Just as Yvonne Foster was wondering where to take Ian Song for their afternoon outing, Ian's phone suddenly rang.
After answering, Ian turned to Yvonne with an apologetic look. "Yvonne, I’m afraid I can’t keep you company this afternoon. Something came up."
"It’s fine, I’ve actually been to all these places plenty of times," Yvonne replied with a casual smile, though a hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes.
The call was from Cliff Foster, but it was Henry Han who had tracked down the whereabouts of the middle-aged farmer who sold the copper ring.
By the time Ian arrived at Treasure Hall Antiques, Cliff Foster and Henry Han were already waiting for him in the lobby.
After a brief greeting, Henry Han began his introduction: "The man’s name is Tony Zhang, forty-three years old, a resident of Bullhead Village. He’s lazy and addicted to gambling, so he’s racked up a mountain of debt. With creditors pressing him, he turned to tomb-robbing to get by.
Three months ago, he managed to loot a grave. The copper ring was just one of the items he sold. According to our investigation, he sold a total of five things, each to a different antique shop—including ours."
"Which five antique shops? Have they all resold the items yet?" Ian asked urgently, his suspicion growing that Tony Zhang might have robbed a cultivator’s tomb.
"One shop has already sold theirs, but the other three haven’t. Would you like to take a look, Young Master Song?" Henry Han asked.
"Of course," Ian nodded firmly.
"One of the shops is right on this street. Let’s go there first," Henry Han said.
"Alright."
So Ian, Cliff, and Henry followed Henry Han to a small antique shop called Old Arts Gallery.
Despite its elegant name, the shop was actually very small.
"Hey, isn’t this Manager Han? What brings you to my humble place today?"
The speaker was a skinny, sharp-looking middle-aged man in a yellow jacket, his eyes narrowed to slits, giving him a shrewd appearance.
Henry Han said seriously, "Boss Huang, I heard you bought a jade thumb ring a little over three months ago. I happen to have a guest who’s interested in thumb rings, so I brought him here. Why don’t you get it out and let Young Master Song have a look?"
Treasure Hall Antiques was the largest antique shop in Southridge City, so any young man Manager Han called ‘Young Master Song’ must be someone important.
Boss Huang’s attitude instantly turned enthusiastic. He invited the three to sit down and started making tea.
"No need to fuss, Boss Huang. Just show me the jade thumb ring first. If I like it, we can talk price," Ian said.
"Alright, Young Master Song, please wait a moment."
Soon, Boss Huang brought out a jade thumb ring in a brocade box. The jade was good, but it was just an ordinary piece. Ian felt a bit disappointed.
The second antique shop was called Namegu House, and Tony Zhang had sold them a bronze sword less than a foot long.
After explaining their purpose, the owner immediately brought out the bronze sword for Ian to inspect.
The moment Ian saw the sword, he perked up. Although the bronze sword looked rusty and worn, he could sense a unique magic artifact aura from its body, and faint Formation Runes were visible beneath the patina.
"I’ll take this bronze sword. Name your price!" Ian said to the owner of Namegu House.
The owner was secretly pleased and held up five fingers. "Since Manager Han brought you, I’ll give you this price."
"Boss Wang, that price is a bit much. As far as I know, you didn’t pay much for that sword, did you?" Henry Han protested.
Boss Wang gave an awkward smile, realizing he was being greedy. "Since you put it that way, how about one million?"
Henry Han was about to bargain further, but Ian stopped him. For Ian, even a hundred million would be worth it for this sword.
"Can I pay by card?" Ian asked.
"Of course! Of course!"
Boss Wang nodded eagerly. He’d only paid forty thousand for the bronze sword, so just like that, he’d made a profit of nine hundred sixty thousand—a huge windfall.
After buying the bronze sword, the three continued on to the next shop, Ancient Jade Studio.
After explaining their intentions, the owner personally brought out the jade pendant Tony Zhang had sold him.
With a magic artifact bronze sword in hand, Ian was already satisfied and didn’t expect to find another artifact.
But the moment he saw the jade pendant, his heart couldn’t help but race.
This jade pendant’s magic aura was far stronger than that of the bronze sword or his storage ring. The Formation Runes integrated into the pendant were exquisitely intricate, far surpassing both the ring and sword in complexity.
"Name your price," Ian asked directly.
The owner was startled—he’d never had a customer ask for a price without even bargaining first.
With Henry Han’s help, the jade pendant was purchased for two million yuan.
"Young Master Song, do you want to go to Bullhead Village?" Henry Han asked after they left Ancient Jade Studio.
"Yes, of course!" Ian replied. If before he’d only suspected Tony Zhang had robbed a cultivator’s tomb, now he was eighty percent sure of it.
Two out of three items were magic artifacts—what else could that mean but a cultivator’s tomb?
Bullhead Village was a remote place, over a hundred kilometers from Southridge City.
An hour later, a black Land Rover rolled into Mount Wu Town. After asking for directions, they continued on toward Bullhead Village.
The village road was rough, and it took another hour before they finally reached Bullhead Village.
Just then, they ran into a farmer returning from the fields. Henry Han hopped out of the car, handed him a Panda brand cigarette, and asked, "Brother, does Tony Zhang live in this village?"
"Are you here for Tony Zhang too?" The farmer took the cigarette, his expression turning odd.
"Are a lot of people looking for Tony Zhang?" Ian stepped out of the car and picked up the conversation.
"There have been at least a dozen groups this month, all looking for Tony Zhang. But that guy hasn’t come back to the village in months—he might even be dead somewhere!" the farmer said angrily.
Ian chatted with the farmer for a while and learned that Tony Zhang had a bad reputation in the village. He was a lazy old bachelor, addicted to gambling and petty theft, so nobody liked him.
At Ian’s request, the farmer pointed to a mud-walled house. "That’s Tony Zhang’s home."
"Thank you, sir."
After finding out where Tony Zhang lived, Ian activated his Clairvoyant Vision to scan the house. Unfortunately, he found nothing of value; everything inside was a mess, and it was clear someone had already broken in.
Feeling a bit disappointed, Ian suddenly called out to the farmer, who was already a few meters away. He ran over and handed him two hundred yuan. "Do you know where Tony Zhang went?"
"I hear he likes to gamble at the Ma brothers’ teahouse in town. You should try asking there!"
"Let’s go, back to town!"
Ian got into the car and spoke to Cliff.
"Young Master Song, aren’t you going to check out Tony Zhang’s house?" Henry Han asked.
"No need. With so many people having come, anything good would be long gone!" Ian waved it off.
Henry Han nodded in agreement, thinking Ian had a point.