Chapter 844: Extra 4: 81

The old Daoist walked to the counter and sat down on a chair.

After such a short distance, he was already panting.

Xiao Jiu greeted him in the usual way and asked about his purpose.

After briefly understanding the situation, the old Daoist took out a very old bag only the size of a palm from his bosom, placed it on the counter, and said, "I heard that Yin Dang Hang has been buying gold sand recently; I happen to have some here, which I've kept for many years without use, so I thought I might as well bring it over to exchange with Xiao Jiu Zhanggui."

Xiao Jiu glanced at the bag again and asked, "How much gold sand do you have in total? Name your price, I'll take it all."

"About five catties," the old Daoist said, "but I don't intend to exchange these five catties of gold sand for money; after all, I'm not short of money, I want to trade them in a pawn-like arrangement for something with Xiao Jiu Zhanggui."

Xiao Jiu's heart jumped—five catties?!

Xiaoye's side only lacks one catty.

But since it's for Xiao Lao San to lie in gold sand for molting, as Xiao Lao San keeps growing, the amount of gold sand needed will certainly increase, so the more Xiao Jiu stores for him, the better.

But upon hearing the old Daoist say he didn't want a money transaction, but to pawn those five catties of gold sand to her, Xiao Jiu immediately became alert.

Xiao Jiu tentatively asked, "If we go through a pawn exchange, what do you want as the pawn item?"

"Ao shell," the old Daoist said openly, "I've heard that Xiao Jiu Zhanggui's Third Young Master's true form is an ao, and as I know, an ao only needs gold sand when molting; a dragon turtle's whole body is treasure, whether shed scales or skin, they are valuable."

You can see, my health is poor; I'm practically one foot in the grave. When I was young, I cultivated, my disposition was unstable, I took the shortcut of alchemy, and those gold sands are the raw materials left over from my alchemy back then, all of top quality.

I have taken too many elixirs; at first my cultivation indeed surged, but over time my body completely collapsed, now I rely on medicine to prolong my life, and the medicine that can help me now needs ao shell as a guide, with the best effect coming from a young ao's shell.

But in this world, ao are extremely rare, and ao shells are basically unavailable on the market; when I heard the news that your Third Young Master was about to molt, I was overjoyed and dragged my sick body here in haste.

Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, I come with the utmost sincerity; as long as you agree to give me the Third Young Master's first molt ao shell, I can also add some more chips.

Indeed, this old Daoist, from the moment he entered Yin Dang Hang until now, has basically laid out his purpose and situation completely.

Xiao Jiu could also see the problem from his face.

As he said, this transaction is not for making money, but for prolonging life.

Emotionally and rationally, this transaction should be feasible.

Perhaps because he has experienced too much, Xiao Jiu has become somewhat suspicious.

After all, Xiao Lao San's identity is too special; will the other party use those ao shells to do something to him?

The other party's identity background has not yet been investigated.

Empty talk, how much of it is true and how much false?

Fortunately, however, the other party is a living person.

Pawn ing a living person, Xiao Jiu can consider whether to do it or not.

"This matter is important; I need to discuss it with the Big Family and also inspect the goods in advance," Xiao Jiu said. "If you don't mind, please leave your contact information; tomorrow after I discuss it with everyone, I'll get back to you for further inspection."

Yet the old Daoist readily agreed.

And picking up the bag that had been on the counter all along, he opened its mouth, and immediately something poured out with a clatter.

It was those five catties of gold sand!

The first time Xiao Jiu saw that bag, he felt there was another universe inside it.

Now it looks like this is indeed a bag of treasures.

Though it looks old and small, in fact its material is special and its capacity huge.

The old man put the bag away and said, "I can leave the gold sand with Xiao Jiu Zhanggui for inspection; I hope to receive his agreement to cooperate tomorrow. It's getting late, so I'll head back now."

As he spoke, he again took out a business card from his bosom and pressed it under a piece of gold sand.

Xiao Jiu watched the old Daoist leave, hesitated a moment, then immediately sent messages to Fang Chuanzong and Jin Wuya.

She took a photo of that business card, sent it to Fang Chuanzong, and asked him to help investigate this old Daoist.

She also photographed that pile of gold sand, together with the business card, and sent it all to Jin Wuya, asking him to appraise the gold sand and see whether he recognizes the person on the card.

Jin Wuya is a strange artisan; he can not only tell real from fake gold sand, but even analyze the origin of this pile from various details.

Of course, this is the ideal situation.

Xiao Jiu is just giving it a try; he won't force anyone to do something difficult.

Fang Chuanzong first replied to Xiao Jiu: "That old fellow Qiu Honglin isn't dead yet! When I was young, I had a few dealings with him; this man was obsessed with alchemy for years, his elixirs sold very well, and they indeed can greatly increase one's cultivation in a short time."

He not only makes and sells elixirs, he himself takes them; at first he indeed was quite prominent on both the yin and yang paths for many years, but as time passed, taking too much elixir made the toxicity seep into his marrow, reaping what he sowed; later, perhaps too many people sought revenge on him, he hid here and there, gradually fading from public view—I thought the grass on his grave would have grown taller than an old man by now.

The information Fang Chuanzong provided confirmed the old Daoist's words; he wasn't lying.

But Xiao Jiu still said, "Old Fang, please help me look into this more carefully, like what he did during those years after fading from everyone's sight, what he's doing now, who comes and goes, and so on..."

Fang Chuanzong agreed to do so.

At dawn, Xiao Jiu again received a phone call from Jin Wuya.

Jin Wuya also knew Qiu Honglin: "When I first entered society, I was also swindled by that old thing; I spent a lot of money buying one of his elixirs to treat my master's illness, but my master gave me a severe beating, and when I went to look for him again, there was no trace left."

He then added, "As for that pile of gold sand in the other photo, I have carefully appraised it; it is genuine and old goods; judging by its quality, it should have been collected from Chuanxi Kangding Yuzixi, where there is the spectacle of Sunlit Gold Mountain."

Since it's old goods, the old Daoist's claim that these gold sands are leftovers from his youthful alchemy is also quite reasonable.

But for some reason, the more reasonable it seems, the more uneasy Xiao Jiu feels.

Jin Wuya keenly sensed that Xiao Jiu's mood was off and asked, "Are you facing any difficulty? Xiao Jiu, do you need my help?"

Xiao Jiu then told Jin Wuya about the old Daoist wanting to exchange gold sand for the ao shell that Xiao Lao San would molt.

Jin Wuya pondered for a long time and said, "Xiao Jiu, blessing or disaster, disaster cannot be avoided; every molt of Chuan Chuan inevitably brings calamity; deliberately trying to dodge it is not a good way to solve the problem, don't you agree?"