In the afternoon, I went to the herbal market.
This time, I needed to buy a lot of herbs, totaling around thirty kinds.
The "Divine Farmer Scripture" records the ancient names, which have now long changed and are hard to find; moreover, some have long been extinct. After several rounds, I found about twenty kinds.
Fortunately, I found all the main herbs; only some auxiliary herbs were missing, which could be replaced with other herbs.
I bought some substitute herbs, then went to buy Lingzhi and other herbs, filling my backpack.
I rode my small tricycle out of the herbal market, ready to return to Thompson Village.
Next to the herbal market was Trinket Row.
As I passed by, suddenly, someone beside me shouted, "Thompson!"
I hesitated, thinking I misheard. When I turned to look, not far away, a black car stopped. The window rolled down, revealing Ninth Master Thomas's head.
"Ah, it's Ninth Master! What a coincidence!"
I replied.
"Yes, indeed! Thompson, did you just come out of the herbal market?" Ninth Master Thomas asked.
"Yes!"
Ninth Master Thomas chuckled, glanced quickly, and said, "Thompson, since it's such a rare coincidence, would you like to come and widen your horizons with me?"
I was slightly taken aback.
I initially wanted to refuse, but then I thought that the antique trade was rather mysterious and possibly quite interesting. Since there was nothing urgent, it wouldn't hurt to take a look.
"Alright!" I nodded and agreed.
Ninth Master Thomas smiled and said, "Then follow me, it's not far." With that, the car slowly drove to a stop next to Trinket Row.
Ninth Master Thomas got out of the car, dressed in traditional clothes, with a tall and straight posture, looking spirited.
Then the driver got out of the car, a middle-aged man in his forties.
"This is my son, Paul Thomas. This one I've mentioned before, is Thompson." Ninth Master introduced.
"Ah, it's Divine Doctor Thompson. It's an honor!"
Paul Thomas, like Ninth Master, had an elegant and scholarly demeanor.
"You flatter me, you flatter me!" I replied quickly.
"Thompson, let's go!" Ninth Master led the way. "Today, there's a trade fair. I'm bringing you to take a look."
"Trade fair? Ghost market?"
Ninth Master chuckled, "No! You'll find out soon enough."
I said no more, following Ninth Master as we walked.
Along Trinket Row, we soon arrived at a shop. Entering, someone came out and, seeing Ninth Master, greeted him respectfully, "Ninth Master!"
Ninth Master nodded, walked in, and passed through a door to enter inside.
Inside was a winding corridor, after some time, we entered a hall.
The hall was a bit dim. Around the room were tables and in the middle, several stools, occupied by quite a few people. Seeing Ninth Master enter, they all stood and greeted him.
"Sit down, everyone!" Ninth Master waved his hand.
Seeing me behind Ninth Master, someone chuckled, "Hey! Ninth Master, bringing a young man to practice?"
Ninth Master smiled, "No, this young fellow isn't from this trade, just bringing him to broaden his horizons."
That person nodded and turned his eyes away.
"Sit, please!"
Ninth Master led me, finding a seat and sitting down. He pulled out a pocket watch and glanced, saying, "It's about to start."
After a while, a few more people came, all uniformly dressed in traditional suits. The leader was a skinny man in his fifties with a pair of thick eyebrows and a bit of a craftiness about him.
He swaggered over, seeing Ninth Master and chirped, "Oh! Ninth Master, you're here!"
As he spoke, a gold tooth was revealed in his mouth.
Ninth Master frowned, seeming to have little affection for this person, and coldly said, "Shopkeeper Moore!"
"Ninth Master, I hope you teach me more this time!"
Although Shopkeeper Moore said that, there wasn't the slightest respect in his tone, but rather a hint of mockery.
I also noticed that these two seemed to be rivals.
"Who is he?" I asked Paul Thomas quietly.
"His surname is Moore, nicknamed Gold Tooth. His shop has been a competitor to ours for over a decade," Paul Thomas explained.
I nodded in understanding.
After a while, suddenly, a light came on overhead. A group of people in black clothes came out from the inner hall, each holding an item covered in black cloth, placing them around the tables.
"It's started!" Ninth Master said.
After placing the items, they uncovered the black cloth, revealing a variety of artifacts, including pottery figurines, paintings, and jade.
Counting them, there were a total of twenty-five pieces.
Some were antiquated, while others were smeared with some soil, as if freshly unearthed.
"These things are collected by those who scrape the ground, specifically sold to us antique shopkeepers here, you see everyone here owns a major antique shop on the street."
Paul Thomas whispered.
I was puzzled, "What do you mean by scrape the ground?"
I did not lower my voice, so everyone heard. The antique shopkeepers knew I wasn't one of them, so they weren't surprised. However, Gold Tooth glanced over and laughed.
"What a bumbling greenhorn, I must say, Ninth Master, this young fellow won't do!"
Ninth Master said expressionlessly, "This young friend is not from the trade, I'm just bringing him to see." With that, he walked aside, his gaze landing on a porcelain bowl.
"Scraping the ground refers to people who don't own shops, exclusively collecting items from villages, some even buy directly from local scholars," Paul Thomas explained.
I nodded in understanding.
I also knew local scholars referred to those who rob ancient tombs.
I found it fascinating, continuously glancing around.
As I observed, suddenly my eyebrows furrowed. I noticed these relics were peculiar, as each seemed to be surrounded by a kind of aura, varying in intensity and uniqueness.
Standing a bit farther away, I could not sense it, but up close, I could feel it.
Touching them with my hand made the sensation even clearer.
Right, these antiques, having been around for so long, naturally accumulate some aura over time. The longer they've existed, the denser the aura should be.
After pondering for some time, I figured it out.
At this point, Ninth Master picked up the porcelain bowl in front of him, carefully examined it, and after putting it down, said, "For this, I bid one hundred and fifty thousand!"
Hearing Ninth Master's offer, others gathered around, inspecting it, leading to several bidding.
"I bid one hundred and sixty thousand!"
"I bid one hundred and seventy thousand!"
"I bid two hundred thousand!" Gold Tooth shouted loudly, squeezing in.
Ninth Master's face slightly changed, glaring coldly at Gold Tooth, "It's yours!"
"Ha ha! Ninth Master, thank you, thank you!" Gold Tooth beamed, picking up the porcelain bowl and examining it, saying, "A late Qing Dynasty official kiln piece, though slightly flawed, it should still fetch a good price."
With Gold Tooth's words, the others remained silent, and thus the porcelain bowl entered his possession.