You Can't Take This Jade Yet

Buzz!

In an instant, Chen Shaojun felt a surge of heat well up within his body.

Though that heat quickly melted into every part of his body and vanished without a trace,

the sensation remained incomparably clear.

Force!

This was the force generated within the body after practicing boxing.

It was only because his body was weak and frail, utterly unable to control its own strength, that he could not lock this force in place.

Of course, that dispersed "force" had not truly disappeared. Rather, it had directly merged into his body, quietly strengthening him without his realizing it.

By his understanding, this was actually part of the process of practicing martial arts to strengthen the body.

The ceaselessly generated "force" constantly bolstered his strength, nourished and tempered his physique, until it reached a certain limit...

"Having cultivated 'force' means I've truly mastered this set of punches. From here on, it will depend on the slow grinding effort of constant practice."

Chen Shaojun was overjoyed. Only then did he realize that an hour had passed without his noticing.

Practicing martial arts had also consumed a great deal of energy, and hunger gnawed at his stomach. So he stopped, then walked out of the appraisal room.

After collecting his tally token, Chen Shaojun was about to hurry to the dining hall when a servant's shout came from the direction of the shop.

"Coming."

Shen Lang answered, quickly rose to his feet, and opened the door beside the storeroom that connected to the shop's raised platform.

The shopkeeper was absent, while the several official pawnshop appraisers held themselves high above the rest. Thus, whenever anything happened in the pawnshop, Shen Lang would generally handle it.

Chen Shaojun glanced over and saw a burly man in green standing beside the platform below.

Normally, when a pawnshop was open for business, customers came and went. There was nothing unusual about someone entering the shop.

Chen Shaojun was not particularly curious, either.

Yet when he saw that man, he inexplicably found him somewhat familiar.

"Have I seen this man before?"

Chen Shaojun frowned in puzzlement.

Then he spotted the scar on the man's face, and his heart gave a thump.

He really had seen him before.

But it had been during a treasure appraisal.

Earlier, when he had appraised the Literary Fan, the scenes revealed by the Spirit-Seeking Treasure Mirror's Origin-Tracking Search had included this man.

He was the man who had slain Literary Fan's owner, Zhao Quan, with a single sword strike.

"If I remember correctly, the Literary Fan, the wolf-hair brush, and those unauthenticated treasures in the storeroom—including the Jade Ruyi wreathed in yin energy and haunted by ghostly shadows—

should all have originally belonged to Zhao Quan's family.

It was only because all seven members of their family had been murdered half a year ago that the authorities sealed them up.

After the six-month public notice period, no one had come forward to claim them.

That was why the shopkeeper had acquired them from the yamen and brought them into the Lin Clan Pawnshop."

Chen Shaojun swiftly pieced together the chain of events in his mind.

"And now, the killer who murdered Zhao Quan—and perhaps all seven members of Zhao Quan's family—is right before me..."

Chen Shaojun was not overflowing with a sense of justice.

Even knowing that this man was the murderer, he had no intention of meddling.

Report him? And what would he say when the authorities questioned him?

How did you know he was the murderer? Did you see it yourself? Couldn't explain it? Then were you an accomplice?

The yamen had one gate, but the character for official had two mouths. Perhaps the case had yet to be closed, and they were simply waiting for him to walk into the net.

Chen Shaojun did not want to invite trouble, but now that those treasures had fallen into the pawnshop and the killer from back then had come looking for them, he could not help but think further.

"Esteemed customer, are you here to pawn an item or redeem one?"

Shen Lang was far more courteous when facing outsiders.

"Neither.

My mother-in-law's birthday is coming up, and I was thinking of buying a treasure as a birthday gift.

I looked through several shops but couldn't find anything suitable.

Then I heard that your Lin Clan Pawnshop had an excellent reputation. In this whole area, anyone with a need came to you.

So I wanted to see whether the pawnshop had a suitable birthday gift.

Oh, right. My mother-in-law likes jade, so it would be best if the gift were made of jade. A Jade Ruyi, a jade Buddha statue, anything like that would do."

As the man spoke, his eyes naturally swept toward the storeroom. At once, he spotted several items sitting on a tray inside. His eyes abruptly lit up, and he exclaimed, "That ruyi on the tray looks quite good."

A quick-witted attendant immediately brought the tray over.

"Is it this Jade Ruyi?"

Shen Lang reached out and took the Jade Ruyi from the tray.

A bone-piercing chill ran through his hand, making him shudder uncontrollably. After steadying himself, he hurriedly put it back down and asked.

"That's the one!"

The scar-faced man nodded at once.

Chen Shaojun no longer felt any hurry to leave. Watching this, he could not help muttering to himself, Could it be that he had ruthlessly carried out that massacre simply for this Jade Ruyi?

Deep down, he also felt a trace of relief.

This Jade Ruyi put far too much pressure on him.

Yin energy covered its crown, and ghostly shadows coiled around it.

He knew that with his own methods, he simply could not subdue it.

If it was assigned to him for appraisal, even if it did not kill him, it would peel a layer off him.

If this man could buy it and take it away now, Chen Shaojun would instead feel more at ease.

"Esteemed customer, you truly have a discerning eye.

The treasures on that tray were specially acquired by our shopkeeper through his connections from a wealthy household.

This Jade Ruyi in particular is no ordinary item. It was a birthday gift bestowed upon that family's master by a prince's residence."

At that, Shen Lang smiled with narrowed eyes and immediately began his sales pitch in a loud voice.

"Shopkeeper, don't feed me that nonsense.

If it really was a birthday gift sent by a prince's residence, how would that family dare pawn it so casually?

Still, I do have my eye on this Jade Ruyi.

If you're sincere, can you give me a fair price?"

The scar-faced man knew perfectly well where the Jade Ruyi had come from, so naturally he would not listen to Shen Lang's wild nonsense.

"Hahaha, even without my saying so, I'm sure you understand how precious this Jade Ruyi is.

Meeting is fate. Since you have taken a liking to this treasure, and since our Lin Clan Pawnshop is in business with its doors open, we are naturally willing to part with it.

How about this? Fifty taels.

For fifty taels of silver, you can take it away."

"Too expensive.

The jade itself is quite good, but the carving leaves something to be desired.

For the same price, I could go to the Capital Treasure House and buy a carved jade piece by Yue He.

At most, I'll offer twenty taels."

"Twenty taels won't even cover the cost. But seeing that you are sincere, I'm willing to lower it a little.

Hmm, how about forty-five taels?"

Both sides were masters at haggling. After a lengthy back-and-forth of offers and counteroffers, they finally agreed to sell the Jade Ruyi for thirty taels of silver.

"Fine, wrap this jade up for me."

Seeing that the item was almost in his hands, the scar-faced man showed some delight. He took out silver from his robe, intending to pay with one hand and take the goods with the other.

"Wait. You still can't take this Jade Ruyi away."

Yet just as the two were about to complete the transaction, Shen Lang suddenly spoke again and stopped him.

.