Chapter 766 – Swindled
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“Brother Lin,in White Dragon Jade Row, most of the items on these shelves are fake. Normally speaking, 80-90% of the good stuff has already been taken away, and the rest is either fake or ambiguous things. Brother Lin, if you really want to buy to something then just pick a few small pieces so that you’re happy. Don’t try to go for anything too expensive.”
As Li Yifeng saw that Lin Ming really was intending to buy some things, he couldn’t help but remind him of the dangers here. If he were an appraisal grandmaster then he could help Lin Ming out, but as someone who was at the most basic level, he didn’t have much confidence that he could identity these ambiguous goods.
“Brother Li, rest assured that I have a fair idea of what I’m doing. Also, shopping should be a happy occasion.”
“Haha! Well said! Happiness is priceless! Although this sort of jade carving hobby is more looking than buying, that still doesn’t mean we should just drag our feet around and eye things all day!” Li Yifeng said, then directing Lin Ming towards that wood spirit jade dragon carving that he had asked about before. It was 3300 spirit essence stones.
Li Yifeng had come before and looked at this dragon carving several times already. Yet, while he truly did like it, he just couldn’t make up his mind about it so he never dared to buy. But, he decided to take advantage of today and directly pick it up.
As Lin Ming saw Li Yifeng pick up the dragon carving he felt a bit helpless for his friend. He had seen this dragon carving and someone had explained that it was a work from a grandmaster that lived a thousand years ago.
Lin Ming couldn’t judge if this really was the work of that grandmaster, but what Lin Ming could judge was the year this was crafted. It was an imitation treasure created no more than 100 years ago.
He cautioned. “Brother Li, I have a feeling about this dragon carving…”
“A bad feeling?”
“A bit.”
“It’s fine. Your brother me has already wanted to buy this dragon carving for some time now. But, I just haven’t been able to do it. It’s as you said: buying things should be for our own happiness. If I return empty-handed today then it will be difficult for my thoughts to remain smooth. So if I buy this carved dragon and it ends up being some sort of fake, I’ll still recognize it as okay.”
Since Li Yifeng had said this in such a happy manner, Lin Ming naturally didn’t say anything further.
Lin Ming glanced at the Knifescar fellow and saw that his grin was as wide as a smiling Buddha’s. He had done enough business today that gold was spilling out of him; of course he would be happy.
Lin Ming faintly smiled. He walked towards the shelves and started choosing a jade carving.
He currently still had 6000 top grade true essence stones from Xuan Wuji. In addition to the wealth from the other Life Destruction powerhouses he killed, he had around 14,000-15,000 top grade true essence stones. Lin Ming planned to use the majority of these to purchase jade carvings.
If this was the case, he naturally wanted to buy the expensive goods.
“Seventh grade wood spirit jade, 300,000 years, this is quite the good material.” Lin Ming looked at a two foot high Buddha in front of him. This kind of wood spirit jade was considered to be quite good. According to his estimates, the price of this definitely wouldn’t be low.
As the Knifescar fellow saw Lin Ming looking at the jade Buddha, he smiled in greeting. He thought that Lin Ming was only Li Yifeng’s follower, but it seemed that he was Li Yifeng’s friend instead. Naturally he would treat him nicer now.
However, as he noticed Lin Ming’s stance as he examined the jade carvings, it was obvious that he was even newer than a newbie. Normally, an appraisal expert would take several quarter hours looking at a jade carving, even touching and smelling it.
But, Lin Ming would look at a jade carving for an incense stick of time at most. Sometimes he would reach out and touch them, but most of the time he would just glance over them. What could he possibly see?
Thus, the Knifescar fellow had recognized Lin Ming as a novice.
This sort of know-nothing normally would normally never buy anything unless they were an absolute fool. Otherwise they would waste several thousand spirit essence stones without even knowing if the wood spirit jade carving they bought was real or fake.
Thus, the Knifescar fellow didn’t take Lin Ming as a customer. He only smiled at Lin Ming to give face to Li Yifeng. “That jade Buddha has lot number 45; the price is 5000 spirit essence stones….”
The Knifescar fellow shook the jade slip containing the prices in his hand and directly quoted the price to Lin Ming. He wanted Lin Ming to quit while he was ahead so that he wouldn’t waste anyone’s time here. Normally, when an amateur heard such a high price they would simply give up. After all, they didn’t understand anything and had only come to join in on the fun anyway.
So even if this wood spirit jade Buddha in front of Lin Ming was the real deal that could sell for at least 8000-9000 spirit essence stones at an auction house, the Knifescar fellow wasn’t nervous at all. He would bet his toes that Lin Ming wouldn’t be interested I this item.
Let alone Lin Ming, even those martial artists that bragged they were appraisal experts still hadn’t bought it in these past two years. That jade Buddha seemed so ambiguous; just who would dare to buy it?
The price was so high to begin with, and it lacked a trace of pale cold light that a real ancient jade Buddha statue would have. It was inevitable that anyone would hesitate after looking at it for a period of time. But in truth, it wasn’t everything real object that had this sort faint blue light.
With all these reasons combined, the Knifescar fellow never imagined that Lin Ming would look so taken in by this wood spirit jade Buddha. Lin Ming repeatedly traced his hands over it and said, “It looks quite good. My mother likes to worship Buddha. I’ll buy this for her; she should enjoy it.”
The Knifescar fellow thought that he had heard wrong. Did this boy have a fever? Just because his mother liked to worship Buddha, he would actually gift her a treasure worth 5000 spirit essence stone? The hell? Was this for real?
It wasn’t just the Knifescar fellow that was shocked, but even Li Yifeng was frightened. “Brother Lin, don’t joke around. This jade Buddha is so sketchy; are you sure you want to buy it?”
A 5000 spirit essence stone jade Buddha was a very high priced item within the inventory of White Dragon Jade Row. If Li Yifeng were to buy it he would have to consider this over and over and over again for fear that he made a mistake. But, Lin Ming hadn’t even take an incense stick of time before he decided to buy this jade Buddha. This sort of behavior could only be described as….completely idiotic.
What Jade Row loved the most was too see rich fools. They would casually buy whatever they wanted, whether it was real or fake. But, according to Li Yifeng’s understanding of Lin Ming, Lin Ming was an extremely talented individual that would never do something stupid. He also wasn’t too rich either, so just what was going on here?
“Hehe, congratulations Brother Knifescar, you just ran into a wealthy kid! You’re rich now!” Zhou Kun grinned from behind Lin Ming. His words seemed to be in a jovial tone but he was obviously mocking Lin Ming’s stupidity.
However, as the Knifescar fellow heard Zhou Kun congratulate him, he actually felt bitter in his heart. This jade Buddha was not excavated by others but instead came from the inventory of the White Dragon Jade Row Headquarters. It was one of the better treasures in his store. If he really had to sell it for 5000 spirit essence stones then he would lose money on that transaction.
“This little brother, do you happen to know the rules of our Jade Row? There are both real and fake items here, and everything you buy depends on your own vision and willingness to do so. Once you make a mistake and regret your purchase, there are no returns.” The Knifescar fellow hoped that Lin Ming didn’t understand the rules and would give up after hearing this. But, he didn’t think that Lin Ming would instead slightly nodded, indicating that he was well aware of all of this.
“Great! Then I’ll wrap it up for you!” The Knifescar fellow tried to appear as elated as possible like had had just made a killer profit and Li Ming would instead feel uncertain at heart. But, Lin Ming simply nodded without hesitation, making the Knifescar fellow feel as if his heart was being ripped out.
This boy shouldn’t be playing a pig to eat a tiger, right!?
Li Yifeng couldn’t help but be a bit afraid for Lin Ming. “Brother Lin, are you sure about this? This is a 5000 spirit essence stone item!”
“I know, that’s why I want it. Shopping should be for our own happiness. Wrap it up.”
Li Yifeng opened and closed his mouth several times before ruefully smiling and saying, “Ok. In any case, if it’s Brother Lin then even if you spend all your spirit essence stones you’ll be able to quickly gain them back again.”
The Knifescar fellow endured the bitter pain in his heart as he wrapped up the jade Buddha. He kept his smiling face as happy as possible. However, just as he finished wrapping it and was securing the package, he nearly fell on his face as he saw that Lin Ming had picked up a viridian incense burner and was tossing it about.
This incense burner was also one of the real items here. It’s value was less than the jade Buddha, but it could still be sold for 7000-8000 spirit essence stones at the auction house!
This was also something that was brought down from Headquarters to stock the store. This boy, he couldn’t be wanting to purchase this incense burner, right? Then his White Dragon Jade Row would really suffer a loss! In the jade slip, this incense burner was only marked at 4500 spirit essence stones. If he sold it then he would have to make up the difference to Headquarters!
In order for Jade Row attract guests, the marked prices were all relatively low. As for the true treasures of the shop, if they were swept up by someone then it would be difficult for his Jade Row to continue operating.
“This boy just bought a 5000 spirit essence stone item…he shouldn’t buy anything again….” The Knifescar fellow held out on this hope. However, Lin Ming’s next sentence crushed that Knifescar fell’s hopes to bits.
Lin Ming looked at the jade slip with the prices and said to the Knifescar fellow, “Wrap this up for me too.”
The Knifescar fellow only felt everything go dark around him for a moment, almost fainting. His heart trembled and he maintained the brightest smile that he could as he said, “You want this? This viridian incense burner is carved from ancient 8000 year old river jade; the craftsmanship is excellent and it clearly stems from the hand of a famous expert. If you sold it in an auction house it could go for as high as 8000 spirit essence stones! Brother Lin truly has good judgment; let me wrap this up for you!”
Although the Knifescar fellow seemed euphoric, his pace while wrapping up the item was astoundingly slow. He was hoping that Lin Ming would change his mind during this period of time. However, Lin Ming had already started looking at a third item.
On the sidelines, Zhou Kun laughed as he said, “What a mess, I’ve never seen such a mess before! That jade Buddha has been on the shelves for three years already and no one dared to buy it; this boy is too amazing!” Zhou Kun vigorously patted the Knifescar fellow’s shoulders. “Brother Knifescar, you really made a killing today! You should treat us out!”
“Treat, of course I will treat you!” The Knifescar fellow said. Even though his intestines painfully twisted together he still maintained a vibrant expression as if he had made a massive profit.
“Brother Lin, if you really plan on buying some things to play around with then it doesn’t need to be here. I can take you out to look at some stalls. The price is cheaper and there fundamentally shouldn’t be too much of a difference.” Li Yifeng suggested.
The things in the stalls outside were purely to swindle others; it wasn’t even 99% fake, but 100% fake. They were all counterfeit fake goods crafted from wood-attribute spirit essence stones.
However, sometimes there would be 1-2 vendors who would put out a precious treasure without being able to recognize its value. Li Yifeng had also visited countless stalls in the past, and the chances of this occurring was the same as being struck by thunder.
“Brother Li, I know what I’m doing.” Lin Ming said with a true essence sound transmission. He held a new fancy looking item I his hands, but as he glanced over at the Knifescar fellow that Knifescar fellow’s face had gone completely hideous.
F*ck! He had been swindled!