Chapter 20

"Brother, where did you get that bell? It sounds really nice."

The next morning, sitting in the car driven by Zheng Dagang, Su Xiaoxiao kept staring at the wind chime in her brother's hand, reaching out to play with it for a while before finally returning it to Su Xiaofan.

"I bought it yesterday, and I'll put it at home to ward off evil spirits."

Su Xiaofan told the truth. If his little sister asked about the price, he would tell her, but it was obvious that Su Xiaoxiao didn't think a copper bell could be worth much, so she didn't mention the price at all.

"I'll also try to get some real magical artifacts to sell in the future."

Zheng Dagang, who was driving, said. At this moment, he no longer mentioned the high price of the bell. Su Xiaofan had bought it for 1.2 million, and if he wanted to sell it, he could get 1.8 million, as Zhao Hengjian could take it over.

This substantial profit greatly stimulated Zheng Dagang. Usually, the fake magical artifacts he sold had much higher profit margins, but the prices couldn't go up, with a few ten thousand being the limit. It was nothing like Jingxin Hall, which could earn several million or even tens of millions in a single deal.

"Magical artifacts? Brother Gang, don't you already sell magical artifacts?"

Su Xiaoxiao sometimes went to the market with her brother on weekends, so she naturally knew what business Zheng Dagang was in.

"Cough, cough..."

Zheng Dagang almost choked on the question, coughed twice, and said, "The magical artifacts your Brother Gang used to sell were of too low quality. In the future, I'll specialize in high-end ones."

As they chatted, the car had already left the city and got on the highway.

Su Family Village was located in the northern suburbs of Luochuan City, not far from the foot of Mang Mountain. After driving on the highway for a while, they would have to get off and take the national road, then a small rural road, which was not easy to navigate.

"Xiaofan, there are countless ancient tombs under our feet."

The car was driving on a bumpy muddy road, and Zheng Dagang looked at the foot of Mang Mountain not far away, nodding and saying, "Speaking of which, your village isn't far from the Eastern Zhou royal tombs. Are there any ancient tombs under your village?"

"Definitely. When the village dug wells in the past, they found things, but Grandpa Li didn't allow digging, so no one dared to dig!"

Su Xiaofan nodded. To be honest, growing up at the foot of Mang Mountain, he had seen too many tombs. Not to mention the famous large tombs, there were countless unknown graves, the number of which was unimaginable.

An ancient saying goes, "Born in Suzhou and Hangzhou, die and be buried in North Mang."

This means that while one should live in the bustling and prosperous places like Suzhou and Hangzhou, one should be buried in the feng shui treasure land of North Mang. Therefore, it has been said since ancient times that "there is little idle land at the foot of North Mang Mountain."

Su Xiaofan had once seen a statistical data showing that there were more than 970 large royal tombs in Mang Mountain, and the number of ordinary ancient tombs was in the hundreds of thousands. One could say that digging anywhere here would reveal an ancient tomb. Tomb robbers from various dynasties had come here to rob tombs, and countless national treasures had been lost.

However, in the area of Su Family Village, there had never been any tomb robbing in the past few decades. This was because the old village chief deeply detested such activities that profited from the dead.

As the old village chief put it, one's ancestors might be buried on some hill, and those descendants might dig up their ancestors' graves one day.

Several decades ago, the old village chief organized a village protection team. When they encountered people surveying the land to prepare for tomb robbing, they would catch them and send them directly to the police station. Anyone who came to North Mang Mountain to wander around would be caught and punished without any injustice.

There had been tomb robbing gangs that wanted to take revenge on Su Family Village, but the people of Su Family Village were united and fierce. After a few setbacks, the tomb robbers from outside never dared to come to Su Family Village again.

Many people from the villages around Su Family Village went into the business of tomb robbing. Some villages even had more than half of their population engaged in this profession, but later, many were caught and sentenced, leading to the decline of the entire village.

On the contrary, Su Family Village had been making imitation ancient bronze artifacts. Although the business was initially average, after building a good reputation, it became increasingly prosperous. Now, it could be said to be the wealthiest village in the surrounding area.

After entering the territory of Su Family Village, the road became much better. The car drove to the village entrance, and Su Xiaofan saw a red banner hanging there.

"Congratulations to Su Xiaoxiao for being admitted to Yanjing University."

At the village entrance, the old village chief, who had just talked to Su Xiaofan on the phone, was waiting with a group of people.

Su Xiaofan asked Zheng Dagang to stop the car about ten meters from the village entrance, then got out of the car with Su Xiaoxiao and walked over.

"Good, Xiaoxiao has done well."

Seeing Su Xiaoxiao, the old village chief couldn't hide his smile, "Our village finally has a student from Yanjing University."

The old village chief was 76 years old but was in good health and still had a high status in the village. When villagers had problems, they still liked to seek his advice.

"Grandpa Li, it's because you emphasize education. Otherwise, our village wouldn't have so many students going to university."

Su Xiaoxiao had spent more time in the village than Su Xiaofan and was very close to Grandpa Li, so she went up and held the old man's arm.

"It's still because you studied well."

The old village chief laughed heartily, but when he saw Su Xiaofan, he glared at him, "You don't listen. I told you the village would pay for you to review for another year, but you didn't listen!"

Su Xiaofan's academic performance had been much better than his sister's. If not for the car accident, he would have been the first to be admitted to Yanjing University. The old village chief still regretted that Su Xiaofan hadn't reviewed.

"I'm promoting our village's craft, which is also a serious matter." Su Xiaofan said with a smile.

"You, what are you meddling in my and your father's affairs?"

The old village chief knew that Su Xiaofan was a bit distant from him, sighed, and said, "Don't go back today. The village is having a banquet, and it will probably last until the evening. You can go back tomorrow morning. Also, the village will pay for Xiaoxiao's first year of tuition."

"Grandpa Li, we've already prepared the tuition for Xiaoxiao." Su Xiaofan quickly said, not wanting to borrow money from the village and thus not owe the village chief a favor.

"Is Su Xiaoxiao a member of Su Family Village? Are you, Su Xiaofan, a member of Su Family Village?" The old village chief's eyes widened, and it seemed he would be angry if Su Xiaofan refused again.

"Alright, we'll follow Grandpa Li's advice." Su Xiaofan reluctantly agreed.

Apart from the slight resentment towards the old village chief, Su Xiaofan still had good relations with the villagers. After introducing Zheng Dagang to everyone, they walked into the village.

"Hmm?"

When they reached the village entrance, Su Xiaofan suddenly stopped, his eyes fixed on the large bronze ding at the entrance.

[Han King Ding, high-level magical artifact, can be absorbed!]

A line of text suddenly appeared in Su Xiaofan's mind. Su Xiaofan, who had been chatting with others, suddenly froze and involuntarily walked up to the bronze ding, placing his hand on it.

[Han King Ding, high-level magical artifact, can be absorbed, do you want to absorb it?]

After touching the bronze ding, Su Xiaofan's mind presented an option to absorb it.

Su Xiaofan was not unfamiliar with the bronze ding at the village entrance. It had been there since he could remember, never moved, and he and his childhood friends used to play hide-and-seek inside it.

During festivals, the old village chief would lead the villagers to the entrance to worship their ancestors in front of the bronze ding. The villagers were very familiar with it.

So Su Xiaofan never imagined that this bronze ding, called the Han King Ding, was actually a high-level magical artifact.

For so many years, Su Xiaofan had always thought the bronze ding was made by the village, but the three words "Han King Ding" in his mind indicated that it was likely from the Han Dynasty.

What shocked Su Xiaofan even more was the "can be absorbed" in his mind. Since the appearance of the repair value, this was the first time he had encountered something that could be absorbed.

However, this made Su Xiaofan even more puzzled. A bronze ding from the Han Dynasty, and of such a large size, was undoubtedly a national treasure. Not to mention tomb robbers, the state would not allow it to be placed here so casually.

"Right, how did Uncle Jing know that Su Family Village had magical artifacts?"

Su Xiaofan suddenly remembered something. When he bought the wind chime yesterday, Jing Shizhen had mentioned that Su Family Village had magical artifacts, and it turned out to be true.

Su Xiaofan felt as if many things were shrouded in a veil, and he was about to touch them but still knew nothing.

"What's wrong? Haven't you seen our village's ding before?"

Seeing Su Xiaofan stop in front of the bronze ding, the old village chief said angrily, "You've only been away for a few days, and you've already forgotten our village's treasure?"

"Cough, cough, no, Grandpa Li, I was just wondering why this bronze ding, which has been here for decades, doesn't show any signs of rust."

Seeing everyone's attention on him, Su Xiaofan coughed and withdrew his right hand, which had been touching the bronze ding.

"This is our village's treasure, how can it be like ordinary bronze artifacts?" The old village chief coldly snorted and didn't explain further, pulling Su Xiaoxiao's hand and entering the village.

"Xiaofan, your village's craftsmanship is really impressive, to make such a large ding!"

Zheng Dagang, who was following behind, gave Su Xiaofan a thumbs up. There were no larger dings in the country than this one. If it were a real ding, it could be called a national treasure.

"It's not certain that it was made by the village."

Su Xiaofan couldn't help but mutter, feeling very conflicted.

This was the first time Su Xiaofan had encountered something that could be absorbed. He believed that if he confirmed the absorption, the repair value in his mind would definitely change.

But Su Xiaofan didn't know what would happen