Chapter 88: The Rich Brother-in-Law

Zhao Lan could not help looking at Chen Yu with suspicion, unable to make sense of what tricks the son-in-law of the Shen family was playing. Shen Youlin rolled her eyes in irritation; could he be trying to swagger about with the Shen family’s old wealth? If so, it was certainly not his turn to do it. Besides, what wealth did the Shen family even have left?

Liang Bingyan said bluntly in anger, “What right do you have to bid against me?”

Chen Yu smiled faintly. “I’ll pay one hundred million for this pendant.”

The middle-aged Taoist priest’s eyes lit up at once. One hundred million was a price he had never even dared to dream of.

But Zhao Lan and Shen Youlin burst out laughing, and even Old He could not help chuckling.

Liang Bingyan shook her head. “If Zhu Jun were standing in front of me and said one hundred million, I might still believe it. But you? A layabout like you, with money?”

Seeing this, the Taoist priest was somewhat disappointed. So he was just some penniless fool shouting nonsense here.

Thus he handed the pendant back to Liang Bingyan. “Miss, please make the payment.”

Yet Chen Yu stepped forward and snatched the pendant into his hand. “Didn’t I say I was buying it for one hundred million? What, you don’t believe I can afford it?”

Zhao Lan watched coldly, as if enjoying a show.

Shen Youlin shook her head, wondering if this bargain son-in-law had lost his mind.

“Stop fooling around!” Liang Bingyan scolded sharply, taking out her card to pay.

But the old Taoist priest hesitated, looking at the two of them, unsure whether he should believe Chen Yu.

At that moment, Chen Yu also produced a card with two billion on it. “If you don’t believe me, then swipe it.”

Seeing this, the others froze again. Could he really be wealthy?

A private sale like this naturally provided card payment. The old Taoist priest no longer hesitated and took Chen Yu’s card to swipe it.

Sure enough, one hundred million went through, and his face instantly bloomed with boundless delight.

Seeing this, Zhao Lan, Shen Youlin, and especially Liang Bingyan were all astonished beyond words. Shock would not even be an exaggeration.

After a while, Shen Youlin seemed to have discovered a new world, and a deep smile crept into her eyes.

She had never imagined that this bargain brother-in-law could be so rich. One hundred million, spent without even blinking. Then did that mean he had many more hundreds of millions besides this one?

The more she thought about it, the more her heart seemed to blossom.

Of course, she absolutely did not suspect that this money belonged to the Shen family. The Shen family had no liquidity of hundreds of millions now. It was plainly the money this bargain brother-in-law had on him. Thinking of this, she finally understood why her father had treated this man with such eager flattery.

She even wanted to step forward and link her arm through her brother-in-law’s at once, but that would have been far too unfair to her sister.

Zhao Lan found it even harder to believe. When had this bargain son-in-law of the Shen family become so rich?

Chen Yu held the pendant and glanced at Liang Bingyan. “Miss Liang, this pendant actually has no use to you at all.”

“What do you mean?” Liang Bingyan asked in confusion, though her dislike for him had already begun to grow.

Chen Yu smiled lightly, then turned to the middle-aged Taoist priest. “Daoist priest, now that money and goods have been exchanged, let us have a proper discussion.”

“Sir, do you need anything else? I still have some private stock here. Would you like me to bring it out for you to see?” The middle-aged Taoist priest thought Chen Yu still wanted to do business with him, so he said with a fawning smile.

Chen Yu held the pendant up before him. “This is the pendant you just sold me?”

The middle-aged Taoist priest did not quite understand, but still nodded. “Of course.”

“But it is not a lucky charm. It is a sinister object. How do you explain that?” Chen Yu’s expression suddenly turned cold.

“Sir, this pendant has already been appraised by professionals. It really is a lucky charm!” the middle-aged Taoist priest cried, looking innocent, though he could not hide the flicker of shock in his eyes.

At this moment, Master Sun also stepped forward. “Young man, the pendant you bought really is a lucky charm. Why do you say it is a sinister object?”

He had long prided himself on his sharp eye in helping people assess treasures in Jiangnan and had never been mistaken, so he could not help but object.

Old He, standing by the side, was also repeatedly shaking his head. He had thought this son-in-law of the Shen family had given him a pleasant surprise, perhaps even knew a thing or two about appraising such objects. Yet it turned out he understood nothing at all, could not even tell a lucky charm from a sinister object, and still dared to spend one hundred million to buy it. He was simply a blockhead.

Zhao Lan, Liang Bingyan, and Shen Youlin all looked at Chen Yu in puzzlement, unable to understand what he was trying to do now.

Chen Yu merely brushed his hand lightly across the pendant, and suddenly a chilling, terrifying aura burst forth, making all of them shiver.

Master Sun’s expression changed. “Corpse aura!”

Old He was stunned as well.

The middle-aged old Taoist priest’s eyes flashed with panic. “Who exactly are you?”

Liang Bingyan then asked Master Sun, “What is corpse aura?”

“Corpse aura, as the name suggests, is the breath of the dead. So this pendant really is not a lucky charm, but a very evil object indeed!”

Master Sun truly lived up to his reputation. With one look, he saw the essence of the pendant: a surface layer of auspicious energy, and within it a sinister chill. This was an object of great calamity. If an ordinary person carried it, they would certainly be affected by that baleful aura, and misfortune would follow without end.

“How, how can you tell?” Liang Bingyan felt a chill at the mention of the dead.

Shen Youlin, however, widened her eyes, her interest aroused to the fullest.

Zhao Lan also listened intently.

“In other words, this pendant was nourished by countless corpses. It contains both a veneer of wealth and a force of cold malevolence. But that veneer of prosperity is only superficial; how could it possibly suppress such dark power? Ah, this old man has truly missed his mark!”

As Master Sun spoke, he sighed again and again. At the same time, admiration filled his eyes as he looked at Chen Yu. He immediately cupped his hands. “May I ask the young gentleman’s honorable name? To uncover the hidden truth within this pendant, you must be no ordinary man. If you ever come to Jiangnan in the future, Sun Mao will surely treat you with due respect!”

Chen Yu smiled faintly. “Master Sun also has a discerning eye. It is only that this pendant had been tampered with by this Taoist priest, who concealed the corpse aura very well, thus deceiving Master Sun’s eyes. I am the son-in-law of the Shen family in Jiangcheng.”

“Very well, this old man will remember you, young gentleman.” Then he cupped his hands toward Liang Bingyan and said, “This old man was presumptuous before, nearly causing you harm, Miss Liang. I am truly ashamed to remain by your side any longer. Besides, now that the Shen family’s son-in-law is by your side, whatever you wish to buy, just ask him.”

With that, he left in deep discouragement.

By now, Liang Bingyan and the others looked at Chen Yu with entirely different eyes.

Even Old He had begun to reassess him.

At this moment, the middle-aged old Taoist priest’s gaze flickered. “Sir, what exactly do you want?”

“Just now you also heard Master Sun. Do you not think you should compensate me for my loss?” Chen Yu said with a smile that was not quite a smile.

“I sold you the item intact and unharmed. What loss are you talking about?”

“You labeled it a lucky charm, but the item is a sinister object. That is fraud.”

The middle-aged Taoist priest stared at Chen Yu for a long moment. “What exactly do you want?”

“It’s simple. I spent one hundred million. Do you think I’d be willing to let this pass?” Chen Yu’s eyes glimmered with amusement.

For some reason, the middle-aged Taoist priest suddenly felt wave after wave of pressure. He had already stepped into the path of sorcery, and by reason his mental power should have been formidable, yet he felt a kind of fear toward this man. He could not even bring his magic to bear. This left him inconceivably shaken. What kind of person was this?

“What do you want, then?” Since his arts could not be fully displayed, he could only ask in retreat.

“Compensate me with that gourd hanging from your waist.” Chen Yu smiled, glancing at the gourd hanging from the old Taoist priest’s belt.

The middle-aged Taoist priest was startled. “How did he see through this treasure?”

“Sir, this gourd is just something I usually use to hold wine. It has no real use. Why do you want it? I could compensate you with a few other things instead.”

Hearing that the middle-aged Taoist priest was actually yielding to Chen Yu, Liang Bingyan and the others were deeply incredulous. In transactions like this, once you had bought it, you had bought it; even if it turned out to be fake, you could only accept your bad luck. They had never imagined Chen Yu could still demand compensation from the seller.

“If you do not give me that gourd as compensation, I’m afraid you will never be able to get off this ship,” Chen Yu said indifferently.

The middle-aged Taoist priest staggered back two steps, then suddenly lifted the gourd and shouted, “Do not force me!”

As he spoke, he opened the gourd’s cap, and a cloud of black mist shot straight toward Chen Yu...