Fated Cultivation: I Have Max-Level Divination Skills

24  Chapter 24: Mysterious Caravan, Retired Veterans

"This setup, it looks familiar. Could it be them?"

Yan Jing, standing aside, could not help but smile as he watched the wooden carts passing in front of them.

"You know them?"

Zhao Huai turned his head, with a puzzled look on his face.

"Do you remember what I said to you on the day of your wedding?" Yan Jing gave a faint smile.

Zhao Huai pondered carefully but shook his head, "Don't remember."

Yan Jing was not annoyed, apparently knowing that this was just the kind of behavior the other person had.

So he repeated the words spoken on the day of the wedding.

"A week ago, I received news from Yancheng that a cunning rich merchant secretly transported a cartload of stolen goods. He sought out many pawnshops, but nobody dared to buy. It was quite mysterious. No one knows what's inside."

"At that time I said if this deal is successful, you wouldn't need to work for half a year."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Huai remembered and could not help but question:

"How did you know that the cunning merchant was transporting stolen goods?"

Yan Jing smiled without saying a word: "Of course, I heard it from a merchant friend of mine. This caravan headed south and found almost no buyers. Perhaps he's here to find you."

After listening, Zhao Huai chuckled lightly: "The other pawnshops dare not accept the goods, yet you assume I can manage?"

Yan Jing's lips curled into a mysterious grin, a look that was neither a smile nor a frown.

"You young man, pretending to be poor on the surface, even though the pawnshop seems shabby, you have a keen eye for good stuff. You have collected lots of valuable items and sold everything on the black market, reaping handsome profits over the years. How else do you think you made your fortune?"

Zhao Huai simply smiled without saying a word.

Because what Yan Jing said was true. The reason he opened a pawnshop instead of a brothel, a tavern, or a boxing club had its reasons.

First and foremost, his ability to mint golden bronze coins had not only the function of fortune-telling, but it could also be used to make money.

A deal is done when the money and goods exchanged hands.

After running a pawnshop for three years, Zhao Huai has naturally set his own basic rules for doing business.

Good stuff, keep it.

Bad stuff, don't touch it.

It's a rule he's always abided by.

Simply by using his golden bronze coins, he could tell whether each item is worth buying or not.

The biggest taboo for pawnshop owners is to encounter something that brings loss, where the goods cannot be sold, and would only drain the capital, resulting in the possible collapse of the shop.

There's also the risk of getting involved with forbidden items, which can lead to government's shutdown or even annihilation by unknown forces.

Zhao Huai had heard about an incident where a sizable leading pawnshop, with over a dozen branches, collapsed overnight after impulsively buying an exotic treasure. Tragically, the entire staff was killed on the second day.

It turned out only later that the item was a soul tool crafted by a devil cultivator, designed to silently harvest human lives. The horror was unimaginable.

There were too many unexpected incidents, like purchasing from grave robbers, consequently being held accountable by the imperial court, or selling inherited jade, only to be immediately stolen by thieves...

But with the golden bronze coins, Zhao Huai had nothing to worry about and he could run his business with confidence. Not only did his shop not collapse, but it also grew stronger and bigger.

He dares to say that if there was anything he, the owner of the largest pawnshop in Jinzhou, couldn't handle, then nobody else could.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll get going."

Having achieved his purpose, Zhao Huai decided not to stay in the hospital any longer. He bid farewell to Yan Jing and was about to return to his pawnshop.

"Don't forget to invite me for a drink when you break through the bottleneck." Yan Jing cursed jokingly at his back.

Zhao Huai did not turn back, but waved his hand in understanding.

"Will do next time."

...

At that time on the streets.

In front of a carriage wrapped tightly with wood, there was an incredibly luxurious bejeweled carriage.

In the carriage, a man in his forties was sitting on a renowned embroidered cushion. This man had rosy cheeks, prominent shiny forehead, and sparkling eyes. One look at him, and you'd know he was cunning and ruthless.

And he was the owner of this batch of wooden carts.

"Master Huang, are you really going to sell all these things?"

A middle-aged man dressed like a guard, with a sword in his hand, couldn't help but ask.

"What? Any problem?"

Master Huang looked up indifferently and asked leisurely.

"We previously agreed that these artifacts should be sold quickly and cleanly, either selling all or not selling any at all. You're currently trying to sell them in a cartful way while mixing real with fake, I'm afraid it might backfire."

The guard warned earnestly.

"Do you know how to run a business or do I?"

Master Huang asked indifferently.

"Of course, it's Master Huang who knows, but these things are rightly mine."

The guard chuckled awkwardly, explaining his point.

Master Huang laughed coldly: "Even then, I bought them from you, including you yourself. If it weren't for me saving you, you'd have starved to death."

"And with your current stature, would your previous military status allow you to find such a decent job?"

The guard sighed helplessly: "Even so, all these are artifacts from the previous dynasty. There are few buyers in the first place, and many pawnshops on the road have already refused."

"You don't need to worry about that; I have my ways."

Master Huang's lips curled into a strange smile, possibly scheming something.

The guard looked at the bustling streets passing by the carriage window and was lost in thought.

Time flies, and three years have passed in a blink of an eye.

Who would have thought that the once-ruined walls and ruins have all been rebuilt to be so beautiful now?

He was once an ordinary soldier of the Yan dynasty. He had fought valiantly on the battlefield and was promoted due to his accumulated merits and won the appreciation of his superiors. He was even appointed as a martial officer guarding the Imperial Palace.

He thought that he'd be able to enjoy the rest of his life, but just a few years later, he heard the ill rumors of the impending fall of the Yan dynasty, and rebellions broke out like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

The main forces of Yan were retreating while the rebel army was heading straight towards the capital. He was then ordered to defend the city.

However, while he was fighting at the city gate of the capital defending it day and night, someone suddenly shouted that the Emperor had surrendered and those who knelt would be spared. His efforts went in vain.

That day, armies from outside the city swarmed in. In his madness, he ran towards the Imperial Palace.

His mind was filled with confusion, only one sentence echoed in his mind:

I was ready to fight to the death, so why did Your Majesty surrender first!

Everything happened too quickly. By the time he reached the Imperial Palace, there was news that the Emperor was dead.

His mind was sent into a spin, and his thoughts took a sharp turn.

I must survive!

So he mingled with the rebel army, entered the Imperial Palace to loot. All sorts of items were taken away in the hope of living a better life in the chaotic times.

Who would have thought that these possessions would instead become his burden, unsellable and too precious to throw away.

After escaping from the capital, he became destitute and lived on other people's mercy.

Even many years later, looking back at these wild memories, he still feels an inexplicable heartache.

"We're here, sir."

"This is a pawnshop in Jinzhou, known as Huai's Pawnshop."

"Ah."

Master Huang responded lightly, and then slowly descended from the carriage.