Bucktooth Zhou panicked when he heard Tang Hao offer another bet. He hesitated for a while, then gritted his teeth and a flash of viciousness showed in his eyes.
“A bet it is! One million! So you dare?”
In his eyes, the wooden Buddha statue was different from the terracotta statue. One could easily discern its age, and the material and handiwork were obviously mediocre. It should not be more than fifteen thousand [in current market prices].
He was very sure that he would win this bet. If the kid agreed, he would get his one million yuan back.
“Don’t bet with him, Little Brother Tang!” Elder Ma said urgently.
Tang Hao smiled. “Don’t worry, Elder, I know what I’m doing!”
He then turned to look at Bucktooth Zhou. “It’s a bet then, Boss Zhou. One million!”
Elder Ma turned pale. The other store owners also exclaimed in surprise.
“Is he daring or insane?”
“No, I don’t think he’s insane. Don’t tell me there’s something strange about this statue.”
Many store owners crowded around and inspected carefully the wooden statue in Tang Hao’s hands. Even Elder Ma and Old Master Zheng took the wooden statue and scrutinized it.
Both of them shook their heads. No matter how they looked, the wooden statue was a plain one. It would never fetch thirty thousand yuan on the open market.
“Little Brother, your statue… is definitely not worth thirty thousand yuan. Even ten thousand yuan is already too expensive,” Old Master Zheng said.
Bucktooth Zhou laughed. Old Master Zheng’s verdict was the nail in Tang Hao’s coffin. Victory was surely his.
He breathed a sigh of relief. ‘At least I’ve won my one million yuan back.’
At this moment, Tang Hao said, “Old Master, I think you might have been mistaken too. There’s nothing plain about this statue.”
“Oh, what boastful words! A blind greenhorn dares to say that Old Master Zheng is mistaken?” Bucktooth Zhou roared with laughter.
The store owners looked hostile.
Old Master Zheng was the absolute last word on this antique street. This outsider dared to say that he was mistaken. This was very disrespectful of him.
Old Master Zheng’s face turned cold. “Those are fighting words, little boy! I am mistaken? What a joke! How about you show me what’s not plain about your statue.”
Tang Hao lifted the wooden statue in his hands and said calmly, “Old Master, the exterior of this statue might look plain. There’s something wondrous inside though.”
Everyone was shocked when they heard this.
“Something wondrous inside? What do you mean?” Even Old Master Zheng was confused.
Tang Hao only smiled in return. He held the wooden statue on both ends and snapped it.
“What are you doing, Little Brother Tang?” Elder Ma shouted anxiously.
Even though the statue was not valuable, it was still bought for thirty thousand yuan.
The next moment, his eyes became round and wide as he was dumbstruck by what he saw.
Crack!
The wooden statue split into two. A light that was as red as blood shone from within. It was extremely eye-catching under the dim light.
“Oh my god! This… this…” Old Master Zheng’s voice was trembling with excitement. “This is blood jade! Thousand-year-old blood jade!”
Bucktooth Zhou felt as though he was struck by lightning. He teetered and stumbled one step back. “How is this possible… why is it blood jade…”
He felt the heavens and the earth spinning. He nearly fainted.
Blood jade was also known as ‘Hua Xia’s first jade’. It was exceedingly rare, and every piece of blood jade was worth fortunes.
Legend has it that blood jade is formed by inserting unrefined jade into a corpse’s mouth then buried for thousands of years. Its origin gives it an aura of mystery.
Its price was brought to astronomical levels by its dazzling beauty and exceeding rarity.
He did not expect a plain wooden statue to hide a wondrous item like that.
Thirty thousand was nothing compared to what this item was actually worth. Even thirty million would have been a low price for such an amazing find.
“Unbelievable! Truly unbelievable!” Old Master Zheng rushed forward to behold the crack in the wooden statue. He was thoroughly obsessed with the item within.
Tang Hao was confused. He did not know what blood jade is, but from the expressions of the people around him, he knew that it was something incredibly precious.
“Looks like I hit the jackpot again!” Tang Hao mumbled.
He only knew that the wooden statue was hiding something amazing, but did not expect the hidden item to be so incredibly precious.
“You didn’t just hit the jackpot. You’re so lucky that your ancestral gravesite must be emitting smoke!” Old Master Zheng was even more excited than Tang Hao.
Tang Hao smirked then lowered his head to look.
There was a narrow space in the wooden statue. Within the space was a string of blood jade beads. Every bead was perfectly round and clear. The beads were as red as blood and emanated an otherworldly glow. The beauty was indescribable.
Tang Hao fell in love with it at first glance.
He then furrowed his brows. The qi on the jade beads was too intense.
He narrowed his eyes and tried to gauge the level of qi. He was surprised by his findings.
‘This is an Artifact!’
The qi on the other antiques lingered on their surface. The qi on the jade beads pulsated from within.
This must be an Artifact from ancient times.
If this world had techniques of cultivation, then in ancient times, there must have been cultivators who wielded Artifacts like this.
Tang Hao was extremely excited. For a cultivator, there was nothing more important than an Artifact.
“This blood jade is too beautiful! The quality and sheen are unmatched! It should fetch at least fifty million in an auction.”
“Fifty million? That’s too cheap. It’s worth at least a hundred million.”
The store owners crowded around and argued.
“In my opinion, one hundred million is just the baseline. There’s no problem fetching two or three hundred million.” Old Master Zheng gave his opinion. “I’ve seen a piece of blood jade at an auction over ten years ago. Its quality was far inferior to this piece, and yet it fetched forty million yuan.
“I would say that this string of blood jade beads is flawless. It is a masterpiece among blood jade items. If the news got out, it would send shockwaves across the collectors’ circles.”
“Two or three hundred million?” Bucktooth Zhou felt his vision fading. He nearly fainted again.
The other store owners felt so much regret that their intestines were tying up in knots.
They had let two or three hundred million slip from their fingers. That would be the biggest regret of their lives.
“Little Brother, how did you know that there was something hidden in this plain-looking statue?” Old Master Zheng asked.
“Well… call it intuition, I guess?” Tang Hao smiled.
Old Master Zheng was shocked. He admitted sheepishly, “Then it was my mistake. Looks like you are not an outsider at all, but a top expert.”
“An expert, truly an expert!” The other store owners exclaimed.
They had no choice but to acknowledge Tang Hao’s abilities this time.
“Congratulations, Little Brother Tang! Congratulations!” Elder Ma stepped forward and greeted him with cupped fists. “Right, are you selling this string of jade beads? I can hook you up with an auction firm if you are interested.”
“It’s fine, I’m not selling this one!” Tang Hao said, “I’ll just wear it.”
Elder Ma was speechless.
This was an antique worth two or three hundred million! He did not want to keep it somewhere safe but rather wear it? This was too extravagant!
The other store owners and Old Master Zheng were speechless too.
“Oh! I just remembered, this young man here said that the set of Song jade figurines were counterfeit. Quick, bring it out for us to see, Boss Zhou.”
“Right! Bring it out!”
Bucktooth Zhou was panicking. Cold sweat was beading on his forehead.
“Im… Impossible! Absolutely impossible!” He muttered under his breath in an attempt to convince himself while his face turned paler and paler.
Old Master Zheng looked carefully at the set of jade figurines, then shook his head. “That’s right, this is counterfeit. It’s very expertly crafted though. No wonder it had fooled Boss Zhou.”
When Bucktooth Zhou heard that, his vision turned black and he collapsed straight-on the floor.