Since Mo Zi had entered, she had already made a full assessment of potential dangers. Last time, Zhou Wen had mentioned another inner hall, so although the appearance of the hidden door was somewhat unexpected, her surprise didn’t last very long.
“Boss Zhou, this is where you keep your treasures, isn’t it?” She set down the untouched teacup and sat steadily with a composed expression.
“Mo-ge guessed correctly. How could I carelessly place good things anywhere? Besides, I value my own life most. Otherwise, no matter how much money I earn, I won’t be able to enjoy it.” Zhou Wen walked into the hidden door first. “Mo-ge, please come in.”
“Worthy of being Master Seeming-Buddha—you see things clearly.” Whether it was a compliment or sarcasm depended on how the listener interpreted it. Mo Zi noticed the interior was bright, not as if hiding ghosts or demons, and decided to boldly proceed.
Hearing Zhou Wen gently close the door behind her, before she had time to worry about this or that, she was already captivated by the scene before her eyes.
This secret chamber wasn’t large—a perfect square with four walls, no windows or doors, but the ceiling had ventilation openings, so it wasn’t stuffy. There were no lamps in the room, but the walls were embedded with a dozen luminous pearls the size of fists, providing illumination. The openwork carved wisteria display shelves were dark and somber, made from fragrant pine wood from the snowy peaks of Mount Qiyun—rarely seen on the market, sold by weight, starting at a hundred gold per portion. Here, they were actually being used as mere shelving racks.
On the shelves were mostly jade and gold items. Even though she wasn’t knowledgeable in this field, she felt the craftsmanship was ingeniously skillful, incomparable to imitations—they could truly be called treasures. To put it dramatically, even if placed in the imperial palace, these would probably be precious items for the Emperor to handle personally, not tribute items casually displayed anywhere.
Later, her eyes grew tired from looking, so she simply played to her strengths, only examining and touching the wooden bases, wooden beads, and wooden frames attached to the jade and jeweled items. Rosewood was nothing here—everything was rare and precious wood grown in deep mountain forests, ancient lands, and desolate ruins. With each type she silently identified, her astonishment grew. Previously she hadn’t had the opportunity to see so many kinds of rare wood, but now touching them, she could still name them as if counting family treasures.
“Boss Zhou.” Mo Zi had looked in bewilderment but touched with clarity.
“Mo-ge, how do you find the items here?” Zhou Wen rubbed his hands together, standing beside Mo Zi.
His voice was like a taut string, his hand-rubbing nervous, his expression more anxious than expectant. Mo Zi saw this and wondered why.
“The items are naturally good items.” She appeared interested in a jade ball depicting an immortal’s birthday celebration and stepped aside.
“That goes without saying. Mo-ge, this little trinket you’re looking at isn’t worth much. Let me show you something good.” Zhou Wen went behind a row of shelves and soon emerged, carefully cradling a wooden box in both hands. He brought it before Mo Zi and tremblingly opened it to show her the contents.
On white velvet silk lay a lotus leaf crafted from woven gold thread, its veins distinct down to the finest detail. Upon it rested three perfectly round white jade beads, like clear dew drops on a lotus.
“This lotus leaf is actually rarer than the beads.” The gold threads finer than hair were densely woven like silkworm cocoons, layered upon layers, yet still created delicate leaf vein patterns. In modern terms, it had tremendous three-dimensional quality and creativity. The exquisite gold-casting technique was truly breathtaking.
“Mo-ge, I just praised your keen eye—how have you become clumsy now?” Zhou Wen took a white silk handkerchief from his bosom, and using it as a barrier, pinched one bead with his fingers. He held it up high beneath the luminous pearl’s light. “Look carefully. What can you see?”
Mo Zi looked up. The white jade bead actually shimmered with flowing iridescent light. After a moment, it suddenly faded to a semi-transparent state, revealing inside a Guanyin holding a water purification bottle while riding on white clouds.
Coming from the computer information age, where master craftsmen skilled in handicrafts had been completely replaced by machines, she hadn’t expected ancient craftsmanship to reach such an inconceivable height. This Guanyin within the white jade couldn’t possibly be natural but must have been artificially created through human skill.
“These three Water Purification Pearls were personally crafted by my Nande’s Buddha Treasures Studio’s founding patriarch, Master Min Zhen. The Guanyin was carved from fine Lantian jade core, while the outer white jade is rock fragments from the deepest part of Dream Mountain’s Thousand Stone Cave, polished smooth and hollowed out. The color changes with body temperature, and under bright light the jade color completely fades. The old master exhausted his final ten years of effort to complete ten pearls total, keeping them as family heirlooms for future descendants. Unexpectedly, his son squandered the fortune and sold all ten Water Purification Pearls to others. Later, the third-generation descendant Min Jing rebuilt the Buddha Treasures Studio and wanted to recover the family heirlooms, offering one hundred thousand taels per pearl. Up to the seventh-generation descendants, the price has been called up to two hundred thousand taels, yet they’ve only recovered four. It’s said that when the Min family’s sons died, their eyes could not close.” Zhou Wen’s originally tense expression gradually gave way to proud, boastful salesmanship as he spoke.
“They’re just Lantian jade and rock fragments. Though precious, they’re not that rare, are they?” Even if Mo Zi liked them, she couldn’t admit it. Besides, she couldn’t afford that price of two hundred thousand taels.
“How could they not be rare? Setting aside the fact that no one in the world can match the micro-carving technique for the Guanyin image, just the skill of grinding rock fragments into seamless hollow beads—that technique has already been lost.” Zhou Wen couldn’t help rolling his eyes. Was this Mo-ge truly ignorant of goods, or trying to lower the price?
“Oh.” Mo Zi smiled. “Boss Zhou, compared to the Water Purification Pearls, I think this small screen would be easier to find a buyer for. The price is—”
Now Zhou Wen not only wanted to roll his eyes but was nearly foaming at the mouth from Mo Zi’s provocation.
Mo Zi watched his bloodless-looking head and stopped teasing him. “Boss Zhou, since you’ve spoken frankly today, I’ll be frank too. The beads are good, but they’re too expensive. I don’t have the silver. This time, I truly don’t have that much silver.”
Zhou Wen’s face suddenly brightened like a fish taking the bait, giving him peace of mind. “I thought you didn’t think much of them. Mo-ge, didn’t I just say? The price is negotiable. I know you still have business to attend to, so I won’t waste your time. Final price—five thousand taels per bead. If you have more silver and want to buy all three, that’s fifteen thousand.”
Mo Zi became suspicious. Having reached this point, anyone who wasn’t suspicious was an idiot. How many discounts would it take to turn two hundred thousand taels into five thousand? She didn’t have time to calculate mentally.
“Boss Zhou, either everything you just told me was nonsense, or these beads carry a bloody disaster or ill omen. Market price of two hundred thousand, you’re selling to me for five thousand. If you were me, would you spend this silver or not?” Mo Zi spoke plainly, extending her hand to cover the box lid while pretending to lean in closer to examine the Water Purification Pearls.
Wood—straight grain, each strand like strings, cool to the touch, fragrant when warmed. Century-old yew, heart of the tree, water-cutting method. This wooden box was worth a thousand gold pieces.
“Aiya, Mo-ge, I swear to heaven and earth—” Zhou Wen straightened his back to make a vow.
Mo Zi raised her hand. “Don’t, Boss Zhou. I don’t believe in people’s vows. Why not speak directly? Letting me take such a huge advantage—what exactly do you want me to do for you?”
“Well, this—” Zhou Wen didn’t know how to say it. He had originally wanted to use this good item to dazzle Mo Zi, get her to agree first, then add conditions.
“Zhou Wen, tell her.” An extremely weak voice spoke up at this moment.
In this secret chamber, there was actually a third person!