The contents of the bundle appeared to be items commonly used by children, such as toys, small clothes, books, and more. The target that was emitting light was buried beneath this pile of items.
"Let me see what these are." At this point, Liang En became less anxious and began to methodically inspect the items within the cloth bundle, going through them from top to bottom.
Soon, several valuable items were unearthed. For instance, there was a well-preserved teddy bear from the 1970s, estimated to be worth over 100 pounds if sold to the right person.
However, the collection of children's books wasn't as valuable; even though there were a dozen thick books in total, they would likely fetch only around seven or eight pounds at a used bookstore. Looking through the titles of these fairy tales, Liang En noticed that the collector had a very mainstream taste.
At least half of the books were ones he had read during his own childhood. After sorting and categorizing the items that had been cleared from the surface, he finally saw what the target buried beneath was.
"A complete set of 'Harry Potter,' along with various companion books." Seeing the items revealed at the bottom, Liang En's excitement surged.
As a devoted 'Harry Potter' fan in both this life and the previous, these items were undeniably enticing to him. Naturally, he intended to take this pile of items home for his personal collection.
After all, these items were mostly mass-produced, economically valuable in their own right, but not extremely expensive. If he were to sell them, they would likely be treated as secondhand books and priced accordingly.
With enthusiasm, Liang En packed the books into the bag he had brought with him. The stack of books at the bottom of the package gradually diminished. It was at this moment that he found the source of the glowing light.
"Hmm, they even wrapped it in parchment paper?" Seeing the book at the very bottom of the package, Liang En felt curious. After all, only this book had extra protection within the whole package.
Using a small knife he carried with him, he gently cut the thread that was securing the parchment paper wrapping. Inside, there lay a small, red hardcover book with a blue back cover, measuring 32mo.
The cover depicted a red steam engine's front and Harry Potter standing in front of it, wearing glasses. The upper half of the cover read "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."
Flipping the book over, the blue back cover portrayed a middle-aged man smoking a cigarette.
"Could this be the legendary first edition of Harry Potter?" As a Harry Potter enthusiast, Liang En naturally held certain details in memory. So, he immediately flipped through the pages and started reading.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, he found two errors in this version of the book. One was on the spine, where "Philosopher's" was missing an "o." The other was in the list of items Harry needed for school, where "wand" was written twice.
What was even more significant, though, was the fact that J.K. Rowling's signature adorned the book's title page. From the signature, it was evident that the previous owner of the book might have known the author, prompting them to seek her autograph as soon as they acquired the book.
If the date behind the signature is genuine, then the signature on this book is very likely the first one J.K. Rowling ever signed on her published work.
Because the official publication date of this edition is June 26, 1997, and the date left on the signature of this book coincides exactly with that day.
It's important to note that back then, J.K. Rowling was a completely new author in the publishing world, so it's unlikely that many people would have gone to her specifically for autographs.
After Liang En concluded his analysis, three cards appeared in his mind: one [Detection (N)] card and two [Appraisal (N)] cards.
Realizing that he already had six [Appraisal (N)] cards in his possession, Liang En finally made up his mind and chose to synthesize one [Appraisal (N)] card.
Just like when he synthesized the [Detection (N)] card previously, after confirming the synthesis, a beam of light enveloped the four identical cards, and then a bronze-colored card appeared in the original card's place.
[Appraisal (R): On the journey of seeking history, merely knowing the specifics of historical relics isn't enough to satisfy the needs of those who seek history. In such cases, a further step is needed.
Skill card (one-time use), consuming this card allows the cardholder to designate a certain historical item as the target, then observe a segment of history from the viewpoint of that item. This period cannot be divided and lasts for a maximum of three days.]
"This is definitely a treasure card." After reading the description on the card, Liang En's excitement surged. Because it meant he could get a glimpse into certain drops of history, like seeing the river of history from a vantage point.
Not to mention even if it were just observing the daily life of an ordinary person in the past three days, it was enough to make historians envy. If he were lucky, he might even get a chance to witness major historical events or uncover forgotten treasures.
With this discovery, it took Liang En more than ten minutes to calm down, after which he continued his organizing work. Unfortunately, whether it was the shelves or the cloth bundles, there was nothing particularly eye-catching to be found.
Several cloth bundles contained empty boxes or disheveled clothes, and the knots used to tie them were even different from the majority of the cloth bundles.
This situation indicated one thing: after the original owner of this house passed away, their children had entered the house and taken away items that were likely valuable.
This might be why the current owner of the room was willing to let Liang En's group take away the items inside after accepting the two thousand pounds. Because they had been here before and taken away valuable items.
As Liang En and Pierce exchanged their findings over lunch, they further confirmed this point. Pierce had also found several similar empty containers.
"I found a violin case, a flute case, and several copper-silver jewelry boxes," Pierce shrugged. "Without a doubt, they're all empty."
"But that doesn't mean I didn't make a find. For instance, I just found a box meant for storing videotapes; it looks like a really good antique."
Finishing his words, Pierce quickly devoured his fish and chips wrapped in newspaper, then headed towards the door. Soon, he returned dragging a box with embossing all over it, leaving only the bottom untouched.
"This is the treasure I found earlier," Pierce patted the metal box, about a meter long, and said, "It's made of copper-silver material and looks quite exquisite overall. So, I want to keep this for my collection."
"Uh…" After closely examining the metal box, Liang En turned to Pierce. "Doesn't your family have any taboos about funeral-related items?"
"How could that be? We Irish folks pay even more attention to this than most British people. For instance, my father would quickly find a piece of wood to tap with his fingers after seeing a hearse."
"In that case, I suggest you sell this off quickly. This should be a ceremonial coffin."