antique on the run

When Qi Xiao opened his eyes, it was no longer the small exhibition hall of the Louvre, but a tender green grass field.

It seems that there has just been a rain here, and the ground is still wet. The wind is mixed with the breath of rain and soil, blowing on the grass blades, blowing off the water droplets on the grass tips, and there is a "click", just dripping At the tip of Qi Xiao's nose.

When he was touched by the cool water droplets, his whole body trembled, and even his muscles tensed up.

"--sneeze!"

Qi Xiao sneezed.

He shook his head uncomfortably, wondering why his nose suddenly became so sensitive...

After getting wet with water, his nose was itchy and uncomfortable. Qi Xiao subconsciously raised his hand to rub his nose, but when he saw his hand, he froze suddenly——

This is not a human hand.

It's a light gray, furry paw!

Qi Xiao stared at the paw for a while, then slowly spread out his palm, and found that the place where the palm was originally was now a bulging pink pad, and there were four smaller pads around the pad, forming a circle. Circles, which look cute and are reminiscent of strawberry-flavored marshmallows.

He quickly stretched out his other hand...

Very good, exactly the same hairy paw.

Qi Xiao pursed his lips and opened his mouth to say something, but after finally figuring out how to use the vocal cords of this body to make a sound, he heard a soft sound coming out of his throat——

"Meow~"

Qi Xiao: "..."

Okay, now he's probably... no, definitely, a cat.

He turned over vigorously, lay on his back on the ground, raised his head to examine his new body.

What caught the eye was a snow-white and soft fur belly, two hind paws similar to the front paws, and a long fluffy tail with gray hair behind the buttocks.

He touched his face with his two front paws, and in addition to touching the two pointed ears on the top of his head, he also felt a few raised beards on his furry cheeks.

So, his hands became front paws, his feet became hind paws, his body became the torso of a cat, something became a tail, and the dozens of foreign languages ​​he was proficient in all became Let out a soft voice: "Meow~"

Qi Xiao was a little helpless, this was not at all what he expected.

The meowclaw pottery plate, which is the antique that Qi Xiao and Saiwei came to Japan to catch back, was made in the seventh year of Yanbao (1679 in the Gregorian calendar) in the Edo period of Japan. His maker was named Xiachuan Qingquan, and he was not authentic. Japanese, but a Dutchman.

Xia Chuanqingquan's real name is Piers Augustin. His family is the largest navigator in the Netherlands. Over the years, he has established maritime trade relations with many countries in the East, including Japan.

As the eldest grandson of the family and the future successor of the family business, Pierce was unexpectedly not interested in sailing trade, but was obsessed with oil painting and various handicrafts since childhood.When he was 20 years old, he came to Japan with his family's merchant ship. Originally, he just wanted to travel for a long time. However, he was deeply attracted by the exquisite Japanese pottery while visiting the Kyoto market.

His original words at that time were recorded in "The Natural Pottery Biography of Xia Chuan Qingquan"——

"I never knew that apart from porcelain, there is such a magical and wonderful craftsmanship in the East. This is simply a gift from God."

Obsessed with pottery crafts, Pierce resolutely bid farewell to his family, took root in Japan and never returned to the Netherlands.He changed his name to Natsukawa Kiyomizu, and worshiped Hiroya Ito, the most famous pottery master in Kyoto at that time, as his teacher. Relying on his outstanding talent, after six years of hard work, he finally became famous in Kyoto for his superb pottery making skills.

However, there are very few works handed down from such a talented potter. At the peak of his fame and skills, he suddenly disappeared and remained silent for many years. It was not until his later years that his works came out one after another.

Meow claw pottery plate is one of the few pottery works left by him in his early years, and it is also the most famous one.

Different from other works of Xiachuan Qingquan that have been handed down in the hands of major collectors, although the meow claw pottery plate was born in the 17th century, it has been buried deep in the ground until the 19th century.

At that time, the American and French allied forces who invaded Japan discovered an ancient tomb in the mountains around Kyoto. It has been verified that the owner of this tomb was a general in the Edo period who died heroically in the war to defend the royal family.His descendants were rewarded by the royal family for his loyalty and bravery. They chose a geomantic treasure to bury the general and built the whole tomb to be rich and magnificent. There are nine burial mausoleums alone, all of which are buried in the general's life Concubines.

The meow claw pottery dish was buried in the coffin of one of the noble concubines.

This noble concubine was buried in the burial mausoleum closest to the general's mausoleum. According to Japanese tradition, apart from the main wife who was buried with the general, she should be the woman with the highest status among the concubines and the most favored by the general during her lifetime.

However, the strange thing is that unlike other concubines who put piles of gold and jade wares in their coffins after their death, this noble concubine's coffin was empty, with only such a piece of pottery placed in the middle.

At that time, the French soldiers who confiscated the loot were very puzzled, because the gold silk brocade sleeves worn by the woman in the coffin and the emerald jade ornaments on her head were exquisitely crafted and gorgeous, and they were very valuable at first glance, and they did not look like Because of his low status, he had to use pottery as jade and gold wares to put them in the coffin to fill the appearance.

Then why did she regard a piece of pottery as her only funeral object?

The French couldn't figure it out, so they simply didn't want to think about it. Based on the principle that what is rare is the most valuable, they packed this pottery plate together with the fine products selected from other tombs and sent it back to France directly.

It was an extremely delicate but weird round pottery dish. The milky white pottery dish was smooth and spotless on the front, and was divided into two halves from the center. One half was carved with exquisite and complicated hollowed-out painted cherry blossom patterns, while the other half was empty. There is a small cat paw print in the corner, a big pad in the middle, and four small pads around it are clearly printed, which looks funny and cute.

If you just look at the ingenious hollow patterns, this piece of pottery must have been made by everyone, and it is a rare treasure, but after adding the cat paw print...

Hehe, compared to cultural relics and antiques, it is more like a small toy for Bo Junyi.

What really made its value skyrocket were the words engraved on the back of the board——

"Made by Qingquan in Xiachuan, extended to the seventh year of the treasure, gifted with cherry blossoms."

There is a private seal on the bottom, with the words "Xiachuan Qingquan" written in ancient style.

Although such a pottery plate that was accidentally harmed by a cat would definitely be disposed of as a defective product, but once it is named Xia Chuan Qingquan, it will be different.

The famous Dutch pottery master in Japan, a genius pottery master who has left few works in his life, the things in his hands are very precious even if they are trampled by donkeys!

So the French happily took the pottery plate as their own, and in total disregard of the protests raised by the Japanese National Cultural Relics Protection Bureau, directly exhibited it in the Oriental Art Museum of the Louvre Museum.

And the concubine of the general who was buried with the meow-claw pottery plate, although history has not been able to verify her name and surname, but thanks to the three words "gift cherry blossoms" written by Xia Chuanqingquan on the back of the pottery plate, people named her A beautiful title - Mrs. Sakura.

Qi Xiao squinted his eyes. If he guessed correctly, the cat he turned into was probably the one that left paw prints on the pottery plate of Xiachuan Qingquan in history.

Time Meteorite is selective when looking for historical roles that need to be "played" for antique hunters. It will only embed the hunter's soul into the body of the core figure most closely related to antique manufacturing, not casually Pick someone.

It’s like you can only become Mona Lisa or Da Vinci, but you can’t be Mona Lisa’s husband or Da Vinci’s neighbor, because only the core figures can grasp the time and opportunity of antiques coming out. Only by "playing" these roles can the hunters restore the history correctly to the greatest extent.

There are two core characters involved in the Meow Claw Pottery Plate, one is the maker of the pottery plate, Xia Chuan Qingquan, and the other is the cat who pressed the paw prints on it. Now that Qi Xiao has become a cat, then Xia Chuan Qingquan It must be Seville without a doubt.

However, according to Qi Xiao's original vision, he should become Xiachuan Qingquan and complete this mission as the maker of the meowclaw pottery plate.

Unexpectedly, in the end, he became a cat who couldn't even speak...

I don't know what Time Meteorite thinks. Could it be that it is more difficult to become a cat and let him take this task instead of Saiwei?

Really considerate.

Qi Xiao shook his head and stood up with hands and feet.He thought about it. When a cat walks, its front and rear paws move together, so if he wants to walk, he must first move his right hand and left foot, then his left hand and right foot...

Right hand left foot, left hand right foot, speed up, do it again!

Qi Xiao walked forward in an extremely awkward posture from a human point of view, his gait was slow and graceful, but he stopped suddenly when he was walking.

He suddenly remembered a very important thing, where is his time meteorite?

The Time Meteor travels with the Antique Hunters to other dimensions, taking them back in time after they complete their mission.It is the medium connecting various time and space, if lost, then even if the task can be successfully completed, it will not be able to return to the original time and space.

Qi Xiao used to hang the time meteorite around his neck when he was chasing antiques, even when he became the poisonous snake Samael in the Garden of Eden last time. Why did it disappear this time?

He quickly returned to the grassland where he lay on his stomach when he woke up, and lowered his head to look around in the grass.

Did the chain come off his neck and fall into the grass?

Obviously not.

There was nothing on the grass except for a few grass stalks that he had just crushed.

Qi Xiao maintained the posture of squatting in the grass and fell into deep thought: Since the time meteorite is not here, it is most likely to be in Saiwei, because the space-time tunnel when he came here accommodated him and Saiwei at the same time, and the time meteorite is likely to be there. It was at that time that the master changed.

A little troublesome.

He needs to find Sewi to confirm as soon as possible...

"Wow! Look, there's a kitten here!"

Qi Xiao was about to leave, but was startled by the clear and crisp child's voice.

Because of becoming a cat, Qi Xiao's hearing has been enhanced a lot, and he can hear even a little bit of wind and grass clearly. The originally small shouts are amplified several times in his ears, no different from beating gongs and drums.

He arched his back subconsciously, and his long hair spread out instantly, standing up one by one, which is commonly known as... fried hair.

This is a cat's defense method when it encounters danger, but it is cute in the eyes of children.

"Look, it just jumped!" A little boy with braids ran forward two steps, staring straight at Qi Xiao in the grass.

There are two boys and one girl in them. They are only six or seven years old. Each of them is carrying a small cloth bag. They should be students from a nearby village school. After school in the afternoon, a few friends met to go home together. Met Qi Xiao in the grass.

"This cat is so small!" The little girl had two small buns on her head, and there were two sweet dimples at the corners of her mouth when she smiled. She walked three steps away from Qi Xiao, knelt down and waved at him. He beckoned and said, "Little cat, come here, I'll give you candy!"

As she spoke, the little girl took out a piece of black malt candy from the cloth bag, and waved it in front of Qi Xiao with a smile.

Qi Xiao: "..."

How should he tell this little girl that there is an adult soul living in this cat's body, and this adult doesn't like candy.

The little girl waited for a while, seeing that Qi Xiao was still lying on the ground motionless, and withdrew her hand in frustration: "Oh, you don't want to eat..."

Seeing the little girl's displeasure, the towering braid at the side said angrily, "Little Yakiko, don't be sad, you don't even eat maltose, this cat must be a fool! Just wait, I'll catch it and give it to you!"

As he said that, he rushed to Qi Xiao in two or three steps, and rushed towards Qi Xiao with his arms outstretched.

Qi Xiao was thinking about how to reject the little girl's candy like a cat, when he felt a black shadow cast over his head, he subconsciously jumped to the side, and then...

The sky braid smashed into the soil.

Because it had just rained and the ground was still very wet, half of his face was sunk in the soil. When he raised his head, his face was covered with yellow mud, and his eyes were blurred.

"Woo-oooo!! Mom! It hurts so much!"

Chong Tianpi wailed loudly, and kept wiping his eyes with his sleeve, but it became more and more blurred.

The two little friends were startled, and hurried over to comfort him. The little girl took out a small handkerchief to help him wipe his face, and kept saying, "Mr. Zhongshan, oh, you, don't cry!"

However, Chongtian Braid seemed to have suffered a great grievance, not only couldn't stop crying, but also crawled to Qi Xiao's side with hands and feet to beat him.

"Bad cat, bad cat! Hit you! It's all your fault!"

Naturally, Qi Xiao couldn't let him beat him, so he jumped to the side nimbly.

He is now basically familiar with how to use the four claws. Although he still feels embarrassed that they were originally his hands and feet, it is still no problem to avoid a child's pursuit.

The sky braid was covered in mud all over his face, and he had a bad temper. Even if he was pulled by his friends, he still rushed towards Qi Xiao with all his strength.

"Oh, where did the kitten come from? It looks so cute."

Qi Xiao was dodging left and right to avoid the soaring braids, his body was suspended in the air suddenly, he kicked twice in the air with his hind feet, and when he turned his face, he saw a pale face and bright red lips.

scare!

He lived up to expectations and blew his hair again...