Chapter 82: Shuangmen Village
“Shuangmen Village?”
The name sounded familiar to Su Xiaofan. “I remember now. I know that place. The environment there is supposed to be pretty harsh…”
Su Xiaofan had a junior high school classmate who moved with his family to the Miyang area of Jiaocheng when they were in high school.
It had only happened last year. His classmate, who was still in college at the time, returned home for winter vacation and organized a group of friends to go on an outdoor adventure.
The place they chose for their expedition was called Shuangmen Village.
That guy had even livestreamed their journey in their group chat, taking quite a few pictures of the mountain roads.
But just two hours after they entered the mountains, he suddenly sent a message to the group asking for help. Before he could explain what had happened, he lost contact.
The classmates in the group immediately called the police in Miyang.
It wasn't until two full days later that the classmate finally reappeared in the group chat and told them what had happened.
According to him, they had gotten lost in the mountains.
Then a heavy snowstorm hit, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't find the road leading out of the mountains. They ended up trapped in Shuangmen Village.
Fortunately, a rescue team found them the next day. Otherwise, even if they hadn't starved to death, they probably would have frozen to death in the mountains.
Su Xiaofan didn't know whether his classmate had been warned not to say anything, but at the time, he had felt that something about his story didn't quite add up, as if there were things he hadn't told them.
But they had only been junior high school classmates and hadn't kept in touch for many years. Everyone in the group simply expressed their concern, and no one pressed him for details.
Now that he heard Tong Dongjie mention Shuangmen Village, Su Xiaofan immediately remembered the incident.
“It isn't because the environment is harsh. A spatial rift has appeared there.”
Tong Dongjie sighed and said, “I was blinded by greed at the time. I signed an investment contract with them without finding out the details. Once the money was invested, there was no way to get it back.”
Whenever he thought about the matter, Tong Dongjie felt extremely frustrated.
In fact, the people living in Shuangmen Village had already begun moving away fifteen or sixteen years ago.
The official explanation at the time was that the village was deep in the mountains and the living conditions were simply too harsh, so the entire village had to be relocated.
But when Tong Dongjie invested in the project, he should have thought about it.
No matter how harsh the environment was, could it really have been worse than it was hundreds of years ago?
Shuangmen Village had existed for centuries, and people had managed to live there quite well back then. How could it suddenly become impossible to survive there in modern times?
Eventually, Tong Dongjie realized what had probably happened. He suspected that he had been deliberately misled, because the road he had built didn't merely lead to Shuangmen Village. It also included a considerable stretch of highway.
However, there was no way he could make something like this public.
All Tong Dongjie could do was find a way to save himself and see if he could resolve the spatial rift, allowing his development project to continue.
“Can we help with this?” Su Xiaofan looked at his master.
Although he had now become a cultivator who had opened his Great Heavenly Circuit, Su Xiaofan felt that aside from having greater physical strength, he didn't seem to have any other special abilities.
“Still, you're more useful than those ancient martial artists.”
A smile appeared on Jing Shizhen's face.
“Uncle Jing, don't tease me anymore. I've already admitted that you guys are amazing.”
Tong Dongjie gave a bitter smile and said to Su Xiaofan, “You have true qi, so you can use magical artifacts. We can't.”
“How do you use magical artifacts? Aren't they supposed to work passively?”
Su Xiaofan was stunned. This was the first time he had ever heard such a thing.
“Uncle Jing, what's going on here?”
Tong Dongjie turned to look at Jing Shizhen. Why did he have the feeling that Su Xiaofan was completely clueless about everything?
“Ahem. I haven't had my disciple for very long, so I haven't had time to teach him yet.”
Jing Shizhen's old face reddened slightly. He waved his hand and said, “Xiao Su, you'll definitely be able to help with this. But you can't do it for free. You two keep negotiating…”
“I don't even know how I can help yet. How am I supposed to negotiate?”
Su Xiaofan muttered inwardly as he stared at his master with a resentful expression.
“Well… according to my usual standard, give him one-third.”
Jing Shizhen felt a little embarrassed under his disciple's stare.
“Master, what exactly is your standard?”
Su Xiaofan asked.
“100 million yuan!”
Tong Dongjie spoke from the side. “That's the price we offered Uncle Jing. Brother Xiaofan, how about I give you 30 million yuan?”
“One hundred million? Thirty million?”
Su Xiaofan was slightly dizzy from the numbers that came out of Tong Dongjie's mouth.
He felt a little uneasy. He had no idea what kind of work could possibly be worth that much money.
“Yes, that's called a consultation fee.”
Jing Shizhen nodded. He glanced at Tong Dongjie and said, “But this money isn't that easy to earn. You only get it if you solve the problem. If you can't solve it, you'll only receive one million yuan as compensation for your efforts.”
Hearing this, Tong Dongjie hurriedly said, “Uncle Jing, with you personally handling it, I'm sure you'll be able to solve it.”
As a businessman, Tong Dongjie didn't have money falling from the sky either. He would only make money if the deal succeeded. If Jing Shizhen couldn't complete the job, he wouldn't get the 100 million yuan.
Naturally, Tong Dongjie hoped that Jing Shizhen could complete this commission.
After all, the initial investment had been enormous. If the project fell through, his listed company would suffer a major blow in the capital market, and the losses would be far greater than the money already invested.
“Master, is there any danger? I'm only twenty this year.”
Su Xiaofan looked at Jing Shizhen anxiously. He was certainly tempted by the 30 million yuan, but his life was more important.
Besides, with the Restoration System, making money wasn't particularly difficult for Su Xiaofan. Once the autumn auction was over, he might have another 30 million yuan in his account anyway.
“Look at how timid you are. Aren't you afraid of ghosts?”
Jing Shizhen glared at Su Xiaofan unhappily. He felt that his disciple was making him lose face.
“I'm not afraid of ghosts. What's there to be afraid of?”
Su Xiaofan replied confidently. “But I'm afraid of dying! Who knows what that spatial rift is capable of?”
“It's not that dangerous. Dongjie has been there without anything happening to him. At most, it has a greater effect on ordinary people.”
Jing Shizhen gave Su Xiaofan some reassurance. He wasn't some inexperienced youngster who had just entered the world and rushed off to solve problems for others. Jing Shizhen was fairly confident about this.
“Alright, then I'll go with you, Master.”
Su Xiaofan nodded, then said to Tong Dongjie, “Brother Dong, honestly, the money isn't that important. I know you're a major collector too. I'm looking for something, and I wonder if you happen to have it.”
“Hm? What kind of antique are you looking for, Brother Xiaofan? Tell me.”
Tong Dongjie was stunned. He hadn't expected Su Xiaofan to turn down the money.
“Meteorites!”
Su Xiaofan said, “I want relatively rare and unusual meteorites. For example, lunar meteorites or volcanic meteorites. I wonder if you have anything like that in your collection, President Tong?”
For Su Xiaofan, money wasn't the most important thing anymore.
What mattered was finding a way to increase his Restoration Value.
He only had 46 points of Restoration Value left, which wasn't even enough to nourish his Great Circulation once. This made Su Xiaofan feel somewhat uneasy.
“Meteorites? There aren't many people in China who collect those, are there?”
Tong Dongjie frowned. “I don't collect them myself, but I remember Uncle Jing bought some meteorites overseas before.”
The incident when Su Xiaofan bought meteorites had happened after Tong Dongjie left, so he had no idea that Jing Shizhen's meteorites had already been purchased by Su Xiaofan.
“Don't even think about mine. He already bought those meteorites from me.”
Jing Shizhen spoke up, glancing at Su Xiaofan.
He still couldn't figure out why Su Xiaofan was so obsessed with meteorites.
“I really don't have any,” Tong Dongjie said, spreading his hands. “Xiaofan, can you choose something else? Bronze artifacts? Calligraphy and paintings? Porcelain? Any of those are fine.”
“Then forget it. I collect meteorites because there aren't many people in China who are into them. If I get in early, it'll be easier to speculate on their value later.”
Su Xiaofan shook his head in disappointment.
“There are more of them overseas. It's not impossible to find some, but you'll have to wait for an opportunity.”
Tong Dongjie said, “Overseas auction houses usually send me their catalogs before auctions. I've seen meteorites listed in them before. I'll keep an eye out for you in the future.”
“Then just give him the money.”
Jing Shizhen cut in. “I receive those auction catalogs too. Dongjie, you don't need to worry about this. The information I get is much more comprehensive than yours.”
Tong Dongjie was merely a private collector, whereas Jing Shizhen was not only a collector but also a member of the trade. His channels were naturally much broader than Tong Dongjie's.
“Alright, we'll do as Master says.”
Su Xiaofan nodded in agreement.
His master was helping him make money, so there was no reason for him to refuse.
“Alright, Uncle Jing, Xiaofan, you two get some rest for now. I'll come get you when it's time to eat.”
Tong Dongjie breathed a sigh of relief.
Uncle Jing had already mentioned that he would bring an assistant. If Su Xiaofan refused to go, there would probably be another complication.
“Master, I don't know how to do anything. Won't I just be a burden if you take me along?”
After Tong Dongjie left, Su Xiaofan looked at his master.
He had to make things clear beforehand. That way, if he couldn't help, no one would think he was taking the money for nothing.
“How could you possibly be a burden? Just the fact that you've opened your Great Heavenly Circuit makes you worth this much. I actually quoted too little.”
Jing Shizhen had originally thought that Su Xiaofan had only opened his Small Heavenly Circuit.
He hadn't expected that after meeting him in person, this kid would give him such a… surprise.
“This is something you should memorize first. Now that you've opened your Great Heavenly Circuit, opening these few additional meridians shouldn't be too difficult.”
Jing Shizhen took out a sheet of paper. There were both diagrams and handwritten notes on it.
“Master, couldn't you just send it to me? Who still uses paper nowadays?”
Su Xiaofan felt that it was rather troublesome.
“Xiaofan, remember this: cultivation methods must never be passed on casually.”
The smile disappeared from Jing Shizhen's face.
“The cultivation method of our lineage, aside from the texts handed down by our founder, has always been memorized. As for electronic devices, they're unreliable.”
It wasn't that Jing Shizhen couldn't keep up with the times.
He simply didn't trust the internet at all.
Their lineage had been passed down for thousands of years without ever breaking its tradition, and Jing Shizhen had no intention of changing the way it was inherited.
“Alright. I'll listen to you, Master.”
Su Xiaofan felt that what Uncle Jing said made sense. The internet really wasn't secure nowadays. With all those cloud databases and cloud computing services, it seemed like there was practically no privacy left.
Taking the sheet of paper containing the cultivation method, Su Xiaofan carefully read through it.
“Palm Thunder?!”
When Su Xiaofan saw the name written at the very top of the cultivation method, a smile immediately appeared on his face.
Just the name alone sounded incredibly impressive.
(End of Chapter)
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