Chapter 2: Heaven‑sent windfall, massive profit!

Wu Sanye, please take a look first.

Ning Jinli pulled the jade pendant out of her pocket.

She had vaguely heard of Wu Sanye's reputation, and the jade pendant was said to have been given by a ghost, its origin mysterious, so she couldn't help feeling nervous and uneasy.

Carelessly, the jade pendant fell to the ground.

Wu Sanye shook his head.

Alright, he casually pulled out whatever he had in his pocket.

Definitely something this girl bought from a street stall before.

Ning Jinli hurriedly picked it up, saw the jade pendant had a small crescent-chip, and handed it over embarrassedly.

"Third Uncle, please just take a quick look."

"Well... alright then."

Wu Sanye took it impatiently.

The moment he held it, his eyelid twitched slightly.

This feel...

"Cough, have a seat first, I'll examine it."

He maintained his composure and walked to the back of the counter.

Ning Jinli sat on the sofa and waited patiently.

Wu Sanye glanced at her furtively, then took out professional equipment to examine the jade pendant closely, and a flash of shock crossed his eyes.

He then furtively flipped through an old picture book for comparison, and his heart suddenly raced!

He gulped down several mouthfuls of water, pinched his thigh hard to steady his emotions, and asked:

"Pretty lady, how did you get this?"

Ning Jinli thought, she couldn't say it was given by a ghost, so she could only tell Wu Sanye that someone had given it to her.

The boss let out an oh, his face grave and complex.

Ning Jinli asked, "Could it be a cultural relic?"

Wu Sanye waved his hands repeatedly, "No, it's not that; I dare not accept cultural relics, otherwise I'd already be eating prison food."

He was heartbroken that this jade pendant had just gotten a crack right under his very eyes.

It's such a damn shame!

A Xuan Kingdom dragon-pattern jade pendant from over two thousand years ago!

Among known jade pendants of the same type in the collector's world, none are this intact!

If he'd known it was such a treasure, he would have thrown himself to catch it even if it meant breaking his leg!

Seeing his willingness to accept it, Ning Jinli cautiously inquired:

"Wu Sanye, how much money could this thing fetch?"

Wu Sanye had already decided this girl didn't understand the trade, had little social experience, and likely no background connections—so who else would he rip off if not her?

He then furrowed his brows and spoke disparagingly on purpose:

"It's a bit old, not really valuable, and you've damaged it. Sigh... I see you're short on cash, so I'll treat it as charity—flat price of fifty thousand; if you think it's too little, go sell it elsewhere."

Ning Jinli wasn't greedy; getting fifty thousand was already enough for her.

Moreover, it was indeed her fault for accidentally dropping the jade pendant.

"All right, thank you, Third Uncle." She thanked him sincerely.

Looking at her pure, big eyes and satisfied, happy expression, the old fox Wu Sanye, who had spent half his life in the Antique World, inexplicably felt a twinge of reluctance.

Forget it, I should give her a bit more.

This society is already harsh toward young people who have just finished school.

When he scanned the code to transfer money, he paid a hundred thousand.

"Third Uncle, you gave too much." Ning Jinli quickly reminded him.

Wu Sanye adjusted his gold-thread glasses, "You're so straightforward; let's be friends—feel free to bring me anything else for appraisal."

"All right! Thank you! You're truly a great person!" Ning Jinli left happily.

Wu Sanye watched her retreating back and muttered self-mockingly, "A good person? Who in business is actually good?"

He went to the shop's back yard and smoked quietly; for some reason, whenever he thought of the jade‑selling girl's clear, flawless eyes, his mood grew complicated.

"Well, forget it," he looked up at the sky, making a silent resolution: "I swear, if she comes again next time to sell something, no matter what it is or how much it's worth, I'll give her exactly that amount."

Now he felt more at ease, and then he called the boss of the local auction house.

"Hello, I have a top‑tier treasure to auction."

"I just acquired it; it's definitely worth money—quickly arrange it for me."

……

Evening.

Ning Jinli returned to the factory in the suburbs, hoping the ghost who called himself Xiao Qidi would appear again.

Being this generous, even a ghost would have to be enshrined!

She simply spread a mat on the floor of the small warehouse where he had appeared, since he said he'd come later, so she wouldn't miss him.

Besides hoping to keep making money.

More importantly, after calming down from the joy of unexpected windfall, she felt increasingly guilty the more she thought about it.

This time, relying haphazardly on a few boxes of near‑expired biscuits and two bottles of pure water, she made a windfall of 410,000—truly a heavenly windfall.

But even if she were strapped for cash, and even if the other party was a ghost, she couldn't swindle them like that.

She decided that when Xiao Qidi arrived, she would prepare goods equivalent to the amount of money he deserved.

If he doesn't need that much goods, return the excess money to him.

In short, one cannot go against one's conscience.

The mountain cave—

Xiao Qidi placed most of the plastic bottles and biscuit bags into a cardboard box, arranged them neatly and put them in the middle of the cave.

Then he led the soldiers, using the night as cover, gathered a large amount of thoroughly dried firewood and brought it into the cave, finally placing a few bottles outside the mountain cave.

The moonlight was bright; on the dry, cracked ground, the plastic bottles reflected a conspicuous gleam, one after another guiding toward the hidden cave entrance.

Late night.

A few patrolling bandits rode over nearby and spotted the glint.

They dismounted, picked up the plastic bottles, and were stunned wide-eyed.

This uniquely shaped bottle is light and translucent, its appearance perfect, with incomparably symmetrical concave-convex patterns, extremely thin and transparent throughout, making a crisp sound when pinched yet not deforming.

Regardless of material or craftsmanship, it far exceeds their understanding.

"Treasure bottle! This is a treasure!"

"There's more ahead!"

"Quickly go report to the boss!"

Two bandits rode to report, while the others searched and picked up bottles, quickly discovering the narrow mountain cave entrance hidden under a pile of dry wood.

Inside the cave there seemed to be even more glints.

These past days they've been sweeping the area for government troops, searching back and forth several times, only now discovering that there is a cave here.

Soon, over a hundred bandits arrived.

The leader threw his head back and laughed loudly.

"Hahaha! Ancient legend says there is an Immortal Cave here, containing immortals' treasures; I thought it was fake, but today I actually stumbled upon it! Heaven helps me!"

A subordinate asked: "Boss, you've brought all the men; aren't you afraid those dozens of scoundrels who killed nearly a hundred of our brothers will escape?"

Smack!

The leader swung a slap over.

"Idiot! Don't ruin my fun, damn it!"

"The Immortal Cave must hold even more treasures; this is a heaven-sent opportunity!"

"Those scoundrels are just village conscripts; where could they run? Once I've taken all the treasures from the cave, I won't need to pillage the villagers—I'll head back to the village and slaughter them to my heart's content!"

The subordinates dared not utter another sound.

The leader could no longer contain his excitement, lifted the dry wood at the cave entrance and slipped inside.

The others rushed in after him.

A beam of moonlight shone through a crack in the cave ceiling, causing the pile of paper and bottles directly below to glitter brightly.

"The immortals' treasures… all these treasure bottles are mine! I've struck it rich! I've made a fortune!"

The leader lunged forward, clutching a heap of plastic bottles as if intoxicated.

Xiao Qidi, lying in ambush nearby with several dozen soldiers, moved in silently.

The bandits' horses all carried packs.

Inside were their dry rations, money and valuables, plus a water kettle and the fire-starting tools essential for their burning, killing, and looting.

Xiao Qidi took a fire-starting tool and had the soldiers ride the horses back to the village.

Afterwards, he grasped a war blade and alone went to the cave entrance, lit a few dry twigs and threw them inside.

The weather was dry; the large quantity of dry twigs already spread across the cave floor ignited instantly.

Before the bandits could react, a raging fire surged behind them.

"Boss, run fast!"

They shouted in panic, scrambling through the flames in an attempt to burst out of the mountain cave.

The narrow cave entrance—Xiao Qizun holds the pass alone—ten thousand cannot break through.

Seeing a head exposed, he chopped it off; spotting a reaching hand, he cut it down—swift and clean as chopping vegetables.

The bandits had nowhere to flee, burned to shrill wails; the cave became veritably a sea of fire, a hell on earth.

The treasures in the leader's bosom were rapidly melting.

"Treasure bottle! My immortal treasure bottle!" He clutched the cardboard box tightly as if mad, his chest and arms scorched to split skin and torn flesh, yet he refused to let go.

In the blink of an eye, he too was devoured by the flames.

The fire burned until midnight before ceasing; all the bandits had turned to charcoal.

Night wind poured in, the air filled with the smell of scorched burnt.

Xiao Qidi covered his mouth and nose, knife in hand, stepped inside, and suddenly noticed that a charred corpse's bosom seemed to hold something that actually emitted a strange light…