Chapter 27

"Is this Zheng Banqiao's 'Orchid Bamboo and Rock'?"

After Qin Feng's eyes swept over the painting hanging on the desk, his face revealed a look of surprise, and he hurriedly took a few steps forward, almost pressing his face against the painting.

"That's right, it's Zheng Banqiao's 'Orchid Bamboo and Rock.' Old Xia, where did you get this treasure from?"

After observing for a long time, Qin Feng reluctantly withdrew his gaze. The painting depicted rugged rocks with a simple and powerful brushstroke, and the hard, thin rocks were slightly textured with small axe-like strokes, giving them a rugged appearance.

The bamboo stalks in the painting were extremely fine, yet not weak, and the bamboo leaves were few but lush, full of vitality. One tall bamboo stalk stood tall and straight, while the others were arranged in a crisscross pattern, creating a harmonious balance of reality and abstraction, light and dark, high and low, near and far.

Zheng Banqiao almost always inscribed poems on his paintings. The calligraphy on this painting was unique, free and easy, and powerful. Qin Feng had started practicing calligraphy with his father at the age of five, and even though he hadn't had the opportunity to practice in recent years, he could still discern the quality.

"Do you know Zheng Banqiao?" The old man, who had been sitting comfortably in his armchair, now seemed restless. He had initially thought that Qin Feng was just talented, but now he felt he had found a real gem.

Qin Feng turned around and honestly replied, "I... I've heard people mention him, and I've seen this painting before, but only in a book. Is this one real or fake?"

Old Liu came from a family of scholars and could be considered a man of both literary and martial talents. The ancient scholar he admired most was Zheng Banqiao, whose "It's Hard to Be Wise" was so well-written that it could pass for the real thing.

Due to his personal preference, the old man had naturally leaned towards Zheng Banqiao when discussing calligraphy and paintings with Qin Feng. The book Qin Feng mentioned was a collection of Zheng Banqiao's works published in Taiwan.

"Rubbish, do you think I would hang a fake?"

Old Xia seemed offended, his eyes widening. "What's so special about this painting? Back in the day, I could casually handle the 'Five Oxen of the Tang Dynasty' and the 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival.' This painting is nothing!"

As he spoke, the old man seemed to remember something, and his mood calmed down. He waved his hand and said with a self-mocking smile, "Why talk about those things? Kid, I'll be straightforward. I want to take you as my disciple and pass on my legacy. Will you be my disciple?"

As he spoke, Old Xia sat up straight, his expression becoming serious. The pressure around him seemed to intensify, and he no longer looked like the old farmer he had been before.

"Old Xia, I don't want to learn that stuff. If I become a thief, I'll have no face to show myself to my 'deceased' parents."

Qin Feng shook his head. Although his parents had never mentioned his grandparents, he knew they were both teachers, and he imagined that his family background was decent. If he became a thief, he would be ashamed to face his deceased parents.

The old man looked at Qin Feng with a playful expression and asked, "What do you think I do?"

"Aren't you just a locksmith?" Qin Feng extended two fingers and made a gesture of stealing a wallet from his pocket, his face full of disdain.

Qin Feng had been in custody for several months, both in the detention center and the correctional facility. In these places, there were two types of prisoners who were looked down upon the most.

One type was rapists, who were usually beaten up upon arrival and had a very low status in prison. Not only were they despised by other prisoners, but even the guards treated them poorly.

The other type was thieves, who were like rats in the street—everyone wanted to beat them. Of course, in earlier years, famous thieves were not in this category, as they had already gained a high status in the underworld.

"Bullshit, knowing and doing are two different things. I'm at least a prince..."

Old Xia seemed to realize he had said too much and sighed. "What I want to teach you encompasses the skills of the entire underworld, not just stealing...

Moreover, as the saying goes, 'Those who steal a hook are punished, but those who steal a country become nobles.' The Thieves' Guild is not entirely without merit. Without the Thieves' Guild's ancestor, Kongkongzi, Empress Wu Zetian might not have been able to secure her throne!"

"You... What are you talking about? I don't understand!"

Although Qin Feng was intelligent, he was only a teenager, and concepts like the underworld and the Thieves' Guild, let alone their connection to Empress Wu Zetian, were completely foreign to him.

"Alright, let me explain what the underworld is. Not many people know about this nowadays."

The old man stood up, picked up the kettle from behind the door, and made himself a cup of tea. He then took out his long pipe, filled it with tobacco, and said, "The underworld, outside the 360 official trades, is not part of the regular professions or the categories of workers, farmers, soldiers, students, and merchants. However, wherever there are people, the underworld exists..."

Old Xia's voice was not loud, but the information he shared was something Qin Feng had never heard before. No one would have expected that on such a quiet spring morning, a young boy would be introduced to the underworld.

The underworld is divided into eight unconventional trades: Gold Point (fortune-telling), Beggars, Bandits, Thieves, Tomb Raiders, Mountain Walkers, Fire Leaders, and Water Collectors. These eight trades are collectively known as the 'Five Elements and Three Families.' Gold Point refers to fortune-telling, Bandits to highway robbery, Tomb Raiders to grave robbing, Mountain Walkers to con artists, Fire Leaders to sorcerers, and Water Collectors to courtesans.

Although there are only eight trades, they encompass almost all the unconventional professions in the underworld, and almost all the underworld factions throughout history have some connection to them.

Among the eight trades, the Thieves' Guild has always been the largest and most enduring. Many businesses without capital can be categorized under the Thieves' Guild.

Whether it's the house-to-house thief or the bandit who sets up a flag and leads a gang, or even the tomb raider who digs up graves in the wilderness, they all belong to the Thieves' Guild.

The most mysterious of the eight trades is the Thousand Deceptions. According to ancient legends, the Thousand Deceptions were established by Fuxi, the ancestor who created the Eight Trigrams. Fuxi, who created the three skills of the Thousand Deceptions, originally aimed to save and help the world, but his teachings were later used for deceit and trickery.

The Thousand Deceptions can also be called scams, including 'serial scams,' 'sexual scams,' 'fraud,' 'kidnapping scams,' 'luring scams,' 'seduction scams,' 'disguise scams,' and 'deception scams,' among others.

In the early 20th century, in the bustling city of Shanghai, scams were rampant. Many newcomers were often tricked and even helped count the money they had lost, creating a畸形的繁荣社会。

除了千门和盗门外，像以表演魔术为生的红手绢，装神弄鬼的神调门，制作机关的木牛流马门，都已经逐渐没落了。

只有另外两个门派，还长盛不衰，第一个当然是兰花门。

卖色这个行当，历史悠久，可以追溯到母系社会，虽然受到人们的唾弃，但无论古代的朝廷还是现代的政府如何打压，无论世人如何评价，兰花一门的产业一直在蒸蒸日上。

至于最后一个还留存于江湖的门派，则是和普通人的生活有些遥远，但它却是最为血腥，到目前为止也最为国际化的索命门。

索命门的创始人是专诸、要离，这两位比荆轲还要早的著名刺客，千百年来被索命一脉尊崇为祖师。

但索命一门以前可不是金钱换命的理念，无论是专诸，要离，荆轲，还是无名，百韧，这些历史上有名的刺客，无不本着为民为天下的信念，去做他那明知“壮士一去兮不复还”的伟大事业。

索命一门最后演变成拿人钱财，替人索命的局面，完全是因为大明朝朱元璋立国初期，下命令赶杀外八行所导致的。

近代最有名的索命门中人，大家也是耳熟能详的，就是大上海的王亚樵，也只有他，能让当年的杜月笙道歉赔罪，让那位蒋先生夜不能寐。

“老夏，你给我讲这些干什么？”

听到老夏讲到这里，秦风忽然打断了他，说道：“现在又不是解放前，你说的这些早就不行了，而且这些和我有什么关系？”

“你小子听我说完！”

正说得兴起的老夏没好气地瞪了秦风一眼，接着说道：“外八门原本是各行其是，不过到了明朝的时候朱元璋得了天下，事情也就起了变化……

朱元璋原本就是江湖中人，曾经入过僧门也当过响马，他深知江湖中人对朝廷统治的危害性，所以当上皇帝之后，就大肆铲除外八门。

屠刀举在了头上，这些江湖人士自然不肯引颈就戮，无奈他们虽然各自都有一身本领，但一盘散沙终究抵不过朝廷大军，一番杀戮过后外八门死伤惨重！

后来千门出了一位高人，将外八门给整合了起来，由明转暗，度过了朱元璋以及朱棣的统治时期，到了明中后期，才缓过劲来。

为了感谢这位高人，外八门共推其为总门主，从此之后，外八门又设了一个主门，专司听从门主调令，并且只要门主下令，各门不得不尊，违者众而诛之……

当年清初的铁丐吴六奇，就是那一任的外八门门主，只是从吴六奇之后，主门这一脉人丁凋零，一直没有强势的人物产生。

到了乾隆时期，主门已经是名存实亡，各门又恢复到了明朝之前各自为战的状况，不过……那传承却是一直都延续了下来，并没有断绝！”

说到这里，老夏收住了嘴，一双眼睛死死地盯在了秦风身上，他相信以秦风的聪慧，当能听出他这番话中所想要表达出来的东西。

PS：哭了，宝鉴也两万多收藏了，一天连五千张推荐票都没有吗？兄弟姐妹们，新书需要推荐票支持啊！！

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In the early 20th century, in the bustling city of Shanghai, scams were rampant. Many newcomers were often tricked and even helped count the money they had lost, creating a畸形的繁荣社会。

Besides the Thousand Deceptions and the Thieves' Guild, other trades like the Red Handkerchief (performing magic), the Spirit Manipulators (pretending to be gods and spirits), and the Mechanical Engineers (creating mechanical devices) have gradually declined.

Only two other sects have remained strong and enduring. The first is, of course, the Orchid Sect.

The trade of selling oneself for sex has a long history, dating back to the matriarchal society. Although it is despised, no matter how much the ancient courts or modern governments have tried to suppress it, and regardless of public opinion, the Orchid Sect's industry has always been thriving.

As for the last sect that still exists in the underworld, it is somewhat distant from ordinary people's lives, but it is the most bloody and international: the Death Dealers.

The founders of the Death Dealers are Zhuan Zhu and Yao Li, two famous assassins who predate Jing Ke. For thousands of years, they have been revered as the ancestors of the Death Dealers.

However, the Death Dealers did not originally operate on the principle of taking money to take lives. Whether it was Zhuan Zhu, Yao Li, Jing Ke, or the anonymous and resilient assassins, they all held the belief of serving the people and the nation, undertaking their noble missions knowing that "a hero who leaves will never return."

The Death Dealers eventually evolved into a group that took money to take lives due to the early Ming Dynasty's Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's order to exterminate the underworld.

The most famous Death Dealer in modern times, known to all, is Wang Yaqiao from Shanghai. Only he could make Du Yuesheng apologize and compensate, and keep Mr. Chiang up at night.

"Old Xia, why are you telling me all this?"

When Old Xia reached this point, Qin Feng suddenly interrupted him, saying, "It's not the pre-liberation era anymore. What you're talking about is outdated, and what does it have to do with me?"

"You listen to me, kid!"

Old Xia, who was in the middle of his story, glared at Qin Feng and continued, "The eight underworld trades originally operated independently, but during the Ming Dynasty, when Zhu Yuanzhang came to power, things changed...

Zhu Yuanzhang was originally a man of the underworld, having been a monk and a bandit. He knew the threat that underworld figures posed to the imperial rule, so after becoming emperor, he launched a massive crackdown on the underworld.

With the sword of execution raised, these underworld figures naturally refused to submit. Although they each had their own skills, they were like scattered sand and could not withstand the might of the imperial army. After a series of massacres, the underworld suffered heavy casualties!

Later, a high-ranking figure from the Thousand Deceptions emerged and consolidated the eight underworld trades, shifting them from the open to the underground. They survived through the reigns of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, and by the mid-Ming Dynasty, they had recovered.

To thank this high-ranking figure, the eight underworld trades appointed him as the Grand Master. From then on, a main sect was established to follow the orders of the Grand Master. If the Grand Master issued an order, all the sects had to comply, and those who disobeyed would be punished by all.

During the early Qing Dynasty, the Iron Beggar Wu Liuzhi was the Grand Master of the underworld. However, after Wu Liuzhi, the main sect declined and no strong leader emerged.

By the Qianlong era, the main sect was in name only, and the various sects returned to their pre-Ming Dynasty state of operating independently. However, the lineage has continued without interruption.

"

At this point, Old Xia stopped speaking and fixed his eyes on Qin Feng. He believed that with Qin Feng's intelligence, he would understand the message he was trying to convey.

PS: I'm crying. "Treasure Appraisal" has over 20,000 collections, but it hasn't even received 5,000 recommendation votes in a day. Brothers and sisters, the new book needs your support with recommendation votes!!