CHAPTER 28: CHAPTER 3: FOOLISHNESS—CATCHING YOU MAKES IT ALL MINE

The paintings and calligraphy cherished by the elder generation, once they pass away, are often not understood by their children, who mistake them for worthless items and either sell them as trash or throw them away, only to be picked up by scavengers who appreciate the value of such art.

Of course, scavenging isn’t limited to paintings; one can also find gold, jewelry, watches... and all sorts of strange and wonderful things.

"Could you let me take a look at the paintings you’ve collected? If I find anything suitable, I’m willing to pay for it."

The shabby old man thought for a moment. He hadn’t eaten meat in a long time and figured he could sell something for money to buy it, so he stepped aside to let Li Cunxu into the house.

However, the shabby old man remained vigilant towards Li Cunxu, holding a kitchen knife behind his back.

Inside the small room were many boxes of paintings and books, all picked up by the shabby old man from the dump.

Li Cunxu squatted down to search through them.

"Good painting."

"Printed painting."

"A student’s work."

"Guan Yu riding a bicycle killing Ultraman, nonsense."

"This one’s not bad, Beautiful Little Black after two and a half years."

After searching for a while, the shabby old man asked, "Aren’t you looking at paintings? Why are you going through the books?"

Li Cunxu scratched his head, "To be honest, I also have an interest in calligraphy, and seeing some ancient books here, I couldn’t help feeling excited."

He continued searching and finally found a book with half the title ’Extreme Dao’ written on it. Pleased, Li Cunxu casually picked up the book and took a somewhat familiar painting of a tiger playing with a cat.

"I’ll take these two, offering two hundred."

The shabby old man eyed him with suspicion, unsure of Li Cunxu’s intentions, and probed him.

"I want two thousand, or else I won’t sell."

"You..."

Li Cunxu gritted his teeth and thought for a moment, "Fine, I’m giving it to you out of pity."

The shabby old man sneered internally, "Kid, your acting is terrible," and probed again.

"Twenty thousand, or else I won’t sell."

"How can you raise the price again?" Li Cunxu said, very dissatisfied.

"It’s my stuff; I can raise it if I want. Buy it if you want, or don’t."

"I’ll buy."

As Li Cunxu was about to take the book and painting, the shabby old man’s filthy hands, unwashed for a long time, pressed down on them.

"I’ve changed my mind, I’m not selling."

"How can you be so untrustworthy?"

"Get lost, or I’ll cut you."

The shabby old man pulled out a kitchen knife from his waist, threatening Li Cunxu.

By now, the shabby old man was convinced that Li Cunxu’s purpose for being here wasn’t pure and was after this book. He planned to study this tattered book thoroughly once Li Cunxu left to see what it was about, making Li Cunxu willing to pay twenty thousand for it.

"Seems I offered too high, which made you suspicious, but that was intentional."

Li Cunxu chuckled, the shabby old man feeling unease.

"Xiaoruan, go."

Xiaoruan didn’t advance; instead, it pinned the shabby old man down. When the shabby old man wanted to retaliate with the knife, Li Cunxu stepped on the back of his hand holding the knife and rotated his heel. In pain, the shabby old man let go of the knife and cried out in agony.

The shabby old man cursed, "Young man, you’re truly an animal; even scavenged furniture you wish to steal."

Li Cunxu lowered his head, smiling slightly, "Me, an animal? You’ve got it wrong! The real animal is you."

"You eyed the renowned painting your friend acquired at a bargain, poisoned in their meal, and took the lives of a family of six, one of whom was a three-year-old boy and another a two-year-old girl. In their lifetime, they called you uncle, and yet you still went through with it."

"Worse, you brutally dismembered them, fearing the police would find out."

Li Cunxu pressed his foot harder, and the shabby old man’s cries of pain intensified.

Not all scavengers in the garbage dumps are there because they can’t make a living; some are wanted criminals hiding there to evade police capture.

Why was the shabby old man so filthy? Was it because he didn’t like being clean? No, it was a deliberate disguise, with layers of grime on his face as good a mask as a human skin mask.

The police, even if face to face with him, wouldn’t recognize him as a wanted criminal.

"By the way, what’s your name? What’s the bounty on you?"

The shabby old man was extremely frustrated, having been caught only for his captor not to know his name?

Strange, how could he know my deeds yet not my name?

The shabby old man fell into confusion.

Li Cunxu saw a painting on the wall with wet ink, the artist’s name inscribed.

"You’re Zhang Chiqian, right!"

Li Cunxu took out his phone, logged into the bounty website, and searched for Zhang Chiqian.

"Your bounty is only a hundred thousand."

Zhang Chiqian shouted, "Let me go, and I’ll give you more than a hundred thousand."

Li Cunxu wavered, unsure if he should believe him.

"A scavenger like you has a hundred thousand?"

"Believe me, my bloodline ability is the ’Gold-Seeking Eye.’

Recalling the ability of the Gold-Seeking Eye, Li Cunxu believed Zhang Chiqian.

The Gold-Seeking Eye, originally a rare blue-tier ability, could see the hidden Golden Vein underground.

Because one ancestor tempted fate by mining gold and uncovered the lair of a slumbering Golden Ancient Dragon, the Golden Ancient Dragon, knowing it was doomed, cursed the Gold-Seeking Eye bloodline, demoting it to a commoner white-tier talent.

Currently, the Gold-Seeking Eye can only mark gold in its sight and analyze its purity.

Li Cunxu hesitated, "I need to see the money first before I let you go."

Zhang Chiqian pointed to the corner of the room, "Dig up the floor tiles there."

Li Cunxu did as instructed and uncovered a beautifully crafted jewelry box full of gold and silver jewelry, mostly gold.

Looking at the box full of gold and silver, Li Cunxu wondered, "Since you have the Gold-Seeking Eye, why not walk around the wilderness rivers to scoop gold and not lack money? Yet you opted to poison your friend’s family for the painting?"

Zhang Chiqian opened his mouth, felt this was wrong, and rephrased.

"At that time, my bloodline ability wasn’t awakened."

Li Cunxu narrowed his eyes, noting Zhang Chiqian’s expression, feeling he wasn’t truthful.

"If you have money, why were you greedy for my small amount, letting me in?" Li Cunxu pondered another question.

"I have no money, the jewelry, despite its value, can’t be converted. A beggar frequently exchanging gold is too conspicuous."

Zhang Chiqian felt frustrated, then proudly added.

"How about this! Even minus the jewelry, this box with just gold and silver exceeds a hundred thousand!"

"Let me go, please!"

Li Cunxu, disappointed, said, "You’re a grown man, yet so naive; capturing you means all this is mine."

"I want the bounty and the gold and silver jewelry."

Zhang Chiqian, hearing this, was so furious he almost spat blood, shouting in anger.

"I’ll report to the police, I’ll accuse you of stealing my gold and silver."