Golden Mask

"Shuttle, is there any problem with this golden mask? Could there be any curses or the like?" Xiao Hen finally asked the Shuttle. He still trusted the Shuttle's intelligent program; after all, the Shuttle had existed for goodness knows how many years, having seen all sorts of treasures, and its vision naturally wasn't something he could compare to.

As for this golden mask, that it was valuable was certain. Xiao Hen took the risk of retrieving it with the sole purpose of selling it for money; if it wasn't valuable, wouldn't he have taken this risk in vain?

However, just how much it could sell for required careful consideration.

"Please rest assured, Host. After passing through the spacetime barrier, the residual power on this golden mask has been completely purified. It is now just an ordinary golden mask with no supernatural power," the Shuttle said indifferently.

Yet Xiao Hen felt a shock in his heart. With the Shuttle putting it this way, wasn't it admitting that what he had seen earlier wasn't the result of an illusion affected by the Flower of the Other Shore, but that bizarre things had truly occurred?

Good thing, good thing; having passed through the spacetime barrier, those ghostly things couldn't come to the real world.

Xiao Hen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"I wonder how much this golden horned mask can be worth?" Xiao Hen picked up the mask and looked at it closely. This item was the corpse mask of the divine woman who died over a thousand years ago in the world of Xunlong Jue, so its value definitely wouldn't be low.

"Still, how to sell it is a question. Hm? I can find Chen Xinyu!" Xiao Hen's eyes lit up. Among the people he knew, Chen Xinyu was the only one with the strength to help him sell this mask. The Chen Family was quite influential, and as the president of Chen's Group, the network of connections Chen Xinyu possessed was far beyond what he could compare to.

Xiao Hen took out his cell phone and pressed the power button. As soon as it turned on, he found many missed calls. Among them, several were from former colleagues at his company, two were calls from Li Wenjuan, and there were a few others from colleagues. Xiao Hen ignored them and looked at another caller—it was Chen Xinyu.

Xiao Hen felt curious in his heart: why would Chen Xinyu call him? When he applied for the job back then, he had made it clear that his working hours were flexible, and she couldn't just order him around casually.

However, now because of the golden mask, Xiao Hen still needed to ask a favor. Tapping on Chen Xinyu's number, Xiao Hen called her back.

Beep, beep...

The phone rang for a moment before someone picked up: "Hello, hi, is this Mr. Xiao?"

"It's me. You called me earlier—was there something you needed?" Xiao Hen asked calmly, completely lacking the nervous feeling an employee has upon seeing their boss.

"Oh, it's like this, Mr. Xiao. Yesterday, because I had to attend an event, I wanted to find you to temporarily act as my bodyguard, but the call didn't go through so it didn't matter. The event is already over now," Chen Xinyu said very politely, without a shred of the overbearing attitude of a boss.

"Oh!" Xiao Hen said apologetically, "Sorry, I had some things delay me these past two days."

"It's fine, Mr. Xiao!" Chen Xinyu said with a slight smile.

"CEO Chen, do you have time? I have something I'd like your help with!" Xiao Hen thought for a moment and said.

"I have time. What is it, tell me," Chen Xinyu grew curious. Xiao Hen actually had a matter to ask her for help with. Although she still had some company business to busy herself with these days, none of it was important and she could push it aside.

Xiao Hen smiled slightly and spoke up: "How about this, let's talk about it in person. Tomorrow morning, let's meet at our martial arts school."

"Okay!"

Hanging up the phone, Xiao Hen picked up his teacup and took a sip of tea, then picked up the golden mask to examine it closely. This golden mask was extremely gorgeous and aesthetically pleasing, practically like a work of art—no, this was a work of art.

Would it be a bit of a pity to sell it?

Xiao Hen shook his head, then set it aside and found a backpack to pack it into.

Lying on the bed, Xiao Hen's mind involuntarily began to think of the next story world: Warcraft.

Xiao Hen didn't know what kind of thing in such a world could be useful for repairing the Shuttle, causing it to choose such a world. If he had a choice, Xiao Hen would rather go to those high-tech worlds than go to a world like this; in times of such war and chaos, nothing was more dangerous.

Even with Xiao Hen's current strength, if he fell into the hands of Gul'dan or Medivh, it would undoubtedly mean certain death.

Tossing and turning on the bed, Xiao Hen only entered dreamland in the late half of the night, and then woke up near noon.

"Not good, I overlept." Xiao Hen hurriedly got up to wash and clean up, and once finished, he rushed to the city center, arriving at the building where Chen's Martial Arts School was located.

Upon entering the martial arts school, the sharp-eyed Xiao Hen immediately spotted Chen Xinyu and Yu Li sitting in the lounge area.

"Sorry, CEO Chen, I overlept," Xiao Hen walked over and apologized.

The expressions of Chen Xinyu and the other woman differed; Yu Li's face was full of coldness, while Chen Xinyu wore a natural, smiling expression as she stood up and said, "It's fine, Mr. Xiao, please sit."

Xiao Hen placed the backpack in his hand beside him and then said, "I've been rather busy during this period and haven't been able to come to work. I hope CEO Chen won't take offense."

"The contract already stated that Mr. Xiao can arrange his working hours freely, and this point will not change. I only hope Mr. Xiao won't abandon our martial arts school," Chen Xinyu showed not a shred of anger. With Xiao Hen's current fame in Jiangcheng, no matter which martial arts school he went to, others wouldn't refuse him. Those martial arts schools were well-informed and had long since learned the outcome of the internal Martial Arts School Competition at Chen's.

"I wonder what matter brings Mr. Xiao to find me today? If there is anything you need my help with, please feel free to say it. As long as it is something I can do, I will certainly do my best," Chen Xinyu said sincerely. What Xiao Hen had helped her with previously was no small matter; it not only helped her keep her position as president of Chen's Group, but also gave her greater freedom of choice.

Xiao Hen smiled slightly, and without wasting words, he directly picked up the backpack beside him, opened it, took out the horned golden mask, placed it gently in front of Chen Xinyu, and said, "This is an antique from over a thousand years ago, and it's burial goods for an important figure. I hope CEO Chen can help me find someone to appraise it, and then sell it."

"This..." Chen Xinyu's attention was immediately captured by this beautiful mask, and she stared closely at the golden mask for a good while, "What a truly gorgeous golden mask! Rest assured, Mr. Xiao, I happen to know a very famous antique appraiser. I'll call him over right now."

Xiao Hen smiled and nodded. Afterwards, Chen Xinyu took out her cell phone, walked aside, and made a call. After some conversation, the other party agreed to come over right now.

Hanging up, Chen Xinyu walked over and sat down, saying, "Please rest assured, Mr. Xiao, Elder Wu will be here shortly. He is a top-tier appraiser in the antique world, and I believe he can definitely set a price for this treasure!"

Xiao Hen smiled, "Good, then we'll wait for Elder Wu to arrive before discussing it."

Yu Li's expression flickered on the side. At this moment, she tugged on Chen Xinyu's sleeve, leaned close to Chen Xinyu's ear, and said, "CEO Chen, how could this person have this kind of antique? Could it be stolen?"

"What are you talking about?" Chen Xinyu's expression sank as she said, "This golden mask was definitely collected by Mr. Xiao himself, and he's only bringing it out to sell because he urgently needs money. Otherwise, do you think a martial arts expert like Mr. Xiao would apply to be an instructor at our Chen's Martial Arts School?"

Yu Li paused, somewhat speechless.

That's right, with martial arts skills like Xiao Hen's, being able to come and apply as an instructor at Chen's Martial Arts School was already incredible. Now that he was taking out such a precious antique to sell, he must definitely be short on money.

Xiao Hen held his teacup and took a light sip. How could Yu Li's whispered words escape his sharp hearing? At this, Xiao Hen only smiled faintly and said nothing.

In reality, he was indeed short on money—short on money to buy weapons, short on money to buy various supplies. In the real world, he didn't want to expose his own strength too much, and simply wanted to act in accordance with the laws and regulations of the real world. Doing anything in the real world required money, and he was no exception. Perhaps this golden mask could resolve some of his troubles in this regard.

Not long after, an old man with grayish-white hair carrying a small box hurried over.