Chapter 15: Treasure Hunting in the Antique City

After listening to Wang Qiang's words, although Liu Dong was secretly pleased, he still humbly said, "Yes, but my skills aren't that great, Sister Wang, don't laugh at me!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Qiang couldn't help but look up and down at the young man who had been living with her for nearly half a year, as if she were seeing him for the first time. She had never imagined that this plain-looking young man, who never watched TV when he came home and retreated to his room, barely speaking to her and seeming somewhat aloof, could have such outstanding talent.

However, soon, Wang Qiang's beautiful face turned rosy, and a faint blush appeared in her eyes as she looked at Liu Dong and lightly scolded, "You naughty boy, hurry up and put your clothes on!"

"Ah!!" Hearing Wang Qiang's words and then looking at himself, Liu Dong couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. At that moment, he remembered that a few days ago, while carving, the weather was so hot, and Wang Qiang wasn't at home, so he was now almost completely naked except for a pair of boxer shorts.

Without further ado, he jumped off the bed, grabbed his clothes to cover his lower body, and looked at the beautiful woman by the door with an awkward expression, pleading, "Sister Wang, could you please go out for a moment? I need to get dressed!"

"Go ahead and get dressed, it's not like I care!" Wang Qiang said, her face blushing slightly as she turned around. Although she was a few years older than Liu Dong, she was at the most mature stage of a woman's life and, despite knowing about such matters, had never experienced them herself, so she couldn't help but feel a bit shy.

After taking a few steps forward, she seemed to remember something and turned back, giving Liu Dong a glance and said, "After you get dressed, clean up the trash in your room. It's so hot, it stinks!" With that, Wang Qiang turned and walked out of the room, her high heels clicking as she left, and she closed the door behind her.

"I know, Sister Wang, I'll clean up right after I get dressed!"

After agreeing, Liu Dong looked at the closed door and couldn't help but shake his head with a bitter smile. He picked up the clothes covering his lower body and looked at the small tent that had formed, thinking to himself, "I'm still not very skilled with this ability. I almost made a mistake just now!"

After getting dressed and sitting on the bed for a while, Liu Dong's mood gradually calmed down. He then got up, took an empty supermarket shopping bag from beside the bed, and started cleaning up the trash in the room.

It took him two large garbage bags to finally clean up all the trash. Even Liu Dong himself hadn't expected that in just over a week, he had accumulated so much garbage.

After tidying up everything, Liu Dong walked to his desk, carefully picked up the Guan Yu statue he had finished carving, and looked around the bedroom. He realized that in the room where he had lived for more than half a year, there was no place he felt safe enough to leave this carefully crafted piece.

"Oh, how could I forget about it!" After slapping his forehead in frustration, the Guan Yu statue in Liu Dong's arms suddenly disappeared like a phantom.

"This is really convenient and safe!" Liu Dong thought to himself, looking at the Guan Yu statue now safely stored in his pocket dimension.

After resolving his most pressing concern, Liu Dong truly relaxed. He opened the window, and as fresh air flowed into the room, he couldn't help but take a deep breath, clearing his mind, which had been a bit muddled from just waking up. However, the fatigue accumulated over the past ten days couldn't be dispelled in a short time.

However, with his good physical condition and the nap he had just taken, he didn't feel too tired for the moment.

Looking at the alarm clock by his bed, Liu Dong realized it was already 4:30 PM! Although he wanted to continue sleeping, there were still some important matters on his mind.

After a brief moment of thought, Liu Dong quickly made up his mind. He tidied up his clothes, walked to the door, picked up the two large garbage bags, opened the door, and walked out.

He originally wanted to inform Wang Qiang, but upon hearing the sound of running water from the bathroom, he quickly changed his mind, quietly closed his door, and soon left the house.

He then rode his Jinlu bicycle, speeding towards the antique market in the city center.

By 4:00 PM, the temperature outside was no longer as scorching as it had been at noon. Although there were still only a few scattered pedestrians on the streets, the business in the antique market, which usually had a high footfall, was beginning to pick up.

Standing outside the south gate of the antique market, looking at the ancient streets and the bustling crowds, Liu Dong, who hadn't been there for over ten days, suddenly felt as if he were in a different world.

Shaking his head and finding it somewhat amusing, Liu Dong parked his bicycle in the parking lot outside the antique market, locked it, and walked into the market with some anticipation.

Previously, when he came here, he had only passed through quickly, occasionally stopping to look at antiques he liked on the roadside stalls, but he rarely bought anything. Today, however, was the first time he came with the intention of treasure hunting. Of course, Liu Dong was still a bit nervous, as the ability to see through objects was somewhat mysterious.

After half an hour, with the help of his ability, he had already visited over a dozen stalls selling antiques. He was both pleased and disappointed. He was pleased that his ability was working fine, but disappointed that none of the stalls he had seen had any real antiques, mostly modern crafts, and even items from the Republic of China era were scarce. Even without his ability, Liu Dong could tell that these poorly made items were only worth a little to tourists who knew nothing about antiques.

After his initial excitement and anticipation faded, Liu Dong's mood calmed down. He turned his ability to its maximum and began scanning the stalls one by one.

"Hmm!" A sudden white light in his vision made Liu Dong, who was about to move on to the next stall, suddenly come to his senses.

Walking a few steps towards the source of the light, Liu Dong saw that the intense white light was emanating from a small bottle about the size of a child's fist. Although the light only rose about a foot, it was the most intense light he had seen in the antique market in the past half hour.

Subconsciously, Liu Dong glanced at the words floating above the yellow gem in his pocket dimension, and the joy on his face quickly faded as he squatted down in front of the stall.

"Ha ha, little brother, which one caught your eye?" The stall owner was a middle-aged man in a white vest. Seeing Liu Dong approach, his eyes lit up, and he put down his fan, greeting him enthusiastically.

The middle-aged man's stall wasn't large, but it was about five to six square meters, with dozens of items of various sizes, including ceramics, paintings, and bamboo, wood, and ivory carvings. Except for bronze artifacts, which were prohibited by law, the stall had items from all major categories of antiques.

Hearing the middle-aged man's words, Liu Dong looked at him calmly and said, "Let me take a look first."

"Ha ha, of course, take your time, take your time!" The middle-aged man said with a smile.