Xing Hong took in the greedy expressions of the underlings. The corner of his mouth curved into a cunning, triumphant smile.
But when his gaze shifted to Brother Tian, the smile froze on his face.
Brother Tian still wore that disgustingly sycophantic expression, without the slightest trace of greed.
Xing Hong was utterly confused. 'What's going on?'
To Xing Hong, Brother Tian's entire reaction just felt wrong. Everyone in the Fuzimiao Antiques Market knew Brother Tian was the most ruthless and greedy of them all. Otherwise, people wouldn't curse him as the 'Hyena' behind his back.
'How could this greedy hyena have such a change of heart today? Did he not hear the price I just quoted?'
At this thought, Xing Hong spoke again. Afraid Brother Tian hadn't heard, he simply bellowed at the top of his lungs, "Eight hundred thousand! The treasure is worth eight hundred thousand!"
His sudden shout startled everyone in the bar.
Brother Tian was startled too. He raised his hand and smacked Xing Hong on the head, cursing, "What are you shouting for? Trying to deafen ?"
Despite getting hit, Xing Hong wasn't upset. Instead, he looked excited and said, "Brother Tian, did you hear that?"
"You were so loud, how could I not hear you? I'm not deaf!" Brother Tian snapped.
Spittle flying from his mouth, Xing Hong said, "Then hurry up and get it! Snatch the treasure from this kid! I'll help you sell it, and we'll split the money fifty-fifty!"
As he said this, he glanced at Brother Tian, only to find to his surprise that his expression was growing darker and darker.
'Is Brother Tian not happy with the split? Right, he's a greedy hyena, how could a fifty-fifty split satisfy him?' Xing Hong had clearly misunderstood the reason for Brother Tian's dark expression. He hurriedly added, "I'm sorry, Brother Tian, I misspoke. How could we do fifty-fifty? How about forty-sixty? I take forty, you take sixty? Or maybe thirty-seventy? Don't tell you want eighty percent?"
"Shut up!" Brother Tian's roar cut off Xing Hong's "bargaining." He pointed at his nose and began to curse, "Xing, I fucking knew you were no good! First you egged us on to go after Master, and now you're trying to buy off with money! Hmph, let tell you, not a chance!"
He then spun around, faced Zhao Yuan with a nervous expression, and said, "Master, rest assured, I will absolutely not be swayed by this punk!" Then he didn't forget to roar at his underlings, "Wipe those greedy looks off your faces! Fuck, is Master's treasure sothing you people can covet?"
"..." Xing Hong's mouth hung open, his face a mask of utter bewildernt.
'What happened to the greedy hyena? What happened to the ruthless thug? Are you really Brother Tian? You're not so imposter, are you?'
Xing Hong was a smart man. Brother Tian's series of bizarre changes made him realize that Zhao Yuan's group was, in all likelihood, not to be trifled with.
He suddenly felt like crying.
'Does it have to be such a coincidence? I finally decide to pull a scam and a robbery, and I run into a steel wall. Is God trying to kill ?'
Zhao Yuan had no ti to worry about what he was thinking. He just asked, "Who was the person trying to buy the treasure from you? Did he say what he wanted to do with it?"
This ti, Xing Hong didn't try to be stubborn.
On one hand, Brother Tian was cracking his knuckles nearby; if he dared to not answer honestly, he would definitely get a beating. On the other hand, he was thoroughly intimidated by Zhao Yuan.
How could he possibly afford to offend soone who could ta a pack of thugs like Brother Tian's crew?
He answered obediently, "The ones who wanted to buy the treasure were two people, one old and one young. The older one is around fifty, a real chatterbox. He'd visited my stall before and asked a ton of questions, like he wanted to dig up the entire history of every treasure on my table. The younger one is about twenty, with red lips and white teeth, looked like a pretty boy. The old one said his surna was Cheng. I don't know about the young one, but the old man called him 'Young Master.' He's probably the rich heir of so wealthy family, otherwise there's no way he could just drop several hundred thousand like that."
Brother Tian resentfully lowered his fists. He had thought Xing Hong would be stubborn again and refuse to answer, giving him a chance to beat him up and put on a good show for Zhao Yuan to earn so favor.
He never expected Xing Hong to cave so easily.
Seeing Brother Tian's action, Xing Hong let out a long sigh of relief. 'Thank god I caved so quickly, or I would've been beaten again!'
Zhao Yuan narrowed his eyes, wondering, 'Are those two, the old and the young, really after the Fourteen Fearless Pearls? Are they Cultivators, just like ?'
Just then, Lin Xue tugged on his arm and asked curiously, "Zhao Yuan, what's a 'pretty boy'?"
Zhao Yuan answered, "In the old days, it was a term for a male prostitute. What this guy ans is that the young master was very effeminate."
"Yes, yes, that's exactly what I ant," Xing Hong nodded eagerly.
After a mont of thought, Zhao Yuan decided that it didn't matter if those two were Cultivators or not. It had nothing to do with him, and he didn't want to get entangled with them.
If they really were Cultivators, who could say if they were good or evil? If he approached them recklessly and they had malicious intentions, wanting to kill him for his treasure, wouldn't that just be his bad luck?
So, it was better for everyone to walk their own Dao.
Xing Hong asked fawningly, "Brother Tian, Master, I've told you everything I know. Do you think... you could let off the hook?"
Brother Tian shook his head. "That's not my call. It's up to Master."
Before Zhao Yuan could speak, Wu Yan snorted coldly and said, "Let you go? So you can find soone new to co after us?"
Xing Hong broke out in a cold sweat, crying, "No, no, no! I'd never dare again! I was blinded by greed before to have made such a mistake. I'm filled with regret now. Please, sirs, be magnanimous and just let go like a fart in the wind!"
Brother Tian decided to kick him while he was down. "This brother is right. You can't be polite with a vicious, despicable, and shaless person like Xing Hong! How about this, Master, if you trust , leave him to . I'll take care of him! I guarantee he'll 'disappear' from now on!"
Xing Hong's face turned green.
'No matter how vicious and shaless I am, I'm not as bad as you! And you have the nerve to criticize ?'
The thought of being 'disappeared' filled Xing Hong with imnse regret and fear. Seeing a few underlings co forward to grab him and drag him out, he frantically cried, "Master, I beg you, spare ! I have another treasure! If you're willing to let go, I'll offer it to you as an apology!"
Brother Tian didn't believe him at all, sneering, "You getting one treasure was a fluke of dumb luck. A second one? Who are you trying to fool!"
Xing Hong shouted, "It's true! It's true! Besides wanting to buy the copper ball you took, Master, those two also offered a high price of one and a half million to buy a stone sculpture from my collection!"
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