Chen Shaojun was shocked upon hearing this.
What?
Now that they had negotiated the price, Shen Lang should quickly pack the jade ruyi and allow the customer to take it away. What was the point of creating unnecessary trouble?
This scar-faced fellow wasn't a good person, to begin with. Chen Shaojun was hoping that the ghost within the jade ruyi would have a good fight with this scar-faced fellow. It would be best if both sides were injured.
"What? Are you toying with me?"
The scar-faced man was stunned, and a cold light immediately appeared in his eyes.
His gaze was as cold as a knife, and it made Shen Lang's scalp feel numb.
He did not dare to be negligent and explained with a smile. "Customer, you've misunderstood. It's actually like this."
"The jade ruyi has been sealed in that wealthy family for too long, so it is inevitable that it would be tainted by some baleful aura."
"You are currently in a hurry. Furthermore, we have only just obtained this item. This item has not gone through the appraisal and 'cleansing' of our pawnshop."
"Therefore, if you're not in a hurry, we'll immediately arrange for someone to 'cleanse' this item and restore the original color of the jade ruyi."
"I think it will definitely be more sparkling and translucent. It will definitely satisfy your mother-in-law."
"There's no need for that. I have to take this jade ruyi with me today."
The scar-faced man's expression relaxed, but he still shook his head.
"That won't do."
"This concerns the reputation of the Lin Pawnshop."
"No treasure can go out of our pawnshop without being 'cleansed'." Shen Lang said seriously with a stern expression on his face.
He didn't really have such professional ethics. Although the Lin Pawnshop had such a rule, it didn't mean that there would be someone who would guard it.
However, the reason he was so determined was because of the bone-piercing chill when he touched the jade ruyi.
As an old man who had been in the pawnshop for more than ten years, he knew very well that this so-called coldness meant that the item contained a baleful aura.
To be able to catch him off guard and make him feel a bone-piercing chill, the amount of baleful aura within the jade ruyi was clearly not small.
One had to know that anything sold in the pawnshop had to be accompanied by a receipt. If anything happened, the pawnshop would be held responsible.
As the executor of the deal and the drawer, it was even harder for him to escape the blame.
Furthermore, this customer had bought the jade ruyi because he wanted to use it as a birthday gift for his mother-in-law. The customer's mother-in-law was presumably not young, and her body would undoubtedly be weak unless she was a martial artist. If she was tainted with the baleful aura, how could she live for a long time?
"Dear customer, this baleful aura isn't ordinary. Once it's attached to a body, even a martial artist wouldn't be able to endure it, let alone an ordinary person."
"You're buying this treasure as a birthday gift for your mother-in-law. This shows your filial piety. You can't possibly bring the baleful aura to her as well, right?" Shen Lang persuaded him.
"Alright, but you need to settle this as soon as possible. Before the sun sets, I will take the jade ruyi away."
"Furthermore, you can't change the price at the last minute."
The eyes of the scar-faced man flickered. He knew that if he continued, it would only arouse suspicion, so he agreed.
"Don't worry, we'll definitely invite the best pawnbroker in the pawnshop to appraise and cleanse this treasure."
Shen Lang immediately made a promise. Then, he called the servant over to help the customer register the purchase.
…
Chen Shaojun never expected that according to Shen Lang, the best pawnbroker in the pawnshop was him.
When he saw Shen Lang holding a tray and placing the jade ruyi in front of him, he simply felt that life was difficult. No matter how he tried to escape, he still couldn't escape this encounter with a ghost.
"Mr. Shen, I've already appraised a few items today. I'm really exhausted. Why don't you let someone else appraise them?"
In his heart, he refused. In his mind, he would rather let other people suffer than take the risk himself. Thus, he spoke tactfully.
"You've appraised quite a few items, but so have the others."
"There is only one jade treasure. Furthermore, you could appraise four treasures in succession yesterday."
"You've only appraised two items today, so it shouldn't be a big deal to appraise one more."
Shen Lang said patiently.
"Shit, I was sloppy."
If he knew that Shen Lang would use yesterday's incident as an excuse, Chen Shaojun would not have exposed his abnormality so early.
However, he still opened his mouth and said with difficulty. "But I'm really a little tired today…"
Shen Lang did not wait for Chen Shaojun to finish his sentence. Instead, he interrupted him and said, "You are the only one among all the apprentices in the pawnshop whose mastery of the Divine Vision technique has reached the Proficient-Level."
"If you don't appraise it, who will?"
"This…"
Chen Shaojun knew that he could not refuse.
The hierarchy in the pawnshop was strict, and the status of an apprentice could not be compared to that of Shen Lang's at all. If Shen Lang insisted that he should appraise the treasures, unless he defected, resisted orders, or suffered a vicious beating, there was no way he could escape from his responsibilities.
"I know you're in a difficult position… Indeed, once your mastery of the Divine Vision technique has reached the Proficient-Level, your treatment will be different."
"How about this? When the shopkeeper returns, I'll mention this to him. In the future, every time you appraise a treasure, you'll receive a red tally. A red tally is equivalent to 100 wen. The pay is more than three times better than that of the other apprentices."
Shen Lang thought that Chen Shaojun rejection was a hint for him to improve the treatment that Chen Shaojun received.
In addition, he knew that Chen Shaojun was saving money to practice martial arts. He immediately put on a look of understanding and spoke magnanimously.
However, Chen Shaojun was silent. He really did not care about the salary.
He wasn't even sure if he would be able to make it out alive from this appraisal.
So what if his salary was ten times, or even 100 times higher?
Although the Imperial Notes only recorded three cases of the author encountering a ghost, it had some use.
However, no matter what, Zhou Chen was still an official pawnbroker, and his methods were much more brilliant than Chen Shaojun's. Moreover, Zhou Chen had managed to survive twice, and both times, Zhou Chen had been lucky. For example, the time when Zhou Chen had consummated his marriage with a ghost…
Meanwhile, Chen Shaojun did not think that he had such luck.
As a cautious person, he would never attribute his life or his safety to luck.
After thinking for a while, Chen Shaojun looked at Shen Lang and spoke seriously. "I can appraise this treasure, but I want to bring along all the materials on this tray as well."
"You just need to hand the jade ruyi to me by today."
"Everything else is up to you."
Shen Lang was stunned.
For some reason, he could see the determination on Chen Shaojun's face. He thought about it and did not reject him.
After registering the items, Chen Shaojun carried the entire tray and left with a determined look.
In Appraisal Room No. 7.
Chen Shaojun looked at the treasures on the tray.
Besides the jade ruyi, there were seven other treasures.
In other words, he had to appraise eight treasures one by one this afternoon.
After knowing that he could not avoid the fact that he was about to encounter a ghost, he could only place his hopes on the Psychic Treasure Mirror.
He planned on placing the jade ruyi as the last thing he would appraise.
Before that, he would use these treasures and try his best to obtain a method from the Psychic Treasure Mirror that could protect himself against the jade ruyi.
He did not like to attribute his life to luck.
However, at this moment, he could only hope that his luck was not too bad.
Chen Shaojun sighed and made a decision. However, before he could start his appraisal, he still needed to prepare a few things.
At this thought, he walked out of Appraisal Room No. 7 again…