For some reason, even though the Third Pawnbroker was looking at everyone with smiling eyes, Chen Shaojun felt that he was paying more attention to him.
What did this mean?
Did the Third Master want Chen Shaojun to make a move?
Chen Shaojun guessed, but he stood there and did not move.
A special treasure?
One of them would help to appraise this treasure.
How could he not know that the pawnshop's trade was based on the Divine Vision technique, which relied on the mental strength of the pawnbroker? It was even a life-saving ability to prevent the baleful aura from counterattacking!
Third Pawnbroker Zhang Gao was an official pawnbroker in the Lin Pawnshop. Thus, he had already achieved Lesser Mastery in the Divine Vision technique and was also skilled in martial arts. Although he was short and fat, he was many times stronger than a group of weak apprentice pawnbrokers.
If even he was unable to appraise a treasure, how could an ordinary apprentice possibly interfere?
Although all of this was just a guess by Chen Shaojun, he was not willing to take the risk.
He already had the Psychic Treasure Mirror and did not need the recognition of others.
If it weren't for the fact that he was afraid of being discovered, he wouldn't even reveal the secret that his Divine Vision technique had reached the Proficient-Level.
After all, he knew that he was still in the incubation and adjusting period with his newfound skills.
It was most appropriate for him to fade into the crowd.
Another thing worthy of mentioning was that besides him, there was another person that didn't display too much enthusiasm.
The other party was probably the person who had stayed here the longest. He was usually very dull and easily neglected. He seemed to be called Ah Yong. As for his surname? No one asked, and he never mentioned it either.
"Then I'll leave it to you. Go to my Water Cloud Room tomorrow."
Zhang Gao looked at them and pointed to the one who was the most enthusiastic.
The Water Cloud Room was Zhang Gao's own appraisal room.
The environment was naturally much better than the appraisal room in the pawnshop.
It was said that not only were there treasures in that room that could aid in the appraisal process, there was also a study room as well as a resting room. It was very spacious.
"Yes. Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Third Master."
Zhang Ke, who was pointed out, quickly responded in excitement.
Then, he looked at the others with an arrogant look.
In particular, when he looked at Chen Shaojun, he could not help but snort.
It seemed like he was trying to say that he wasn't the only one who could gain the recognition of their master.
Chen Shaojun was baffled but did not say anything.
Furthermore, he noticed that Ah Yong was also shaking his head. There seemed to be some pity in his eyes.
"Pity?"
"What does he know?"
Chen Shaojun frowned.
The Second Master and the Third Master had both left.
After that, the various apprentice pawnbrokers naturally dispersed.
One by one, they stood in front of Ticketing Manager Shen and waited for him to issue missions to them.
The treasures they were going to appraise today were still from the batch that the shopkeeper had brought from the government office yesterday.
Among them was the jade ruyi that was covered in a sinister aura and had a ghostly shadow entrenched within it.
Fortunately, there were indeed a lot of raw materials in this batch. The jade ruyi was placed at the back, so it would not be placed in the hands of the apprentice pawnbrokers.
"However, even so, the jade ruyi will fall into the hands of us apprentices in two or three days at most."
Chen Shaojun estimated this and felt uneasy.
He did not have the means to face the 'ghost' directly.
Putting away the raw material in his hands, Chen Shaojun went to his appraisal room with the other apprentices.
At Appraisal Room No. 7.
Chen Shaojun saw Ah Yong.
Ah Yong's appraisal room was Appraisal Room No. 10, which was not far from his appraisal room.
Upon seeing this, Chen Shaojun hurriedly stopped Ah Yong and said, "Do you know something?"
"What?"
Ah Yong looked at him in confusion.
"Do you know anything about the Third Master's request for help earlier?" Chen Shaojun asked.
Ah Yong fell silent and looked around. The other apprentice pawnbrokers had all entered their appraisal rooms.
However, after thinking about it, he still pulled Chen Shaojun into his appraisal room.
Ah Yong's appraisal room was not much different from Appraisal Room No. 7. However, there were a few black stones at each corner of the room.
The stones were placed in a special position, making them appear somewhat mysterious.
Chen Shaojun couldn't help but take a few more glances at the stones.
"These rocks are cut from white stone. They have a certain absorption effect against baleful auras."
"In an ancient book, I found a kind of quadratic array that can absorb baleful auras, so I deliberately set it up in my appraisal room."
"These stones have become grayish-black."
"However, they were white at the beginning."
"They changed color because they have been absorbing baleful auras all year round." Ah Yong said proudly.
"I see." Chen Shaojun suddenly understood.
He realized that a veteran apprentice like Ah Yong indeed had his own methods.
Ah Yong did not say much about the quadratic array. Clearly, he did not want to reveal too much. Then, he changed his tone and quickly brought up what Chen Shaojun had asked earlier. He sneered and said, "I don't know what treasure the Third Master has for us to help him with. We could also say that we are thinking too much and that he is really going to mentor the apprentice that is going to help him."
"However…"
After a slight pause, he continued, "However, you should know that even before you guys came, I have already been here for half a year."
"At that time, there were more than twenty apprentices in the pawnshop. Furthermore, every once in a while, new apprentices would join us."
"However, half a year later, when you guys came, there were only three of us left from that batch."
"Some of them were like Zhang Wang, who met with an accident after an appraisal as the baleful aura entered his body."
"However, in reality, the Second Master and Third Master called many of those apprentices for help… Then, we no longer heard from them afterward."
Ah Yong's tone was calm, but there was still a ripple in his numb eyes.
That period of time was definitely the period when he was the most afraid of everyone and everything around him.
"This…"
Chen Shaojun was stunned.
Although he had previously guessed that there was something strange when the Third Master asked for help, he did not expect that there was actually such a big secret hidden within it.
"What exactly are they planning to do?" Chen Shaojun asked.
"What are they planning to do?"
"They definitely want us to engage in trial and error."
"They are all official pawnbrokers. Thus, most of the treasures they receive will be valuable."
"At the same time, they are also extremely dangerous."
"Some of those treasures definitely contain dangers that they are not confident of dealing with and escaping unscathed."
"Hence, they would invite the apprentice pawnbrokers to engage in trial and error."
"After all, the baleful aura in the treasures comes from an unknown source. Every bit of aura consumed means a lower amount of baleful aura to deal with when the final appraisal arrives."
"By relying on an apprentice pawnbroker, even if they could not appraise the treasure immediately, they could reduce the baleful aura present and reduce the danger to themselves."
"Let me tell you this. Back then, the craziest and the most dangerous period that I had ever experienced was when a total of five apprentices died within the same day!" Ah Yong frightfully recalled.
"Then, why did it stop after that?" Chen Shaojun asked curiously.
This was indeed the first time he had heard of this news. In the six months that he had been here, he had not heard of anyone being called by the Second Master and the Third Master to help.
This was also why the apprentice pawnbrokers had been so enthusiastic earlier.
But little did they know that the Second Master and the Third Master's request for help was but the death's invitation.