Chapter 8

Meanwhile in Jianghai City Hospital while Xia Tian was meddling about.

“Chairman Lee, what’s the matter?”

“Mr Xu, can’t diagnose your son. He didn’t last the half-minute going to the examination room.” Chairman Li felt completely helpless.

“Did someone poison him?”

“We’ve done some testing and there was no trace of poisoning at all. Mr Xu has nothing more to excrete out from his body. He has lost ten jin 1 in just a day. He’ll die if this keeps up.” Chairman Li had cracked his skull multiple times but had yet to be able to determine the cause.

“Ten jin? He’s going to die at this rate.” Xu Qinghua was Xu Shaocong’s father and he was his only son. Although his son would often cause trouble outside, why should he stop him if he was earning money?

Now that his son had fallen into such a state, it was only natural that he would panic.

“Sir, I’ve asked the young master earlier. He had quarreled with a student named Xia Tian at the school, and he had told him to be wary of having a stomachache later in the day.” Xu Family’s housekeeper had already heard of the news and asked Xu Shaocong of the entire event.

“Have you sent men over?” Xu Qinghua nodded satisfactorily.

“They’re on their way. I’ve told Shan to bring two other men along. “Xu Family’s housekeeper specifically mentioned Shan as he was no ordinary man. He was retired special forces and rumor had it that he had participated in dozens of large scale missions. He ultimately obtained second-class merit but was forced to retire when his left leg was injured by someone else.

Xu Qinghua had once saved Shan’s life and it was his proudest moment when Shan had started putting the Xu Family’s problems over his life in the past few years.

He was in complete peace when he had Shan taking over the matter.

Xia Tian was oblivious to the fact that someone was watching him, and was extremely delighted to be able to obtain an Ancient Buddha’s Sarira.

He had heard about the Ancient Buddha’s Sarira from his father before. A sarira could only be made by a monk when he reached complete peace and the Ancient Buddha’s Sarira had only existed in legends.

Rumor had it that when the Ancient Buddha had reached complete peace, the sarira that had appeared would fall into China to cleanse the humans of their sins.

The Buddha had been the light to mankind. Xia Tian always believed that it was just a fairytale told by his father but little did he know that it actually existed. Xia Tian knew that he did not mistake it for something else since it was shining so brightly.

“Hmpf, you’re pretty naive to say that you’re rich when you’ve only spent five hundred on an item.” Elder Xu harrumphed. It was the first time he was challenged, let alone by a kid who was not over twenty years old.

“Someone mentioned that you’re a master appraiser, right?” Xia Tian looked at Elder Xu out of the blue. Although he did not want to cause any trouble, Elder Xu did not seem to want to let him off the hook just yet.

“That’s right. There is no one that does not know me, Xu Dechuan, in Antique Enthusiast Street.” Elder Xu was very proud as his name was incredibly well known there. It was his pride after all. He was a member of the Xu Family, one of the Big Four Families in Jianghai City. As he liked to play with antiques since he had been young, the family business had ultimately been passed on to brother.

He tried to fight for it but to no avail. Eventually, his brother died and the family’s fortune had been passed down to his nephew Xu Qinghua. Although Xu Qinghua would give him some monthly allowance, the amount given was a small fraction of the wealth of the Xu Family.

Hence, he was determined to take back the family business he would fight against Xu Qinghua on the grounds of money and authority, and to obtain both, this street was the best location.

For the past few years, he had earned himself enough reputation and admiration.

“Why don’t we have a little competition?” Xia Tian smiled gently. This old man seemed to have some background and his social standing was high in this area. He might be useful to him in the future.

“A competition with me? What kind?” Elder Xu found the entire ordeal extremely hilarious.

“Let’s compete with what you do best. You’re free to pick five items randomly and I’ll pick out everything that’s not an antique among them. I’ll admit defeat if I pick even one wrongly.” Xia Tian wanted to compete to see who was better at appraising antiques.

“Haha, kid, you’re fooling around with someone who knows his stuff. What will you do if you were to lose?” Elder Xu laughed as he said.

“Me, losing? I suppose I won’t be leaving here alive then.” Xia Tian smirked. “If you’re the one who loses, you’ll buy me something that I like here.”

“You don’t know your place at all.” Elder Xu looked at Xia Tian arrogantly. “I don’t want you to die if I win, I want you to serve me for life.”

Xu Dechuan felt that this kid was quite something as he reminded him of Xu Qinghua’s Shan. Perhaps this was a chance given by the Gods. If he were to obtain an extremely loyal underling similar to Shan, it would definitely be a huge benefit for him. Although this competition was a sure-win, it would be impossible for him to find the actual antique and treasure without relying on any instruments at all.

He would have been rich if that were to case. His success rate was around one in ten as there were too many high-quality imitations mixed with the actual antiques. In other words, all he needed to do was to pick out one actual antique to let the kid figure it out. Regardless, it would be impossible for the kid to guess correctly.

It was a child’s play for him to get an actual antique as all he needed to do was to borrow one from a shop. After all, Xu Dechuan was quite influential here.

Xia Tian sat down and waited for Elder Xu to search for the five items. Hundreds of people started gathering as they heard that Elder Xu had a wager with someone on antiques.

No one really knew what Xu Dechuan was thinking that day, having decided to find trouble with a youngster. He was dead serious as he picked up a toy in an antique shop before going off to search for a few imitation antiques that even he himself would not able to tell the difference.

He then picked up a few small items randomly from the stalls. The sellers did not ask for money when they realized it was Elder Xu, but he still gave each of them two hundred RMB each.

“These are the items, kid. Why don’t you appraise them for me.” The bodyguard behind Elder Xu placed five items down on the table in front of Xia Tian.

Discussion started flooding in and many of them suggested that Xia Tian did not know the situation he was in at all. After all, he was daring enough to have an appraising contest with Elder Xu, who was a master appraiser in Antique Enthusiast Street.

It would be impossible for Xia Tian to guess the item since he was the one asking the question.

There were five items on the table; a wooden box, a big vase, a tray, a transparent stone, and a bracelet.

Xia Tian activated his Insight as he looked at the five treasures displayed before him.

“How about it, kid? It’s too late to surrender now.” Elder Xu caressed his goatee. It was an action he would always do whenever he was sure that he was victorious.

Xia Tian took up the wooden box and threw it to Xu Dechuan. “This is real.”

“Alright, you win. This was the box used to store the comb used by Empress Dowager Cixi from the Qing Dynasty.” Elder Xu did not pull his leg since this would affect his reputation. Although he knew that it was very likely that Xia Tian was lucky, he was not able to admit it.

Then, someone among the crowd started saying that Xia Tian had got it right out of incredible luck.

Xia Tian ignored these people as he took up the big vase. Xu Dechuan smiled gently when he watched Xia Tian picking up the big vase. He would not have known it was a fake had he not been privy to that fact beforehand. The imitation was simply too advanced for him to see through.

He refused to believe that Xia Tian was able to see through the true nature of this item. Xia Tian would guess that it was real and the competition would end.

Xia Tian picked up the vase and smiled. “Elder Xu, is it alright for me to break the item that I believe is a fake?”

“Of course. If it’s just an imitation I’m able to afford it.” Elder Xu said.

There was a loud shatter the instant he finished speaking. The vase was already on the ground. Everyone who saw Xia Tian’s actions were shocked. Everyone believed that the vase was a good item and the crowd started filling with anger and sorrow for the vase.

Xia Tian ignored them as he picked up a fragment from the ground. On the fragment, it was written that it was made by Fang Quzi. The crowd believed that Xia Tian had guessed correctly again when they saw the name.

Who exactly was Fang Quzi? He was the infamous imitation master. Rumor had it that the imitations he created were impossible to discern by the naked eye and one could only rely on instruments to determine its authenticity.

“Made by Fang Quzi?” Xu Dechuan was stunned when he saw the name. “How is that possible? How did you know?”

What Xu Dechuan was shocked about was not that Xia Tian had guessed correctly again, but that Xia Tian was able to see through Fang Quzi’s imitation. One could segregate an appraiser into five levels and Xu Dechuan was roughly at a level three. However, only a level five master appraiser was able to see through Fang Quzi’s artwork. He might have just encountered an actual expert if Xia Tian was able to tell the difference in this fake product.

The crowd knew that Xia Tian had guessed correctly again when he broke the tray to reveal the patterns within it. Meanwhile, Xu Dechuan was utterly speechless.

Xia Tian then threw the stone on the ground and stepped on it, and everyone knew what was in his mind. It, too, was a fake. Xia Tian then picked up the last item, the bracelet.

“Hold up kid. Consider this your win. Name your request.” Xu Dechuan did not let Xia Tian guess the last item, and decided that he wanted this kid on his side.

Perhaps that plan of his might just come to pass if he had Xia Tian’s help.

“Oh, thanks Elder Xu. I find this bracelet quite nice. I’ll pick it.” Xia Tian looked at the bracelet in his hand and smiled.