Jining walked through several alleys and came to Yidu Xinshi Street, where he was robbed last time. Jining was a little funny, and thought to himself that he seemed to be quite destined to this place!
After being pointed out by someone, I found out that this place is a relatively lively place in Yidu and has the most complete range of items in Yidu City, so I came here.
The weather is nice today, the sun is shining brightly. A few naughty idlers hiding in the corner to bask in the sun are keeping their eyes peeled to see if there are any suitable fat sheep. The little boy and the thin black man who snatched Jining's package last time are also hiding behind. However, they had forgotten about robbing Jining more than half a year ago, so they didn't notice Jining walking on the street.
Thick snow is still piled on the distant peaks, and the occasional gust of wind makes those relaxing in the sun shrink their necks. Perhaps it was because of the New Year, there were many pedestrians and merchants on the street, and it seemed that they were all preparing to buy New Year's goods.
Jining walked for a while on Xinshi Street and found that the pedestrians on the road were gradually getting crowded, especially in a small alley intersecting with Xinshi Street. This was an antique street. The alley was full of hawkers and occasional shops and customers. The sound of bargaining reached Jining's ears from time to time. It is rare to find such a lively place in Jining, so I prepared to join in the fun and followed the passers-by into the antique street.
Various plaques and flags on the shops on both sides of the antique street caught Jining's eyes. Perhaps it was the New Year season and everyone was free to prepare for the New Year. Therefore, there were many more pedestrians shopping on the street than usual, making the originally not very spacious place. The alley is getting more and more crowded. The name of our store hangs high at the door of each store, and various store signs such as Qishan Jade, Chuzhoufu No. 1 Antiques, Ouye Swords, Lanshan Porcelain, and Yulong Zen Tea also show the prosperity of the antique street.
Jining was originally a young man who was not deeply involved in the world. Such a prosperous scene had rarely been seen before. When he was at the Taoist temple in Hekou City, he could feel the current scene at most when he went to the market with his master during the New Year, but it was different from the one here. There is a vast difference between the liveliness and excitement.
Seeing such a scene also aroused his interest, and he couldn't help but slow down his walking speed and leisurely look at the shops on both sides of the street. However, he saw that most of the shops were overcrowded and very lively.
Jining didn't like to be crowded with people. Seeing so many people in the shop, Jining didn't go in to join in the fun and continued walking towards the alley.
Jining had almost reached the end of the alley when he saw a shop on the street that seemed deserted than elsewhere. The shop plaque had the words "Zhuang's Antiques" written on it. Jining saw that the store was relatively deserted and there were no customers, so he strolled in to take a look.
When I walked into the store, I saw a variety of goods on the shelves, including porcelain, swords, and some jewelry pendants. But it may be because business is not good, some of the goods are already covered with dust. It seems that the business of this store is not very good, and there are no waiters in the store to entertain customers. I saw a stout middle-aged man lying in a corner in the store. He smelled of alcohol and his eyes were slightly closed as if he had fallen asleep. He didn't know what kind of dream he had, which made him have a lustful smile on his face. .
However, there are quite a lot of items and decorations in the store, which Jining has never seen before, and they feel very novel. So I looked carefully at the various objects in the shop and saw several pieces of ancient jade pendants. The carvings of dragons and phoenixes on the jade pendants looked very delicate, so I couldn't help but reach out to take a look at the jade pendants.
At this time, the drunken man said: "Humph! Little Taoist, the items in our store are all priceless items. You are not allowed to touch them with your hands. If they are damaged, you, the little Taoist, will lose all your money and you will not be able to afford the compensation."
Jining realized that Xiaoxiao didn't pay attention, but he also knew why the store was so deserted. Jining took back his hand and continued to look at other items in the store.
After looking around, Jining asked: "How can I sell this jade pendant?" This is when Jining saw the middle-aged man lying in the corner with a drunken face and glanced at Jining. Seeing that he was wearing a Taoist robe, he probably didn't have much spare money. Lord, he said in a tone of voice that he didn’t want to buy it: “The jade pendant is fifty taels of silver!”
Jining felt strange when he heard it. This jade pendant was just exquisitely made, but he didn't see anything special about it. The annual income of ordinary people in Yidu City is less than ten taels of silver. It takes ordinary people several years of hard work to afford this jade pendant. No wonder they say that antiques are only for rich people. Ordinary people would not buy this useless thing at such a sky-high price.
But he still asked curiously: "What kind of jade pendant is this? It costs fifty taels of silver. Generally, jade pendants in other stores only cost one or two taels of silver. What is the difference between this jade pendant and those in other stores?"
The stout middle-aged man was already a little angry. He had just dreamed that the big-breasted and fair-skinned proprietress of the cloth shop next door was flirting with him. He was about to go further when he was awakened by the little Taoist priest who walked into the shop. Looking at the thin clothes of this little Taoist priest, he must be a master who doesn't have any spare money to buy these items.
He was full of resentment towards this little Taoist priest and was about to curse, but when he saw Jining's eyes, he actually shuddered. He felt that the little Taoist priest's eyes were like sharp swords that could penetrate his heart, and his eyes were like thousand-year-old ice that could solidify everything.
Knowing that this little Taoist priest was by no means an ordinary person, he quickly changed his tone and said, "Master Immortal, someone else put this jade pendant in our shop and asked me to help sell it. I don't know how much it is worth." Jining picked up the jade pendant and looked at it carefully. I didn't find anything special about this jade pendant, so the shop owner didn't say anything to stop it this time.
Seeing that this jade pendant was of no use to me, I put it down and looked at other objects.
At this time, there was a dagger less than a foot tall in the corner of the counter that caught Jining's attention. This dagger might be more appropriately called a dagger. It might be because of its age, and the surface of the dagger was covered in rust and looked tattered. There are two strangely shaped characters near the hilt of this sword. Jining knows very little about these ancient characters. Jining unexpectedly discovered that these two characters are in ancient characters, meaning "cloud hidden".
"Cloud Hidden" is somewhat unique. These two words seem to have spirituality and want to tell something. I feel that these two words contain an indescribable charm. When I look closely, I find that the rusty sword body has occasional... The cold light flashed, and it felt like an extraordinary thing.
Jining was ready to buy the sword, so he asked: "Where is this dagger?" Perhaps Jining's sword-like look just now made him afraid, but the middle-aged shop owner put away his fierce look and said kindly that as long as Ten taels of silver, and it is said that this dagger has been authenticated by someone. It is a sword that has been passed down for a long time and is valuable for collection. . . .
Jining didn't pay attention to what the shopkeeper said, but he knew that the sword was extraordinary, so he bought the dagger.
The middle-aged shop owner originally thought that Jining would bargain with him, but he didn't expect that Jining would buy the broken sword so quickly, and his mind suddenly became more active.
So he started to sell other items, and he took out a wooden box and said, "The little doll has a precious book. It is by no means an ordinary thing. It is what a person like the immortal needs!" Then Jining saw a wooden box. There is an antique book in the box. The cover is somewhat torn, but a few words "Annotations on Ancient Books" can still be seen vaguely.
This book made Jining's eyes light up. Since he started practicing the Secret of Immortality, he discovered that many of the words in this fairy book were ancient texts. Originally I wanted to find books on this subject to learn from. This made Jining a little happy, thinking that it was really hard to find a place through iron shoes, and it took no effort to get it.
But I didn't dare to show too much joy, for fear that the middle-aged shop owner would raise the price. However, Jining's idea was a bit redundant. The store owner was a little wary of Jining after seeing Jining's eyes and did not dare to bid randomly. Jining saw that the price mentioned by the store was quite reasonable, so he also bought the book.
The middle-aged shop owner is in a good mood now. The business of his shop has been not good. Today, the little Taoist priest was able to buy two items and sold them at a good price. It seems that he has gained money for drinking during this time, and his face is full of money. With a very polite smile, Jining was sent out of the store.
Jining was in a good mood after buying these two items, and then moved to a few more stores, but he could no longer see what he liked in the subsequent stores. Jining planned to go to other places to buy some sacrificial items and new year goods, and then returned to the thatched cottage.
After Jining simply bought some sacrificial items and new year goods, he headed back towards Chaoyang Mountain.
Jining didn't buy much, and the thatched cottage he lived in was not far away, so he walked leisurely carrying his things. When I first arrived outside Yidu City, I saw a sword shop on the roadside. There was a plaque with the four words "Zheng Ji Sword" hanging above the door of the shop.
This reminded Jining of when he was at a loss when he was attacked by the master of the Blue Blood Sect, and when he encountered a black bear while picking spiritual fruits. He thought to himself that if he had a weapon at his disposal at that time, he would never be in such a mess.
I also thought that I would go into the mountains to find immortality and practice in the future. If I encountered that black bear or other tiger and leopard beast again, it would be difficult to escape without suitable weapons. Thinking of this, Jining decided to buy some suitable weapons for self-defense.
Walking into the sword shop, the shop was filled with all kinds of swords, guns, swords and halberds. A sturdy man in coarse cloth with a beard sitting on the edge of the counter, holding a teapot in his hand and drinking sizzlingly.
When you see guests coming to your door, get up and entertain them quickly. Jining explained the purpose of his visit. The owner of the sword shop was a straightforward man. He then took out several swords made of fine steel. The swords were shining with cold light and looked very sharp.
Jining wanted to buy weapons that were easy to carry, but he didn't like carrying these swords on his back, so Jining asked if there were any self-defense weapons that were easy to carry. After hearing this, the shop owner hesitated and said, I have a very suitable self-defense weapon here, but the price is relatively high. .
