Chapter 66
Chapter 66: There’s A Ghost in the Mirror
Everyone gasped as soon as he was done speaking. They thought they misheard.
One must know that the Precious Treasure Pavilion was Third Master Gu’s business. Anything that Third Master Gu valued was in the store and each of them cost at least a million yuan each.
Nobody without at least 100 million yuan dared to come in. The threshold was terrifyingly high.
However, did Ye Chen just call them a bunch of trash?
Uncle Xu’s expression stiffened instantly. “Young man, you’ll have to be responsible for what you said. What do you mean when you called the stuff in my store a bunch of trash?”
At the moment, the air vibrated with tension.
Many of them were startled as they secretly thought to themselves that the Old Master Xu seemed to have gone mad.
Old Master Xu was not one to be offended. Not only did he have Third Master Gu supporting him, but he was also not an ordinary man himself. Otherwise, he would not have managed such a massive Precious Treasure Pavilion so well.
Gu Yingying’s high brows were arched. She had no idea how to ease the situation now. At the same time, she blamed Ye Chen for crossing the line.
Ye Chen did not appear to have noticed all these whereby he remained aloof as he said, “What I said was the truth.”
Old Master Xu was so mad that he was smiling. A fist-sized box appeared in his hand. “This is a tomb raider pendant, and it’s the first edition,” he said after opening it and pointing at its contents.
“Legend has it that during the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao assigned 18 tomb raiders to loot tombs in order to gather military funds before crusading Dongwu. Each of them was given a tomb raider pendant.
“The tomb raider pendant in my hand is one of the 18. Third Master Gu spent a hefty sum to purchase it from a family in Xuchang.”
As soon as he was done speaking, a withered man dressed as an old professor exclaimed, “Old Master Xu, a-are you sure that this is the legendary tomb raider pendant? If that’s true, then it’s a historical relic from the Three Kingdoms. It has a high archeological value.”
“Since Old Master Xu said so, it has to be true. Don’t forget that it was Third Master Gu who purchased this tomb raider pendant. Do you think Third Master Gu would even lay his eyes on anything ordinary?”
“Old Master Xu, I wonder if you’ll let go of this tomb raider pendant. I’m willing to pay five million!”
Everyone’s eyes lit up. They were excited as they had their eyes fixated on the tomb raider pendant in Old Master Xu’s hand.
Old Master Xu ignored them. Instead, he looked at Ye Chen instinctively. He was trying to see if there were any changes in expression on his face. However, Ye Chen remained unchanged.
He could not help but became a little furious. He then walked to a wooden shelf and pointed at the white rock that was the size of an egg on the fifth row. “This is a foreign monk’s relic that was retrieved after he was found dead in a seated position.
“The monk did not eat or drink the month before he died. He ordered his disciples to seal him in the altar and worship him at the temple. He was showered in the sound of sutra day and night.
“A century passed by. Due to the war breaking out, a military team accidentally trampled the altar when they plundered the temple. They found out that the monk was sitting at the altar. His cheeks were rosy as if he had just died.
“When someone moved the monk’s body out, they found a total of 108 relics at his feet, and this one in my store is the biggest.”
Uncle Xu’s story that sounded like bravado attracted countless sharp inhales. Under normal circumstances, things that involved religion was taboo, especially things like relics, which would usually be demanded to be returned.
However, the fact that Uncle Xu had obtained it aside, he dared to put it on display in the store in broad daylight.
Someone nodded and said, “I’ve heard about this before. I think it came from India. This Indian royalty bestowed the monk with a Buddha after his death. Legend has it that after the monk died in the seated position. The relics that came out of him possessed the power he had when he was alive which can be used to relieve disasters.”
Ye Chen could not help but shake his head. They were boasting about a stone coming from a worldly monk after his death!
He recalled the time when he had been in the cultivation world. There had once been a Buddhist Almighty who attempted to enlighten him. In the end, nobody knew how many people he killed including arhats and Buddhas.
What their bodies contained was the real relic which contained immense power. However, Ye Chen did not even bother looking at them and fed them to his pet.
Uncle Xu saw him shaking his head right away. Uncle Xu’s expression was getting colder and there was a faint killing intent that flashed through his eyes. “I’m dying to know where you got your confidence to be daring to look down on these things that I’m showing you.”
The people looked at Ye Chen one after another unkindly. If those things that they thought were trash in Ye Chen’s eyes, would it not mean that he was throwing cold blankets on them?
Gu Yingying scoffed upon seeing that. ‘Let’s see how you are going to calm down the crowd now!’
“So what? Apart from showing off and pretending to study them after purchasing them, these things are merely worldly things. Treasure, oh, treasure. A thing is no longer a treasure as soon as money is involved,” Ye Chen responded indifferently.
“Look at you! I wonder what’s considered a treasure to you.” Uncle Xue could not help but scoff. By now, he was almost sure that Ye Chen was just messing around on purpose. For the sake of Gu Yingying’s face, he held back his temper.
“To me, only things that come with spiritual energy are considered treasures. For instance, a Taoist talisman, a Five Lightnings Talisman that can summon the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning, or a flying sword that one can control to fly tens of thousands kilometers with one’s mind alone,” Ye Chen said with a smile.
The crowd laughed out loud as soon as he was done speaking. They looked at him as if they were looking at an idiot while they began suspecting if he was mentally ill.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Gu Yingying was blushing from his words as she glared at him angrily. “How can you possibly say such things? You’re being unreasonable.”
“It doesn’t mean those things don’t exist just because you guys have never seen them before. That’s why I said everything in this store is trash. They’re eyesores.” Ye Chen smiled calmly.
Uncle Xu was enraged, but just when he was going to release his rage, the old professor who spoke earlier interrupted, “Old Master Xu, since this little brother is so picky, why don’t you show him your most treasured piece?”
Everyone responded immediately as soon as he said that.
“That’s right, Old Master Xu. I’ve been hearing that you have the most treasured piece that you’ve been keeping for close to a decade. We’ve never seen it before. Why don’t you bring it out to show us as well as show that guy what treasure is?”
The people began speaking one after another. They were making a racket about wanting to see the most treasured piece.
Even Gu Yingying’s interest was piqued. “Uncle Xu, is there a most treasured piece in your store? How come I’ve never heard of it before?”
Uncle Xu hesitated. However, after seeing Ye Chen’s unbothered expression, he said after taking a deep breath, “Alright, I’ll bring out the most treasured piece today. Let’s see what you’re going to say about it.”
After saying that, he picked up the key and returned to the storeroom alone, but he prohibited anyone from following him.
Soon, he came back with something wrapped in a black cloth. He looked deadly serious. The object was approximately the size of the lid of a pot. It was wrapped tight in the black cloth.
“Old Master Xu, is this the most treasured piece?” someone asked in an unsure manner.
Uncle Xu nodded and removed the cloth.
A bronze mirror appeared before everyone immediately. It was in the shape of a biscuit and quite a bit of patina had grown on it.
Gu Yingying walked over to study it curiously. She was a little disappointed, however. “Uncle Xu, isn’t this an ordinary ancient mirror? How is this your most treasured piece? Don’t tell me that Qin Shi Huang has used this before.”
She said precisely what everyone was thinking about.
“Young Mistress, try to look at your face right in front of the mirror again,” Uncle Xu encouraged mysteriously with a smile.
Gu Yingying hesitated and put her face before the mirror.
Something strange happened in the next second.
She could not stop shaking as both her hands gripped the bronze mirror. Fear filled her pretty face as if she had seen something terrifying.
Uncle Xu took the bronze mirror away immediately. Gu Yingying’s body became limp. Fortunately, Ye Chen was quick to notice that and he held her.
“G-ghost…There’s a ghost in the mirror!”
Gu Yingying’s face turned extremely pale when she finally snapped back to her senses. Terror filled her eyes when she looked at the bronze mirror again.
Uncle Xu did not find her series of reactions odd at all. He said while shaking his head, “Young Mistress, now do you know why I treat her as the most treasured piece but I’ve never shown her to anyone?”
Ever since he got the bronze mirror, he realized that he would always see a headless female corpse sitting before a dressing table whenever he looked straight into the mirror. The corpse was combing the hair of a head in her hand.
The female corpse would turn 180 degrees around with the head in her hand the longer he looked into the mirror. She would then grin brutally at him and walk to him one step after another.
It was surreal as if it was really happening before his eyes.
He thought it was just his illusion, so he secretly experimented with others. He found out that everybody saw the same thing but in different scenes every time. Since then, he put the bronze mirror away and stopped showing it to anyone.
Everyone was puzzled. Someone could not help but ask, “Old Master Xu, can you show me?”
Uncle Xu nodded.
The person walked over and copied what Gu Yingying did. Eventually, he peed his pants from the fright. He was shaking while lying on the floor, screaming that he saw a ghost.
It was the same for the next few people.
Eventually, Uncle Xu looked at Ye Chen coldly. There was mockery at the corner of his lips. “Mr. Ye, would you like to try?”