Tang Wan Hong

Duan Rong set down the knife in his hand and tightened the scroll tucked beneath his arm. At a glance, it was an ink painting of fish playing in water. With only a few strokes, strange rocks, swimming fish, and water plants came vividly to life. Though no water had been painted, it felt as if the entire scene were suffused with clear water. Although Duan Rong knew nothing of painting, even he could tell it was good.

Moreover, the paper had already yellowed, with several wormholes and damaged spots.

Duan Rong stepped closer and lightly rested his hand on the roller at the edge of the painting. At once, he cursed inwardly: What kind of Not Ranked trash is this, trying to fool your First Master?

No wonder even I could tell it was good. Looks like people really need to know their own measure. If even a layman like me can see something is good, can it really be genuinely good?

Though Duan Rong was cursing up a storm inside, his expression remained calm. He merely waved a hand and said, "Anything else? Change it."

Guan Kui froze for a moment and gave Duan Rong a strange look. Silently, he put away the scroll on the counter and brought out another Landscape Painting.

Duan Rong touched the edge of its roller with one hand, glanced at it, and shook his head.

Guan Kui was already somewhat shocked. The two paintings he had brought out were quite good at bluffing people. Whether it was the brushwork and painting technique or the aging work, all of it was presentable.

Even after nearly twenty years as a shop clerk, he could not identify authenticity with a single glance. At the very least, it required looking it over back and forth and constantly verifying it.

This customer was being so decisive. Had he really run into an expert?

Suspicious, Guan Kui took out another painting and spread it across the counter.

This time, it was an Ink Chrysanthemum Painting. The brushwork was sparse and highly expressive. It showed only a single chrysanthemum blooming amid weeds, making it seem somewhat monotonous and simple.

Duan Rong leaned closer and laid a hand on it. His expression changed at once!

Artifact: Ink Chrysanthemum Painting.
Artifact Spirit Rank: Rank 5.
Devouring Requirement: Host Mental Strength Level 5 (not met).
Devouring Effect: Exquisite Brushwork Level 4, Penetrating the Paper Level 2, Becoming a Trend Initial Level.

The moment Guan Kui saw Duan Rong's expression change, his own face changed as well. This kid really knows his stuff!

Three paintings—two fake and one real—and he had seen through them all with a glance. This was no ordinary expert!

At such a young age, to possess such attainments—either his family's learning ran deep, or the founding patriarch had blessed him with a living!

"How much for this painting?" Duan Rong raised his head and asked Guan Kui.

"Ah..." Guan Kui stammered. By now, all his former contempt for Duan Rong had been swept away, replaced by deep admiration.

He himself had apprenticed in an antique shop, so he knew all too well how difficult this trade was. It demanded knowledge, an eye for things, and experience. Even if someone taught you hand in hand, you still had to be made of the right stuff.

This man before him looked young, but in terms of attainment, he was likely no less accomplished than Manager Tang!

Filled with admiration, Guan Kui immediately quoted the true price. "Three hundred taels!"

The instant Guan Kui spoke, the blue cloth curtain was lifted. A plump, squat middle-aged man walked out with a smile and said, "Guan Kui, why haven't you served the customer tea?"

Guan Kui's face reddened. He immediately realized he had committed a taboo just now. He quickly acknowledged it, stepped out from behind the counter, and went to make tea.

Who revealed the bottom price the moment someone asked?

"This child has never seen the world. He doesn't understand the slightest bit of etiquette!"

After saying that, Tang Wan Hong walked to the counter, rolled up the Ink Chrysanthemum Painting, and set it aside.

Duan Rong's eyes shifted, and he understood what Tang Wan Hong meant. He thought the earlier offer had been too low!

But Duan Rong did not care in the least. What he was calculating was the painting in his own hands.

A Rank 5 artifact spirit meant it should have some age to it. No matter what, it was a genuine antique.

Three hundred taels was not a low price, but compared to antique prices in his previous life, it was not high at all!

After some thought, Duan Rong understood the reason.

Antique prices in his previous life had been like housing prices: inflated to absurd heights.

After industrial and commercial civilization flourished, currency flooded the market, and antiques became investment commodities. Their prices had all been hyped up!

This world had not developed a powerful industrial and commercial civilization, and martial pursuits were in vogue. Even among wealthy households, how many were truly willing to play at refined elegance and collect antiques?

It was perfectly normal for prices not to rise!

Still, three hundred taels was no small sum to him.

Guan Kui returned with the tea. Duan Rong took only a small sip before setting it down. Then he moved the tea aside, spread the scroll from beneath his arm across the Tea Table, and got straight to the point. "Shopkeeper, take a look at this Portrait of a Lady. If it catches your eye, set a price and let Noble Treasure Shop have it. It was passed down by my ancestors. If I weren't in urgent need of money, I truly couldn't bear to sell it!"

Tang Wan Hong was stunned by Duan Rong's words.

So buying paintings had been a pretense. The real purpose was to sell something he had brought with him.

All that questioning earlier had been to probe the market prices!

Once Tang Wan Hong understood Duan Rong's intentions, he could not help glaring at Guan Kui. The man had come in with something tucked under his arm, yet Guan Kui had not even had the sense to notice. Had all his usual teachings been for nothing?

Tang Wan Hong lowered his head to examine the painting spread across the Tea Table. It was a Portrait of a Lady, graceful in figure, clad in red as crimson as blood. Her pale skin formed a vivid, powerful contrast with the red. The brushwork had returned to simplicity and truth, entirely free of needless complication, its outlines drawn into lines.

Though the painting depicted a person, Tang Wan Hong could see a certain natural rhythm within those lines.

"This brushwork..."

Tang Wan Hong had steeped himself in antiques for decades and had long since become shrewd as a fox. One look told him this painting was no ordinary piece.

Tang Wan Hong shifted his gaze to the inscription. The seal bore four crooked, seal-script characters: "Wan Wei Dao Ren."

A chill ran from the back of Tang Wan Hong's head all the way to his heels, while his heart pounded wildly: Wan Wei Dao Ren? This is... Fan Yunlin's work?

Impossible!

Tang Wan Hong looked carefully again at the lady in the painting. His pancake-like face was practically pressed against her body...

Duan Rong's eyelid twitched. This dead fatso... Don't tell me he's some kind of pervert? He can't hold himself back already?

Tang Wan Hong finally raised his head. An eerie light shot from his eyes.

He could conclude with certainty that this was Fan Yunlin's genuine work!

He had to get it. No matter the cost, he had to get it!

Though Tang Wan Hong was rejoicing wildly inside, his fat face remained utterly expressionless. He lifted his teacup and took a sip.

When he first raised the teacup, his hands had still been trembling slightly. But after that mouthful of tea entered his mouth, both hands were as steady as Mount Tai.

Tang Wan Hong set down the teacup, studied Duan Rong carefully again, and said, "There's nothing wrong with the item itself. I just don't know whether its origins are clean."

Duan Rong snorted coldly at that. He rolled up the painting on the Tea Table and moved to leave, but Tang Wan Hong immediately grabbed him and said, "How can you turn hostile at the drop of a hat when doing business?"

"Young people are just too hot-tempered. Come, come, sit down. Let's discuss this slowly." Tang Wan Hong pushed Duan Rong into a Grand Tutor Chair and said with a smile, "My young friend said earlier that this painting had been passed down through your ancestors?"

"What, does it not look like it?" Duan Rong shot back bluntly.

Duan Rong knew the other party feared the item's origins were improper and that trouble might follow. At a time like this, the slightest show of weakness would instead suggest there really was a problem with its provenance. The more he acted like a First Master, the more at ease the other party would be.