CH 177

The street of Treasures of Literature was very close to the location of the zither gathering, separated only by two streets of miscellaneous goods.

This time, Fang Yun didn't take a detailed look at the items on these two streets. He just took a cursory glance. Just as he was about to enter the largest street of Treasures of Literature, his pet fox suddenly jumped into his arms. It looked up at him, its paws clutching the clothes on his chest, hanging on him with a very serious expression. Its small eyes kept giving him signals, as if it was afraid of being discovered by others.

Fang Yun realized that his pet fox had something to say, so he slowly walked to a quiet place.

"Do you have something important to say?" Fang Yun asked in a low voice.

The little fox nodded seriously.

"Go ahead." Fang Yun said.

The little fox stared at Fang Yun with its round black eyes, making a very serious and hardworking expression. But in the end, it suddenly deflated, pointed at its mouth with its paw, as if to say it couldn't speak.

"Can you write then?"

The little fox shook its head shyly.

Fang Yun said helplessly, "Then I'll guess. If I'm right, you nod. If I'm wrong, you shake your head. Can you understand?"

The little fox nodded.

"Did you discover something bad?"

The little fox shook its head.

"Something good?" Fang Yun became more interested.

The little fox nodded vigorously.

"Is it a person?"

The little fox shook its head.

"Is it an object?"

The little fox thought for a moment, then nodded.

……

Afterwards, Fang Yun exhausted all his efforts and finally, through a series of questions and answers, found out the truth: The little fox had found something good in a shop. It didn't know what exactly it was, only that it was very good and wanted Fang Yun to buy it. But it was afraid that if others noticed, they would raise the price, so it waited until Fang Yun had passed by before giving him a signal.

So, Fang Yun discussed with the little fox about how to find that thing. Then he told Yang Yuhuan to pretend to know nothing. They walked forward for a while, then slowly walked back with the little fox in his arms, pretending to be seriously looking at things. They would walk for a while, then stop for a while.

When they arrived at a shop selling miscellaneous goods, the little fox suddenly pressed Fang Yun's hand with its small paw, indicating that this was the shop.

Fang Yun pretended to look around casually. He noticed that the shop was not small, almost two zhang wide. The shelves on both sides were filled with items, and the items were particularly miscellaneous. There were ancient books, damaged Treasures of Literature, porcelain bottles and jade articles, bronze tripods and stone carvings. It was a typical antique shop.

There were several people in the shop, some discussing the age of the antiques, others bargaining with the shopkeeper.

As Fang Yun looked around, he said to Yang Yuhuan, "The history of Treasures of Literature is long, but they are too expensive. The most common Presented Scholar's Treasures of Literature are worth tens of thousands of taels of silver, and many times they are not sold for money. Therefore, those Treasures of Literature with dissipated talent and even broken ones are considered excellent collectibles. Look at this official seal. It's a Han Dynasty's Treasure of Literature. Its talent has disappeared and it's no different from an ordinary official seal of the Han Dynasty. But in terms of collection value, it's at least three times that of an ordinary official seal!"

"Ah, when I was in Ji County, I heard that an old Accomplished Scholar liked to collect broken porcelain pieces, let alone Treasures of Literature." Yang Yuhuan followed Fang Yun's words.

When Fang Yun passed by a shelf, the little fox's paw suddenly pressed his hand again.

Fang Yun understood and his gaze fell on the shelf. This shelf was more miscellaneous than the others. It was a large box five feet square, filled with many broken items. Most of them were various broken Treasures of Literature, some of which even had a residual aura of talent.

Fang Yun was not in a hurry to search, to avoid being seen through by experts. He said to Yang Yuhuan, "These are all broken Treasures of Literature. Look at that penholder. It still has talent, although only half of it is left, it's worth two hundred taels of silver. It shouldn't be placed here. This shop must be newly opened, otherwise they would choose a larger shop and display such valuable items one by one, instead of hastily putting them together."

At this time, a middle-aged man extended his thumb and said with a smile, "This Accomplished Scholar has good eyesight! Several of our county's merchants have partnered to do business in Yuhai City. We've been here for less than a month, and it's our first time at the Yinlong Pavilion. Indeed, we were in a hurry. Since the Accomplished Scholar is an expert, he won't disgrace the treasures. The first item you buy will be discounted by 10%!"

Fang Yun smiled and said, "Since you've said so, I must choose an item, otherwise it would be a waste of the shopkeeper's sincerity."

After exchanging pleasantries, Fang Yun put the little fox on his shoulder, bent down to rummage through the large box, picking up one item after another to look at, occasionally asking the shopkeeper for the price, even bargaining, and selected a small stone carving with collection value, no different from normal shopping.

After touching more than a dozen items, Fang Yun came across a piece of animal skin and was about to put it aside.

At the same time, the little fox's paw pressed hard on his shoulder.

Fang Yun immediately picked up the animal skin and examined it carefully. The skin was pure black, extremely thick, about an inch thick. It was more like a mat than a skin.

The fur on the animal skin was very short, less than half an inch high, not prickly, and felt very comfortable. The fur was obviously very old, but it looked very new. There were three dried blood stains on it, which should have been black, but they were so red that they were startling, giving people a strange sense of temporal dislocation, as if they were imitations.

Although Fang Yun didn't have much experience in appraising collections, he had speed-read many miscellaneous books and knew a lot about the beasts of the Demon Barbarian tribes. The known demon beasts couldn't have such fur.

The only flaw of this animal skin was its size, only as big as a palm. Animal skins needed to be larger to be useful. A palm-sized animal skin could only be used as a rag, it was difficult to utilize, and it was hard to confirm its origin, greatly reducing its collection value.

Fang Yun didn't want any accidents to happen, and he had made enough preparations beforehand. He picked up the skin and asked, "Shopkeeper, how much is this animal skin?"The shopkeeper didn't doubt at all, stretching out his hand, fingers spread apart.

"Oh? Five taels?"

The shopkeeper immediately said, "Young Master is joking, it's five hundred taels."

"Alright, this thing is mine now! Yu Huan, give him the money!" Fang Yun immediately grabbed the beast skin.

The shopkeeper realized at a glance that Fang Yun had found a good thing, the actual value must far exceed five hundred taels, a look of pain appeared on his face. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Five hundred taels it is! If the young master becomes rich in the future, don't forget to visit our little shop more often. This is our shop's business card." He handed over a very thin bamboo strip.

Fang Yun secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It would be too stupid to bargain at this time. He agreed and paid the money in one breath. According to the law, this thing already belonged to him. If there was an accident during the bargaining process, and the other party raised the price or waited for a better offer, it would ruin things.

"Since the shopkeeper has treasures I like, I will naturally visit often." Fang Yun, learning from the shopkeeper to call it a treasure, smiled and took the business card bamboo strip, taking a closer look. The business card is actually a name card, which has been popular since the Han Dynasty. The so-called "visiting" and "invitation cards" are actually similar to name cards. However, scholars usually write invitation cards by hand to show their seriousness, while businessmen prefer to mass-produce durable bamboo name cards.

Fang Yun quickly put the beast skin into his clothes pocket to avoid letting anyone see it.

At the same time, three people suddenly entered the door. One of them happened to see Fang Yun taking away the beast skin. After thinking for a moment, a flash of regret appeared on his face. He quickly walked over and smiled, "This accomplished scholar, are you willing to sell that fur?"

Fang Yun carefully looked at this person, a very ordinary middle-aged man, with a smile on his face, clear eyes, a small beard on his chin, and his clothes looked exceptionally old. His left hand was behind his back, then fell to his side, empty.

Fang Yun carefully recalled. He vaguely remembered that a corner of a small wooden piece was exposed in this man's hand. The small wooden piece was very ordinary, but he felt a strange power imprinted in his mind, and the Book of Heaven and Earth moved slightly, revealing a corner of the wooden piece's phantom and then disappeared.

As the man walked over, Nunu's whole body of snow-white fur exploded, and her four small paws clung to Fang Yun's clothes, watching the man's left sleeve with full alertness.

Fang Yun stroked Nunu while smiling at the man, not saying a word.

The man looked at Nunu in surprise. Seeing Fang Yun's expression, he sighed lightly, "You probably don't recognize that thing, and you don't even know its use. How about selling it to me? Whatever you need, I'll try my best to satisfy."

Fang Yun shook his head lightly.

The man leaned over and whispered, "An Imperial Scholar's Treasure of Literature, I can't offer more."

Fang Yun also whispered, "You obviously came specifically to find the fur that you have never seen before. Except for those famous Semi-Saint prominent families, no one can do it. If you want it, you can. But you must exchange it for an equivalent Treasure of Literature."

The man was silent for a moment, "I don't know the real value of this thing, I just guess it's high, but whether it can be used, I can't determine. A Grand Academician's Treasure of Literature, that's my limit."

Fang Yun was secretly delighted, he didn't expect this beast skin to be so valuable, even if two Flood Dragon horns were added together, they couldn't compare to a Grand Academician's Treasure of Literature. But from this man's words, if this beast skin can be used, its value is even higher than a Grand Academician's Treasure of Literature.

Nunu pressed Fang Yun's shoulder with her paw, indicating that the price was too low.

Fang Yun naturally understood, "Too low."

The man sighed, and his left sleeve moved slightly.

Nunu immediately widened her eyes.

The man said, "Since we have met, let me advise you, it's best to bring this beast skin when you enter The Holy Land. Sigh..." The man was extremely regretful, turned around and left, and the two people who followed him glared at Fang Yun.

The three of them walked and silently changed their appearance, left the Dragon Pavilion, and finally came to a quiet teahouse.

"Do you seem to know him?"

"The number one accomplished scholar of the Ten Nations, Fang Yun." The man in the lead picked up the teacup and slowly drank tea.

"He has only become famous recently, why not try to get that thing? Give up eight years of hard work so easily? Otherwise, that Menglin Hall..."

"Our Ji family has always been going with the flow, never going against it! Since it's his, it's his. Today we make a good connection, so we can meet again in the future."

"Doesn't that mean the third young master's trip to The Holy Land will return empty-handed?"

"Not necessarily. Not getting it today may be a blessing for our Ji family! Menglin Hall forcibly took the 'Three Articles of Han Xin' from the Han and Zhang families, they are in a strong position and will definitely try to enter The Holy Land. Our Ji family will undoubtedly lose if we confront them directly. Holding that beast skin might be a blessing or a curse. But Fang Yun is different."

"How is he different?"

"About him, I can't calculate anything."

In the Dragon Pavilion, a voice appeared in Fang Yun's ear.

"I'll help you kill someone, can you give me that beast skin?"

Fang Yun was dumbfounded and laughed, the Whale King was also eyeing this thing, and he became more interested in this beast skin. It could even hide from the Whale King. If it weren't for Nunu passing by, it would definitely be obtained by that man.

Fang Yun didn't speak, and the Whale King said again, "The old guy said we don't owe anyone in our Dragon Palace, there should be something you want in the 'Literary Friend Pavilion', whether you can choose it or not, it depends on your own ability." (To be continued.)

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