moment.
“Don’t mind if I pick up this call?” Tang Hao stopped walking, then turned to look at Zhao Wuyang.
The Mightiest Little Peasant c1-799 Page 105
