Cursed Antiques

"I didn't mean that."

Xu Shouyang rubbed his brow painfully.

"Though I'm old, I'm not some stuffy old fossil. I won't interfere in you young people's affairs. I'm just reminding you that you're still a student, and your main task is studying. Once you officially graduate, if you want to pursue Xu Jun and it's mutual, I won't stop you."

"Don't worry, Professor Xu. There's absolutely no possibility of that. I only see her as one of the boys."

Su Ti thumped his chest loudly.

Xu Shouyang: "..."

Why did it feel like he had breathed a sigh of relief, yet somehow lost?

Xu Shouyang shook his head and cast the thought aside.

"Since it was a misunderstanding, it's good that it's been cleared up. I have quite a few antique collections at home. I wonder which dynasty's antiques you're specifically interested in."

Su Ti thought about it. He actually wasn't sure whether antiques with "energy" had anything to do with their era. After absorbing energy the day before yesterday, he had visited several antique shops and curio stores in the city last night and this morning, yet hadn't found a single antique that could provide potential.

After considering his words, he said,

"I'm very interested in the agate bracelet Xu Jun wore out the day before yesterday. Does Professor Xu have any similar antiques at home?"

Xu Shouyang's expression changed slightly at those words.

"Why are you interested in that bracelet? Can you tell me the specific reason? Is it because of its era, style, or material?"

How could Su Ti possibly explain? His real intention lay elsewhere, so he could only force himself to answer,

"That bracelet gave me a very special feeling."

"Special, is it? It really is special."

Xu Shouyang muttered twice, then rose and said to Su Ti,

"Come with me."

Su Ti stood and followed Xu Shouyang to a room with a thick electronic door.

There was even another security door inside the room, showing just how important the items within were.

Xu Shouyang pressed his fingerprint against it. With a beep, the electronic door opened. After gesturing for Su Ti to enter, he closed the door behind them.

Inside the room stood numerous display shelves.

The shelves held precious antiques and curios from various dynasties.

Every antique was enclosed beneath a glass cover, isolated from the outside world. There were more than a hundred of them.

Each one also had a description and record of its origins.

Su Ti stepped closer and saw the following written beneath a jade bracelet.

Made in Huaiyin Town Longde Ward in the 32nd year of the Hesia Ancient Dynasty, 191 years ago.

"This is my private collection room. The overwhelming majority of these items are genuine and have documented origins. Only a small portion are items whose authenticity and origins even I can't identify."

Seeing Su Ti examining the displays, Xu Shouyang explained.

Su Ti's gaze shifted to a porcelain vase.

Wutong Mountain Official Kiln, Yude Years of the Qian Dynasty, 631–652 years ago.

There was a book made of animal hide. The leather was tough, and it seemed to have once borne writing, but it had been severely burned and was no longer legible.

Martial arts book left behind by the Wu Dynasty, a product of the Martial Suppression period near the end of the Wu Dynasty, 800–811 years ago.

A finger bone from some special animal. It resembled a human hand, yet had only four fingers, and its joints were twice as thick as a human's.

Relic from the Mythological Era, palm bone of an unknown creature, 1,000–1,300 years ago.

Su Ti looked through them one by one, and shock quickly appeared in his eyes.

Xu Shouyang's collection was extensive. It included not only artifacts from the Hesia Ancient Dynasty, the Era of Hundred Kingdoms, and the Qian Dynasty, but even items from the Wu Dynasty and the Mythological Era!

If some of those items were genuine, they possessed a certain degree of historical significance. Private collection by someone like Xu Shouyang could even be illegal!

Xu Shouyang seemed to realize this as well. He coughed twice and said,

"Little Su, you can look at these things, but don't tell anyone. I know this hobby of mine isn't exactly proper, but before I die, I'll donate all of them to the country. For now, I still want to look at them for a few more years."

"Professor Xu, you've shown these things to your student, and I'm deeply honored by your trust. Don't worry, Professor Xu. I, Su Ti, will never breathe a single word about anything in this collection room!"

Su Ti immediately declared firmly. These items alone were enough to sustain Xu Shouyang for the rest of his life. The fact that he had allowed Su Ti to see his private collection room at his daughter's request was likely not only because of Xu Jun's request, but also because Su Ti was a student at Mingguang University, prompting Xu Shouyang to take an interest in mentoring him.

Hearing Su Ti's promise, Xu Shouyang nodded slightly. He would never show this place to an ordinary person without a special connection, but Su Ti was different.

"Professor Xu, may I handle these artifacts and touch them?"

Seeing so many genuine items made Su Ti's eyes burn with desire. The antique shops he had visited yesterday and this morning probably did not have even a quarter as many genuine goods combined as Xu Shouyang's collection room. Most of them had been modern crafts meant to fool people.

So among these antiques, there might very well be ones with energy.

"Go ahead, but be careful. Don't damage anything."

"Yes. Don't worry, Professor Xu."

Su Ti opened a cover and lightly touched a thumb ring from the Era of Hundred Kingdoms with his finger. According to its description, it was supposedly a product of the State of Li during the Era of Hundred Kingdoms.

The moment he touched it, no energy came through. He immediately withdrew his hand and moved to the next item.

Nothing from the next one. He changed again.

His movements were extremely fast, touching and withdrawing in an instant each time. Xu Shouyang was somewhat stunned. He had thought Su Ti would pick them up and admire them carefully, but instead he merely opened each cover and touched it with a fingertip?

Before long, Su Ti had touched every antique in the room.

Disappointment filled Su Ti's eyes. He had touched every artifact, even the ancient relics from the Wu Dynasty and Mythological Era, yet not a trace of energy had increased.

But he clearly remembered that the agate bracelet on Xu Jun's wrist had been an antique from the Era of Hundred Kingdoms. Could it be that the source of energy wasn't antiques, but agate and crystals?

Did minerals contain energy?

Had he been searching in the wrong direction?

Just as Su Ti was utterly baffled, Xu Shouyang suddenly said,

"Su Ti, I can tell you don't truly like antiques. You're looking for something similar to that bracelet from the Era of Hundred Kingdoms, aren't you?"

After a moment of silence, Su Ti nodded.

"Yes."

"In that case, I'll let you see those similar items."

An unreadable look appeared in Xu Shouyang's eyes. He walked to one side of the wall and entered a password into the only safe there. With a click, the safe opened.

There were no gold bars or money inside, only three sealed lead boxes.

Xu Shouyang took out the three boxes and placed them on a desk in front of Su Ti.

"Take a look, but be quick. I'll have to put them back once you're done."

Seeing how seriously Xu Shouyang treated them, Su Ti couldn't help growing curious about what was inside. He opened the first box.

The instant he opened it, the powerful senses granted by mastering Dragon Shape Five Forms suddenly detected a trace of chill.

It wasn't actual cold, but the kind of chill that ran down one's spine—a warning, as though something bad had been released.

Su Ti frowned slightly and looked closely. Inside the lead box was a green jade thumb ring.

He extended a finger and touched the ring. Boom!

A powerful stream of cool energy surged wildly into his body, and the energy in the modifier began skyrocketing!

30%!

80%!

150%!

210%!

With only that brief touch, Su Ti's energy had risen to 210%!

However, while the energy inside was fierce, it lacked endurance. After reaching 210%, it stopped and did not increase further.

The chill down Su Ti's back also vanished once the energy had been fully absorbed.

Su Ti's eyelids twitched, and delight appeared on his face. This felt incredible.

He hurriedly opened the second box. Inside was a silver necklace.

When he reached out and touched it, the same thing happened. His energy value soared again!

290%!

360%!

480%!

The energy from this second antique was greater than that of the first, bringing Su Ti's total energy to 480% before stopping. However, it had also exhausted every bit of energy in the necklace.

Su Ti closed the lid and opened the third lead box, only to find the agate bracelet Xu Jun had worn out the day before yesterday.

He touched the agate bracelet, but there was no response and no change in energy. Su Ti wasn't surprised, because the bracelet's energy had already been completely absorbed by him that night.

He couldn't help looking at Xu Shouyang.

"Professor Xu, what makes these three antiques different from the previous ones?!"

Su Ti desperately wanted to know the answer. As long as he knew what characteristics these three antiques possessed, he might be able to find a way to increase his energy!

As long as the modifier had enough energy, combined with Ancient Martial Arts, Su Ti could rapidly improve his strength!

Sigh.

Xu Shouyang sighed, gathered the three antiques one by one, returned them to the safe, and locked it.

Only then did he say to the watching Su Ti,

"You may think I kept these three antiques separately in a safe because they're valuable and need protection."

Su Ti froze. "Isn't that the reason?"

Xu Shouyang shook his head.

"Yes, and no. The reason I sealed them in lead boxes and locked them in a safe was to protect the people who came into contact with them."

"These antiques are no ordinary antiques."

"They are Cursed Antiques that bring disaster and misfortune to whoever touches them."

"Cursed Antiques? What are those?"

Su Ti was puzzled. Even as a history student who had some contact with antiques, this was the first time he had heard of such a type of artifact.

"Sigh, the fact that you sought out such things means you share a strange fate with them. Listen carefully, and I'll explain."

Xu Shouyang sighed and slowly explained, soon allowing Su Ti to understand the origins of these antiques.

Cursed Antiques were a very small category among the many types of antiques.

Hesia had believed in feng shui since ancient times, believing that wearing certain objects could bless and empower a person. Jade nourished people, silver expelled toxins, gold brought wealth and status, and so on.

Some people even placed jewelry in temples and Taoist shrines for worship, seeking divine empowerment.

Where there was righteousness, there was the strange. Where there was yin, there was yang. Where there was good fortune, there was misfortune.

Cursed Antiques were such objects.

How they came into being could no longer be verified, but every collector who had come into contact with them had suffered misfortune.

"Take that agate bracelet from the Era of Hundred Kingdoms. Before it came into my possession, it had already caused the deaths of two owners."

"The first was a wealthy businessman. Not long after collecting it, he died of a sudden heart attack."

"The second was a healthy young heir from a wealthy family. He died in a car accident."

"Though they died in different ways, they both did the same thing before their deaths: they had prolonged contact with, and even wore, that agate bracelet."

Su Ti rubbed his chin, finding it rather absurd.

"That isn't scientific, is it? It could have just been an accident."

"Science? Heh heh."

Xu Shouyang smiled.

"I only got that agate bracelet back three days ago. I left it outside and let my guard down for a moment. As a result, Xu Jun secretly took it."

"That very night, something happened to her!"

Su Ti was stunned. That had been the incident with Dragon Bro. If he had not been there at the time, Xu Jun would likely have been in serious trouble. She had encountered disaster immediately after putting it on. Thinking about it that way, it really was eerie.

Xu Shouyang rubbed the thumb ring on his hand and sighed.

"Xu Jun didn't know about Cursed Antiques, and I never told her. It nearly caused a catastrophe."

At that point, Xu Shouyang looked solemnly at Su Ti and said,

"So, I need to thank you, Su Ti. Thank you for saving my daughter."