Chapter 116: Ancestral Tablet

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Ancestral Tablet

Zhang Yun didn’t have much to look forward to either. He hadn’t heard of any Ancient Tombs belonging to nobility in the entire county; what else could grave robbers find?

A Compass generally belonged to a Feng Shui Master, but the old Daoist might have also helped people evaluate graveyard feng shui. In the countryside, these Disciples of esoteric arts weren’t strictly categorized; some even communicated with spirits and deities.

Zhang Yun had limited knowledge about the Compass, having only read a few introductions. He couldn’t actually appraise it, but putting on an act in front of the villagers wouldn’t be a big problem.

"The grandmaster of feng shui and geomancy was Yang Junsong from southern Jiangxi during the Tang Dynasty. Known as Helper Yang, Yang Gong created a systematic feng shui theory and transformed the Compass into a feng shui tool..."

As he gave his introduction, Zhang Yun picked up the Compass. To his surprise, another surging wave of Energy rushed into him!

Although it was still an unexpected delight, Zhang Yun had much more Experience than yesterday. His expression remained completely unchanged. Holding the Compass in his hand, he continued his explanation: "Yang Gong first created the twenty-four Earth Plate based on the Han Dynasty Compass. He later created the Heaven Plate, and in his later years, the seventy-two Dragon Plate. The three combined are commonly known as the ’Yang Plate’.

"During the Song Dynasties, the southern Jiangxi Feng Shui Master Lai Wenjun, also known as Lai Buyi, introduced the twenty-eight mansions to create the Human Plate, commonly known as the ’Lai Plate’..."

Everyone recognized it as a Compass, but they completely didn’t understand the Eight Trigrams or Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches on it. They also didn’t understand Zhang Yun’s explanation, just listening in confusion as if hearing a story.

"HAHA! Zhang Yun is so cultured because he’s educated. Someone like me doesn’t understand this at all," Zhang Youcai sighed with emotion from the side.

Ouyang Mingruo almost laughed out loud. Was this guy a plant meant to play the straight man for Zhang Yun’s boasting?

"Exactly! Being educated makes all the difference. How could we understand any of this!"

"Zhang Yun, just tell us how much it’s worth! This couldn’t be from the Tang or Song Dynasties, could it?"

"HAHAHA, wake up! How could we possibly have antiques from the Tang or Song Dynasties here? If we really did, they would be cultural relics that must be handed over to the state." Zhang Youcai chuckled, then stared at Zhang Yun, hoping he would keep his mouth shut.

By now, Zhang Yun had basically absorbed all the Energy inside the Compass. He was extremely satisfied; with just this one item, today’s efforts hadn’t been in vain.

"To be honest, I’m not sure if I’m misjudging it, but it’s definitely much better than those three pieces. Let’s give him ten thousand!"

Zhang Yun’s words made Zhang Youcai secretly roll his eyes. This eldest nephew was still too honest. If they just offered three thousand, would the man really refuse?

"Alright! Ten thousand it is! Everyone, pay attention! If you know in your heart that your items aren’t at least a few decades old, don’t waste our time. If they are genuine Ancient Artifacts, we won’t shortchange you!"

Hearing that it was worth ten thousand, the old farmer breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Take a look at these two as well! They really are very ancient."

Zhang Yun casually picked up the comb and the silver hairpin at the same time. "These are..."

Zhang Yun was absolutely astounded. These two inconspicuous items actually contained Spiritual Qi no less than that of the Compass!

"Were these... dug up when some great-grandmother’s grave was relocated?"

"I don’t know either, but they should be quite old anyway." The old farmer looked at Zhang Yun eagerly.

Yesterday, he had received ten thousand yuan—the highest price of the day—which made him go back and excitedly scavenge. Today, he brought six items, only to have three rejected right off the bat. If these two weren’t worth anything either, it would be truly disappointing.

"We’ll take them! Ten thousand each!"

As soon as Zhang Yun said this, Zhang Youcai was dumbfounded, and the crowd burst into an uproar!

"Thirty thousand! Just this battered old comb is worth ten thousand?"

"Damn! That one’s made of silver, right? Silver isn’t even that expensive; ten thousand could buy a kilogram of pure silver!"

"Hurry up and search your homes! Stop focusing only on artwork—even ordinary things are worth money as long as they are old enough!"

Ouyang Mingruo nudged Zhang Yun and couldn’t help but whisper, "Do you make your offers purely on a whim?"

"Do you want them? I can give them to you as a gift," Zhang Yun asked with a smile, while his hands continued to absorb the Energy from the two items.

"I don’t want them!"

Mingruo rolled her eyes. Who was the one that just said these were dug up from some great-grandmother’s grave?

Zhang Yun hadn’t expected her to want them anyway. After finishing his absorption of the Spiritual Energy, he handed them over to Zhang Youcai’s men to store away.

That old farmer had made ten thousand yesterday and thirty thousand today... Seeing his beaming face, everyone couldn’t hold back anymore.

The villagers immediately went home to rummage through their chests and cupboards. People from other villages recorded short videos and sent them to their village groups and relatives’ chats, urging everyone to search for Ancient Artifacts.

This instantly triggered a chain reaction. After all, the chances of digging up an old mountain ginseng that was a century old were too slim—it was practically a miracle. However, who didn’t have a few old things lying around at home? Perhaps something left behind by a great-grandfather or great-grandmother was an antique!

As they continued to appraise the items one by one, those who had traveled from afar essentially brought confirmed old objects. Whether they had a lot or just a little Energy, Zhang Yun’s harvest ended up being much greater than yesterday’s.

However, there were no more items that prompted him to offer ten thousand yuan, making Zhang Yun worry that others might accuse the old farmer of being his plant...

"Do you want this Divine Master Card?" A young man who had grown impatient from waiting in line stepped forward and threw an old, dark brown tablet in front of Zhang Yun.

This action instantly caused An Jing and everyone else in the crowd to fall silent.

A Divine Master Card was also called a Spiritual Tablet, Ancestral Tablet, and so on. It was a plaque used in sacrificial offerings and worship, serving as a vessel for ancestors’ souls to attach themselves to. This kind of item was generally very important to one’s own family but held no value for others—they might even find it unlucky.

Moreover, very few people worshipped them nowadays. This was either from an old household or an ancestral hall. All in all, it felt a bit like tearing down one’s ancestral Divine Master Card to sell for money...

"Sir, about this thing... putting aside whether we can sell it after buying it, are you sure it’s appropriate for you to sell it?" Zhang Yun gently reminded him.

Zhang Youcai frowned. "Young man, you didn’t snatch this from someone else’s ancestral hall, did you? If it belongs to your own family, your elders will beat you up."

The young man rolled his eyes and said in an annoyed tone, "Who would steal this? It was cleaned out from our family’s old house. It looks very ancient, and there aren’t even any traces of writing left on it. Anyway, nobody will cause trouble for me, nor will they cause trouble for you. Just take a look!"

Zhang Yun and Zhang Youcai exchanged helpless glances. Doing business required credibility. Since they had put out the word that they were collecting Ancient Artifacts, they couldn’t just reject it because it was a Divine Master Card. At the very least, they had to "appraise" it and find an excuse about it being worthless to reject him.

"Alright, then let me see what era this is from..."

Zhang Yun picked up the Divine Master Card. There indeed wasn’t a name on it, but it didn’t look freshly scraped off; rather, it seemed to have faded and worn away over a vast amount of time.

The key point was that the moment he touched it, an incredibly vast Spiritual Qi instantly poured into him!

It wasn’t as turbulent as the previous items, but it felt continuous, with a long-lasting and enduring strength.

Zhang Yun instantly realized that this was a good item!

Not only did it have a certain amount of age to it, but it had probably been offered sacrifices and worshipped by descendants year after year, accumulating a massive amount of Energy. He felt like he could absorb it for a very long time!

This was a bit awkward. Was he really going to buy someone’s Ancestral Tablet?