Chapter Seventeen: Blood Qilin

  Listening to Ningyuan's words, Tan Mei quietly curled her lips: "Materialistic!"

  Ning Yuan didn't say a word, just eating his food. Tan Donglin chuckled and said: "Ning Yuan, don't mind her, this girl is always like that. I know the rules of your line of work, naturally I won't let you watch for free."

  Tan Donglin, as a renowned doctor in Shangjiang City, also has some knowledge of Fengshui and mysticism. He naturally knows these rules. Since ancient times, the mysterious skills of the Xuanmen have been relatively mysterious. As people in this line, they all have their own taboos and deeply believe that if one of the five flaws or three deficiencies is committed, it is impossible to reveal too much about the heavenly machine.

  The so-called "five evils" and "three lacks" actually refer to the same thing as fate. The five evils are no more than "widowhood, childlessness, loneliness, solitude, and disability". The three lacks can be simply put as "money, life, and power".

  This can be seen in many things from ancient times to the present. Eccentric people often drift through life alone, and some end their days in misery. Although it's not absolute, one naturally has faith in what they do.

  Let's take fortune-telling and Feng Shui as an example. You yourself must believe in it first. If you don't believe in it, how can you make others believe when you tell their fortunes or analyze their Feng Shui? That would naturally be a scam. Only if you believe in it yourself can you begin to learn, this is common sense.

  It's just like people finding a job now. Only when they find one they like, that suits their mind, can they work with enthusiasm. If they don't like it, they naturally won't have the spirit to do it.

  It is said that an old man without a wife is called a widower, an old woman without a husband is called a widow, an old man or woman without children is called solitary, and a young person without parents is called an orphan. The rest is self-evident. As the saying goes, with gain comes loss. If you possess abilities that surpass those of ordinary people, then you must also endure sufferings that surpass those of ordinary people.

  It turns out that Ningyuan later also gradually understood that Lao Dao kept him on the mountain, and his parents were separated for a long time, probably also considering this aspect.

  It is precisely because of this that the people in the Taoist school often pursue spiritual transcendence and material detachment, emphasizing not entering the royal court. They have a strong demand for money, but they often can't keep their wealth. When providing divination and fortune-telling services, Feng Shui geomancy, they will charge a lot of money. Even if it's just divination and geomancy, there are great restrictions and they won't take on cases casually.

  Of course, whether this is actually the case cannot be generalized, after all, the will of heaven is a vague and elusive thing that can't be put into words. Even if Ning Yuan has now entered the secret realm and possesses abilities that ordinary people can't understand, he still doesn't dare to claim that he can see through the will of heaven.

  Ningyuan ate his vegetables while casually smiling at Tan Donglin, "Tan, you're too polite. When I have time, I'll help you take a look. As for the payment, just give me whatever you think is suitable, don't worry about the rules."

  For Ningyuan, he can't be considered rich, at least not now, and he's not short of money either. The wealth left by Lao Dao is quite good, with tens of millions still available, and if you count the antiques and other things, he could easily be a multimillionaire. Of course, there are some things that Ningyuan really doesn't dare to sell.

  Ningyuan didn't really want to give Tan Donglin any benefits, he just had to follow the rules of his profession, otherwise, people would always come to him for Feng Shui and fortune-telling, and he would be exhausted.

  As for yesterday's geomancy and Feng Shui for Jiang Shi Hao, it was purely a contest with Li Chuan River, which doesn't count as breaking the rules. Besides, Ning Yuan didn't believe it anyway, and Jiang Shi Hao wouldn't have made any comment.

  It was already past seven in the evening, and after dinner it would be almost eight o'clock. It wasn't suitable to show Tan Donglin the layout at this hour, so Ning Yuan didn't linger after dinner and took his leave directly.

  As he walked to his own front door, Ningyuan saw that the gate was open and the lights were on inside. He pushed the door open and went in, and indeed, Gu Fenglin was sitting on the sofa in the living room drinking tea. Opposite Gu Fenglin sat a middle-aged man in his forties, who was Jiang Shihao.

  Jiang Shihao and Gu Fenglin saw Ning Yuan return, both stood up simultaneously. Jiang Shihao even took a step forward, extending his hand: "Mr. Ning, I'm afraid I've disturbed you, please forgive me."

  Ningyuan and Jiang Shihao shook hands, smiling: "General Manager Jiang is too polite, you can come here, it's an honor to me."

  "Where, where." Jiang Shihao didn't dare to be arrogant in front of Ningyuan, and he smiled politely. The three people sat down again, and he took out a small wooden box from the side and pushed it to Ningyuan along the tea table: "Mr. Ning, a little trifle, not worth mentioning, thank you for helping me change my layout."

  Ning Yuan didn't decline, stretched out his hand to take the box, and casually opened it. Inside the box was a crimson jade Qilin, exquisitely carved with vivid details, especially its pair of crimson eyes that seemed to be staring at him as if ready to pounce.

  At this moment, just as Ningyuan opened the box, he felt a sudden chill run down his spine and sensed a dark and sinister aura, hastily covering the box with his hand.

  The box was also exquisitely crafted, made of the finest purple sandalwood, lined with a layer of yellow silk, which was directly glued to the inside of the box. After closing the lid, Ning felt that the eerie atmosphere around him had dissipated somewhat.

  Jiang Shihao saw Ningyuan and took a glance, then hastily covered the box, thinking that Ningyuan thought it was too expensive and didn't want to accept it. He quickly explained: "Mr. Ning, this thing was something I found by chance when I went on a business trip to Yanjing last time, at Panjiayuan in Yanjing. It's not worth much money, just the workmanship is fine."

  "Pan's Garden?" Ningyuan was taken aback. No wonder this thing had such a heavy aura of death on it, it turned out to be from Pan's Garden.

  The Panjiayuan Antique Market in Beijing is absolutely a very famous antique market in the north, and also has a great reputation nationwide. The things inside are mixed with genuine and fake ones, making it difficult to distinguish between them, and it's also the easiest place to pick up bargains.

  It's also because of the chaos that Panjiayuan became a place where some tomb robbers would get rid of their loot, some worthless-looking items with no great value were basically all thrown into Panjiayuan.

  Of course, it's not that there aren't any hidden gems. It's precisely because of this that Panjiayuan is a place where you can easily find real treasures, provided that you have an eye for them and good luck also plays a very important role.

  At this time, Ningyuan didn't know whether to say that Jiang Shihao was lucky or unlucky.

  Just from that glance, Ningyuan could tell that the blood qilin was a Song Dynasty artifact. The jade carvings of the Song Dynasty mainly featured rounded, relief and hollowed-out designs, which showed great progress compared to previous dynasties, combining three-dimensional carving techniques with multi-layered carving methods very well.

  Therefore, the jade carvings of the Song Dynasty, especially some auspicious animals and zodiac signs, look more vivid and natural than those before the Song Dynasty, but without the deliberate pursuit of perfection in later generations, with a more subtle and nuanced color.

  Moreover, the carvings of the Song Dynasty are relatively single and look more scattered. Most jade carvings are small and delicate, with a high appreciation value. The blood Qilin just now is consistent with the characteristics of Song Dynasty jade carvings.

  Apart from the above reasons, Ningyuan had another reason to believe that this jade qilin was not a modern imitation, which was because of the thick and heavy aura on it.

  Jade instruments are spiritual, in the Xuanmen, jade instruments have always been more precious objects, many ritual instruments are replaced with jade or made by warming up jade stones, although there are other types of ritual instruments, but undoubtedly, jade instruments are the most common, precisely because jade instruments easily absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

  This spiritual energy is generally imperceptible to ordinary people, or the perception is not very clear. However, those who enter the secret hall feel extremely sensitive. Ning Yuan can affirmatively judge that the evil spirit on this Blood Qilin is absolutely not formed by human cultivation, but is naturally formed through daily accumulation, resulting in such a heavy yin evil energy.

  This jade, if it weren't for the heavy yin evil energy, would be a good thing. It could sell for 5 million at an auction and that wouldn't be impossible. But with this heavy yin evil energy, this thing isn't something ordinary people can touch casually. At this time, Ningyuan even suspects that this thing was instigated by Lichuan River to test himself through Jiang Shihao.

  PS: Didn't even last a day on the chart and got kicked off, speechless. Book friends, please help me out, I'm begging you.