Chapter 8

【After being in the top twelve for a while, I got knocked down, how frustrating! Everyone, please vote and add to your favorites, the gap isn't that big, let's all help Old Yue get back up!】

In the carriage, soft fur was laid on the wooden benches, making it very warm in the cold weather. Although Merlin wasn't very familiar with the prices in this world, he knew that the fur under his buttocks was definitely very valuable.

Even Merlin, a nobleman's son, couldn't help but marvel at the luxury in his heart! Although nobles had high status, they mainly relied on taxes from their territories. In terms of wealth, the Wilson family was far inferior to the Douglass family.

Sitting in this ultra-luxurious carriage was indeed very enjoyable. Before long, they arrived at their destination, and the carriage gradually came to a stop.

"Alright, get out quickly."

Anson was already impatiently urging them to get out of the carriage.

After getting out, they entered a small shop. The shop looked empty, with only a few crafts displayed on the shelves.

Merlin was unfamiliar with the place, so even if he had doubts, he wouldn't voice them. Instead, he closely followed Anson and Gute.

Anson and Gute seemed to be very familiar with the place. They walked straight to the counter, where a young woman dressed provocatively was standing. As soon as she saw Anson and Gute, a smile appeared on her face.

"Master Anson, Master Gute."

The young woman clearly recognized Anson and Gute.

"Alright, let us in quickly. I heard your boss has some new goods recently?"

Anson rubbed his hands and asked the provocatively dressed woman.

"Yes, our boss has recently acquired a new batch of goods, including some high-quality items. I guarantee Master Anson and Master Gute will be satisfied." As she spoke, she pressed something under the counter. Immediately, a wall in front of them began to rotate, revealing a dark passage inside.

"Xiaolin, let me see if you've grown recently?"

Gute approached the girl named Xiaolin, extended a fat hand, and directly inserted it into her chest, roughly kneading it.

"Fatso, hurry up."

Anson, seeing that Gute wasn't following, urged him from the front.

"Hehe, I'm coming."

Gute withdrew his fat hand, threw a golden coin into Xiaolin's hand, and then followed Anson into the dark passage.

The passage was initially quite dark, but after a few steps, they could see the light of candles on both sides, illuminating the passage.

Merlin squinted and looked ahead, noticing that the passage was sloping downward, already about seven or eight meters deep underground. This tunnel was dug quite deep.

After walking about a hundred meters, they finally heard some sounds, accompanied by occasional exclamations. Anson's pace clearly quickened, and he soon passed through the passage.

At the end of the passage was a vast hall, roughly the size of two football fields. There weren't many people inside, but they were standing in small groups, discussing the antiques displayed in the hall.

This must be where Anson and Gute were heading.

Anson entered the hall, looked around, and saw a middle-aged man in black quickly approaching: "Master Anson, Master Gute, you're a bit late today."

Anson's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly asked, "Mr. Naisen, are all the good items sold out?"

The middle-aged man smiled slightly and said, "Of course not, but it's almost there. Come, Miss Kellis is currently admiring this new batch of goods."

"Oh? Miss Kellis is here too?"

A hint of joy appeared on Gute's fat face.

"She just arrived."

Before long, the middle-aged man led Merlin and the others to a secluded room. In this small room, there were five or six young men and women, whispering about some antiques on the shelves.

"Hey, Miss Kellis, you arrived so quickly."

As soon as Anson entered the room, he greeted a woman in a green dress with short, wavy blonde hair.

Gute also quickly approached, staring intently at Kellis.

Kellis frowned slightly, forcing a smile at Anson: "Anson, you came just in time. Take a look at this new batch of goods; the quality is quite good."

Kellis also noticed Merlin but ignored him, clearly a woman deeply fascinated by antiques.

Anson took two steps and arrived at the shelves, gazing at the numerous antiques displayed, almost all of which were made of jade.

For example, Merlin saw a piece of white jade, almost the size of a palm, intricately carved into a strange figure with a fish head and human body, spouting water from its mouth.

There were also fierce-looking monsters with sharp spines all over their bodies, holding chains and whipping people dressed in various attire. This style of painting and carving was quite peculiar, even to an outsider like Merlin.

"Tsk tsk, these are all antiques from the Morta Empire period."

Anson had some expertise in antiques and immediately recognized their origin.

Kellis was holding a slightly yellowish piece of ancient jade, also carved into a monster's shape. She frowned and asked Anson, "Anson, these antiques are quite special. Look at the design; I've never seen antiques like this before. But from the material and carving style, they are definitely from the Morta Empire period."

Anson also frowned, clearly puzzled.

At this moment, the middle-aged man, Naisen, spoke up: "This new batch of goods comes from a ruin of the Morta Empire period. The items found there are all very unique, but I guarantee they are definitely antiques from the Morta Empire period."

Merlin casually looked at the shelves. He knew nothing about antiques and couldn't contribute to the conversation. The antiques had very peculiar designs, and to him, they didn't seem beautiful but rather uncomfortable.

Most of the items on the shelves were made of jade, which was consistent with the style of the Morta Empire period. Merlin continued to look down and noticed a somewhat damaged relief in an inconspicuous corner at the bottom of the shelf.

Yes, a relief, clearly removed from a building.

The relief was only the size of a palm, depicting a naked man sitting on the ground in a very strange posture.

Merlin gently picked up the relief and stared at the patterns on it.

Suddenly, Merlin felt a blur in his vision. He saw the relief "come to life," with the naked man slowly performing a very strange posture.

"Phew..."

Merlin was startled, and the illusion immediately disappeared. He still held the strange relief in his hand, which showed no movement at all.

"Was that a visual error? An illusion?"

Merlin couldn't help but rub his eyes and carefully examined the relief again, especially the patterns. Gradually, the illusion reappeared, and the relief seemed to "come to life," with the naked man slowly performing the very strange posture.

"Merlin, what's wrong?"

At that moment, Merlin felt someone supporting him from behind. He immediately regained his composure and realized it was Anson.

Everyone was looking at Merlin with strange expressions. They had just seen him, following Anson, holding a relief, with his face showing various emotions, his body swaying, as if he was about to faint.

"Take a look at this relief, what do you think?"

Merlin quickly handed the relief to Anson. Since the illusion had appeared twice, it was definitely not a coincidence; there was definitely something wrong with the relief.

Anson examined the relief from all angles and nodded slightly, saying, "This relief is also intricately carved and is an antique from the Morta Empire period. However, it is damaged, and such reliefs are not unique. Do you like it?"

Merlin had been observing Anson and noticed that he showed no unusual reaction. He couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Is that all? Didn't you notice anything special about this relief?"

"Special?"

Anson examined the relief again and shook his head, saying, "It's just a unique design. I only like jade items from the Morta Empire period; I don't like this relief."

After saying that, Anson handed the relief back to Merlin.

After the initial panic, Merlin had calmed down. He was very clear that what he had experienced was not an illusion. However, no one else in the room seemed to notice anything special about the relief.

"Am I the only one experiencing these illusions?"

Merlin kept playing with the relief in his hands. Although he didn't know what was happening, it was clear that the relief was problematic.

"Mr. Naisen, how much is this relief?"

Merlin wanted to buy the relief and study it further.

Naisen glanced at Anson and smiled slightly, saying, "Master Anson, who is this?"

Before Anson could answer, Gute grinned and patted Merlin, saying, "Hehe, Mr. Naisen, this is Wilson Merlin."

Naisen's eyes lit up. Although he had never met Merlin, the name Wilson was very well-known. In Blackwater City, there were only a few noble families, and Naisen couldn't be unaware of them.

"Ah, it's Master Merlin. Since Master Merlin likes it, we'll only charge the cost price for this relief, ten gold coins!"

Anson also leaned in and whispered to Merlin, "Not bad, ten gold coins, a fair price. If you really like this relief, you can buy it."

Merlin naturally trusted Anson, so he nodded and took out ten gold coins from his pocket, buying the strange relief.