บท 28: Treasure Appraisal
บรรณาธิการ: EndlessFantasy Translation
Gu Xiqiao got up from the bed and looked out the window, following Xiao Yun's gaze.
A black car was stopped outside the mansion, and a slightly chubby man emerged from it. He wasn't tall and was somewhat bloated, and he had an honest smile on his face. At first glance, he seemed like a good person, but there was something off about him.
Gu Xiqiao rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
Those that had learned martial arts all knew The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, and according to this medical book, 'As long as the righteous chi flows, all that is evil shall never violate'.
It seemed like a simple sentence, but it had great knowledge involved behind it. Essence nurtures chi, chi nurtures the spirit, the spirit nurtures essence, and it all forms a cycle. Hence, everyone that learns martial arts would also practice their virtue. If a person performed bad deeds, evil chi would permeate them and cause their chi to be polluted, making it twisted.
This was also the deciding difference between regular and demonic cultivators too.
"He's a distant uncle of mine who moved to our city after my parents died…Somehow, he makes me feel like he's up to no good." Xiao Yun pursed her lips as she glared at the man downstairs, before closing her eyes helplessly. "But my brother and grandfather both trust him, and he's holding more and more power in our company…"
Gu Xiqiao patted her shoulders comfortingly. "It's alright, let's go downstairs and have a look?"
As she was pat by Gu Xiqiao, Xiao Yun felt a cool stream of energy enter through her palms and flow around her entire body, freshening her up immediately.
Downstairs, Xiao Yun's uncle Xiao Ming'an was talking with Grandpa Xiao, while the butler holding a precious-looking vase in his hands.
[Ding! Daily Mission activated: Help Xiao Yun appraise the Yuan Dynasty vase.]
[Mission completion reward: 10 points]
A system notification rang out in Gu Xiqiao's head, making her glance at the vase passingly as she followed behind Xiao Yun.
"Yun has become even prettier." Xiao Ming'an looked at Xiao Yun and chuckled.
Xiao Yun returned his gaze with a cold one and wanted to say something, before Gu Xiqiao sent a glance at her, calming her down and stopping her from speaking out.
Xiao Sheng had been worried that Xiao Yun wouldn't be able to keep down her temper, but seeing that she did, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Grandpa Butler, place this vase into Grandfather's bedroom and prepare lunch, please."
The butler nodded, and was about to go upstairs when Gu Xiqiao suddenly said, "This is quite a pretty vase."
"Young lady, you have quite the eye! This is a Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain vase that has just been dug up, and I bought it at quite a high price. I even asked a monk to bless it, and worshiped it for forty-nine days, hoping it will bring health and prosperity." Xiao Ming'an replied.
"It had just been dug up? And it's been worshiped for forty-nine days?" Gu Xiqiao's eyes brightened and took over the vase from the butler. "…Did you see it get dug up yourself?"
Xiao Ming'an's smile didn't falter in the least. "Of course."
"Is that so." Gu Xiqiao caressed the vase gently and squinted slightly. "This blue-and-white porcelain vase is quite sturdy, and there are four tiers at the base, and was connected at the base, the hip, and the neck of the vase. There are red spots on the rough base, the neck of the vase is curved fluidly, and its shape is round, without any knife marks… It does look like the real deal, doesn't it?"
Xiao Ming'an smiled as he listened to her analysis, but the final sentence made his expression freeze in place. "Young lady, are you implying something?"
He looked over at Gu Xiqiao with a heavy gaze, and as he spoke, mental power that was three times for powerful than the average person's pulsed in her direction, wanting to cause make her panic and implant several suggestions in her subconscious.
As expected, this man was a cultivator, but he dared touch her with such feeble mental power?
"I haven't even said anything yet, Uncle Xiao." She ignored the pulse of mental power immediately and continued to smile. "There are three ways in which blue-and-white porcelain is colored—Vibrant, elegant, and grayish-blue. Smalt pigment was mainly used back in the Yuan Dynasty, which contains cobalt oxide and iron oxide, which react under high temperatures to become deep-colored crystals under the final glaze. This vase, however, only has iron oxide powder under the glaze, and you can see it quite clearly if you look at it under a microscope."
Gu Xiqiao put the vase back in the butler's hands, and her expression became solemn. "As for the forty-nine days of worship… You consider doing so in ancient graves as bringing prosperity and health?"
As soon as she said this, the expression of everyone in the room changed.
Xiao Yun immediately stood on Gu Xiqiao's side. "Uncle, what exactly were you thinking, giving Grandfather this vase that had been placed in a grave?"
"Granduncle, if you didn't believe me in the first place you could have said so! Why did you get this outsider to slander me?!" Xiao Ming'an walked over to the butler quickly and stole the vase back into his hands, before glaring at Gu Xiqiao darkly. "If this is how I am treated, then why should I stay here?"
The man marched out of the house, followed by the sound of an engine getting started up.
The people in the house were plunged into an awkward silence. Gu Xiqiao looked at Xiao Yun, then at the emotionless Xiao Sheng, then at Grandpa Xiao who had lowered his head, not knowing what to do. In the end, she was still not so experienced in dealing with this sort of thing.
Suddenly, Grandpa Xiao grabbed at his chest as he coughed, his expression pale as he gasped for breath.
"Grandfather!"
"Master!"
The butler and the two grandchildren went over to him immediately, shocked immensely.
Gu Xiqiao rubbed her head slightly. "Stand back!"
Grandpa Xiao couldn't even breathe well, did they want him to die by stealing all the oxygen around him?
Gu Xiqiao took out a set of silver needles, and quickly pricked into a few acupuncture points, stopping the sudden outbreak of sickness immediately. Grandpa Xiao's complexion returned to normal, but he was still breathing deeply to catch his breath.
After ten minutes, Gu Xiqiao pulled out the silver needles one by one.
Grandpa Xiao looked at Gu Xiqiao gratefully. "I had a hard time believing that you were the one that saved me back then, but now I have the chance to see you in action myself."
He had just gone through an outbreak of his sickness, and so his tone was breathy and he didn't seem energetic.
"Grandpa Xiao, please take care of yourself. I didn't say that on purpose, it's just that things taken out from graves have strong malicious chi and can cause you to become physically and mentally weaker if you be near it for too long. If I can venture a guess, that person would bring you antiques every couple months or so, yes?" Gu Xiqiao pursed her lips as she kept her silver needles.
Xiao Yun spoke up at this moment. "Grandpa Butler, burn everything that man has given Grandfather!"
The butler looked at Grandpa Xiao, then at Xiao Sheng, unsure of what to do now.
"Burn it." Grandpa Xiao waved his hands tiredly. "Burn them all, why leave these dangerous things lying around?"
Upon given permission, the butler immediately went upstairs to deal with the antiques.
"Grandpa Xiao, I'll write you a medicine list that can help you. After so many years of malicious chi permeating your body, it would be very hard to treat, but as long as you follow my medicine plan, you can return to seventy to eighty percent of your original health. That being said, some of these medicinal herbs are hard to find…" Gu Xiqiao discussed with the system and exchanged a medicine plan from it for Grandpa Xiao.
"Thank you," Xiao Yun said suddenly.
Gu Xiqiao accepted a piece of paper from Xiao Sheng to write down the medicinal herbs that Grandpa Xiao would need. "Don't mention it."
Xiao Yun looked at Gu Xiqiao's lithe fingers, not saying a word.
The words on the paper were too beautiful. Grandpa Xiao and Xiao Sheng only wanted to see which herbs they would need, but their attention was completely attracted by her words. Gu Xiqiao was already proficient enough to create a writing style of her own.
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