Yin Nan Feng and Sheng Sheng Man rushed over after receiving news from their subordinates. News of the ancient city of Jingjue had already spread like wildfire in the tomb-robbing circle, with all sorts of versions circulating.
Especially since the archaeological team, except for Ye Yi Xin who returned safely, Professor Chen had gone mad, and the other three had all died, which brought a great impact to the archaeological community.
Although archaeology is risky, it's still uncommon for an official team to be almost wiped out.
As for Hu Ba Yi, Wang Kai Xuan, and Han Xiao Liu, few people knew about them besides some big forces.
“Why are you here?”
Yin Nan Feng was still wearing a cheongsam today, looking just as elegant and noble.
Sheng Sheng Man was also wearing a cheongsam today, which made Han Xiao Liu take a second look.
“Liu Ye, congratulations on successfully taking down the ancient city of Jingjue.”
Yin Nan Feng's voice was pleasant, and it was clear that she was genuinely congratulating him.
“How did you know I succeeded? You should be able to find out the results about Hu Ba Yi, Wang Kai Xuan, and Ye Yi Xin. Also, call me Xiao Liu or Liu Zi, no need for the ‘Ye’ title.”
“Hehe, you probably don't know, even though not many people know you, the ones who do dare not call you Liu Zi. You've earned that ‘Ye’ title.”
“Wow, I got promoted? From Liu Zi to Liu Ye, feels pretty good. Sheng Sheng Man, say it again, let me hear it.”
Sheng Sheng Man rolled her eyes but reluctantly called him ‘Liu Ye’, which made Han Xiao Liu quite happy.
The ‘Ye’ title, unlike Wang Yue Ban’s self-proclaimed one, was bestowed by others, a symbol of his status in the circle.
Yin Nan Feng and Sheng Sheng Man both saw the glass bottle and gold dagger in front of Han Xiao Liu.
“Ye Yi Xin from the archaeological team, the leader Hu Ba Yi, and the sponsor of this expedition, Xue Li Yang, did report the situation to the higher-ups, but the part about the inside of the ancient city of Jingjue seemed strange. And my woman’s intuition told me that they didn't tell the truth. You must have succeeded.”
“Why? Just intuition won't convince me.”
“Well, the report mentioned you carried Xue Li Yang back the same way on your own. The key is that everyone else fell under the illusion. If you had, it would have been impossible to return the same way.”
“Clap clap clap clap~~”
“Impressive. I didn’t expect the flaw to be there. Yes, I did succeed.”
Han Xiao Liu openly admitted it, thinking that Yin Nan Feng was truly clever.
After finishing, Yin Nan Feng happily picked up the glass bottle and admired the Dap Ghost Insect, while Sheng Sheng Man carefully observed the gold dagger.
“Miss, the text on the dagger seems to be a name, the Gu Mo Prince who assassinated the Queen of Jingjue in the legend. This might be the legendary dagger.”
Han Xiao Liu was shocked and immediately stood up.
“Sheng Sheng Man, you can recognize the Ghost Cave script? You said this is the dagger used by Gu Mo Prince to assassinate the Queen of Jingjue?”
“It’s just a guess. Because of your trip to the ancient city of Jingjue, I also looked into some related information. Though I don’t know much about the Ghost Cave script, I remembered the part about the assassination. And the part with the name Gu Mo Prince has specific explanations.”
A bold idea suddenly popped into Han Xiao Liu’s mind. He wanted to know if the assassination succeeded, but he suppressed his urge, still not completely trusting these two.
Yin Nan Feng put down the glass bottle and looked around the shop casually.
“Huh? This jade wasn’t here before.”
“You have sharp eyes. Take a look.”
When Han Xiao Liu handed the jade eyeball to Yin Nan Feng, the two beautiful women were so surprised they couldn’t close their mouths.
“My goodness, natural Hetian jade, so big, the blood-red veins are natural, its shape is like a jade-fied eyeball, plus its age, such a treasure!”
Sheng Sheng Man had already put down the dagger and started calculating its value in her mind.
“Miss, I can't estimate the price.”
“That’s right, although the jade quality is average, this thing is still too precious. Liu Ye, selling? I’ll pay anything, including this Dap Ghost Insect and the gold dagger.”
Han Xiao Liu felt like he was going to have a big windfall today.
“The Dap Ghost Insect and the jade eyeball I can sell, but this gold dagger I won’t sell. It feels good in my hand, and if it wasn’t for this dagger, I might have failed in the ancient city of Jingjue.”
Yin Nan Feng didn’t insist. The gold dagger's significance lies in the legend. Without proof of the legend, the dagger’s price would naturally have an upper limit.
“Okay, name a price.”
“If you like the Dap Ghost Insect, I’ll just give it to you as a gift. Raising this thing requires bones. As for the jade eyeball, give me a price first.”
“Fifty million! There's an upper limit for natural jade treasures. Though this is precious, this is the highest I can offer.”
“Too low, eighty million!”
Han Xiao Liu quoted this price based on the system's recycling value in the ancient city. He thought Yin Nan Feng's offer was way too low.
“That’s impossible. This price is too high even at auction.”
Yin Nan Feng directly rejected him.
“So you're sticking to fifty million?”
Yin Nan Feng frowned but still nodded.
Faced with business, especially a huge transaction, Yin Nan Feng subconsciously entered the state of the New Moon Inn’s owner.
Although the New Moon Inn had a considerable foundation, they didn’t hold much ‘money’, mostly assets like gold, which was the way truly affluent families did it.
In the eyes of the truly wealthy, ‘money’ was the least valuable thing. If they wanted it, they could get as much as they wanted.
“Yin Boss, I thought you were a person with a big picture, but it seems I overestimated you.”
Both Yin Nan Feng and Sheng Sheng Man frowned, looking displeased. Especially Sheng Sheng Man, the long silk stockings under her cheongsam seemed ready to give Han Xiao Liu a slap.
“Liu Ye, the price you quoted is truly too high. The highest I can offer is fifty-five million.”
“Did you forget what you said before? Whatever I bring back, you'll buy it.”
“But I can’t just let you give whatever price you want. Also, if we auction this thing, the New Moon Inn will also bear significant risks.”
Han Xiao Liu was a bit disappointed, casually picking up the glass bottle.
“Yin Boss, so far, few people in the biological world have even seen the Dap Ghost Insect, let alone caught one alive. Its value is higher than the jade eyeball in my eyes, but I said I’d give it to you. Indeed, business with acquaintances is not easy. Please go back.”
Yin Nan Feng felt a pang of regret in her heart. She had indeed overlooked the Dap Ghost Insect. Once a live specimen emerged, it would be a level-9 earthquake for the world's biological community, which would be a huge benefit to the New Moon Inn.
“Liu Ye, I apologize, I was abrupt. Eighty million, I’ll buy it.”
“But I don’t want to sell it now.”
“You, Han Xiao Liu, even the Miss is putting her pride aside, you keep being unreasonable. You’ve gone too far.”
Sheng Sheng Man stood up for her Miss. In her eyes, although Han Xiao Liu had some skills, he was still much inferior to her Miss in terms of status.
Han Xiao Liu also had a temper. Being polite was fine, but now that it was business, they couldn’t talk about feelings, or he would be the one who would suffer.
“Sigh, I thought I made two good friends, but it turns out it was just my wishful thinking. Please go back. We truly belong to two different worlds.
I said I’d give you the Dap Ghost Insect, take it. Consider it thanks for your discerning eye in buying San He Liu. I don’t have money, and you did help me a lot back then.”
Yin Nan Feng suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart, as if something was pricking her.
Sheng Sheng Man also realized she had spoken out of line.
“Liu, Liu Ye, I apologize, I spoke out of line. Please don’t blame the Miss.”
“No need to apologize. I just came back, I'm quite tired, I want to rest. Please leave.”
“You......”
“Man Man, stop it. Let’s go. We’ve disturbed you enough, Liu Ye.”
Sheng Sheng Man wanted to say something more, but Yin Nan Feng stopped her.
After they went out, Sheng Sheng Man was still a bit upset.
“Miss, he, Han… You… Miss, why are you crying?”
Yin Nan Feng cried. Except for the passing of her family, this was the first time she felt so heartbroken. It felt like she had missed something.
“Let’s go back. Don’t mention anything we saw inside to anyone.”
“Yes, Miss.”
Yin Nan Feng carefully wiped her tears. Before getting in the car, she tightly clutched the glass bottle in her hand and looked at the door of the sundry shop, her eyes filled with grievances, and a little bit of regret.