Chapter 89: Art’s Energy... 1%?

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Art’s Energy... 1%?

Zhang Yun’s attitude made them all feel that he was utterly temperamental! Imagining the fate of Gao Tie and Gao Jun, they realized that if they were thrown into that pile of motorcycles, they would be dead meat.

"We wouldn’t dare hold any grudges!"

"Our admiration for you, Brother Zhang, is like an endless, surging river, and like the Yellow River bursting its banks—unstoppable!"

"I respect you just like I respect my own father!"

Zhang Yun waved his hand, and they immediately shut their mouths.

"I’ve memorized all of your faces," he warned. "If you have a problem, you can come to me anytime! But if you dare to cause trouble behind my back for my family, my friends, my fellow villagers, or this factory... Heh! See if I don’t feed you half a pound of quicklime and half a pound of sand!"

Xu Jin and his group were from the city, so they wouldn’t be affected. However, for Zhang Youcai, the monk could run, but his temple remained. Hearing Zhang Yun’s threat, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. This meant Zhang Yun was protecting him as well!

The eighteen thugs continued to shiver. Half a pound of quicklime and half a pound of sand! That was like mixing mortar in their stomachs; it would be like boiling a self-heating hot pot right inside their guts! Just imagining that burning sensation erupting from their stomachs made them shudder and break out in cold sweats.

"Brother Zhang! We are outstanding youths of society. If anyone dares to disrespect your family, friends, villagers, or Boss Zhang here, you won’t even need to lift a finger. We’ll teach them a lesson for you!"

"That’s right! We will absolutely protect all interests surrounding Brother Zhang!"

"I am simply your dog, Brother Zhang—an observant dog! You won’t even need to open your mouth, and I’ll bite people for you!"

The moment someone volunteered to be a dog, the others silently cursed him. They thought, "How shameless can you be? Forget about surviving in the underworld, are you even human anymore?"

But since someone had already set the precedent, if the rest of them didn’t follow suit, wouldn’t it make them look like they had ulterior motives? The danger hadn’t been resolved yet! Consequently, everyone else had no choice but to express their loyalty, declaring their willingness to be Zhang Yun’s dogs.

"Be my dogs? You aren’t qualified!" Zhang Yun bluntly and mercilessly refused.

Everyone’s faces flushed with unbearable shame, and they cursed the one who took the lead in being a dog even more fiercely in their hearts. They thought, "Why couldn’t he just act like a decent human being? He dragged us all down with him!"

"Get lost! Be proper human beings!"

Hearing this, the eighteen men—who had been agonizing for what felt like an eternity—felt as if they had just heard heavenly music! They hastily voiced their pleasant surprise and thanks, then sprinted toward the factory gates at the fastest speed they had ever mustered in their lives, terrified that he would change his mind.

"I really don’t know how to thank you!" Zhang Youcai said sincerely.

Zhang Yun pointed at the truck. After all, seventy percent of those items belonged to him.

Seeing that the fire was already extinguished and the mess couldn’t be cleaned up anytime soon, Zhang Youcai immediately ordered his workers to move the items inside. "Right on time. A friend sent a batch of items here and asked me to appraise them. Help me take a look!"

Zhang Yun, who had been about to take his leave, instantly perked up. "Appraising them is no problem, but..."

"I understand. You just need to help me determine if they’re real or fake, just so I have a clear idea."

Zhang Youcai led them into the factory building, letting Xu Jin and the others rest and drink tea in the office. He then took Zhang Yun to a heavily padlocked secret room, where the items collected today had also just been delivered.

"These two boxes are full of them. They’re all calligraphy and paintings," Zhang Youcai explained. "According to what he said, and based on the signatures, they’re all from the Qing Dynasty, though they aren’t works of famous masters. I just need to verify if they are genuinely from the Qing Dynasty..."

As he was introducing the pieces to Zhang Yun, an employee hurried over to report that people from the police station had arrived.

"Don’t worry! I’ll go handle it. You guys don’t need to come out."

Zhang Yun nodded; his mind was completely focused on the calligraphy and paintings.

Sure enough! Picking up a scroll, he felt a stream of Energy transmitting through the paper before he even unrolled it! He waited until the Energy was fully absorbed before opening it for a closer look.

The presence of Spiritual Energy directly proved its authenticity. His focus was on the content of the calligraphy and paintings. No matter how good paper was, it was still paper; the older it got, the easier it decayed. It couldn’t compare to materials like metal or jade, and was even inferior to wood.

"Good handwriting!" Even without understanding calligraphy, Zhang Yun couldn’t help but praise the piece when he saw it. It gave off a feeling that was extremely comforting to look at!

Zhang Yun opened them one after another. Whether it was calligraphy or a painting, Energy flowed from them. Moreover, the strength of the Energy was directly proportional to the content! He could confirm that these were products of the same batch or the same era, with an age difference of no more than a few decades. The variance in Energy wasn’t caused by the material or age, but by their artistic quality!

Zhang Yun’s art appreciation skills were limited. He couldn’t articulate any profound theories and could only simply categorize them as "good" or "not so good," nor could he explain the principles behind his hypothesis. He speculated that during the artistic creation process, the artists might have entered a certain state of mind, such as "Dao" or "Zen." Or perhaps the artistic creation aligned with a certain universal frequency, thus allowing it to absorb and bear certain Energies.

An artist’s works from their low-skill period, or poor works from their high-skill period, might possess the age but hold no Energy. However, the bad ones certainly hadn’t survived; those worthy of being collected were all masterpieces, which was why this entire batch contained Energy.

After absorbing the Energy from all these pieces, Zhang Yun felt a sense of being stuffed full. It wasn’t as domineering as the Mysterious Petals, nor was it a physical fullness; rather, it was a spiritual satiety!

Zhang Yun gently stroked the pitch-black Iron Ring and sighed inwardly. He wondered how much Energy this thing needed to absorb and what the criteria were. Today’s harvest was massive, but the biggest catch was that copper bell! He wondered if the copper bell had absorbed the Spiritual Energy of deceased souls since it was used in funeral rites. Next in value was this batch of calligraphy and paintings, followed by all the other Ancient Artifacts. These...

Just as he was pondering, Zhang Yun’s consciousness suddenly blurred for a split second! The ring seemingly appeared in his mind, and a "1%" flashed across it! When he focused his mind, it all vanished—no ring, no "1%."

He wondered, "Was that an illusion just now? Or was it the ring giving feedback because I was thinking about it?"

He tried again, but it didn’t reappear.

Zhang Yun decided to ignore it and just accept it as 1%. Whether it was recovering or upgrading, at least he finally had a point of reference. Given the current level of the Peach Blossom Spring Space, if it could be upgraded further, he couldn’t imagine how immense the surprise would be! And then... there was the matter regarding the clue about his mother.

"How is it?" Zhang Youcai hurried inside, having already placated the police outside.

Zhang Yun smiled. "They are all..."

"Fake?" Looking at his smile, Zhang Youcai’s first reaction was that they were all counterfeit.

"I’m not sure if they’re by famous masters, nor can I vouch for the artistic level, but they are all genuine."

"Ah? All genuine?" Zhang Youcai couldn’t believe it.

Zhang Yun smiled as he walked outside. "Were you hoping your friend’s stuff was all fake? Too bad, they’re all real."

"No, no, I just didn’t expect the whole batch to be... What incredible luck!"

Upon arriving at the office, Xu Jin and the others hastily stood up. At this time, an employee brought something over to Zhang Youcai. After taking it, he immediately distributed it to the four of them.

Four thick red envelopes!

"We can’t accept these!" everyone hastily declined.

Zhang Youcai said earnestly, "Zhang Yun is one of my own, and he’s wealthy now, so I won’t bother being polite with red envelopes for him. But you gentlemen are guests who came to help. I cannot lack proper etiquette!"

"Accept it! You’ve earned it!" Gauging the thickness of the red envelopes they had given that morning, Zhang Yun estimated there was about a thousand inside, so he told them directly to accept the money.

Only after their master spoke did they dare to accept them. Just as they were about to say their thanks, a voice rang out from the doorway.

"Ah, caught red-handed giving and receiving bribes!"