Chapter 20: Wu Yu Presents a Treasure (Part One)

Chapter 20: Wu Yu Presents Treasures (Part 1)

“This is such a precious item; the old lady would never part with it!” Grandma Wu’s smile brightened even more as she spoke.

“It’s alright, Grandma. My friend has plenty more, and keeping them unused would just be wasteful,” Wu Yu said with a smile, shaking his head.

After handing over the ambergris to the nearby steward, he turned again, revealing the items on the second tray of the box: an inkstone and a brush made of jade.

“Uncle,” Wu Yu respectfully bowed. “I have long heard of your literary accomplishments and wanted to complete a set of the Four Treasures of the Study. However, my own abilities are limited, so I managed to obtain only this decent inkstone.”

He then pointed awkwardly at the brush, “As for this brush, I once encountered a nine-tailed fox during my travels in the snowy mountains. After six years, I finally gathered the tail hair for this brush.”

“Whoa!” Wu Yiqiong almost dropped his eyes upon hearing this.

Snatching the brush, his fingers trembled as they glided over the tip. A faint chill spread instantly, and he couldn’t help but laugh heartily.

“It truly is the tail hair of a nine-tailed fox—and an entire brush tip at that! Excellent! Now I can stop that old Fang from showing off his ‘one-nine’ white-and-purple brush!” Wu Yiqiong’s grin stretched almost to the back of his head.

Wu Yu smiled and nodded. “I’m glad you like it. As for this inkstone, it was obtained by a friend of mine from the Wanwan Province Museum.”

This drew the attention of everyone once more. Although the materials of the brush were rare, it was still a modern creation. But the phrase “nine-tailed fox” caught the younger generation’s eye, especially Wu Tianzhen, who several times wanted to ask Wu Yu if such a creature truly existed in this world.

In the end, it was a young man beside them, whose face bore some feminine features, who stopped Wu Tianzhen. “The so-called nine-tailed fox isn’t the mythical creature from legends.”

“The nine-tailed fox is considered by locals to be a spirit of the snowy mountains. It moves silently over the snow as if riding the wind, and is extremely elusive. They possess a venom sac inside their bodies; their claws and teeth are highly poisonous. Even if captured, they immediately commit suicide by allowing the venom to flow back into their heart, spreading throughout their veins. Within moments, their entire body is corroded, leaving nothing behind. It’s said they never give any trace to their captors.”

“Really?” Wu Tianzhen gasped in astonishment. The woman beside her nodded, equally curious, and asked, “Do they really have nine tails? If they’re so hard to capture, then how does this brush have a tip made from one?”

Chapter 20: Wu Yu Presents Treasures (Part 2)

The young man shook his head and explained, “The nine-tailed fox doesn’t literally have nine tails. Underneath the fur at its tail are nine distinctly different silver hairs, resembling silver needles. This is the only visual difference between it and an ordinary snow fox.”

“Though difficult to catch, some have succeeded. Yet, throughout history, no one has ever owned such an extravagant brush tip! As Uncle Wu said, having even 10% of the brush tip made from nine-tailed fox tail hair is excellent—the rest is usually wolf hair or substitutes.”

“Wow, this brush is more than just valuable money-wise!” the girl exclaimed. “If one of the hairs falls off while writing, wouldn’t that be heartbreaking?”

“What about the inkstone my little brother gave my father?” Wu Tianzhen quickly asked. “Wanwan Province’s museum is said to hold several famous inkstones. Can you really get items from the museum?”

“The situation in Wanwan Province is different from ours. To obtain museum items, one must have made significant contributions to the province to even have a chance,” the man said, shaking his head, then fell silent. Yet his gaze toward Wu Yu grew increasingly astonished.

“Purple robes flowing endlessly, jade belts shining bright, mysteries hidden deep within, outer gleam like the sun’s light. Alas! May this inkstone’s strength endure, ensuring the legacy of my writings,” Bai Su murmured softly as she examined the carved seal script on the inkstone, then looked at Wu Yu in surprise. “Could this be the famed ‘Jade Belt’ inkstone of Wanwan Province, once belonging to Wen Tianxiang?”

Wu Yu nodded. To acquire this jade belt, he had assisted the weapon master Dao Gui in robbing several graves of martial arts predecessors. The thought still sent shivers down his spine.

He then took out a set of exquisite imperial-grade pale jadeite jewelry inlaid with rubies. “I wasn’t sure what Auntie likes, but coincidentally, I heard recently that a set of superb jadeite jewelry appeared on the market, so I had it sent here.”

Holding the set, Wu Yu smiled, deliberately glancing at Huo Yuqing, the representative of the Huo family.

Sure enough, when Huo Yuqing saw the items on the tray, her face changed dramatically. Slapping the table, she shouted, “You have a lot of nerve, boy!”

“Oh? And who might you be?” Wu Yu approached with a cheerful smile. “Is there something you’d like to say?”

“This set of jewelry is the pride of our Jinshangzhu store, known to all! It was stolen recently and remains missing!” Huo Yuqing glared at Wu Yu with hostility.

Chapter 20: Wu Yu Presents Treasures (Part 3)

“And now it’s in your hands. Could it be that you’re the thief!!!”

The room buzzed with whispers. They had heard rumors but lacked details. It was widely known the Huo family had made a huge fuss, and the police searched for months with no leads before shelving the case.

This jewelry was worth over a hundred million—one of Jinshangzhu’s three greatest treasures.

Every piece of jadeite, diamond, and gem had a storied history. Collecting them alone took forty years, and they were meticulously designed and set piece by piece.

Each item was priceless, let alone the full set.

“Oh?” Wu Yu looked at Huo Yuqing with a playful smile, remaining silent. As her anger slowly gave way to unease, she finally spoke, “But... this doesn’t match what I heard!”

“I bought this set with real money at a ghost market! Apparently, because the company was in financial trouble and feared the family’s displeasure, they falsely reported several foreign companies as still operational, but in truth, they had closed and then sold these items as dead stock at the ghost market.”

“But I trust my instincts. The moment I saw this set, I liked it and thought it would suit my aunt perfectly, so I bought it at four times its value.”

Looking around, he smiled. “Everyone knows the rule for dead-stock items at ghost markets: they must not be used or shown for a hundred years, and their value is only assessed at thirty percent. But there’s an exception—if someone is willing to pay four times the value, they can purchase it outright.”

“Heh, Auntie from the Huo family, I’m pretty sure the one who traded ten billion worth of goods for three billion isn’t you!”

“Four times! Four times! Are you out of your mind?” Huo Yuqing glared at Wu Yu hysterically, as if about to explode.

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(End of chapter)