“Just so! Quickly, show Master Yuan the Jade Gourd!”
Qian Lulu and the others urged Chen Fan.
Chen Fan’s friends were charmed by Master Yuan’s aura and Zheng Anpin’s trustworthy demeanor. They were convinced that it would be for Chen Fan’s benefits to have the artifact identified by Master Yuan.
“Very well.”
Chen Fan sat still and gave Master Yuan a knowing glance and then nodded.
He fished out the Jade Gourd from the suitcase and pushed it over toward Master Yuan. The moment Master Yuan saw the Jade Gourd, a hint of greed flashed in his eyes.
Everyone watched as Master Yuan carefully removed the Jade Gourd from the suitcase and after studying it for a while, he started to channel his Qi and started his art as he murmured something. After he has done that for a while, he put down the Jade Gourd and heaved a sigh.
“Master Yuan, what is going on?”
Qiu Yilun and the others hurried to ask. This was a treasure that came with a thirty million price tag. If it was proven to be a fake, that thirty million yuan would be going down the drain. Even if he was the heir of the Chen family from Jin City, thirty million Yuan was still a large amount of money.
“Young Lord Zheng, you are mistaken this time. This is not a dharma artifact at all, but just an ordinary jade trinket.” Master Yuan shook his head in remorse.
“What?”
Qiu Yilun and the others panicked, this was what they feared the most.
Although they didn’t know what dharma artifacts were, what they heard from Master Yuan meant that Chen Fan would have lost all the money he had put into the Jade Gourd. If the Jade Gourd was the real deal, Chen Fan could have at least got most of his investment back should he decide to sell it.
“We bought it from an auction from the Hilton hotel, how could there be any fakes at such a high profile auction?” Qian Lulu asked indignantly.
“Hehe, the Dharma Artifacts’ powers are brilliant but subtle, without trained eyes, no one would be able to identify if an artifact was indeed real or not.” Master Yuan snorted and then said: “Even items from Sotheby’s auctions events could be fakes, much less that of smaller auction companies.”
“It was purely buyers beware when it came down to an auction, and bidding on dharma artifacts was the riskiest.”
After hearing Master Yuan’s words, everyone fell silent and was nearly convinced by Master Yuan.
Zheng Anpin furrowed his brows and said: “Master Yuan, are you sure? I have a message from an insider and got there just for this Dharma Artifact. Even it’s appearance looked very much like the other Dharma Artifacts.”
“Fine, since young lord Zheng had asked about it, I might as well explain myself.” Master Yuan said. It was evident that if Young Lord Zheng was not interested in the item, he was not going to offer his professional explanation.
He pointed at the Jade Gourd on the table and said: “It might look like a Dharma Artifact since it is covered with a Talisman Inscription. However, the key factor that makes an artifact a Dharmic Artifact is the infusion of a perfected cultivator’s True Qi. In other words, this jade gourd was just a hollow husk and was unfinished.”
“If this gourd ended up in the hands of a Feng Shui master, it would turn into a real Dharma Artifact, however, if it ended up in the hands of an ordinary person, it would be useless.”
Hearing Master Yuan’s explanation, the faces of Qiu Yilun and the others suddenly paled.
Everyone knew the huge difference in value between a half-finished product and a finished one. This Jade Gourd was pretty much just a piece of wood before it was carved into a statue by a woodcarver.
Zheng Anpin pulled a taut face and heaved a sigh. He looked to Chen Fan apologetically and said: “Brother Chen, I am so sorry to hear that. I had never thought that this artifact was unfinished. Sorry for the thirty million Yuan you have lost.”
He put on a pitying frown as if Chen Fan had lost that much money because of him.
Qian Lulu and the other girls felt even more impressed by Young Lord Zheng’s sympathy and compassion. They thought that they finally met a rich heir who was not a dip shit.
“Hold one a second. Why should we believe what you just said?”
Suddenly, a cold voice came up from the group of people
Everyone looked over toward the direction of the voice and saw Zhou Qinya stood still, crossing both arms across her chest.
Qiu Yilun was taken aback at first, but quickly he saw Zhou Qinya’s point.
Just so! Master Yuan was the only person in the room who claimed to have knowledge about Dharma Artifacts. Most of them have no idea what a Dharma Artifact could do, much less telling the real ones from the fake ones. Therefore, they had to believe whatever Master Yuan had told them. The question is, how could they trust Master Yuan?
They were enamored by Zheng Anpin’s charm and Master Yuan’s authority. However, in hindsight, they felt there were many things in this situation that didn’t add up. Some even wagered if Zheng Anpin and Master Yuan were on the same team.
After all, Zheng Anpin had lost the bid to Chen Fan and he very likely could have hired Master Yuan to lure Chen Fan into a two-man con. If Master Yuan identified the item as fake, he could then offer to buy the fake artifact from Chen Fan at a cheap price.
“I wager this lady does not trust my word.” Master Yuan said calmly and didn’t seem angry.
“I have seen swindlers such as you too many times. You use superstitious mumbo jumbo like Feng Shui or I-ching and lure people into thinking that something bad was going to happen to them unless they pay you a large sum of money. You will then slowly extract profit from these innocent families until they have no money left.” Anger danced in Zhou Qinya’s eyes as she flung back at Master Yuan.
It was evident that her family used to be a victim of a fraud.
“Miss Zhou, Master Yuan is not a liar, I can vouch for him.” Even as Zheng Anpin was going to say more, Yuan Hen cut him short. “Haha! those swindlers from the mainland have tarnished the name of Feng Shui masters. Their knowledge and abilities couldn’t compare with mine.”
“I, Yuan Hen have been in this business for ten years and have identified numerous Dharma Artifacts and never once did I misjudge them. Most of my clients are the rich and powerful in Hong Kong. If not for Young Lord Zheng’s invitation, I wouldn’t even care to identify the artifact for you.”
“Master Yuan, Master Yuan. We are all friends here, of course, we trust you.” Zheng Anpin hurried to ease the mood.
An awkward silence fell onto the room. Although Zhou Qinya still had her doubts, she felt that if she pressed on, she would risk irking Young Lord Zheng.
After all, they were in Hong Kong but not Jinlin City. The Zheng family’s power could reach every corner of the city.
“Fine, I will show you what a real Dharma Artifact is for the sake of Young Lord Zheng.”
Yuan Hen snorted and then shot out two fingers and started an art.
Suddenly, the bracelet he was wearing started to clatter. The bracelet was a handful of hollow beads made out of jade, and bones. As they started to shake, air passed through the hollow hole in the middle and made a piercing shrieking noise that shot through the entire room. It sounded like the howling of ghosts.
Chen Fan and his friends felt that the room had turned into the underworld where demons and ghosts roamed.
They were surrounded by shrieks and started to hallucinate. They saw phantoms coming at them, stirring up a powerful gale that threatened to throw them off balance.
“Ah!”
The sight terrified the girls.
They have never seen such a horrid sight and were shaken by the sound and illusions around them.
Even Zhou Qinya’s defense was shattered. She grabbed onto Chen Fan’s arm tightly as her body shook like a little bird in a storm.
Only Qi Wangsun and Chen Fan were unaffected by the illusions.
“Dharma Spells and Dharma Dao are beyond the imagination of mortals such as you!”
Master Yuan’s voice came up from a distance.
As he finished his words, the illusions and the shrieking suddenly stopped and everyone was back to the room. They watched as Master Yuan sat on his chair stately and calmly as ever.
Having experienced that, everyone looked at him with fear and awe in their eyes.
“He is a real master! A master with Dharmic powers!”
Qiu Yilun murmured to himself.
Qian Lulu and the others nodded in agreement as the doubts in their mind toward Master Yuan evaporated. With a simple wave of a hand, Master Yuan had brought the scene of the underworld right in front of them; another wave, he had banished the terrifying scene he had summoned.
Zheng Anpin had seen Spell Casters cast their spells many times, but he still couldn’t help but be afraid. Qiu Yilun and the others were ordinary college students and therefore, they were even more terrified by the experience. Their pale faces also showed respect and reverence toward Master Yuan. Chen Fan and Qiu Yilun were the only two who were unaffected by the spell. Their calm demeanor even impressed Yuan Hen.
“Do you believe me now?” Yuan Hen posed on the chair and asked lightly.
“Yes, I do.” Qian Lulu and the others nodded.
“This bracelet is called Illusion Dragon Bracelet. It was created and refined by many masters from Southern Sect and required Dao-Reaching Level of attainment to use.” Master Yuan shook his head and said: “However, this Jade Gourd was at the best a good material for Dharma Artifact, but it required at least three years of refinement by a powerful Dharmic power user to become a real Dharma Artifact. It might be worth some money in my hands but it is worthless in yours.”
This time, everyone, including Zhou Qinya believed him.
Master Yuan had such incredible Dharmic powers and therefore he must not be lying to them. Plus, if he really wanted it, he didn’t have to play such a game with them, he could have just taken it away using his Dharmic powers.
“Brother Chen, I think it’s pretty clear now that the Jade Gourd is not authentic and is useless to people such as you and me. It’s only useful to masters.” Zheng Anpin said slowly. “Why don’t you just sell it to Master Yuan? This way, you can get at least some of your money back.”
“Humph! I have all kinds of Dharma Artifacts. Why would I need a half-finished one? I don’t want it.” Yuan Hen shook his head and smirked.
By then, Qi Yilun and the others were completely captivated by Yuan Hen’s powers and therefore they rushed to him and pleaded with him to purchase it from Chen Fan. In the end, Yuan Hen said reluctantly: “Fine, fine, how about three hundred thousand? I can’t afford more for a half-finished product. It will take a lot of work for me to turn it into something useful.”
In a blink, Chen Fan’s thirty million shrank to only three hundred thousand.
Everyone looked at Chen Fan for his decision. Although they all fell bad for Chen Fan, they were convinced that this was the most Chen Fan could get out of his situation.
“Three hundred thousand?” A smirk broke over Chen Fan’s face. He had been watching the show unfold quietly and was amused by what he saw. “You want to buy this Jade Gourd for three hundred thousand? You are quite brazen, aren’t you.”