Chapter 204

He was familiar with this ailment; it was brought on by prolonged intensive physical labor, causing joint stiffness or ligament laxity.

He himself had suffered sleepless nights because of such issues.

Lately, Lin Mo hadn’t done any heavy physical work, so the problem hadn’t cropped up, but the past couple of days of grave digging had reawakened the old issue.

Even though he slept, he still felt quite tired.

But Lin Mo knew he couldn’t rest right now.

The basement was a mess, with the destroyed boulders still unrepaired and the excavated soil not yet backfilled.

Otherwise, the soil would fall into the well, and he would have to find another way to transport soil.

As for leveling the entire well, Lin Mo hadn’t even considered it.

That amount of work was too immense; if he were to bring in dirt bucket by bucket, even a fool would notice something was amiss.

Better to avoid drawing attention.

First, repair the boulders, then use cement to refurbish the basement floor, and if the landlord inquires, just say it’s a new waterproofing job—that was the ultimate solution.

If the opportunity arose later, he would buy the house or at least rent it for several years; the big items left in the tomb could wait.

Having made up his mind, Lin Mo drove to the building materials market, bought some cement and other things needed for waterproofing the floor, and by the time he got everything back home, it was nearly noon.

After all the materials were carried into the basement, Lin Mo was about to order some takeout when he noticed many unread messages on WeChat, all from Hai Dong.

“?????”

“Bro, where are you? It’s one thing to take a little trip, but how dare you actually go through with it!”

“Bro, how’s the weather in Imperial Capital?”

“Bro, you still there?”

“Bro… send a message back!!!”

“Bro?”

“Bro?”

What’s all this nonsense? So many messages!

Lin Mo first responded with a ‘?’, then followed up with a message: “I’m not in Imperial Capital, Mr. Hai Dong, what’s up?”

The reply came instantly.

“Bro, it’s not me who’s up to something; it’s what you’ve been doing… All these things… they’re all from within the palace!”

“That pot is called the Jinzan Cloud Dragon Gourd-style Pot, dating back to the Kangxi period.”

“That accessory is the Diancui Floral and Butterfly Pattern Headpiece; that’s something only the Imperial Noble Consort would have access to.”

“And that Qing Dynasty Jadeite Eighteen Arhats Bracelet? That’s jade from Yunan, presented during the Yongzheng era.”

“Bro… This is really too much. You haven’t gone and visited each of the Qing Thirteen Tombs, have you?”

“And you say you’re not in Imperial Capital?”

Umm…

What the hell?

Lin Mo was stunned for a moment; he had casually sent Hai Dong a few items, not expecting each to have such a significant provenance, and all from different dynasties to boot.

Reading Hai Dong’s reply, Lin Mo thought it over. If he wasn’t mistaken, these were probably items swiped from the palace by old eunuchs during, perhaps, the reigns of Puyi or Cixi, taking advantage of chaos to sneak valuables into their homes.

Why couldn’t they have been gifts?

Not likely.

Which master gifts eunuchs items suited for women?

Of course, one couldn’t be certain.

Who knew what really happened within those palace walls a hundred years ago?

And besides, Lin Mo didn’t care about such things. What did it matter to him? As long as the treasures were valuable and all his efforts weren’t wasted, that’s all that counted!

He couldn’t help but feel impressed with the Intelligence System; it truly was extraordinary and very useful.

Without the Intelligence System, who knows how many more years these treasures would have remained buried underground?

Just as he was about to reply to Hai Dong, he noticed more messages from him.

“Bro, do you actually have that set of heavenly swords? I have a buyer who loves this sort of stuff. Didn’t I mention before, as long as you’re willing to sell, price is not an issue!”

“Moreover, even if the items weren’t acquired legitimately, there would be no problems as long as you sell to him.”

Lin Mo pondered for a moment; he really did need some cash at the moment. The expenses of the deep web were substantial, and with the New Year approaching, he ought to figure out a way to earn more money.

“Sell!”

Lin Mo provided a definitive answer: “I have a whole set of celestial swords, they have a clean provenance. What location is your buyer from?”

Hearing that Lin Mo had an entire set and was indeed willing to sell it, Hai Dong immediately perked up.

This could be a business deal worth a couple hundred million; if he could close this deal, the benefits as the middleman would be considerable!

Hai Dong didn’t dare delay, hurriedly replied with a message: “The collector is from Rakshasa City, absolutely safe and reliable. Bro, when are you free to head over? We could go in the next couple of days, or tell me your location and I could pick you up.”

Rakshasa City?

That was actually quite close by.

Lin Mo responded: “Okay, you set it up and then let me know. I’ll buy a ticket to Rakshasa City with the stuff in the next couple of days.”

He was already in Rakshasa City, but then, there was no need to tell everyone everything.

“Got it, bro. You go on with what you’re doing, I’ll contact the big collector right away. Once we meet, you’ll see that this collector is top-tier domestic T0 level!”

“It was pure chance that I got to know him!”

T0-level collector?

Several names came to mind for Lin Mo.

Yang Bin?

Zheng Zhigang?

Ma Weidu?

Wang Wanda?

Or one of the four big families from the Yuhang Antique Market?

Having frequented antique markets recently, Lin Mo was quite familiar with these high-profile top-tier collectors.