Divine Level Witch Doctor

The middle-aged man, Shi Xuemin, was taken aback. Seeing the furious Cheng Yunlong storm in, he looked incredibly awkward and said with a strained laugh, ”What’s wrong, Old Cheng? Is this your friend? Goodness, young man, why didn’t you tell me? This is a classic case of not recognizing one of our own! Fine, the deal’s off. I won’t sell it, alright?”

”Wait!” Zhao Yuan grew anxious. He had nearly finished walking the entire Antique Street and had only just found a stone that contained Qi. How could he possibly let it go? He quickly said, ”You already agreed. How can you back out of the deal? You have to be a man of your word!”

As he spoke, he pulled a bank card from his pocket and asked, ”You take cards here, right?”

Shi Xuemin was dumbfounded.

’What is wrong with this kid? Is he slow or something? My words just now were subtle, but anyone with half a brain would know there was a problem with this stone and its price. So why is he so eager to get ripped off? And he has the nerve to lecture me about being a man of your word... For crying out loud, I was *trying* to be a man of my word by canceling the deal!’

As he was stewing, Cheng Yunlong walked over. Seeing the watermelon-sized Jadeite in Zhao Yuan’s arms, he burst with rage. ”You, Shi Xuemin! You’re a real piece of work! Selling this worthless stone to Master Zhao, and for a hundred thousand? Why don’t you just go rob someone? I get it now! You’re treating Master Zhao like a fat sheep, trying to recoup some of your losses on him!”

With his intentions laid bare, Shi Xuemin flushed with embarrassment and grew angry himself. He snorted, ”Old Cheng, what right do you have to accuse me? As if you’ve never fleeced a fat sheep yourself! This friend of yours came into my shop and never mentioned his connection to you. You think I would’ve tried to rip him off otherwise? Besides, you heard me! I tried to cancel the deal, but he wouldn’t let me! According to the rules of our trade, a third party isn’t supposed to interfere. I haven’t even called you out for breaking the rules, and here you are, blaming me!”

Cheng Yunlong shot him a glare and said, ”I’m trying to help you, you moron! Truly, no good deed goes unpunished!”

”’Help me?’” Shi Xuemin was bewildered and couldn’t help but wonder to himself, ’What does Old Cheng mean by that? He clearly ruined my sale, so how could he possibly be helping me? Ah… unless… this young man has some kind of powerful background?’

The more he thought about it, the more convinced Shi Xuemin became that this was the truth.

Sure, stone gambling has its rules: once a transaction is complete, whatever is cut from the stone has nothing to do with the seller. But rules are rigid, and people are flexible. If Zhao Yuan truly came from a powerful background, losing money on a worthless stone would be a trivial matter. But if he felt he had lost face and decided to cause trouble over it, Shi Xuemin would be in a world of hurt.

Believing he had figured it all out, Shi Xuemin shot Cheng Yunlong a grateful look before turning to Zhao Yuan with an obsequious smile. ”Young man... ah, no, that’s not right. Zhao... uh, Master Zhao.”

The title felt awkward on his tongue.

”Master Zhao, my deepest apologies for just now. I admit, I might have exaggerated this stone’s qualities a little. The truth is, it can’t compare to the others. If you really want to try stone gambling, why not buy this one instead? Just look at its appearance—it’s quite excellent. I’d say there’s at least a sixty percent chance of cutting Jade from it!”

To make up for his mistake, Shi Xuemin took a new stone from a cabinet below and placed it in front of Zhao Yuan.

Cheng Yunlong, standing to the side, nodded. This Jadeite did indeed look good; for a hundred thousand, it would be a fair price.

But Zhao Yuan, the man at the center of it all, didn’t even glance at the new stone. He pointed at the rock the two experts had called worthless and said, ”No, I want this one!”

”This...” Shi Xuemin was filled with regret. ’I shouldn’t have hyped up this stone so much earlier.’

He clearly misunderstood, thinking that Zhao Yuan was insisting on buying the worthless stone because he had fallen for his earlier sales pitch.

Cheng Yunlong frowned. He was about to try and talk Zhao Yuan out of it, but then he suddenly recalled Zhao Yuan’s many miraculous abilities and couldn’t help but wonder, ’Why is Master Zhao so insistent on buying this worthless stone? Could it actually be a hidden treasure?’

So he stopped trying to dissuade him and instead said to Shi Xuemin, ”Old Stone, this worthless rock of yours isn’t worth a hundred thousand. Hurry up and give us a real price!”

”Huh?” Shi Xuemin was surprised yet again.

’What kind of game are you playing, Cheng Yunlong? One moment you’re scolding me for selling a worthless stone to this young man, and the next you’re on board with the sale and haggling over the price?’

Confused as he was, since Cheng Yunlong wasn’t insisting on switching stones, he didn’t see the need to press the issue. After a moment’s thought, he said, ”How about this. I’ll cut the price in half—fifty thousand. Consider it a gesture of friendship...”

Before he could finish, Cheng Yunlong cut him off with a glare. ”Fifty thousand for a worthless stone? That’s still robbery! Go lower!”

’Damn it, whose side are you on? Just who is this kid to you? Why are you trying so hard to curry favor with him?’

Shi Xuemin was absolutely fuming.

Just then, Zhao Yuan spoke up. ”Alright, Boss Cheng, don’t make things difficult for Boss Shi. Fifty thousand it is. But once the deal is done, whatever is cut out of this stone has nothing to do with you!”

”Of course!” Shi Xuemin nodded eagerly. ”Once the deal is done, the stone is yours. No matter how good the Jade inside is, it has nothing to do with me. I’ll only be happy for you, not the least bit envious or jealous! That’s the rule in the stone gambling business.”

”Good. Run the card,” Zhao Yuan said, handing his bank card to Shi Xuemin. At the same time, he asked, ”Boss Shi, do you have stone cutting tools here?”

Shi Xuemin replied, ”We have them in the backyard. You want to have it cut right here, right now? I can take you there in a moment. But I have to warn you, if there’s no Jade inside...”

Zhao Yuan smiled. ”Don’t worry, I definitely won’t cause you any trouble.”

”Good, good.” Shi Xuemin was finally relieved. He didn’t for a second believe that any Jade could be cut from that worthless stone.

Cheng Yunlong, however, thought differently. In his mind, if Zhao Yuan was so determined to buy this worthless stone, then it absolutely had to contain a treasure. He eagerly said, ”Master Zhao, I’ll go get the best Master of Stone Cutting on Antique Street for you.”

”Alright, thank you,” Zhao Yuan agreed with a nod.

Shi Xuemin, standing to the side, couldn’t help but scoff inwardly. ’It’s just a worthless stone, isn’t it? And you’re going to get the best Master of Stone Cutting on Antique Street for it? What’s the point? Isn’t this just begging to be publicly humiliated?’

The more he watched, the less he understood any of it.

At first, it seemed like Cheng Yunlong was on Zhao Yuan’s side, but now, it felt as if he were pushing Zhao Yuan toward humiliation.

’Are these two guys friends or enemies?’ Shi Xuemin wondered.