Chapter 20: The King of Han Cauldron
“Bro, where did you get that bell? It sounds really nice.”
Early the next morning, sitting in the car Zheng Dagang was driving, Su Xiaoxiao kept staring at the wind-divining bell in her brother’s hand. She reached over to play with it for quite a while before finally returning it to Su Xiaofan.
“I bought it yesterday. I’ll put it at home later to protect the house.”
Su Xiaofan told the truth. If his little sister asked about the price, he would tell her too. But apparently, Su Xiaoxiao didn’t think a bronze bell could be worth much, so she never even brought up the subject.
“I’ll get some real magical artifacts to sell in the future too.”
Zheng Dagang, who was driving, spoke up. At this point, he no longer complained that the bell was expensive. Su Xiaofan had bought it for 1.2 million, and if he wanted to sell it, he could easily get 1.8 million. Zhao Hengjian would gladly take it off his hands.
The huge profit greatly stimulated Zheng Dagang. Although the fake magical artifacts he usually sold had much higher profit margins, they could never fetch high prices. A few tens of thousands of yuan was the limit. Unlike Jingxin Hall, where a single deal could earn hundreds of thousands or even millions.
“Magical artifacts? Brother Gang, weren’t you already selling magical artifacts?”
Sometimes Su Xiaoxiao would accompany her brother to the market on weekends, so she naturally knew what kind of business Zheng Dagang was in.
“Ahem…”
Caught off guard by Su Xiaoxiao’s question, Zheng Dagang nearly choked. After coughing twice, he said, “The magical artifacts I used to sell were too low-end. From now on, I’ll specialize in high-end ones.”
As they chatted, the car had already left the city and entered the highway.
Bronze Ware Village was located in the northern suburbs of Luochuan City, not far from the foot of Mountain Mang. After driving on the highway for a while, they exited onto a national road, followed by a stretch of narrow country road that wasn’t in very good condition.
“Xiaofan, who knows how many ancient tombs lie beneath our feet.”
As the car bumped along the muddy road full of potholes, Zheng Dagang looked toward the foot of Mountain Mang in the distance and said, “Come to think of it, your village isn’t that far from the Eastern Zhou royal mausoleum. Are there ancient tombs underground around your village too?”
“Definitely. Back when the village dug wells, they even dug up some things. But Sixth Grandpa wouldn’t allow anyone to excavate them, and nobody dared.”
Su Xiaofan nodded. Having grown up at the foot of Mountain Mang, he had truly seen far too many tombs. Not to mention the famous large mausoleums—even the countless unnamed graves scattered everywhere were beyond imagination.
There was an old saying:
“Live in Suzhou and Hangzhou; be buried in Northern Mang.”
It meant that while alive, one should live in prosperous places like Suzhou and Hangzhou, but after death, one should be buried in Northern Mang, a land blessed with excellent feng shui. Thus came the saying, “There is scarcely an idle patch of earth beneath Mountain Mang.”
Su Xiaofan had once seen statistics showing that Mountain Mang contained over 970 large earthen tombs belonging to kings and nobles, while ordinary ancient tombs numbered in the hundreds of thousands. One could practically dig anywhere and uncover an ancient burial. Grave robbers throughout history had all come here, and countless national treasures had disappeared without a trace.
However, within the boundaries of Bronze Ware Village, there had never been any grave robbing over the past several decades. That was because the old village chief utterly despised people who made a living off the dead.
As he put it, their own ancestors might well be buried on one of those hills. Who knew when those bastards might dig up their family graves?
Decades ago, the old village chief organized a village patrol. Whenever they encountered people surveying the terrain in preparation for grave robbing, they would catch them and send them straight to the police station. Anyone wandering around Northern Mountain Mang for no good reason—if they caught ten, all ten deserved to be punished.
There had once been grave-robbing gangs that tried to retaliate against Bronze Ware Village. But the villagers were united and tough. After suffering several defeats, those outsiders never again dared to rob tombs within the village’s territory.
Many neighboring villages had people who entered the grave-robbing trade. In some villages, more than half the residents worked in it. But later, many were arrested and imprisoned, and the villages themselves declined.
By contrast, Bronze Ware Village had always focused on making imitation ancient bronze ware. Although business was mediocre at first, once they established a good reputation, business steadily improved. Now it was the wealthiest village for miles around.
Once they entered Bronze Ware Village, the roads became much smoother. As the car reached the village entrance, Su Xiaofan noticed a red banner hanging there.
“Warm congratulations to our village’s Su Xiaoxiao on being admitted to Yanjing University.”
At the entrance, the old village chief, who had spoken with Su Xiaofan on the phone not long ago, was waiting with a crowd of villagers.
Su Xiaofan asked Zheng Dagang to stop the car more than ten meters before the entrance. Then he and Su Xiaoxiao got out and walked over.
“Good! Xiaoxiao has done us proud.”
Seeing Su Xiaoxiao, the old village chief couldn’t hide the smile on his face.
“Our village has finally produced a student admitted to Yanjing University.”
The old village chief was seventy-six years old this year, but he remained vigorous and healthy. He had long since stepped down as village chief, yet his word still carried tremendous authority in the village. Whenever problems arose, the villagers still liked to seek his advice.
“Sixth Grandpa, that’s because you always valued education. Otherwise, our village wouldn’t have so many college students.”
Su Xiaoxiao had spent even more time in the village than Su Xiaofan and was very close to Sixth Grandpa. She stepped forward and linked arms with him.
“It’s because you studied well.”
The old village chief burst into hearty laughter. But when he saw Su Xiaofan, he glared at him.
“You stubborn kid. I told you the village would pay your tuition if you repeated a year and took the exam again, but you just wouldn’t listen!”
Su Xiaofan’s grades had actually been better than his sister’s. If not for that car accident, he probably would have been the first person from the village admitted to Yanjing University. Even now, the old village chief still regretted that Su Xiaofan hadn’t repeated the year.
“I’m carrying forward our village’s craftsmanship. That’s important too.”
Su Xiaofan grinned.
“You brat. The matter between me and your father—why did you have to get involved?”
The old village chief knew Su Xiaofan still kept some distance from him. He sighed.
“Don’t go back today. The village is holding a banquet that’ll probably last until tonight. Stay over and leave tomorrow morning. Also, the village will cover Xiaoxiao’s first year of tuition.”
“Sixth Grandpa, Xiaoxiao’s tuition has already been prepared.”
Su Xiaofan quickly replied. The reason he hadn’t wanted to return to the village to borrow money before was precisely because he didn’t want to owe the village chief this favor.
“Isn’t Su Xiaoxiao from Su Family Village? Aren’t you, Su Xiaofan, from Bronze Ware Village?”
The old village chief’s eyes widened, clearly ready to lose his temper if Su Xiaofan refused again.
“All right. We’ll do as you say, Sixth Grandpa.”
Su Xiaofan smiled bitterly and agreed.
Aside from the lingering knot in his heart toward the old village chief, Su Xiaofan got along well with everyone else in the village. After introducing Zheng Dagang to everyone, the group headed into the village.
“Hm?”
When they reached the village entrance, Su Xiaofan suddenly stopped and looked toward the large bronze cauldron standing there.
【King of Han Cauldron, High-Grade Magical Artifact, Can Be Absorbed!】
A line of text suddenly appeared in Su Xiaofan’s mind. He froze in place, then unconsciously walked forward and placed his hand against the bronze cauldron.
【King of Han Cauldron, High-Grade Magical Artifact, Can Be Absorbed. Absorb?】
After touching the cauldron, a prompt asking whether to absorb it appeared in his mind.
Su Xiaofan was very familiar with this bronze cauldron, which stood over a person’s height. Ever since he could remember, it had stood here at the village entrance, exposed to wind and rain without ever being moved. As a child, he and his friends often climbed inside it to play hide-and-seek.
During every festival and holiday, the old village chief would also lead the villagers here to worship their ancestors before the cauldron. Everyone in Bronze Ware Village knew it well.
So Su Xiaofan had never imagined that this bronze cauldron, called the King of Han Cauldron, was actually a high-grade magical artifact.
For all these years, he had assumed it was cast by the village itself. But the words “King of Han Cauldron” displayed in his mind indicated that it was actually an artifact from the Han Dynasty.
What shocked him even more were the words “Can Be Absorbed.” Ever since the Repair Value had appeared, this was the first absorbable object he had ever encountered.
But that only made him even more confused. A Han Dynasty bronze cauldron of such enormous size would undoubtedly be a national treasure. Not only would grave robbers covet it—even the government would never allow it to sit here so casually.
“Wait... how did Uncle Jing know there was a magical artifact in Bronze Ware Village?”
Su Xiaofan suddenly remembered something. When buying the wind-divining bell yesterday, Jing Shizhen had mentioned that there was a magical artifact in Bronze Ware Village.
And he had been right.
Su Xiaofan felt as though many things were hidden behind a veil. It seemed he was about to touch the truth, yet at the same time knew nothing at all.
“What’s wrong? Never seen our village’s cauldron before?”
Seeing Su Xiaofan stop in front of it, the old village chief said irritably,
“You’ve only been away a few days, and you’ve already forgotten our village’s greatest treasure?”
“Ahem... no, Sixth Grandpa. I was just thinking—this bronze cauldron has been here for decades, hasn’t it? Why isn’t there any bronze patina on it?”
Noticing everyone looking at him, Su Xiaofan coughed and withdrew his right hand from the cauldron.
“This is our village’s greatest treasure. How could it be the same as ordinary bronze ware?”
The old village chief snorted without explaining further and led Su Xiaoxiao into the village.
“Xiaofan, your village’s craftsmanship is incredible. They can even make such a huge cauldron!”
Walking behind them, Zheng Dagang gave Su Xiaofan a thumbs-up. Among all the excavated cauldrons in China, none was larger than this one. If it were genuine, calling it a national treasure would not be an exaggeration.
“It might not have been made by the village.”
Su Xiaofan couldn’t help muttering quietly.
His heart was in turmoil.
This was the first absorbable object he had ever encountered. He believed that if he confirmed the absorption, the Repair Value in his mind would definitely change.
But he had no idea what would happen to the bronze cauldron afterward.
If it decayed or was damaged, he would become the sinner of Bronze Ware Village. After all, as the old village chief had said, it was the village’s “greatest treasure.”
In the end, Su Xiaofan made up his mind not to absorb the bronze cauldron.
Although he chose not to absorb this high-grade magical artifact, he still felt he had gained something important.
Now he knew that high-grade magical artifacts could replenish the Repair Value in his mind.
That meant that as long as he could find more high-grade magical artifacts in the future, he would be able to restore his Repair Value.
(End of Chapter)
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