Gu Cheng stopped in his tracks.
He had never expected this.
They had not even entered a tomb yet, and he had already found something?!
A piece of porcelain with 1,327 years of history.
That dated it to the Tang Dynasty.
This Glazed-Mouth Blue-and-White Jar was a piece of Tang Dynasty porcelain.
He walked over and crouched beside the jar, examining it closely. Its style was indeed consistent with Tang Dynasty porcelain.
Fatty Wang saw Gu Cheng crouching in front of several pickling jars.
He immediately laughed. "Young Master Gu, those are full of pickled vegetables. I bet you've never seen them before, have you?"
Gu Cheng chuckled. "I can't say whether I've seen the pickled vegetables inside, but I certainly recognize this jar."
Fatty Wang froze.
Then he immediately caught on.
He rushed over, his face lit up with delight.
"Young Master Gu, is there something special about this jar?"
Gu Cheng nodded. "A Glazed-Mouth Blue-and-White Jar from the Tang Dynasty."
After a pause, he pointed at the row of eight jars. "All of them are."
Fatty Wang felt a rush of blood shoot straight to the top of his head.
He fought back the urge to laugh out loud and asked the question that mattered most, his lips trembling. "Are they worth anything?"
Gu Cheng shook his head. "It's a shame. They're chipped and dinged all over. If they were intact, they'd fetch eight hundred thousand to a million each."
Fatty Wang's heart sank.
"What about as they are now?"
"A little over a hundred thousand."
A smile returned to Fatty Wang's face. "That's still good! A hundred thousand each means eight hundred thousand for all eight!"
Gu Cheng looked up at him. "Do you think the village chief might have anything else in his house? What about the other villagers?"
Fatty Wang blinked.
Then his mouth spread into a grin, his eyes sparkling with delighted surprise.
"That's right!"
"Why didn't I think of that?!"
Just then, Hu Bayi came back out of the house.
He glanced around and spotted the two of them crouching at the foot of the wall, looking baffled. "What are you two doing? Come inside and have some tea."
Fatty Wang eagerly beckoned him over.
Not knowing what was going on, Hu Bayi walked over.
Impatient as ever, Fatty Wang grabbed him and pulled him down into a crouch.
Then he pointed at the jars and explained everything in detail.
Hu Bayi's face instantly filled with shock as well.
Fatty Wang said, "Old Hu, these jars alone make this trip worthwhile."
"The question is, does the village chief have any other good stuff? What about the other villagers?"
"If we take all these treasures back with us, we'll be rich!!"
"But..."
Hu Bayi hesitated.
Seeing his reaction, Fatty Wang grew anxious. "But what?! Would you leave money lying on the ground instead of picking it up?"
Gu Cheng, however, understood Hu Bayi's concerns.
"Old Hu, you're worried the villagers will misunderstand and think you've come to take advantage of them, right?"
Hu Bayi looked at him and nodded.
Fatty Wang was left speechless.
Gu Cheng chuckled. "You're overthinking this."
"Meeting us is actually their good fortune."
"First, they don't understand antiques. Left here, these things are only used to pickle vegetables. They aren't worth a penny to them."
"Second, even if they know they're antiques, they have no way to turn them into cash."
"Third, if they try selling them on their own, they're very likely to get swindled."
"Fourth, an innocent man can become a target simply by possessing a treasure. They've met us this time, but what if they encounter people with bad intentions? What do you think would happen?"
Gu Cheng's words brought Hu Bayi out in a cold sweat.
Fatty Wang chimed in from beside him. "Exactly, Old Hu. Why can't you get your head around it? We're helping them."
"All right, we'll do it your way. I'll go talk to the village chief."
Hu Bayi stood up and went inside.
Neither of them knew what he said to the village chief.
In any case, half an hour later,
Gu Cheng and Fatty Wang received permission to move freely around the Village Stockade.
And so,
Gu Cheng and Fatty Wang began making their rounds through the Village Stockade, accompanied by several villagers the chief had gathered and an accountant to keep the records.
Whenever something caught Gu Cheng's eye, he would name a price, and the accountant would enter it in his ledger.
Then Fatty Wang and the villagers would take the item away.
They spent two full days making the rounds.
At last, they finished combing through the entire Village Stockade.
They found more than eighty antiques in total.
Unfortunately, most were badly damaged, greatly reducing their value.
Only a dozen or so were relatively well preserved.
The most valuable among them was a Ming Dynasty incense burner.
Gu Cheng estimated that it could fetch over three million at an auction house.
Everything together was worth around ten million.
Gu Cheng would also have to pay the villagers nearly four million.
When the village chief learned the amount, tears of joy streamed down his aged face.
He clasped Hu Bayi's hand.
He said Hu Bayi had brought an incredible blessing upon the village.
Instead, it left Hu Bayi feeling rather embarrassed.
Besides all that,
Gu Cheng had another unexpected surprise.
He found an axe.
It happened on the third day, when Hu Bayi was heading out to survey the terrain.
He wanted to find a guide.
The village chief told them to look for a hunter who lived up in the mountains.
The hunter lived in the mountain forests year-round and knew the terrain for a hundred miles around like the back of his hand.
After heading up the mountain, the three followed the village chief's directions and found the hunter's home.
Gu Cheng had spent the past two days searching everywhere for treasures.
Out of habit, he swept his gaze across the courtyard.
Then he spotted an oddly shaped axe embedded in a chopping block beside the woodpile.
[Item name]: Mountain-Splitting Axe [Item grade]: mid-grade magical artifact [Item abilities]: armor piercing, evil suppression [Item description]: The personal weapon of a brave, battle-hardened general. It has slain countless enemies and become steeped in countless vengeful spirits. It can suppress restless souls and inflict damage on enemies while ignoring their armor.
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