Siheyuan: The Temptation of the Mountains

Lin Ze nodded. He planned to sell some of the bear meat at the ghost market and exchange it for some jade artifacts to use for practicing breathing techniques.

That night, Lin Ze got up early and came to the ghost market with bear meat on his back. He found a not-so-conspicuous location, set up his stall, and waited for customers to come.

After a while, a middle-aged man passed by the stall and saw the bear meat sold by Lin Ze.

"Young man, how much do you sell this meat for?" the middle-aged man asked.

"Eighty cents a pound." Lin Ze replied.

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, but finally bought a few pounds. In this way, Lin Ze's bear meat was quickly sold out. He was very happy with the money he earned.

Seeing that it was still early before dawn, Lin Ze put his hands behind his back and strolled around the ghost market like an old cadre.

Suddenly, there was a quarrel in front of him. Lin Ze walked forward curiously and saw a peddler arguing with a customer.

It turned out that the customers thought the antiques sold by the vendor were fakes, while the vendor insisted that his items were authentic.

Lin Ze took a look at the antiques in the vendor's hand and his heart moved.

According to his experience, this antique must be authentic, because the price of authentic items of this era is very low, while the cost of a fake is definitely higher than the authentic one.

So he stood up and said, "My dear brother, you have wronged the stall owner. This antique is indeed authentic."

The customer looked at Lin Ze with a puzzled look. Lin Ze smiled and explained in detail the origin and characteristics of the antique. After listening, the customer suddenly understood and apologized to the vendor repeatedly.

The vendor looked at Lin Ze gratefully, handed him a small box, and said, "Thank you for your help, little brother. This is a small gift. Please accept it."

Lin Ze opened the box and found a crystal clear light green jade pendant inside. He was secretly delighted, thinking that this was a rare and good thing.

"How can I accept your stuff for free? Brother, just sell it to me at the market price."

The stall owner did not refuse. He quoted a price that both parties could agree on and sold the jade pendant to Lin Ze.

Unfortunately, when Lin Ze held the jade pendant in his hand, he did not feel any spiritual energy.

'Fake?'

Lin Ze's eyes flickered.

He took the jade pendant with a smile, then asked the vendor if there was any shop selling jade nearby.

The vendor told him that there was an old jade shop at the end of the ghost market.

After Lin Ze thanked him, he walked towards the jade shop. This jade shop was not big, but it was filled with all kinds of exquisite jade.

Lin Ze carefully selected and finally chose a dark green jade pendant. This jade pendant has a warm texture and a lifelike Qilin engraved on it.

As soon as Lin Ze held the jade pendant in his hand, he felt an endless supply of spiritual energy from it.

The shop owner was an old man. He looked at the jade pendant that Lin Ze had chosen and said, "Young man, you have a good eye. This jade pendant is the treasure of our shop, but it's not cheap."

Lin Ze took out the jade pendant he had just obtained from the vendor and handed it to the shopkeeper, "Can I exchange this jade pendant with you?"

The shop owner took the jade pendant, examined it for a moment, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. "I didn't expect you to have such a good thing. Okay, deal!"

Lin Ze picked up the jade pendant in surprise and left the jade shop.

He felt that he was extremely lucky today. Not only did he make money, but he also got such a precious jade pendant.

Lin Ze walked out of the jade shop, feeling particularly happy.

Lin Ze was carrying the jade pendant and preparing to go home when he suddenly felt someone following him. He quickened his pace and tried to shake off the other person, but the person kept chasing him.

Lin Ze became alert and turned to face the stalker, who turned out to be the customer who was at the market just now.

"Boy, hand over the jade pendant!" the guest said viciously.

Lin Ze understood that it was all a trap. The customer and the vendor were in cahoots and their purpose was to lure him into the trap.

Lin Ze sneered, "If you have the guts, come and get it yourself!" As he spoke, he used his military boxing skills and started a fierce fight with the guest...

Lin Ze was agile and knocked the guest down in a few moves. Seeing that the situation was not good, the guest turned around and ran away.

"Want to run?" Lin Ze quickly chased after him and kicked him to the ground. "Master, spare me! Master, spare me!" The guest knelt down and begged for mercy.

Lin Ze picked up the jade pendant that had fallen to the ground and glared at the guest, "Why did you set up a trap to deceive me?"

The customer trembled and said, "This is all the idea of ​​the vendor. He said that you are a rich man and we can take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune..."

Lin Ze kicked him hard.

"Where is the stall owner?" Lin Ze asked sternly.

"I...I don't know either. He took the real jade pendant and left..." The guest looked at Lin Ze in horror.

Lin Ze frowned, knowing that he couldn't let this liar go. He decided to go back to the vendor first, and then find a way to find the mastermind behind it.

Lin Ze returned to the market and looked for the vendor. Finally, he found the vendor packing up his things in a corner.

"Hmph, I finally found you." Lin Ze walked towards the vendor, his eyes filled with anger.

When the peddler saw Lin Ze, he turned pale with fright.

"Master...sir, I know I was wrong, please let me go..." the vendor kept begging.

Lin Ze looked at him coldly, "Hand over the real jade pendant, or don't blame me for being rude."

The vendor took out a jade pendant from his arms tremblingly and handed it to Lin Ze.

Lin Ze took the jade pendant and checked it carefully. After confirming that it was correct, he warned the vendor not to cheat again and then left the market.

Lin Ze returned home and placed the two jade pendants on the table. This experience made him more cautious and also made him realize the dangers of the world.

But he did not back down, instead he became more determined to practice. He believed that as long as he continued to work hard, he would be able to become a powerful cultivator.

The new jade pendant that Lin Ze got from the peddler was still light green in color, and the spiritual energy it absorbed was of very weak quality.

It was totally unlike the dark green Qilin jade pendant, which was rich in spiritual energy. I don't know why the owner of the jade shop didn't realize that the one he was exchanging for was a fake.

Lin Ze was a little confused, but he couldn't force himself to think about things that he couldn't understand. Lin Ze decided to take the two jade pendants and go to the Hot Spring Valley to find Xue Yao.

Lin Ze came to the hot spring valley and found Xue Yao. Xue Yao looked at the two jade pendants that Lin Ze brought, and a hint of surprise flashed in her eyes.

"These two jade pendants...one of them seems to be strange." Xue Yao picked up the light green jade pendant and looked at it carefully.

"This piece seems to be a jade tablet that has absorbed spiritual energy, but has a barrier set up inside."

Lin Ze frowned slightly, "A jade token that set up the barrier?"