Chapter 40: An Old Acquaintance and a Web of Doubts

The moment I slammed the bag onto the table, the old man panicked. His smooth-talking spiel quickly unraveled into a mess of incoherent babble. It didn’t take long for me to notice—he seemed both wary of the casket and deeply curious about it.

I thought for a moment, then pushed the bag toward him. “Didn’t you want to see it? Go ahead.”

He froze, instinctively reaching for the zipper, but then pulled his hand back the next second. He gave me a sheepish grin. “Kid, you don’t really know where this thing came from, do you? All that talk just now—you were trying to bluff me, weren’t you?”

I had no idea how he suddenly figured that out. But in that moment, I realized this old man wasn’t simple. The story I spun earlier was full of red herrings—anyone with only a passing knowledge would’ve been fooled. Yet he saw through it almost immediately.

Seeing that, I didn’t bother pretending anymore. I yanked the bag back. “You want to look or not? If not, forget it.”

The old man’s expression flipped faster than a page in the wind. He grabbed my arm with a fawning smile. “No, no, don’t get mad! I’ll look, I’ll look, alright? Young people these days, so impatient—it’s not a good habit, you know.”

I let go of the bag and watched as he unzipped it with trembling hands. He carefully pulled out the Jade Casket wrapped in soft cloth, then began peeling the layers away while muttering under his breath. The soldier guy scooted over to sit next to me, giving me a curious look.

The old man squinted at the casket through his reading glasses. As he stared, his eyes suddenly welled up with tears. I was completely thrown off.

The soldier asked, “Hey, old man, what are you crying for? You make it look like we bullied you or something. Is this thing really that amazing?”

“You don’t understand,” the old man said, suddenly serious. “The last time I saw this thing, it was just a photo. At first, I even doubted it was real. I had an old friend who was obsessed with it for years. Never thought I’d hold it in my hands in this lifetime—so real, so close.”

I immediately caught the key point in his words. I leaned forward and, while he was wiping his glasses, snatched the casket from his hands and quickly wrapped it back up under the table.

“Hey! Wait—” The old man reacted a beat too slow. He reached out and missed, looking frustrated. “Name your price. I’ll buy it.”

I told him, “This casket used to be mine. Now that someone’s returned it to me, it’s mine again. It’s a family heirloom—not for sale.”

The old man exploded. I must’ve said something that really set him off. He slammed the table and shot to his feet, shouting:

“Are you kidding me?! You’re just a kid, and you’re already lying like a pro! I was gonna confirm the casket and then maybe talk real business with you, but now? Hah! Claiming this casket is some family heirloom—what a load of crap! Aren’t you afraid of karma, lying through your teeth like that?!”

His outburst actually helped me think more clearly. He was absolutely convinced this casket couldn’t possibly be a family heirloom of mine. But I did take it from my grandfather’s cabinet. That makes it at least half an heirloom, right? There’s no way Grandpa would’ve stolen something from someone else.

My grandfather wasn’t that kind of man.

“You know where this thing came from?” I asked.

The old man snorted. “You’re just a punk—I don’t have time for your games. I don’t care if the person who put the casket in your bag is your accomplice or not. I’m telling you now, this thing is extremely valuable. Lives are at stake. Do you understand?”

I wasn’t going to keep playing cat and mouse with him. It was clear he knew way more than I did. Might as well lay my cards on the table. What little I knew wasn’t worth hiding anyway—better to be honest and see what I could learn.

I placed the casket back on the table and changed my tone. “I’m not sure what I said that offended you just now, but I apologize. I’m a complete outsider to all this—don’t know much about the trade. But this casket really is a relic from my family.”

“Heirloom, huh? I don’t buy it. What’s your background? Tell me your name.” Seeing my humble attitude, the old man puffed up like a rooster. He smoothed his mandarin jacket, crossed one leg over the other, and looked at me like I was beneath him.

That was enough to set the soldier guy off. “Hey! You old scammer! Still acting like a big shot?”

I was afraid he’d punch the old man into a hospital bed. Then we’d get nothing out of him and end up footing the bill. I quickly held him back and gave him a respectful clasped-fist salute. “Brother, thank you for everything earlier. You don’t need to get involved anymore—just take a seat.”

Without waiting for a reply, I turned back to the old man. My grandfather had quite a reputation in the Outer Eight Trades. Judging by this guy’s age, he would’ve been around during Grandpa’s heyday in the Central Plains. If he didn’t recognize the name, then I’d admit defeat.

“My family’s from Zhechuan, Henan. Surname Gan. My grandfather was known by many as the ‘Eight-Foot Dragon’. Maybe that rings a bell? I don’t know how people in the trade introduce themselves, so I’ll just speak plainly—hope you don’t mind.”

I thought I sounded pretty sincere.

“Who?! What’s your surname?” The old man suddenly sat up straight.

I shrank back a little, wary of these superstitious types. “Gan. My grandfather was Gan Rukui. He passed away a few years ago. You knew him, didn’t you?”

The old man seemed to have a moment of revelation. His whole body relaxed, and his eyes lost focus as he leaned on the table. From the look of it, he definitely knew Grandpa—maybe even knew him well.

I waited quietly for two minutes. Then he rubbed the top of his head like he was trying to recall something. His eyes finally regained clarity, and he began studying me closely. He muttered:

“No wonder… No wonder you looked so familiar. You’ve got the same damn stubborn streak as Gan Rukui when he was young!”

I gave an awkward smile. Couldn’t he say something nicer? Like how I inherited my grandfather’s good looks? Why focus on the temper?

Then he asked, voice a little lower this time, “When did Rukui pass?”

I spaced out for a moment, unsure how to answer.

The old man quickly added, “I don’t mean anything by it. To tell you the truth, I was very close with your grandfather in our younger days. I was actually taking the train to Henan to see him. Didn’t expect he’d already gone. All these years, I’ve been on my own… and no one even sent word.”

The atmosphere in the train car shifted again—what started as a thief-catching scene turned into mutual suspicion, and now had morphed into a heartfelt reunion. The emotional whiplash left me dazed and oddly unsettled.

I’d bought a random train ticket at the station. Then someone secretly slipped the Nine-Ring Jade Casket into my bag. I waited for the thief to show, and sure enough, someone came that night. I happened to kick him in the head—and he just so happened to be an old acquaintance of my grandfather’s?

This was getting way too coincidental.

The whole situation felt like it was being strung together by an invisible thread. Each event seemed unrelated on the surface, but when I looked closer, they all had something in common. And the thing tying them all together… was the Nine-Ring Jade Casket in my hands.

It was because of this casket that I came to Gansu. Because of it, I stayed alert tonight. And because of it, this old man was now sitting across from me, talking.

Everyone seemed to be here for the Nine-Ring Jade Casket. Tian Yuqing had said its appearance would stir chaos in the underworld. Was that why Grandpa locked it away all those years ago?