Chapter 268: Chapter 268: Buddha Head in the Mid-Heavens

"Ladies and gentlemen, this banquet is a cultural gathering of the whole world, and the organizer has taken out all the collections from their own home to auction here. I ask for your kind guidance!"The host, whether in tone or otherwise, was very polite, and because of the nature of the auction items, deliberately spoke in Chinese.

But such phraseology felt awkward no matter how one listened to it.

Chen Yu even frowned, his expression seemed somewhat peculiar.

The host did not care about these reactions and continued to introduce the origins of the Buddha heads.

Everyone present was looking forward with anticipation, just waiting for the host to announce the price.

Chen Yu let out a breath of turbid air, his eyes fixed intently on the Buddha head on the stand.

Most of these items had been plundered by the Western world from the East during the late Qing dynasty, and it was shameful to see them being auctioned off so brazenly now.

However, this also indicated that the sponsors behind the event were indeed in need of money. This banquet's main purpose was not only to exploit the last value of the 'Queen Elsa' but also to bring together the world's super families.

This way, they could not only expand business cooperation but also liquidate all the antique treasures they had in hand.

Chen Yu's feelings were extremely complex, not knowing how to deal with the Buddha head before him.

First of all, these items were too precious; each could fetch a price of over a billion at auction, and even if Chen Yu put up all his current assets, he still might not be able to purchase these Buddha heads. Stay updated via мѵʟ

Secondly, at an auction of this scale, it was impossible to let someone take away all the Buddha heads in one go.

The profit from selling them one by one would be much higher than selling them as a lot.

Thinking of this, Chen Yu's heartbeat accelerated. It was painful to only be able to watch these marvelous items slip away!

As he struggled internally, he suddenly noticed a crack on the head of one of the Buddha statues.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the first item up for auction is the White Horse Temple Buddha head. It is said that this Buddha head was carved in the image of Wu Zetian and has a history of over a thousand years! The starting bid is 500 million!"

As soon as the price was announced, the room immediately erupted, and almost instantly, the price soared to 1.3 billion!

It's hard not to cause a sensation with such a priceless treasure.

But Chen Yu's gaze stayed fixed on the Buddha head with the crack, which despite its unremarkable appearance, and seeming like a later imitation, captivated him with the strange glow emanating from the crack.

Most Buddha heads from the Tang dynasty were carved from jade, with very few stone carvings, unless they were part of a group in a cavern.

Especially Buddha heads modeled after Wu Zetian, which were made from extremely valuable materials.

It was said that the Tang dynasty's national treasury once contained a pair of Buddha heads carved from purple jade, but they were lost inadvertently during the An Lushan Rebellion.

Zhu Yuanzhang later recovered them from the Mongols and enshrined them in a temple.

Unfortunately, they were lost again in the late Qing period.

Thinking of this, Chen Yu became inexplicably excited.

He suddenly stood up and yelled out abruptly.

"Wait, there is a problem with these Buddha heads!"

As soon as he spoke, the room fell silent, with everyone's gaze converging on Chen Yu.

The host was extremely embarrassed and unsure of what to do.

After all, Chen Yu had just pushed the banquet to a climax; he had brought great benefit to the event.

Additionally, many in the audience had already become fans of Chen Yu, and now whatever he said, there were people ready to follow suit.

As expected, the crowd of tycoons that was just frenzied a moment ago suddenly calmed down, looking at Chen Yu with strange anticipation, as if waiting for something.

"Mr. Chen, these Buddha heads are all from legitimate sources, there is no way they could be fake!"

The auctioneer responded with firm resolution.

However, Chen Yu remained unmoved and made his way onto the stage.

"Legitimate sources? They were simply plundered from the East. Your ancestors didn't even check properly when they were looting them; they shipped back a bunch of fakes and now you're presenting them as treasures in an auction."

Instantly, those attending the auction couldn't remain seated any longer and started discussing among themselves.

The auctioneer was even more panicked, the consequences were unthinkable if the auction couldn't proceed.

If things went south, not only would the organizing party behind the scenes suffer losses, but she, as the auctioneer, would also not be left unscathed.

Before she could react, Chen Yu had already approached the podium and casually picked up a Buddha head, smashing it directly in front of everyone.

Cram-full of cracks instantly appeared on the Buddha head, and then the external layer of jade carving shell started to shatter, revealing a dark-colored stone Buddha head underneath.

"My God, isn't this just a broken stone? You actually brought this for auction; are you trying to scam our money?"

Someone shouted out, and the scene immediately erupted into chaos, with everyone standing up.

"There's no need to look at the rest of the Buddha heads; they are definitely all of the same ilk!"

"Thank goodness Mr. Chen stepped in, I had just bid 1.8 billion. If I had truly paid, I'd have no place even to cry."

"Since when did the auction on the Queen Elsa become so low-end!"

"Refund our money!"

...

A cacophony of curses and accusations rang out, everyone's gaze focused on the auction stage, and some were even searching for the organizer's presence.

However, the organizers hiding in the shadows were already deeply frustrated.

They truly hadn't anticipated the situation to escalate to this point, and moreover, these Buddha heads had been passed down from their ancestors—how could they have become fakes here?

But to be honest, when their ancestors looted these Buddha heads, they hadn't examined them closely, only feeling assured that anything from the East must be a treasure.

To their surprise, these Buddha heads turned out to be stone cores wrapped in a layer of jade.

As the situation was about to spiral out of control, the organizers immediately discussed how to address the current predicament. seaʀᴄh thё nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Just as they were preparing to step in, Chen Yu suddenly produced a painting from the side.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm. I don't think this is the organizers' fault; their ancestors weren't aware of the authenticity of this Buddha head when they took it, just as they didn't know the true nature of this painting."

The room fell quiet again, with everyone's attention now fixed on the painting in Chen Yu's hands.

The painting looked unremarkable, even a bit coarse, clearly a low-quality imitation at first glance.

This thing seemed far from what anyone would consider a treasure.

While the crowd was bewildered, Chen Yu took some alcohol and a fine brush from the side and began to delicately work on the painting.

Before long, the painting miraculously split in two, and that inferior feeling it had given before was entirely gone.