Chapter Nineteen: A Small Test of Cow Knife

  Out of the cave, the east has already turned white, I raised my hand to look at my watch, it's past four o'clock. The cool mountain breeze blowing on our clothes that were almost soaked with sweat was quite refreshing. I took a few deep breaths and felt that the trees, weeds, and even stones all seemed so real and intimate. It turns out that being alive is wonderful. No wonder people say "it's better to be lazy than to die".

  Just as I was getting sentimental, Jin Gang handed me a cigarette and lit it. We chatted and laughed as we headed back to my squad, deliberately avoiding any mention of what had happened in the ancient tomb. Due to excessive fright, our fragile nerves could no longer withstand any more stimulation, and our tense brains were not suitable for thinking about anything else. What we needed was relaxation, relaxation, and more relaxation...

  Just returned to the team, the reveille sounded, I rushed to the kennel to take out Naru for morning exercise. On Sunday mornings, there is a big exercise, which means both people and dogs go out together. Only after finishing the morning exercise can those on leave take their leave, and those who need to rest can rest.

  During my morning exercise, I discovered an interesting phenomenon. All the dogs that came out to exercise were filled with fear towards me and kept a distance from me as much as possible. Even my Naluo didn't show her usual affection towards me, always trying to break free from my leash control, leaving me bewildered.

  It was a struggle to muster up the energy for morning exercise, but after I finished breakfast and brought back the meal that Jin Gang had cooked, I found that he was already lying on my bed fast asleep.

  Forget it, if you don't want to eat, then just don't eat.

  I put down the lunch box, inserted the key into the door lock, set the alarm clock, and my dorm mate was already gone after asking for leave early in the morning. I lay on his bed and fell asleep, really too tired.

  At noon, the alarm clock woke me up. I carried a basin to the washing room for a quick wash and when I came back, I saw that Jin Gang had also woken up. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, gobbling down the breakfast I brought back for him with great relish. This guy really wasn't picky about his food - the noodles from this morning had congealed into a lump, but he still ate them with gusto.

  I picked up the water cup and took a few sips of cool boiled water, then took out the "spoils" from the bag and examined them carefully.

  The ancient sword is about three feet long, including the scabbard. The scabbard doesn't look like metal, but rather some kind of animal skin in terms of texture. It's a deep blue color all over. The hilt is less than twenty centimeters long and has an engraving of a strange creature that's neither dragon nor beast. I tried to pull it out twice but couldn't, probably because it's rusted shut.

  He picked up the duster, and the small duster felt even heavier than the ancient sword he had just held. The handle of the duster was not straight, with several fine curves. It was a pale purple color, and when he tapped it on the table, it made a clear sound, but it didn't seem like metal. But if it wasn't metal, how could it be so heavy? He touched the red tassel at the end of the duster, and as soon as he did, his hand felt a stinging pain. He withdrew his hand to look, and saw that there were several fine cuts on his hand, with faint threads of blood rising from them.

  "What the heck is this thing, it's so sharp?" Jin Gangbao lit a cigarette after finishing his breakfast and asked curiously when he saw that my hand was injured.

  "It's definitely not horse tail hair." I'm not a know-it-all, he asks me, who am I supposed to ask?

  "It's getting late, let's change and go, take everything with us." I said, putting down the duster in my hand.

  "Can't I just wear this? All my clothes are in my squad, it's a hassle to go back and change." Jin Gang Pao said, looking at the camouflage uniform on his body.

  "You're afraid that others won't know you're a soldier, forget it, wear mine," I said as I started searching for clothes in my closet.

  Half an hour later, we stood in front of the gate of Sanhuai Antique Market. The bustling crowd and numerous stalls made us feel a bit like a tiger eating the sky - not knowing how to make a move.

  "Let's find a place to squat down first," I said.

  "Uh-huh"

  The two of us found a relatively empty spot and sat down, Jin Gang took out a few newspapers from the flour bag and pulled out those things. Because the flour bag was not clean, everything that came out was covered with a layer of flour, causing the bosses of the nearby stalls to stifle their laughter, thinking in their hearts: I don't know where these two mixed-up kids got these fake things to try their luck.

  I pretended not to see others' ridicule, and with my head down, I helped Jin Gang Cannon arrange those things. Jin Gang Cannon placed the chessboard, ancient sword, duster, white jade box on the newspaper, and I took out the He Shou Wu he gave me last year from my pocket and handed it to him, then

  I started to gather the two sets of chess pieces from the bag, last night was too chaotic, the pieces were all mixed up and stuffed together in a big pile, black and white. I sorted them out one by one and put them back in their respective boxes. As for the thing that the giant snake spat out, due to my haste, I forgot it in the pocket of my camouflage uniform and didn't bring it with me. After finishing all this, I sat down with Jin Gang Pao to smoke and wait for customers to arrive.

  I originally thought that it wouldn't take long for someone to come and buy them, but unfortunately things didn't go as planned. Until the two of us finished our cigarettes, no one came to ask about them. I looked at my watch, it was almost four o'clock. I crushed the cigarette box and told Jin Gang "I'm going to buy a pack of cigarettes".

  I walked a long way along the antique market but didn't see any shops. However, I did get to know the scale of Sanhuai Market, where all sorts of vendors were selling everything imaginable. From large bronze tripods to small snuff bottles, nothing was missing. From ancient stone knives and axes to Republic-era clocks, you name it, they had it. There were countless vendors selling swords, jade, and stones. I finally found a small shop to buy a pack of cigarettes and walked back with my head hung low.

  "No wonder it's not selling well, they have everything. This is simply not a rare commodity." I said.

  "Old Yu, what's going on? I... " Jin Gang Pao also looked disheartened, actually he was more anxious than me.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "Don't rush, wait a little longer."

  As I slowly opened my eyes, I unconsciously saw the colorful auras emitted by the bustling pedestrians on the street.

  How could I have forgotten this! I've already mastered the art of observing blood and energy in the Five Lines technique. Looks like today is not my day, might as well just play along with being a fortune teller.

  I sat back down on the ground, quietly circulating the Blood Qi technique, focusing my mind and observing the passing pedestrians.

  A person's own aura is usually the same color as their body, that is, flesh-colored. If there is a disease on the body, the affected area will emit black air, and the more serious the disease, the darker the blackness. If dark clouds cover the top of the head, it basically means that the disease has reached a critical point and medicine can no longer save them.

  In addition, the most difficult part of the human body to observe is the head, because that is where the spirit resides, and the three souls return. A person's fortune and luck in life, their lifespan, the original energy given by their parents, and the inherited energy of their descendants will all be reflected in the aura emitted from the head. Of course, observing these energies is also extremely vast. It wasn't until later that I learned about the two taboos for observing blood energy: one is not to look at a person's lifespan, and the other is not to look at their descendants. Unfortunately, I didn't know any of this back then.

  Just as I was feeling tired and out of breath, a stout middle-aged man with a bald head and sunglasses, accompanied by a young and beautiful woman, stopped in front of the humble stall that Jin Gang and I were running.

  "Little brother, how much does this chessboard cost?" The bald-headed man asked with his left hand around the woman's waist and his right hand pointing at the chessboard.

  "Twenty thousand," replied Jin Gang Cannon hastily.

  "Oh?" The bald man squatted down and took over the chessboard, examining it carefully. The woman beside him also squatted down.

  I took a glance at the bald man's attire and felt that he looked like a wealthy person. A glimpse of the BMW logo on the car key in his hand further confirmed my observation. So I mustered up my spirit to observe the aura emanating from his head and quickly made a judgment: "The auspicious air is red, the air collides with the golden dragon, it should be facing east! The five elements lack earth, offending the monthly blackness, the son will not exceed five..." After a while, I was confident and turned to look at the fashionably dressed young woman beside him.

  "How much does this chess piece cost?" Baldy asked with a smile.

  "Also twenty thousand" The diamond cannon has locked onto this number.

  Why is this woman's descendant air so long? I feel puzzled. According to the records in the supplement, apart from the main destiny air on a person's head, there are also luck air, original air, and descendant air. People who are ill may have some black air. Based on the color and length of these few airs, one can almost determine a person's lifespan, wealth, health, and situation with their descendants. Is this woman pregnant since her descendant air is so long?

  As I thought about it, my gaze involuntarily shifted to the young woman's abdomen. This one glance was not a big deal, but my gaze couldn't be withdrawn again. It turned out that this beauty was wearing a short skirt. When she squatted down, her snow-white thighs were completely exposed, and the white small triangle of her mysterious area almost made me bleed from the nose. Ah, now thinking about it, it's all because of the troubles I got into when I was in the army.

  The bald middle-aged man who was bargaining with the stall owner happened to glance at me, saw that I was staring blankly at the beautiful woman's legs and almost drooling, hummed in dissatisfaction, stood up, and pulled the beautiful woman next to him to leave.

  "Alas, alas, don't go, let's discuss the price!" Jin Gang Pao was desperately trying to retain him.

  "Stay behind" The bald head didn't stay for a moment.

  "You really won't buy it?" I said. It's time for me to make a move.

  "I'm not buying it, what else do you want?" The bald man stopped in his tracks and glared at me.

  "Hehe, this chessboard of mine is a treasure, whoever buys it will be able to have a son." I half-jokingly tested the waters, wanting to say "your son will die before he's five years old". Luckily, that didn't happen. Otherwise, someone would've slapped me silly."

  The bald man's angry expression surprisingly turned into a look of astonishment, it seems I was right, and my confidence greatly increased.

  "Not only can he have a son, but his son will also live a long life." I added another sentence in a timely manner.

  The bald man quickly walked back with the beautiful woman, and then squatted down. The beautiful woman also followed suit and squatted down. However, I didn't dare to stare at her mysterious parts again. Pretending to be mysterious, he lit a cigarette and looked at him without speaking, waiting for his reaction.

  "Little brother, what do you do? Can you read faces?" Baldy asked.

  I suppressed the pride in my heart and asked back: "What do you think I look like?"

  "Little brother, if you really know how to read faces, then help me take a look. Money is no object." Rich people always talk big.

  "To be honest with you, we are actually Taoist priests from the Kunlun Mountains, not only can we see, but also very accurately." I started bragging, in fact at that time I didn't even know where the Kunlun Mountains were.

  "Oh, little master, then you take a look" Baldy said, pulling out a stack of red ones from his interlayer bag.

  "Hey, I've only just started learning from my master, and what I see isn't necessarily accurate. But when it comes to reading faces, I don't need your birth date or to touch your hands and face, those are all low-class tricks."

  "Little Master, can you help me see when I'll have another son?" The bald man hastily stuffed a stack of red tickets into my hand. I turned around and handed them to Jin Gang Pao standing beside me. This guy stared at me with eyes wide like a cow's egg. I quickly gave him a wink.

  I turned around and sat down on the ground with a thud, just happening to sit on a small stone, which made my butt ache so much that I grimaced. The bald man seemed to have misunderstood, and hurriedly handed over another stack.

  I couldn't pretend anymore, so I quickly asked something serious: "Did you have a son before?"

  "Yes, young master." The bald man nodded his head like a chicken pecking at food.

  "Alas, didn't he stay behind and leave?" I continued to say.

  He panted heavily and didn't say anything.

  At this time, the boss of the nearby stall and the passing Taobao saw that I was stuffing money into my bald head one by one, and they all curiously surrounded me.

  "Who is this guy?" I asked the beautiful woman beside me who was staring at me with a look of admiration.

  "This, this, Master, if you would condescend, I'd like to invite you out for a meal." The bald man looked around at the onlookers and extended the invitation to me.

  "Never mind, my junior brother and I are on a mission to collect funds for the renovation of our Taoist temple, as ordered by our master. These items were left behind by our ancestors and I must sell them in order to leave." Seeing that there was a growing crowd, I took the opportunity to advertise.

  "How much does it cost to build a Taoist temple?" asked Baldy.

  "Twenty thousand." Jin Gang Pao gave me a quick answer.

  "Wrap it up for me, little master, let's go." Baldy saw the people around pointing and whispering to each other, and didn't want to stay any longer.

  Jin Gang cannon hastily picked up the bag and loaded those things into it. When he got to that duster, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted: "Wait a minute."

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