Chapter 26: Morren's Specialty

  "Old Zhao, that rascal has left." As soon as Yamamoto's rickshaw had turned out of the alley, the old man who had just been chatting with Yamamoto went into Old Wu's courtyard, wiping his face with a wet towel handed to him by Old Wu. A simple and honest face was revealed after he wiped his face a few times. If someone who often hangs around Tianqiao sees him, they will surely say that this honest old man bears some resemblance to Meng the Blind from the street stall at Tianqiao.

  "Alright, Meng San, you go rest first." The tall attendant known as Zhao Ye smiled and patted the honest Meng San's shoulder. The Fifth Master, who had a proud look on his face at Xiao Cilang's shop earlier, was now standing behind the tall attendant with a humble expression. This smiling attendant was Zhao Zhi, and the proud Fifth Master was the third helper that Zhao Zhi had found. His original name was Mo Lun, and he was indeed a son of the Eight Banners, but by the time Zhao Zhi found him, his family had already fallen on hard times.

  Zhao Zhi discovered this guy in a chance encounter, when Mo Lun was holding a fake painting in a pawnshop to deceive the owner. Zhao Zhi could recognize it as a fake because he had seen the painting in his previous life, back during the Eight-Nation Alliance invasion, when the painting was taken from the palace and brought to Europe. However, the painting in Mo Lun's hand was indeed difficult to distinguish from the real thing, even the old shopkeeper who had been working there for decades couldn't tell it apart. Zhao Zhi followed Mo Lun for a whole day, and only managed to capture him at night.

  Zhao Zhi was the one who had spotted the forged painting, thinking that since Mo Lun had the painting, he must know where the forger was. Coincidentally, during the war, having a master forger in hand would make it easy to obtain all sorts of documents. Unexpectedly, after Zhao Zhi repeatedly inquired about the news, this careless Mo Lun turned out to be the very forger Zhao Zhi had been searching for. This made Zhao Zhi overjoyed, finally having something that could save his life in this era.

  Although this Moran is a loafer who doesn't do anything serious, he's actually a big filial son. From being wealthy to losing everything, Moran never abandoned his blind mother. Because of this, Moran was almost 30 years old and still couldn't find a wife. Zhao Zhi hired someone to escort Moran's blind mother all the way to Shanghai in order to win him over. After Moran received news that his mother had been sent to the best eye hospital in Shanghai, he finally agreed to Zhao Zhi's request and promised to repay him with his own fake skills during his lifetime.

  With Mullen disguised as Wu Ye, they went to lure Xiao Cilang, which was Zhao Zhi's first plan. Because in the intelligence provided by Betty, this Xiao Cilang was related to the kidnapping of Straus. After a detailed investigation, Betty suddenly discovered that this Japanese named Xiao Cilang was actually connected with the Black Dragon Society in Japan. The Japanese sake house that Xiao Cilang often entered and exited during his leisure time was a contact point for the Black Dragon Society in Beiping City.

  Since it has been confirmed that Xiao Ci and Strou's affairs are related, Zhao Zhi decided to take Xiao Ci as the breakthrough point before there is no other clue. As long as he can grasp Xiao Ci's weakness, he can find their nest by following the vine, and maybe even directly find the captured Strou. Xiao Ci is a businessman, his most fatal weakness is money, since Xiao Ci opened an antique shop, Zhao Zhi brought Morren disguised as Wu Ye to find Xiao Ci directly.

  "Moran, how's your treasure?" Zhao Zhi asked Moran as he watched Meng San enter the backyard. Moran's ancestors were from the Imperial Palace's Department of Internal Affairs, and relying on his skills in counterfeiting learned from the Jianghu, he often played tricks like switching cats with princes within the department. For decades, no one had discovered this. It wasn't until Moran's old father accidentally revealed the truth after getting drunk that this past was exposed. Moran's father and brother were killed by people from the Jianghu who came seeking goods but were refused.

  "Mr. Zhao, come with me." Mo Lun led Zhao Zhi to a secluded corner of the backyard, where there was originally a garden for planting flowers and trees. Perhaps due to the neglect of the original owner's family, all the flowers and trees had withered and died. After Zhao Zhi rented this place, he also didn't have time to take care of the yard, so he simply let it become desolate.

  "Master Zhao, please step back and wait for a moment." Morun started digging with an iron shovel under the roots of an old tree. Before long, he dug out a pit. "Master Zhao, look!" Morun bent down and pulled out a large ceramic jar from the pit. As soon as he opened the lid, a strong sour smell wafted out, causing Zhao Zhi to retreat backward.

  "Moran, what is this thing? How can it smell so bad?" Zhao Zhi covered his nose and retreated repeatedly, afraid that the sour smell would get on his body. Moran chuckled and casually put his hand into the vat with a rubber glove, pulling out something greenish-yellow. "Master Zhao, look," Moran washed the object in clear water several times, revealing a coppery item - an ancient bronze vessel, a bronze horn, which was an ancient wine utensil.

  "Mo Ren, you little guy's craftsmanship is not bad!" Zhao Zhi took the horn and turned it over several times in his hand, admiring the thick layer of copper rust and the earthy smell that made him reluctant to let go. If he hadn't seen Mo Ren dig it out of the tree pit with his own eyes, Zhao Zhi would have thought this thing was a genuine artifact.

  "It's actually quite simple, first scald the well-made copperware with hot animal blood for half an hour, then soak it in a bath of my homemade medicine, and finally bury it in the soil, soaking it in urine for three days, and naturally, the patina will come out." Morun wiped his hands with a towel, explaining the patina on the copperware to Zhao Zhi. Morun was obviously still confident in his craftsmanship, and a hint of pride appeared on his face as he spoke.

  "I heard that those who specialize in making fake antiques, they bury the items in the ground for several years to get the rust marks. Your stuff can produce these copper rust marks in just three days, not bad, not bad." Zhao Zhi played with the bronze corner for a while, very satisfied with sizing up Mo Ren who was wiping his face.

  Mo Ren curled his lip, full of disdain, "What kind of craftsmanship do they have? They're all using animal hides to force out the patina. Mine has been soaked in medicinal water, and the patina is naturally grown. The secret lies in my configured medicinal water, which contains acid that can corrode copperware, and also things that help grow patina."

  "Zhao Ye, I'm back!" Yu Dazhi entered the backyard with a sweaty face, his back drenched in sweat. Xiao Cilang had sent Yamamoto to tail Zhao Zhi and others, but since they didn't reciprocate, Zhao Zhi also sent out Yu Dazhi to counter-tail Yamamoto, wanting to see if this Yamamoto only took orders from Xiao Cilang. Since Yamamoto started following him, Zhao Zhi discovered through the shop window that this tail should be a Japanese person, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.