Chapter 3: The Sword of King Goujian of Yue

  Die under the bronze sword?

  How can an antique I bought myself be used for murder?

  This person wouldn't be an escapee from a mental hospital, would he? I looked at him with a puzzled expression, just as I was about to shoo him away. However, he lowered his body and placed the box on the table in front of me, opening his mouth to speak:

  "This is the bronze sword I bought from a friend."

  The middle-aged man's face was filled with a terrified expression as he spoke, his eyes fearful.

  I stared intently at the wooden box on the table, about 65 cm long and 7 cm wide. I involuntarily stretched out my hand to open it, when a middle-aged man loudly shouted: "Be careful, this thing can kill people."

  But I was as if possessed and couldn't hear the man's cries, and with both hands opened the wooden box, finally seeing the middle-aged man's sword that could kill people.

  This bronze sword measures 55.7 cm in length, 4.6 cm in width and the handle is 8.4 cm long. Although it has been eroded by thousands of years, its blade still feels extremely sharp, giving off an air of ancient grandeur.

  After seeing this bronze sword, I was completely attracted to it. I stretched out my hand and picked up the bronze sword that had been placed on the wooden box.

  Through close observation, I found that the bronze sword's head is curled into a circular ring shape, with 11 concentric circles cast inside, spaced only 0.2 millimeters apart. The surface of the sword is covered with regular black diamond-shaped dark grid patterns.

  The front of the sword is inlaid with blue glass, and the back is inlaid with green turquoise. The sword body is slender, with a central ridge and two sharp blades. The front edge is curved inward, and there are two raised bands on the hilt. The round head is decorated with concentric circles.

  This bronze sword is exquisitely crafted and I suspect it should be a very important vassal king's sword from the Spring and Autumn or Warring States period.

  However, when I saw the eight large characters of the bird and insect script "Yu Wang Jiu Qian, Zi Zhe Yong Jian" engraved on the body of the bronze sword, my face suddenly changed color, and I shouted in extreme terror: "This is a sword of King Goujian of Yue."

  An antique of this level, I can hardly see one in a year.

  However, the middle-aged man listened and nodded. With a strange expression, he asked, "How do you not know that this is a Yue Wang Gou Jian sword?"

  I proudly said, "I'm the boss of an antique shop and I majored in archaeology. Do you think I wouldn't recognize this sword?" Holding the sword, I explained: "Do you see the eight large characters engraved on the sword? These eight characters '钺王鸠浅，自乍用鐱' translate to modern language as '越王勾践，自作用剑', which means 'King Goujian of Yue used this sword himself'."

  "Yuwang is the meaning of Yuewang, and Jishan is the name of Goujian. It is said that in 494 BC, Wu State and Yue State had a life-and-death struggle, and the Yue army was defeated. After presenting the beautiful woman Xi Shi to Wu King Fuchai, the king of Yue State, Goujian became the groom of Wu King Fuchai. After lying on thorns and tasting gall, bearing humiliation and hardship for twenty years, Goujian returned to Yue State, he used wise ministers, developed production, and rose again."

  "It took nine years to destroy the State of Wu and become the last hegemon of the Spring and Autumn period, and this sword is the king's sword of that hegemon. Due to Goujian's many famous swords, its collection value is extremely high, and in ancient times, the martial spirit was strong, a rare divine weapon was what people pursued, especially after King Goujian of Yue died, many people had racked their brains to find the treasured swords he collected, but all were in vain, never thinking that you would have a sword of King Goujian of Yue here."

  I once spent a year studying the history of the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, as well as some antiques from that time. Now, whenever I see a model related to this sword, I can recognize it at a glance.

  "Don't you know that this sword is the Yue King Goujian Sword?" I asked with some doubt. In the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Yue King Goujian Sword is a relatively famous bronze sword, of course not only owned by Yue King Goujian, but also because this bronze sword itself has a hint of mystery.

  People who collect antiques generally have some understanding of their collection value, otherwise, who would collect them? There are also some people who are enthusiastic about the history behind them. And I belong to the latter category.

  I have some feelings for antiques, it's not just their value, but more the stories behind them that make me curious.

  "I knew." The middle-aged man replied, not intending to hide it, his face had a hint of curiosity, and he opened his mouth lightly: "When I bought it from my friend, I already suspected that it was a bronze sword from the Spring and Autumn Period or the Warring States Period, so I bought it. Who knew that after buying it, so many bad things happened."

  "What's wrong?" I asked him with interest.

  But he didn't answer my question, just looked at me with a gaze that had an air of arrogance, making me feel uneasy. He said, "This sword can not only kill people, but also control them."

  As I heard his words, I was shocked and looked at the sword in my hand incredulously. The middle-aged man had mentioned several times that this sword would kill people, and he also had a premonition that he would die under this bronze sword.

  I know that a bronze sword like this gives people the first feeling, it emits a very heavy killing aura, and there is also a flavor from ancient times, probably due to its age, making it more spiritual.

  Murder? Drive?

  I listened to his words and couldn't help but burst out laughing, this person is quite superstitious.

  The bronze sword itself will not kill people unless someone uses it to kill others.

  Thinking of this, I couldn't help but look at him suspiciously - could he have used this sword to kill someone?

  My face suddenly turned pale and I said in terror, "Are you...?"

  I dare not think about it, some people are infatuated with antiques just to satisfy a kind of stimulating feeling, for example collecting dead people is a kind of inexplicable feeling towards corpses. Collecting swords is probably being infatuated with the stimulation brought by killing.

  Will he use this sword to kill people? Just like King Goujian of Yue.

  The middle-aged man just looked at me, but didn't answer my question, nor did he deny it. My heart was already 70-80% sure, and just as I was certain, he shook his head and said, "I didn't kill anyone."

  Then he took out a black bag and put it on the table, saying "Only you can help me."

  I was wondering what I could help him with? It's inexplicable.

  "This is 200,000 yuan; this sword originally came from this store and now I'm just returning it to its rightful owner."

  Before I could even react, he turned around and left, leaving me alone.

  I thought it was a dream, if not for the black bag on the table and the bronze sword in my hand reminding me that this is real.

  I put down the Yue Wang Gou Jian sword, opened the black bag, and inside were all Mao's portraits. I carefully counted them, 2 million, not one cent less.

  What's going on?

  A stranger rushed in and threw a bronze sword worth hundreds of thousands of dollars here for no reason, saying that the object was returned to its original owner, and also gave me 200,000 cash.

  If it's really like that person said, this sword can kill people and control them, then I'm in great danger.

  But I'm not a superstitious person and don't believe in these things at all.

  This is a considerable fortune, my store doesn't have to close its doors anymore. Only, I always feel that something isn't quite right, where can there be such good things?

  "Originally, you were the one who had King Goujian of Yue's sword..." I was so shocked that my mouth could swallow two "chicken eggs", and the Tang Guangze in front of me was the middle-aged man from two months ago. At that time, the middle-aged man looked very disheveled, if I hadn't taken a closer look, I wouldn't have recognized him.

  Tang Guangze smiled slightly and said: "It seems that your memory is not too bad, maybe I can help you get out of the current predicament."

  The sword of King Goujian of Yue, blood characters on the wall?

  I shook my head vigorously and said, "I'm not in trouble, it's one of your pranks."

  "This is a folk legend, a curse about the sword of King Goujian of Yue. Whoever possesses this sword will be cursed." Tang Guangze said, with a hint of longing in his eyes.

  "Curse? Bullshit." I heard it and was completely disheartened, I didn't believe that curses really existed in the world.

  "Absurd? The moving blood characters, the beggar who 'delivered' himself to death, and my appearance - do you think all of this is absurd? If I didn't know about this curse, I wouldn't bother with you." Tang Guangze's voice was somewhat displeased, his face also looked unwell as he stared at me, seemingly hoping I would accept this explanation.