The Unorthodox Tomb Raider

“I still have money here, let me treat you,” Chen Xiaonan said.

“That won’t do. Now that we’re in Guangling City, I’m the host, so I have to treat you to the first meal,” Li Jiaying insisted.

Chen Xiaonan was both amused and exasperated: "But how can you invite us if you don't have any money on you? Never mind, you can make it up to us later."

Li Jiaying didn't speak, standing there with her head tilted as if she was thinking of a solution.

Chapter 396 Roadside Stalls

"Oh dear, it's just a meal. I didn't say you couldn't treat us, but could you at least fill our stomachs first? Otherwise, we'll all starve to death," Chen Xiaonan said reproachfully.

Just then, the aroma of fried dough sticks wafted over from not far away. Chen Xiaonan sniffed and exclaimed in surprise, "It smells so good! Why don't we go eat that?"

Normally, Li Jiaying wouldn't go to a roadside night market like this, but today, unable to resist Li Jiaying's insistence, he had no choice but to reluctantly come along with her.

"I've already made it clear, this kind of stall is just a snack at most, I'll still treat you to your first meal."

"Alright, alright, you can invite me. Nobody will try to take it from you," Chen Xiaonan said helplessly.

After walking for more than a hundred meters, the group reached a street corner. It must be said that Guangling City puts a lot of effort into these kinds of snacks.

The Xiaojiu Food Street isn't very long, and it's surrounded by old houses, but the entrance has a new storefront with ancient carvings, giving it a unique charm.

As soon as they entered the snack street, various aromas such as fried food, roasted meat, and hot and sour noodles wafted into their noses.

Li Jiaying hadn't planned to eat yet, but because she was already a little hungry and the aroma of these things was so strong, a few drops of saliva involuntarily dripped from the corners of her mouth.

Chen Xiaonan, who couldn't wait any longer, went to a nearby stall and got a skewer of fried cakes for everyone.

"Eat it quickly, this is best eaten while it's hot, it's very crispy."

As she spoke, Chen Xiaonan took a big bite, and sure enough, a crisp sound rang out.

Fang Yun was also a little tempted by the smell. He used to love going to places like this when he was a child, but he came much less often because he was busy with other things later on.

"You guys eat first, there are many other delicious things over there, I'll go check them out first."

As she spoke, Chen Xiaonan, like a fluttering butterfly, skipped and hopped off to another place.

Fang Yun shook his head with amusement, and then looked around boredly.

He noticed that besides the main food stalls, this night market also had stalls selling trinkets.

After looking at a few more stalls, Fang Yun's eyes suddenly lit up, because at a small stall in front of him, someone was actually selling some unearthed antiques.

"This is strange. How can antiques fetch a high price here?" Fang Yun thought to himself, amused.

The saying goes, "A good horse needs a good saddle." A straw tied to pork is worth two completely different prices than a straw tied to a crab.

Even if you put this antique on a street food stall like this, people wouldn't pay a high price for it.

"Most of these are acquired by farmers in the countryside or miners by chance. Because the formal antique market has strict inspections, and they want to sell them quickly for money, they don't care about such things and bring them here to sell directly."

Li Jiaying had learned about similar situations before, and seeing that Fang Yun had questions, she explained.

"Oh, so in that case, these antiques might actually be genuine?"

Fang Yun became interested and walked towards the stall. Li Jiaying followed behind and said, "A long time ago, the unearthed items brought by these people, although of varying values, were generally quite genuine after authentication."

"However, later some people took advantage of this, deliberately pretending to be travel-worn, but in reality, everything inside was a fake, intentionally deceiving people."

Just as Fang Yun was about to speak, the stall owner, who looked to be about fifty years old, suddenly said in a local dialect, "Young lady, don't talk nonsense. I'm all about honesty when I sell things. These items are all genuinely dug out of the ground by me."

Upon hearing this, Fang Yun asked curiously, "Uncle, have you ever been inside a tomb before?"

The uncle said, "I wouldn't dare dig the hole myself. We only go in after the others have dug the hole and left."

Upon hearing this, Fang Yun responded with an "oh," implying that these items must have been overlooked by the tomb raiders.

Judging from the above, these things are probably not very valuable.

As expected, after Fang Yun looked around, although these things were all ancient artifacts, some of them had already weathered, while others were fragments that had fallen off larger objects, so their overall value was not very high.

Just as Fang Yun was looking at it, a young man who had been standing on the other side of the stall suddenly raised a bronze artifact in his hand.

"Boss, I'll take this. I'll give you two hundred yuan."

The shop owner said with a bitter face, "I was originally selling it for eight hundred, but you're only offering two hundred. That's too much. I won't sell it to you."

Upon hearing this, the young man laughed and said, "This thing of yours is not complete at all. The bronze on it has all peeled off. It was only worth three hundred anyway. I've seen you've been standing here for quite a while, so I'll just take it for two hundred."

"If you don't believe me, I can find someone knowledgeable to see if it's only worth this much."

The young man pointed and spoke again.

Chapter 397 Exposing the Lies

"I'll give you one more chance. If you sell it for two hundred, I'll pay right now. Otherwise, this thing of yours will sit here indefinitely without anyone wanting it."

The young man acted as if the other party had gotten a great deal.

The stall owner clearly didn't know much about these antiques; most of them were just things he'd picked up off the ground. When he heard the young man say that, he muttered a few words and was about to agree.

At this moment, Fang Yun suddenly spoke up: "Don't sell it, he's lying to you. This thing is worth much more than this. If you can find a good seller, you can sell it for five figures."

Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in the stall owner's eyes, and he withdrew his outstretched hand.

"Young man, do you know your stuff?" the stall owner asked politely.

"I wouldn't call myself a connoisseur, I just have some common sense."

Upon hearing Fang Yun's words, the young man next to him immediately retorted sarcastically, "You say it's a five-figure sum? Are you just trying to fool this honest old man for fun?"

"If it could really sell for five figures, would this thing still be around? Some of the people browsing the market here have a good eye for things."

Hearing the young man say this, the stall owner was also a little puzzled.

My item only sells for a few hundred dollars. If it could really fetch five figures, it would have been snapped up by someone else long ago. How could it have survived until now?

At this moment, Fang Yun shook his head and said, "It's a pity. If you had just bought it directly, I wouldn't have said anything. But you've already taken such a big advantage, yet you're making this uncle suffer such a big loss. I can't just stand by and watch you cheat people."

"The reason no one tries to buy this is because it's really hard to tell the difference. The bronze patterns and shape look a bit strange, like a fake, but this kind of vessel actually exists."

"This thing was used as a sacrificial offering, not as an everyday container, so it looks rather strange. But that's precisely where its value lies."

At this point, the young man's expression changed slightly. He knew that the stall owner was unlikely to sell to him, so he looked at Fang Yun with a somewhat unfriendly expression.

"My friend, I still have a piece of advice for you: there are some things you shouldn't meddle in. Otherwise, you might not be able to bear the consequences."

After saying this, the young man snorted coldly and turned to leave.

At this moment, the stall owner, quite excited, shook Fang Yun's hands and said, "Thank you. If it weren't for you, I might have sold this treasure for a pittance. Feel free to look around the stall; I'll sell it to you cheaply."

The stall owner was very excited to have recovered such a large sum of money and expressed his gratitude to Fang Yun.

Fang Yun waved his hand, intending to see if there were any new artifacts unearthed here, when Li Jiaying suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh no! My jade pendant is gone!"

Fang Yun turned to look and saw Li Jiaying looking anxiously at the bare rope around her waist.

The value of the jade pendant goes without saying, and since it was passed down from the Li family ancestors, it held great significance. Losing it made Li Jiaying very anxious.

Fang Yun recalled what had just happened. When the young man left, he seemed to have walked past Li Jiaying. Could it be that he took it at that moment?

Fang Yun hadn't expected this young man to possess such skill, but he couldn't let him escape.

"Don't worry, it must have been taken by that person. I'll go find him now. Just wait here for me."

Li Jiaying said, "But there are so many people here, where are we going to find him?"

“That man seemed interested in these antiques. I also saw some other things hanging on him, so he must have come specifically for these items. I’ll check other stalls; they might be right there.”

Fang Yun didn't have time to explain further to Li Jiaying, and immediately headed off to another location.

The street isn't very wide, it's even a bit narrow, but that doesn't stop it from being very lively.

Many people even enjoy experiencing the feeling of being surrounded by crowds, as it allows them to feel a lively atmosphere.

The area in front of the food stall is usually the most crowded, with so many people surrounding it that it's hard to tell what's being sold inside.

Therefore, Fang Yun (Zhao Hao) simply ignored such stalls, because these antiques are ultimately just toys for a few people, and not many people will stay around to watch them.

Now, Fang Yun's biggest fear is that the person will leave directly, in which case it will be very difficult to find him again.

Therefore, Fang Yun had to find that person before he did.

After walking some distance, Fang Yun suddenly noticed a familiar figure squatting at a small stall not far away, seemingly searching for something.

"Boss, sell me this little copper kettle for a hundred yuan. Look at how the paint is peeling off; it's obviously a fake. I was just planning to get it repainted and use it as a decoration, that's why I'm buying it from you."

The young people spoke eloquently.

Chapter 398 Encounter

"Don't listen to him. That layer on top is just oxidation, but that's precisely what makes it valuable. It's an antique from many years ago. If we find someone who knows its value, we might be able to sell it for a good price."

Just as the stall owner hesitated, about to hand the item over to the young man, Fang Yun suddenly walked over and said something. The stall owner immediately became alert and withdrew his hand.

When Fang Yun first saw this young man, he noticed something was off.

The reason why that item at the previous stall was sold so cheaply but not bought was because it was difficult to identify; most people simply couldn't tell the difference.

At the time, Fang Yun guessed that the young man might have just gotten lucky, but now it's clear that his ability to identify these buried artifacts one after another was definitely not just a matter of luck.

From this perspective, the young man has a good eye for these unearthed artifacts.

The fact that he was able to steal Li Jiaying's belongings right under Fang Yun's nose shows that he is quite skilled. Combining these two factors, it's highly likely that this young man is also a tomb raider.