Chapter 80: Into the Thieves’ Den

I was a little surprised by He Yu’s conclusion. He spoke with such certainty, which probably meant he’d seen plenty of antique markets like this before. But he also said the waters in places like this ran deep, and without a local guide, you were bound to get ripped off.

I gave an “oh” and lifted my leg to step into the village, but He Yu grabbed my arm. He was so nervous he stammered, “Y-you-you’re just going in like that? Who knows if this is that Qiao guy’s Pankou? What if they trap us like turtles in a jar—”

Having said that, he stuck out his tongue, widened his eyes, and drew a hand across his neck in a slicing gesture.

I rolled my eyes at him, patted his increasingly chubby belly, and said, “Didn’t we travel all this way to find Qiao Sangui? If this really is his Pankou, then it means we’ve come to the right place. If you’re scared, stay outside by yourself. I’m going in to take a look.”

As soon as I said that, He Yu grabbed my arm back. “Hey hey hey, who’s scared? Get behind me. Follow my lead.”

Ignoring my protests, He Yu shoved me behind him and strode into the village alongside the people who had traveled from afar to hunt for treasure. I followed him around a single corner, and suddenly the path ahead grew surprisingly crowded.

It was much like an ordinary antique market, except it looked entirely unregulated. The dirt houses on either side were separated by a few dozen meters, and vendors squatted along the base of the walls. In front of them, colorful cloths and mats were spread out, displaying vessels and artifacts of all shapes and sizes.

I squinted as I stood before a stall, studying the goods for a good while. Aside from basic porcelain pieces, I couldn’t tell what was genuine or fake. To me, the items just looked uglier than the last, except for one Luban Lock^[1].

Seeing that I had stopped, He Yu leaned in to look as well.

The Luban Lock that caught my eye was made of Hetian jade^[2]. Its shape was simple, without elaborate carved patterns. Judging by the state of the jade, I guessed it had likely been soaked in water; a simple beast head was carved into it overall, and it still bore a faint smell of earth.

He Yu whispered to me, “What is it? You like this?”

Before I could answer, the stall owner noticed the two of us and grinned at us, showing his teeth. He wore a baseball cap and chewed gum. Picking up the Luban Lock from the cloth in front of him, he said to me, “This piece is real pretty. The jade is exceptionally fine.”

He smiled and reached out to hand me the Luban Lock, but I didn’t reach for it or take it. Even though I didn’t frequent antique markets every few days like Fourth Brother did, I wasn’t an idiot. My family had connections to this trade after all, and through exposure, I had learned a thing or two.

Judging by this Guangtou^[3] stall owner’s demeanor, he was a slippery old veteran. In their trade, there’s a saying: “porcelain doesn’t pass hand to hand.” It means that high-value or large pieces of porcelain and jade are generally never handed directly to someone for inspection. If the piece drops while being passed between two people, it becomes impossible to tell whether the owner or the buyer is at fault.

His gesture made me suspect, for the moment, that he was testing me to see if I was a total novice.

I didn’t take the jade. Instead, I tugged at my muddy pant legs, squatted down, and tapped an empty spot on the cloth in front of me to signal him to place the Luban Lock there.

Seeing that I wouldn’t take it directly from his hands, Guangtou didn’t get upset. He smiled and placed the jade on the cloth in front of me. “Take a look! It’s in great shape. This is the finest piece of jade I have!”

Only after he let go did I pick up the Luban Lock and turn it over to inspect it. The design was truly beautiful, and the jade was clear and translucent. I shifted slightly to make room for He Yu, who squatted down beside me to glance at the jade in my hands.

“It’s an old item, no idea where it was dug up from. If you really like it, just watch your brother here snag it for you at the rock-bottom price,” He Yu said as he rolled up his sleeves, looking like he was gearing up for a battle.

Although I genuinely liked the design, we weren’t actually here to haggle or shop. I quickly nudged him with my elbow and said to Guangtou, “It is pretty. Give me a price so I can think it over.”

Guangtou grinned and held up eight fingers. “Lowest price, no joke. This is good stuff. You won’t find better jade than this in the entire village.”

“That’s a bit steep,” He Yu countered. “Sure, it’s nice, but look at the color. It’s yellowed from being soaked in water. We’ve seen good stuff before. If my buddy here didn’t really like the design, we’d already be walking. Think it over carefully before you quote us a price.”

“No can do. Any lower and I’d be taking a loss,” Guangtou said, waving his hand.

I picked up on his words and said, “Boss, I’m serious about buying. Don’t think just because we’re outsiders you can rip us off. Honestly, we didn’t come here to shop. We’re looking for someone we know. Can’t you give us a friendly price?”

When Guangtou heard me say that, he suddenly grew interested. “Oh? To tell you the truth, there’s no one in this market I don’t know. Who are you looking for? If you really want to buy, I can drop the price by two hundred.”

“Qian Chuan’er,” He Yu said, knowing what I was up to. He went straight for the moniker of the man who worked under Qiao Sangui, someone who used to handle dirty work, testing the vendor’s reaction. “His name is Qian Chuan’er. You know him?”

The vendor’s eyes changed the instant he heard that name, with no attempt to hide it. He Yu hadn’t spoken quietly, and as soon as the words left his mouth, I sensed a shift in the surrounding atmosphere. The previously noisy market suddenly quieted down. People were still bargaining, but the volume had dropped noticeably.

There was something wrong with this place.

The thought flashed through my mind instantly, and my body reacted right away. I set down the Luban Lock and stood up. Don’t tell me Qian Chuan’er did something bad here and went on the run? If these people couldn’t find him, had the two of us just walked straight into the line of fire? Tsk, we couldn’t be that unlucky, right?

Guangtou sneered, stuck a cigarette between his lips, and said, “You know Qian Chuan’er? What’s your relationship with him?”

Hearing his tone, my suspicion grew stronger. Maybe this guy named Qian really had done something so atrocious it deserved divine retribution.

He Yu’s hand was already reaching for the back of his belt. Before we came, he insisted on buying a kitchen knife no matter what. I told him we were looking for someone, not robbing a bank, but he wouldn’t listen. In the end, he bought two small daggers and tucked them into his belt, hidden under his jacket.

I swallowed hard, thinking to myself that with our terrible luck, those knives might actually come in handy in a moment.

Seeing the two of us staying silent, Guangtou suddenly yanked off his baseball cap and slammed it onto the stall. The look in his eyes instantly turned vicious, not the loud, argumentative kind of street anger, but a true ferocity that felt like he could tear a person to pieces at any moment.

Sometimes I wonder how people who usually seem so amiable can suddenly project such a terrifying aura. Guangtou was like this, Fourth Brother was like this, Tian Yuqing was like this, and even Lu Ayao was like this occasionally.

“Speak! What are you looking for him for?” Guangtou pinched the cigarette between his fingers and spat onto the ground.

The moment those words left his mouth, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye as people at the nearby stalls began standing up from their folding stools one after another. They glared at us furiously, as if the two of us had dug up their ancestral graves. Before I looked properly, it hadn’t seemed like much, but a quick sweep of my eyes revealed at least dozens of them. If a fight really broke out, even if we didn’t die, we’d definitely end up crippled.

Seeing that things were spiraling out of control, He Yu quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “Hey, hey, hey, brother, don’t get worked up. We don’t really know him. If he offended anyone here, it’s got nothing to do with us. Please don’t vent your anger on us.”

As he spoke, He Yu pushed me toward the direction of the village entrance, backing away with a forced smile. “We just came to look for him, nothing else. Since he’s not here, we’ll take our leave. Wishing you all prosperous business, prosperous business, haha!”

“Hold on.” Guangtou rounded the stall. Seeing him move, people from all directions began crowding in, and in less than a minute, we were completely blocked in.

Guangtou blocked my way and asked, “Did I say you two could leave?”