Daomu Biji Volume 9 Chapter 6

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Holy shit you guys, I think I halfway figured out footnotes lol (blame that for the late postings). I can't get them to jump back up the page no matter how hard I try but you can just scroll up, it won't kill you. I'll try to do that from now on, but no promises (especially if it's a short TN note).

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On a sunny afternoon, I rested in my shady little room.

Was it really a rest? It should be, although I still often thought of those experiences that gave me a headache. But I knew in my heart that they were only memories after all.

In other words, thinking about these things didn't mean figuring out who I was up against, or what danger would be in my future, so I was at ease thinking about them.

Although the room was cool, it was still quite stuffy and I was weak and sleepy. At this time, I heard someone knocking at the door.

The shop was closed at noon because there was no business in itself, and I didn't want to open the door to waste air conditioning. I called Wang Meng several times and found that he neither answered the door nor answered me. I didn't know if he died of a heart attack, so I went out to check on him.

As soon as I walked outside, I saw a familiar figure appear in my shop.

It was an old man, and he grinned when he saw me, exposing a big gold tooth.

I almost gasped, and when I saw Wang Meng lying in front of the computer sleeping like a dead pig, I immediately went to beat him awake.

The old man looked at my behavior and was about to speak when I shouted to Wang Meng, who had been awakened by my beating, “Come on, release the dog and get him out of here!”

It was this bastard who changed my life when he walked into my shop a few years ago. I would never allow this kind of situation to happen again.

Wang Meng was still dazed from sleep, but got up from the computer and gave me a look, as if he didn't realize what I was talking about. Seeing that I didn't keep talking, he sat down again and put his big head on the counter to continue sleeping. I couldn't wait to explain it to him, so I turned from the counter and shouted at the damned old man, “Get out of my sight!”

Gold Tooth gave a loud cry and said, “Little Brother, we haven't seen each other for a long time. How are you? Your temper hasn't changed at all, it's just like before.”

I said: “Cut the bullshit, you basically ruined my fucking life. You know what? Several generations of heroes in my family have all died because of you. Leave my sight before I kill you!"

Gold Tooth said, “You're exaggerating too much. I'm closely tied with the heroic deeds of several generations in your family."

I didn't know why I was itching for a fight, but I immediately acted like I would rush up to attack him. Seeing that I didn't buy it, he quickly motioned with his hand and said, “Wait a minute, please wait a minute. I have important information here. I'm sending it to you out of kindness."

I said, “I don't want any information from you. I think your presence is extremely unlucky." With that, I went to push him out.

Gold Tooth grabbed the counter and said, “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! I have a token! After reading it, you'll know the importance of this matter." With one hand, he took out a phone from his pocket and handed it to me.

My heart said: Last time it was a watch, this time it's a cell phone. It really fucking became high-tech. As soon as I looked at it, I found that it was the kind of phone Xiao Hua commonly used so I took it and flipped it open. Inside was a text message that had been edited. It said: “Jin Wantang came here because of the newspaper advertisement. It seems that he has important clues. I've heard it once but it's hard to tell whether it's true or false. You can also listen to him for a while. After I've handled everything here, I'll come to Hangzhou to discuss with you in depth. Xie Yuchen.”

I flipped the phone closed and thought: shit, Xiao Hua's recommendation is more annoying than Lao Yang's was, and I can't refuse.

I had no choice but to give Xiao Hua face, as I wondered what I should do. It seemed that I would have to listen to Gold Tooth's information. He knew how humans worked and had long been prepared, but I had to restrain myself from thrashing him when I looked at his face.

So I told Gold Tooth to sit down and went to my back room to drink some water to calm down. Maybe because it was cool inside, but after entering the room, all the anger and various frustrations I felt had largely disappeared. After all, many of the things that had happened were of my own choosing and blaming him wasn't the way. He was also one of the victims.

After deceiving myself and feeling calmer, I hurried to the outer room and stared at Gold Tooth before saying “Old man, if you have any clues, make a long story short. You've already seen the rich and powerful Master Hua so everything you told him, you'll tell me for free."

Gold Tooth said, “Little Brother, don't be like that. I feel guilty and want to make up for it. Didn't you post a picture of the scorpion in the newspaper? Oh, this thing reminds me of a very unforgettable past.”

I looked at his face and thought to myself: Say it quickly, then I can beat you.

“The origin of this scorpion is very strange. I guess you must have something to do with a child named Zhang, right?”

I didn't say anything, fearing he would find an opening, but my heart said: I'm interested in everything involving the surname Zhang, but I don't know whether it includes a child or not.

Jin Wantang continued, “Let me tell you something. I don't know if I've told you, but I used to make a lot of money helping people identify antiques and translate ancient books in Liulichang. Once, I went to the house of a rich man surnamed Ma. They were a prosperous family that lived in Jiangsu. The guy showed me a memoir of his grandfather and wanted me to estimate whether it was worth any money. At that time, I felt that his family was wealthy and imposing, so he must be a well-off master. Later, I learned that their family had been cleaned out by that time. His two sons were taking drugs, and one of them was even dying. He saved his son's life by exchanging that thing for money.”  Jin Wantang took a deep breath and continued: “When I identified it later, I read all the memoirs of this man named Ma Pingchuan. This is the story I remember.”

At this point, Gold Tooth told me a story, that is, the story told in “The Strange Thing”.

I was neither happy nor sad after hearing this, and immediately felt that the child was probably Poker-face when he was young.

When was it? Before the founding of the People's Republic! Sure enough, this guy was quite old, but he seemed a little younger than I expected.

The Zhang family has a long life span and a special constitution so I didn't think it was too surprising.

“You mean, at that time the place was called Ma'an? Is this place still there?" I asked Jin Wantang.

He nodded: “Yes, but if you want to go, I don't think it's necessary. It was written in the memoir that they dug up the land where the ancestral graves were, but they didn't dig up any ancient tombs. There was only an iron scorpion. Moreover, there was no follow-up description in the memoirs, and the subsequent records are more than a year apart from this incident."

“What do you mean?”  I asked.

“After they dug up the iron scorpion, did they continue to dig further down and reach the underground palace? What was written on the iron scorpion? Was there anything odd? These things weren't recorded. But what is certain is that when you look today, the Ma family has changed from a very strong power to a dilapidated one. A lot of things must've happened that have something to do with this scorpion." Jin Wantang said. “Later, the Ma family went to Nepal.”

“Nepal?”

“Yes, Nepal.”  Jin Wantang said, “I just got back from there some time ago and have the address of their home. I also saw the iron scorpion in their home. They are waiting for the right price to sell it.”

“You're not messing with me, are you?” I asked.

“No.” Jin Wantang said, “If you're interested in what I've said, you may as well do your best and go abroad with me. As I said, the iron scorpion is believed to be an easy win.”

I thought for a moment, deciding that if this was the only clue related to Poker-face's past so far, maybe I should go there. But I couldn't go with Gold Tooth. I've been doing business for so long that I know this kind of person is like a fly that focuses its bite on a cracked egg(1). If he follows me, he must be planning on killing me with this Ma family. Maybe there are other kinds of traps waiting to take advantage of my wallet.

So I set a time with Jin Wantang, but I left before him and went to Nepal without even informing Xiao Hua.

But this time I came back empty-handed. Ma Pingchuan's house in Nepal was very large, but I could tell at a glance that it was empty. When I asked the nearby people, they didn't know where the family had gone.

The Ma family, like the Zhang family Ma Pingchuan went to visit in those days, disappeared before my visit.

I figured that this was a big scam that I had managed to see through, and they were completely unprepared since I left so early. It was also possible that after Jin Wantang left, something major happened to them.

In the end, my search turned into a tourist activity. After I discovered that I couldn't find any information at all, I began to eat and drink and dreamed of developing some business there.

After investigating, however, I found that the system there was completely unsuitable for business. It was better suited for use as a transit point, but I really didn't like the outflow of national treasures, so I didn't think about it anymore. Of course, I found a lot of antiques in the local area. Although I didn't know whether they were real or fake, or how much money they could sell for in the domestic collection market, I found the whereabouts of the Ma family in this ordeal.

When I was taking stock in an antique store opened by a local Chinese, I chatted with the boss about my purpose for coming there. The boss had done business with the Ma family and apparently they had sold him a lot of antiques. He told me that they always mentioned a place called Motuo when dealing with him, whether it was intentional or not.

So I went to Motuo and saw something there, which resulted in me staying there for half a year.

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TN Notes:

(1) I think basically, if Wu Xie shows any sign of weakness, Gold Tooth is going to take advantage and screw him over. Think of it like that saying "stab him in the back".

Chapter end