Taking advantage of the early dawn, Lin Shan found an empty alley and changed out of his assassin's gear.
Stepping out of the alley again, a Young Master from a noble family, dressed in white, clear and handsome, walked onto the street.
"It's just that I'm a little poor."
Lin Shan now had just over thirty taels of silver left in total. He suddenly realized that eating and drinking were nothing, but greasing palms was really expensive.
If he encountered anything else, like with Steward Jiang, without dozens of taels, it would be impossible to make a good impression.
However, the money for greasing palms had to be spent. Only by doing so could he quickly understand and integrate into the organization.
Especially since he had just entered the martial world, he absolutely could not be stingy when it was time to spend money to buy information. With a small-minded peasant mentality, he would never get ahead.
Now Nightingale had infiltrated, but there was no progress on the matter of Ancient rhyme. He couldn't just catch the assassins of Nightingale and forcibly demand their tokens to identify them one by one. Perhaps only Protector Jiang had this right.
Speaking of Protector Jiang, Lin Shan originally thought that since he could kill Chief Wang, he should be at the Peak of the Postnatal realm. He didn't expect that according to Steward Jiang, he was actually a half-step Innate master!
This was a big thigh to hug. If he could latch onto him and manipulate the token matter...
'I remember Protector Jiang seems to be missing a satisfactory divine weapon sword...'
Lin Shan walked on the main street of Zangke City, thinking about his future plans.
Some diligent vendors on the street had already started setting up their stalls. Steamed buns, soy milk, fried dough sticks, old tofu, the steaming hot food made Lin Shan's stomach start to growl.
He broke apart a few pieces of loose silver and exchanged them for several strings of coins at a nearby shop. After spending dozens of copper coins, Lin Shan ate a full meal.
Next, he browsed for about half an hour, and the flow of people on the street gradually increased. Zangke was, after all, a place for trade with foreign tribes, much more prosperous than Clear River County. Southern Barbarian merchants with bushy beards and round hats were often seen on the street.
At the corner ahead, he finally saw a restaurant. In a place where dragons and fish mingle, there would naturally be news from brokers. The first priority was to find a place to stay. Renting a courtyard required a real estate agent, and the agents here were also called brokers.
Lin Shan easily inquired with a restaurant waiter and found a rental agent. Through the introduction, he looked at a courtyard in West City. The overall environment was quite quiet, and there wasn't much pedestrian traffic around.
The courtyard owner was a wealthy merchant in the city with many properties and a good reputation.
Lin Shan spent ten taels of silver to rent it for two months and finally had a place where he could feel at ease.
...
Lin Shan, who had just arrived in Zangke, cultivated at night and strolled around during the day to experience the local customs. He spent two days eating, drinking, and relaxing like this.
After roughly adapting to the environment, he sat on the stone bench in his courtyard and began to think about what to do next.
The most urgent task was to find Ancient rhyme. Whether it was enhancing elixirs to improve cultivation or enhancing weapons to exchange for money, it could allow him to enter a virtuous cycle. As for the matter of collecting tokens, he temporarily didn't have the ability.
He could only find another way.
"Right, I haven't been to the antique shops and the antique street in Zangke City yet. Maybe I can find some good stuff!"
Lin Shan carried all his assets, with the intention of treasure hunting, and full of anticipation, stepped into the gate of the antique shop in West City.
...
"Oh, please come in, Young Master. Xiao Lan, serve tea!"
As soon as Lin Shan entered the antique shop, an old man who introduced himself as Shopkeeper Huang enthusiastically greeted him.
After all, he was a Postnatal Martial Artist who had just turned 16. He walked with vigor and had bright, piercing eyes. Coupled with his white clothes, face like a crown jewel, and a folding fan in his hand, he looked exactly like a Young Master from a noble family.
Although he didn't remember which Young Master in Zangke City looked like this, Shopkeeper Huang still entertained him enthusiastically. After all, for the performance required by the owner behind him, everyone had to make money, and there was no shame in that!
"Hmm, what long-standing treasures do you have in your shop? Bring them all out for me to see."
Shopkeeper Huang readily agreed. If the customer wanted to see it, he would show it to him. He didn't expect him to buy it or not. After all, the treasures of the shop were just sitting there anyway, and no one would buy them. They were basically just to show off the prestige of their antique shop.
The shopkeeper whispered a few words to the maid beside him, and then accompanied Lin Shan as he walked around, introducing the ordinary antiques in the main hall one by one.
Although Lin Shan didn't particularly want someone to follow him, he could only go along with the host. While smiling and dealing with the shopkeeper, he secretly and occasionally touched the antiques on the shelves when the shopkeeper wasn't paying attention.
He probably touched all the exhibits in the main hall, but there were no prompts. Lin Shan and Shopkeeper Huang sat by a nearby coffee table and started chatting casually.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and several assistants came out from the back hall, either carrying or holding three items, placed them on the coffee table, and then left.
Shopkeeper Huang began to diligently introduce the treasures of the shop in front of him one by one.
"This is a jade coral from the shores of the East Sea. Look at how translucent it is and how its color is warm and moist."
Lin Shan pretended to examine it while nodding repeatedly, and secretly touched it. Hmm, nothing, next!
"Cough cough! This is a pair of imperial jade bowls passed down from five hundred years ago. It is said to be something used by a noble consort."
Seeing that he wasn't interested in the jade coral, the shopkeeper diligently introduced the jade bowls next to it.
Lin Shan inadvertently brushed against them and likewise received no prompt about Ancient rhyme. He turned his head to look at the last item, a large golden bell that was entirely golden.
"This golden bell is extraordinary. It was just unearthed from the Ancient Tomb of Yelang last month and sent here. It is said that in the past, our Zangke Commandery belonged to the Yelang Ancient Kingdom, and the King of Yelang believed in Buddhism. There were countless temples in the entire country, and this golden bell perhaps..."
As Lin Shan touched the golden bell, he naturally didn't hear what the shopkeeper was rambling about, because the Enhancement panel finally appeared before his eyes!
[Soul Suppressing Bell]
Quality: Ordinary
Description: Originally a Buddhist vow power dharma artifact, it has been erased by external forces and has faded into a mundane object.
Ancient rhyme: 8 points.
Absorb?
...
This was the first time Lin Shan had encountered an antique that simultaneously possessed Ancient rhyme and came with a description of its quality and origin.
One should know that the antiques he had encountered before only had a prompt about whether to absorb, and only items that could be Enhanced would have a description panel appear.
Now that both appeared simultaneously, it made Lin Shan's thoughts run wild. Could it be that some things could inherently be Enhanced, and at the same time, for some reason, came with Ancient rhyme?
But this golden bell clearly could not be Enhanced. The description said it was once a Buddhist vow power dharma artifact, which had been erased by external forces and turned into a mundane object.
'Dharma artifact? What is that? Is it used for performing rituals?'
Lin Shan instantly deduced some incredible ideas. 'Could it be that the water in this world was very deep? Was it not as simple as it seemed on the surface?'
"Young Master? Young Master?"
Shopkeeper Huang's mouth was dry from talking. Seeing Lin Shan staring blankly at the golden bell, he couldn't help but ask twice.
"Ah? ... Oh, please continue!"
Shopkeeper: "..."
I already finished talking, what else do you want me to say? So you didn't listen to a single word.
Lin Shan was also in a dilemma at this time. 8 points of Ancient rhyme! This was the first time he had encountered so much since activating his Golden Finger, more than all he had obtained before combined, enough to Enhance two Postnatal items to Innate.
He could even Enhance his Innate Skill Eternal Spring Skill again!
Lin Shan suppressed his excited inner feelings.
But as a treasure of the shop, this thing was bound to be expensive, and he definitely couldn't afford it!
As for absorbing the Ancient rhyme and leaving? Being able to open such a large antique shop in Zangke City and possessing so many valuable treasures at the same time, the power behind the shopkeeper was self- evident.
Furthermore, Lin Shan could feel multiple qi signatures locking onto him from various places in the back hall and on the second floor of the antique shop. Once he absorbed the Ancient rhyme and this golden bell had some unpredictable change, what awaited him...
"May I ask, Shopkeeper, how much is this golden bell?"
Lin Shan took a deep breath and still asked the price, unwilling to give up.
The shopkeeper smiled and quoted the price while holding up three fingers.
"Three thousand taels!"
Huh? That seems not impossible in this lifetime...
"Gold!"
Lin Shan: "Farewell!"