Chapter 4: The Mysterious Ancient Jade

  I don't know how long I've been drinking or how much I've had, but when I woke up it was already noon. I rubbed my temples and still feel dizzy to this day. After thinking carefully, I probably got carried back by the kid. It seems that his alcohol tolerance has improved significantly over the past five years!

  Ding dong.

  He hastily put on his coat and opened the door.

  "Haven't gotten up yet?" Shi Tou walked in, sat down on the sofa. This kid looked refreshed and energetic, without any signs of a hangover. Looks like I'm the only one with a headache. Sigh!

  I turned around and walked back to the bedside, putting on my clothes while saying, "You really plan on following me?"

  "Why not do it?" Shi Tou picked up the tea on the table that had been brewed for who-knows-how-many days and took a sip. "It's hard to find work in this era, I don't have much education, so I'll just be your nanny and bodyguard!" After saying that, he exaggeratedly shouted "Boss!"

  "Get out of here," I cursed him with a smile, went to wash up, and "accidentally" stepped on his foot.

  An hour later, I was strolling with Shi Tou in Pan Jia Yuan, teaching him how to make money as we walked. Suddenly my phone rang, and when I picked it up, it was Grandpa Zhang.

  "Hello, is Grandpa Zhang busy?"

  "Lin Zi, come to my house." Grandpa Zhang's words were always so simple and direct. I understood his personality and didn't ask any more questions. I hung up the phone, brought the stone with me, and went to his house.

  As I walked in, Grandpa Zhang was standing in the courtyard with his cane. I went up to him and said, "Grandpa Zhang, did you call me over for something?"

  Grandpa Zhang nodded and said, "Stay with me here and wait for someone."

  Just as I was about to ask who it was, a middle-aged man with a casual outfit, wearing a coffee-colored duck-tongue hat and large sunglasses that covered most of his face, walked in from the doorway, carrying a black leather bag slung over his shoulder.

  "Excuse me, is this Mr. Zhang?" a deep voice replied.

  I am.

  The man took two steps forward, shook hands with Grandpa Zhang, and then looked at me and asked, "Who is this?"

  "Lin Miao, you can be considered half of my successor!" said Grandfather Zhang.

  "Oh, hello, hello, I'm Liu Wei." He walked over with a pleased expression and shook my hand on his own initiative, his long, cold hand.

  "After all these years, why have you come looking for me?" Grandpa Zhang sighed and said.

  Liu Wei didn't answer, and instead took out a purple wooden box from his backpack. As soon as I saw the box, my expression changed, and I still remembered that bloody scene two years ago.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, at the moment Grandpa Zhang touched the wooden box, his face suddenly turned very ugly, with expressions of horror, surprise, fear and resentment appearing. Holding the wooden box, Grandpa Zhang turned around and walked towards the house, saying "Linzi, you wait here for a while, Liuwei, come into the house with me."

  Ten minutes later, Liu Wei walked out with a smile, and after walking to my side, he took out a wooden box from his arms, opened it, revealing a small piece of emerald green ancient jade the size of a child's palm. He picked up the jade and handed it to me.

  I took a glance, chuckled and said, "Ah, great stuff, but the greenish tint has a hint of evil aura, I'm afraid it wasn't obtained through proper means." Then I put the ancient jade back and pretended to be foolish, saying, "Mr. Liu, didn't my master tell you that I'm not an expert in antiques? I'm afraid I couldn't appraise it for you."

  Liu Wei also smiled and said, "This Mr. Zhang naturally told me, but I didn't ask you to appraise it, I asked you to help me see the map inside," he said, pointing to a line on the ancient jade with his hand, "Please take a closer look, there is a map inside."

  No wonder Grandpa Zhang asked me to come. I picked up the ancient jade and took a closer look, and indeed, there were lines of veins connected together to form a picture. After staring at the ancient jade for over ten minutes, I put it down and said, "As expected, this should be an ancient tomb map."

  "Right, right." Seeing me being straightforward, Liu Wei quickly followed up, with an excited look on his face, "I don't know if you understand or not?"

  I shook my head, "Not yet, although the ancient jade is clearly marked, it's not the real location of the ancient tomb." I pointed to a prominent vein in the middle, "Logically, this should be the location of the ancient tomb, but from the whole map, this is actually a place of great calamity and cannot be used as a burial ground. According to the map markings, this is a nourishing position, nourishing the annual killing energy, which is a great calamity."

  "This... could it be that this map is completely useless?" Liu Wei's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, looking anxious and helpless.

  I shook my head and said in a low voice, "No, the location of the ancient tomb should be on this map. The entire map's layout is based on the Kun position, Kun belongs to earth, and its position must have a large tomb."

  "Come on, you've been talking for half a day, using all those fancy words, does it exist or not?" Shi Tou listened in confusion and couldn't help but mutter.

  I gave the stone a white eye and said, "You don't understand this, do you? The beauty of poetry lies in inciting men and women to commit adultery; the beauty of women lies in being stupid without complaint or regret; the beauty of men lies in telling lies that make ghosts appear in broad daylight; the beauty of learning lies in making people confused. Laughing, I looked at the sky and continued, "Fortunately, Grandpa Zhang told me how to read this kind of map. When the sun rises to the central position, put the ancient jade in a copper basin, place an iron spoon in the middle, and the main vein will be reflected on the iron spoon."

  "Alright, alright, no time to waste, let's get started right away!" Liu Wei seemed extremely anxious.

  It's almost noon, I gave Liu Wei a meaningful look and nodded, but I wasn't happy in my heart. At this time, I always felt that Grandpa Zhang's eyes were blinded by him. Soon everything was ready, the three of us stared at the iron spoon in three directions, waiting for the sun to move to the best observation position.

  Actually, I don't really understand these things very well, it's just that Grandpa Zhang specially taught me how to identify tombs on ancient jade over the past two years, and that piece of ancient jade is similar in shape to the one Liu Wei brought back, which is why I could say those words so easily.

  Suddenly a dazzling white light flashed by, and a triangular logo appeared on the iron spoon.

  "I understand," I was excited to see this hidden map for the first time, after the white light passed, I quickly pointed to the position on the left of the ancient jade, just about to speak, but suddenly stunned by the scene in front of me, the ancient jade had turned into a pure white color, with cracks appearing along the lines of the meridians.

  With a "crack", the ancient jade shattered, my mind was in a daze and I felt a chill run down my spine. My method had actually destroyed someone else's priceless ancient jade, what could be done? Just as I was at a loss for what to do, Liu Wei said with an unpleasant expression, "Do you understand now?"

  "The location of the ancient tomb." The ancient jade was gone, and the indication on the spoon naturally disappeared too. I felt even more tense in my heart.

  "Oh?" Liu Wei's face suddenly looked much better, and he asked hastily, "Quickly, quickly tell me carefully."

  "A triangular sign appeared on the iron spoon, which is a three-triangle vein. Adding this triangle vein to the ancient jade is an artificial absolute position, which is a great disaster. The space between the absolute and the boat is a good soldier, under the heavenly stem, tens of thousands of corpses have passed. Using the absolute position to suppress the nourishing position is a great auspiciousness, and future generations can be called kings." As I spoke, I secretly wiped the sweat from my palm onto my pants, but I was just following Mr.'s words, who knows if this ancient jade really has such a story?

  Liu Wei's face was also uncertain, and he probably didn't entirely believe what I said. Suddenly the phone rang, and Liu Wei hastily walked to the side to answer it.

  I wiped the sweat from my head and said, "Damn it, I can't afford to lose this thing!"

  "What's there to be afraid of? If it gets messed up, serves him right for making you look at it." DaDa said with a big grin, still showing off the same mischievous behavior as when he was younger.

  At this time, Liu Wei walked back again, and the conspiratorial smile reappeared on his face. He asked me slowly, "I wonder what else Mr. Lin saw on the ancient jade?"

  My heart skipped a beat, and as I took one last look at the ancient jade, several sharp and fine lines appeared inside, which was probably another ancient tomb map, also known as a "tomb within a tomb". I guessed that's what Liu Wei was asking about. Legend has it that although the treasure in the tomb is priceless, the danger inside cannot be described in words. I didn't want to get involved, so I asked with a puzzled expression, "What? There's something else in the ancient jade? Why didn't you tell me earlier? I only noticed the map!"

  Liu Wei hastily waved his hand and said, "Hehe, no, of course not. However, I'd like to discuss a business deal with Mr. Lin, a deal that will bring him great benefits without any harm."

  My heart sank, it seems the crucial moment has arrived, who knows what kind of threat they'll use to coerce me with this ancient jade? I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and cleared my mind, preparing myself for the worst. Well, no choice! After all these years of experience, when life turned everything into dark humor, I could only go with the flow and turn myself into an educated thug.

  "Let's talk inside then." I made a welcoming gesture, while also giving Shi Tou a signal with my eyes. As soon as Liu Wei and I left, Shi Tou immediately picked up the ancient jade fragments and ran out holding them, I secretly laughed to myself, these are all my people, I knew you hadn't taken the ancient jade, what can you do about it?

  "Mr. Lin, do you know how much that ancient jade is worth?" Liu Wei asked eagerly as soon as he sat down.

  I stared at him, not saying a word. Liu Wei shook his three fingers with force and said with a hint of complacency, "Three million, just the value of the ancient jade is no less than three million." I pretended to nod mechanically, and in my heart, I also understood that he must have something else to ask me for, so now the best approach was to keep silent and wait for him to speak.

  "What does Mr. Lin want to do about this?" Liu Wei asked again, seeing that I was staring at him without saying a word.

  "What's your opinion?" I pushed the ball back like playing Tai Chi, what can I say? I'm not going to fall for it. "Compensation..." Liu Wei dragged out his voice, and I'm not a fool, knowing he must have more to say, so I didn't take the bait. As expected, he continued, "You definitely won't be able to afford compensation," I nodded like I was pounding garlic.