Gu Cheng took the jade pendant and toyed with it as he asked with feigned casualness, "Wang, are you from Yanbei?"
Fatty Wang gave a thumbs-up, looking smug. "I'm a born-and-bred Yanbei local."
"Who else is in your family?"
"No one left, really. My father was a soldier. He died fighting bandits years ago."
"Later, my mother got sick and passed away too."
"I grew up on handouts from the neighbors."
Gu Cheng nodded. "No brothers or sisters?"
Fatty Wang shook his head. "I'm an only child. Where would I get siblings? But I've got a good buddy. We're not blood brothers, but we're closer than that."
"He was a soldier too, but he left the army a while back. He stayed in his hometown for a bit, and the other day he said he was coming to Yanbei City to see me."
At that, he looked a little embarrassed.
"Truth is, I haven't done too well for myself. I'm flat broke."
"But when my buddy comes, I can't treat him poorly. That's why I thought about selling this jade pendant that's been passed down in my family."
That fits.
Gu Cheng thought.
It seemed Hu Bayi hadn't arrived in Yanbei City to meet up with Fatty Wang yet.
He had also beaten Big Gold Tooth to Fatty Wang's jade pendant.
The three of them probably wouldn't have much to do with one another now.
Without Big Gold Tooth,
they wouldn't be introduced to Professor Chen as guides.
Nor would they meet Shirley Yang.
And none of the events that followed would happen.
Does this count as changing the plot?
Gu Cheng suddenly felt a sense of accomplishment at having manipulated other people's destinies.
But isn't this timeline a little mixed up?
The story of Ghost Blows Out the Lamp took place in the eighties.
Yet it was now 2020.
Gu Cheng thought for a moment, then said, "When your buddy gets here, show him a good time for a few days."
"If you can't find a decent job, get in touch with me. Maybe I can help."
Fatty Wang was immediately overjoyed.
"Oh, I couldn't possibly impose."
You look pretty happy to impose to me!
Watching Fatty Wang grin from ear to ear, Gu Cheng sighed. "All right. I'm only helping because you seem like a loyal friend. Here's my business card. Call me if you need anything."
With that, he handed over a business card.
Fatty Wang immediately took it.
He tucked it away as though it were a treasure.
That evening,
Gu Cheng returned home.
After greeting his mother in the kitchen, he hurried upstairs and found his father reading in the study.
Gu Cheng's father was named Gu Sihai.
In his younger days, he had traveled all over the country with Gu Cheng's grandfather, dealing in antiques.
Later, the old man had grown too old to keep traveling.
So they had opened the Treasure-Hiding Studio in Panjiayuan.
Ever since Gu Cheng took over, Gu Sihai had been retired.
He spent his days tending fish and flowers, drinking tea, and playing chess. Life couldn't have been more pleasant.
"Dad, have you heard of the Old Nine Gates?"
Gu Cheng plopped down on the sofa and asked him directly.
Gu Sihai paused, then frowned. "Why are you suddenly asking about that?"
Gu Cheng told him everything that had happened with Xie Yuchen at the shop that day.
Including the matter of the divine artifacts.
But he left out his awakened supernatural talent and the matter of Fatty Wang.
Once Gu Sihai finished listening, his expression changed sharply.
He fell silent for a long time.
Finally, he let out a long sigh.
"It seems what's coming will come. There's no escaping it."
Gu Cheng looked puzzled. "Dad, what do you mean?"
As though recalling the past, Gu Sihai slowly began to explain.
"In ancient times, major cities all had nine gates. Traveling merchants had to choose one of them to enter or leave the city."
"That's where the name Old Nine Gates comes from. It represents the nine major powers of South Lake."
"The Old Nine Gates originated in South Lake. Their influence is enormous, covering every stage of the antiquities-smuggling trade. Almost every burial artifact that leaves South Lake has to pass through one of them. If you want to do business in South Lake, you have to choose one of those nine powers. There's no other way."
"Back then, your grandfather and I traveled all over the country. We'd made something of a name for ourselves."
"But once, when we went to South Lake on business, people from the Old Nine Gates intercepted us. Your grandfather and I were both stubborn and refused to submit, so we clashed with them."
"As for what happened afterward..."
At that point, Gu Sihai sighed.
"In short, things turned very ugly, and your grandfather was injured."
"After we returned to Yanbei City, we considered his injuries and his age. He didn't have many years of that life left in him, so we decided to retire from the underworld."
"Then we changed our names and opened the Treasure-Hiding Studio in Panjiayuan."
"So many years have passed. If you hadn't brought it up today, I would almost have forgotten about it."
"Since Xie Yuchen has appeared, it means the Old Nine Gates may already have infiltrated Yanbei City."
"Ah, a storm is brewing."
Gu Sihai's words left Gu Cheng rather shocked.
He had never imagined his family had such a history with the Old Nine Gates.
"Was the conflict back then serious?"
Gu Cheng asked.
Gu Sihai glanced at him and said matter-of-factly, "We stole a shipment of divine artifacts from the Old Nine Gates."
Cough!
Cough, cough, cough!
Gu Cheng broke into a violent coughing fit, his face turning red.
Then he stared at his father with wide, disbelieving eyes.
A whole shipment of divine artifacts?!
"Heh, Dad, how many do you mean by a shipment?"
Gu Cheng asked with a forced smile.
Gu Sihai leaned back against the sofa and stared at the ceiling. After thinking for a long while, he said, "A dozen or so. Supposedly, they were excavated from an ancient tomb in Bottle Mountain, at the Miao Village in South Lake. While they were being escorted back to the city, your grandfather and I ambushed them outside the walls and took the lot."
Gu Cheng felt his breathing quicken.
"So you're saying you killed them and stole their goods?!"
He swallowed.
Gu Sihai didn't answer.
But sometimes, silence was an admission in itself.
Gu Cheng was utterly dumbfounded.
He had never imagined his grandfather and father were so ruthless.
They had even dared to kill people and rob them.
A dozen divine artifacts...
The people of the Old Nine Gates must have been so furious their heads were practically steaming!
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