The dim yellow oil lamp left the Zhu family's cramped little room half in light, half in shadow.
The firecrackers outside had grown sparse. It was deep into the night, and the bustle was slowly fading, leaving behind the bleakness of the world as it was.
On the kang table, the three wooden boxes retrieved from the bottom of the well stood in a row, their lids open.
Master Zhu Xin's gaunt hands trembled as he held the emerald-green jade thumb ring.
His old eyes, usually half-lidded and full of devil-may-care mischief, shone with startling brightness, as though he had gathered all the Essence, Qi, and Spirit of his life into this one look.
"Xiao Wu, come closer and look."
Master Zhu Xin moved the thumb ring nearer the lamplight. His voice was hoarse, but full of reverence. "See the blood staining in it? This isn't some fake aged by boiling it in dog's blood. It spent no less than three hundred years buried in the earth. That red came from Earth Veins, noble aura,
the aura of death, Corpse Aura, and the last drop of blood forced from the dead man's heart before he died."
Qin Geng leaned in. Sure enough, several wisps of dark red, like clouds of mist, lay faintly within the translucent green jade. They looked both uncanny and richly noble.
"This is called the Cloud-Pattern Jade Thumb Ring."
Master Zhu Xin stroked the smooth jade and said quietly, "This is no ordinary trinket. It came from a great tomb of the Former Dynasty. They say a prince wore it in the dynasty's final years."
"When that prince died, it went into the ground with him. A few decades ago, a gang of Tomb Raiders with gall enough to defy heaven plundered the tomb. That's how