"How much?" Leng Zhiwen asked curiously, quite pleased.
"This much!" the boss held up a fist.
"Fifty thousand?" Leng Zhiwen's imagination was rather limited.
"Add a zero, five hundred thousand!" the boss chuckled.
"So expensive!" Leng Zhiwen was startled and immediately dropped the sword in her hand. A five-hundred-thousand sword, even if it was an antique, was too outrageous. Although her teacher was the one giving the gift, a five-hundred-thousand sword was still too much.
"This is a top-tier treasured sword, not only with a history but also with exquisite craftsmanship. It can easily produce a sword's hum. Listen if you don't believe me!" As he spoke, the boss drew the ancient sword. It still gleamed brightly under the sunlight. If this were truly a sword from the Qianlong era, it would be truly remarkable.
But most importantly, the moment the ancient sword was drawn, a dragon's roar broke free from its sheath. The sound startled tourists tens of meters away, who turned to look. The boss said proudly, "See? This is the sound of a true top-tier ancient sword drawing. Selling it to you for five hundred thousand is absolutely fair!"
"Zhiwen?" Huang He looked at Leng Zhiwen beside him. Leng Zhiwen shook her head. "This is just talk for the uninformed. Any sword, if forged properly, with the right metal ratio, and a specially designed sheath, can produce a sword's hum when drawn. There's nothing rare about it; modern swords are even more likely to make such sounds."
"Instead, some ancient swords, due to substandard materials, cannot produce any sound at all. That's actually a sign of a fake!"
"Oh!" Huang He nodded. The boss, upon hearing this, didn't get angry. Instead, he smiled. "So, I've met a sword expert. Fine, this sword isn't exactly top-notch, but it is from the Qianlong era. However, the blade itself is too badly damaged, and the entire blade has been replaced with modern materials. But the hilt and the tassel are indeed from the Qianlong era. If you truly want it, five thousand it is. That's the real price. If you try to haggle further, then you can leave!"
"Well, five thousand is acceptable. The forging of this sword's blade is excellent, even among modern swords, it's top-tier. To be honest, if this sword were from the Qianlong era, there probably wouldn't be a single sword in the world that could clash with it. None would be its match!" Leng Zhiwen's eyes sparkled as she spoke about something she knew and understood well.
"Oh, that's a bit too bold of a statement. I have an ancient sword here that can contend with this modern sword!" the boss said, a little unconvinced.
"Where is it?" Leng Zhiwen's interest was piqued. The boss also seemed very happy. "Normally, I wouldn't show this sword to just anyone. But you, young lady, are different. You are so young, so beautiful, and you understand swords so well. I'll make an exception to show it to you. But only to look. Don't think about buying it; you can't afford it!"
"In other words, it's because my sister-in-law is pretty," Huang He grumbled in his heart.
Huang He expected the boss to retrieve the sword from the deepest part of the shop. However, to his surprise, the boss directly took a long sword from the wall. It looked ordinary, somewhat dusty, and unremarkable, seemingly a cheap item. This sword was also three feet long.
However, keeping the most precious sword on the wall like an ordinary item would make it unlikely for thieves to steal it. After all, any antique, especially metal antiques, is not light. Ordinary thieves can at most carry three or four items out. Therefore, they would naturally head to the deeper parts of the shop to find more valuable items, never expecting the shop's prized possession to be hanging on the wall.
"Is this… the Qingping Sword?" Leng Zhiwen's eyesight was good, and she recognized the characters on the scabbard immediately.
"No, this scabbard was made later. These are just characters carved on the scabbard!" the boss shook his head. "However, the name of this sword is indeed Qingping Sword, but not the Qingping Sword of Tongtian Sect Master. It's the Qingping Sword meaning 'pure poverty'."
"Qingping Sword? What a strange name. I don't recall any such famous sword in ancient times!" Leng Zhiwen said in surprise.
"Ah, those famous swords of ancient times, while good, were not the best. The best swords are killing swords, swords that can withstand a hundred battles without a scratch!" the boss said. "This Qingping Sword is said to have originally belonged to an ordinary soldier surnamed Liunian in the Ming Dynasty. It even participated in the Tumu Crisis. The owner of this sword, relying on this sword that could cut iron like mud, fought his way back to Beijing. It was passed down through generations, enduring hundreds of battles and still looking like new. If it weren't for his owner planning a long journey, he wouldn't have parted with it to me!" xxs壹贰
"Tsk tsk! Hearing your story, boss, I feel like I'm entering a fantasy world from the real world!" Huang He quipped. At this moment, Leng Zhiwen had already taken the sword from the boss and lightly drew it from its sheath. A dragon's roar echoed through the heavens. When it was fully drawn, a faint aura of killing intent seemed to permeate the entire place.
"Clang!" Another dragon's roar. Leng Zhiwen had merely thrust the sword into the air, and it produced a roaring sound. This was not the annoying buzzing sound often heard in Wuxia TV dramas.
Instead, it was a clear, sharp whistle, truly like a blue dragon emerging from water or a phoenix singing from Mount Qi.
"This is a sword's hum. You can produce this hum with just one thrust!" the boss was stunned. "Young lady, how long have you practiced swordplay? Not just anyone can produce this."
"I've practiced with my master for about 12 years!" Leng Zhiwen replied.
"12 years to produce a sword's hum with one thrust? This level of skill can be compared to some sword masters of the past!" the boss exclaimed. [PS: I recommend everyone watch the video of Wudang's Daoist Master Chen practicing swordplay. You'll know that the sword's hum isn't made up or just a buzzing sound.]
"Boss, can you sell me this sword?" Leng Zhiwen truly liked this sword and didn't want to let go of it.
"No, I'm just showing it to you. I plan to keep it as a family heirloom and pass it down through generations!" the boss waved his hands repeatedly.
"Oh!" Leng Zhiwen's expression turned a bit dejected, but she still obediently prepared to return the sword. Unexpectedly, a hand pressed down on Leng Zhiwen's hand.
"Boss, since my friend likes this sword so much, I must help her. Please name your price!" Huang He said with a smile.
"Name a price?" the boss scoffed. "I can name a price, but I'm afraid you can't afford it."
"Please state the price first."
"Alright, I won't cheat you. I bought this sword for 10,000 yuan back then. I intend to collect it for a thousand years. So if you can afford 10 million yuan, I might be willing to sell it to you!" This statement from the boss was purely a refusal to sell. Otherwise, why would anyone buy it for 10,000 yuan and then demand 10 million yuan? What kind of fool would pay that?
"Okay!" To the boss's surprise, Huang He agreed without any negotiation and then pulled out his bank card. "Shall we go to the bank? Or can I swipe the card here?"
"You're really paying ten million for this sword?" the boss was stunned. "Although this sword is of extremely high quality, it was an unknown sword throughout history. To outsiders, even for less than fifty thousand yuan, it wouldn't sell. You'll be losing a lot of money!"
"It doesn't matter!" Huang He laughed. "The reason this sword is unknown is that it hasn't met a master who can make it famous. If this sword had been carried by Qi Jiguang or Li Zicheng, its price wouldn't be measured in tens of millions!"
"Now that it has met me, Huang He, it's time for its fortune to change. After I die, this sword will be worth at least a hundred million yuan!"
"You're amazing! Just for that statement, I believe you will have that day!" the boss gave a thumbs up. "In that case, I won't ask for 10 million anymore. I'll give you a discount, five million and it's yours."
"That good?" Huang He smiled.
"But I have two conditions, and you must agree to them!" the boss said.
"What conditions?"
"First, you must leave something of yours in my shop and take a photo with me. You're taking away my family heirloom, so I have to find another one. If you can really make the price of this Qingping Sword break 100 million, then the things you carry should also allow me to pass down a family heirloom."
"The things on me!" Huang He touched himself but couldn't find anything worthy of being a family heirloom to give to the boss. Finally, he felt his phone and took it out, handing it to the boss. "Is my phone okay?"
"That's fine! As long as it's your item!" the boss nodded.
"This item already has a name!" Huang He rolled his eyes. "This is the first independently researched, designed, and manufactured color screen camera phone in China. It even has the serial number 0001. It will surely be priceless in the future!"
"Is that so?" the boss nodded and found a beautiful wooden box to keep the phone in.
Well, fortunately, this was a knock-off phone. Huang He only needed to delete all the photos and transfer the contacts to the SIM card to complete all the data transfer. Otherwise, if it were a smartphone, transferring all the data would take a very long time.
"What's the second requirement?" Huang He asked curiously.
"This is simple. I want to ask this young lady to perform a sword dance for me!" the boss said with great anticipation. "I'm obsessed with swords, but I've never seen a true sword master perform a sword dance. This young lady's swordsmanship is already at a master's level, so I want to witness it."
"This is not something I can decide. Zhiwen, what do you think?" Huang He asked curiously.
"Okay!" Leng Zhiwen nodded. The boss immediately and excitedly had his staff clear the area in front of the shop. These tourists, hearing that someone was going to perform a sword dance, also cooperatively made space.
The next moment, Leng Zhiwen held her long sword, transformed into a colorful phoenix, and lightly tapped a stone pillar at the entrance with her right foot. She truly soared into the air like a phoenix, while the Qingping Sword in her hand whistled continuously, like the clanging of metal on a battlefield.
At this moment, everyone was captivated.
"Director Li, I never expected that we would get to see such a sword dance today!" said a middle-aged man in the crowd, immensely excited. "It seems we've found our long-sought Li Xiaoyao!"