Chapter 46 Exposing the Fraud

"A tip?"

Hearing this, "Master Moyang" swayed, nearly spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Tip your sister!

I, a dignified master, not short of money, would accept your tip...

His face ashen, "Master Moyang" was about to explode, caught between accepting and not accepting.

Accepting would mean taking someone's tip, making him no different from a servant or underling; not accepting... the gesture itself made him feel even more humiliated!

Suddenly, a thought struck him... Could this kid have deliberately used his money earlier, already anticipating this, and then intentionally embarrassed him?

"Don't want it? Great, that saves me a thousand. You know, a thousand gold coins can buy a lot of things!"

Seeing him hesitate to take it, Zhang Xuan put the money back into his pocket, muttering as he did so.

"..." Hearing this, "Master Moyang" was even more devastated.

"You got lucky and picked one right, but that doesn't mean you've won! Alright, I have important matters to attend to, I must be going!"

A cold glint flashed in his eyes, "Master Moyang" stood up, waved his hand, and prepared to leave.

Watching his actions, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but admire.

Truly a professional swindler—leaves immediately after a failed strike. Such decisiveness is admirable.

Whether it was luck or genuine ability to appraise treasures, having earned so much in one go, the surrounding crowd would no longer see him as a madman. Rather than continue stirring things up here, it was better to stop.

After all, he had already gained considerable benefits from guiding others earlier.

The longer the fuss dragged on, the more disadvantageous it was for the swindler.

"Our contest isn't over yet, why leave in such a hurry?" Since he was going to beat a drowning dog, Zhang Xuan naturally wouldn't let him escape.

"Yeah, Master, don't rush off! The things they bought all made money, so he hasn't won yet!"

"The Master just underestimated his opponent and didn't pick the most expensive treasure. We believe in you..."

After several days of buildup, the Master still had many loyal followers.

"I already said I have important matters to attend to. Farewell!" "Master Moyang" waved his hand.

"Even if you have important matters, a few minutes won't hurt. I still have something to ask you!" Zhang Xuan blocked his path.

"What is it?" "Master Moyang" stopped, snorting coldly.

"This friend..."

Seeing him stop, Zhang Xuan smiled slightly and looked at the old man who had just obtained the Master's recommendation and bought the ornamental vase.

"What's the matter?" The old man walked over.

The ornamental vase was still in his arms, as if holding the rarest treasure. Such a large item couldn't be polished quickly, so he hadn't done it yet.

"If I'm not mistaken, this thing you bought for eighty thousand gold coins is an ornamental vase, and a broken one at that—not worth a single gold coin!" Zhang Xuan pointed.

"Ornamental vase? Not worth a single gold coin? Are you joking? This was chosen by the Master..." The old man's face darkened as he shouted.

"Such a large treasure would be troublesome to polish, taking at least a day. How about this: just smash it on the ground! If I'm wrong, I'll compensate you the eighty thousand gold coins. If I'm right, you've been tricked, and you can go demand your money from the swindler!"

Zhang Xuan looked at him with a smile.

"Smash it?" The old man was taken aback.

What the other said was true—such a large treasure would take considerable time to polish, but smashing it would be quick.

If it really was just an ornamental vase as he said, it wouldn't be worth much.

Eighty thousand gold coins—even for him, it was nearly bankrupting.

If he had bought a fake, he'd probably jump off a building when he got home.

If the youth had said this earlier, he would have scoffed and not believed it at all, but the other had just bought a treasure that multiplied 765 times, which made him waver.

"Don't worry, a real treasure won't shatter from one drop. If it doesn't break, you won't lose out either!" Seeing his hesitation, Zhang Xuan continued.

"Alright!"

After hesitating briefly, the old man tossed the treasure in his arms to the ground.

Clang!

With a crisp sound, the tall treasure shattered directly, revealing its true appearance beneath the moss and dirt... indeed a pile of broken porcelain.

"It really is... an ornamental vase?"

After a glance, many recognized it—it was indeed an ornamental vase.

Even if it were an antique, it wouldn't be worth much, let alone eighty thousand gold coins—not even ten gold coins could sell it.

"What's going on..."

Looking at the shattered pieces on the ground, the old man was stunned.

He had been full of hope that this thing would make him rich, but now it had turned out like this—how could he not be frantic?

"What's going on? You should ask this Master Moyang! If I'm not mistaken, he and this stall owner are in cahoots. They use the guise of treasure appraisal to attract attention, then under the pretense of guidance, make you spend a fortune to buy things, reaping huge profits!"

Zhang Xuan looked at "Master Moyang" and the nearby stall owner, a curl to his lips. "As for how he could pick out high-value items, it's simple: he's not present during polishing, so he can swap in a prepared treasure and claim it's the one he chose. Since no one sees it, they can say whatever they want."

"This..."

"Really?"

...

Hearing the truth Zhang Xuan exposed, everyone began to waver.

First appraising a treasure himself, then exposing a fake—step by step, the crowd that had been so convinced of "Master Moyang" was now starting to doubt.

Clang!

Just as they were pondering who was right, another crisp sound came from the crowd. Another person who had obtained a recommendation smashed his treasure. This time it wasn't porcelain, but a discarded clay pot, clearly worthless.

"Fake, fake! I spent sixty thousand gold coins on this... They're swindlers!"

Seeing the shattered pieces on the ground, the buyer realized he had been cheated and roared madly.

Bang! Crash! Pfft!

With two precedents, the remaining few could no longer sit still. They threw their newly bought treasures to the ground or cut them open with hammers and knives.

At a glance, their faces all turned pale.

"All fakes... all worthless junk!"

"We've been cheated. This Master Moyang is a fake..."

If only one were fake, it might be excusable—even appraisers aren't one hundred percent accurate. But when nine items bought at high prices all turned out fake, it could only mean the other party was a swindler!

"Benevolent and virtuous, unparalleled righteousness... Bah! You're just a big swindler!"

The enraged crowd now surrounded the area tightly, glaring at "Master Moyang" and the stall owner, ready to kill.

No one's money came from the wind.

If it hadn't been noticed, after they polished the items and realized they'd been cheated, who would they turn to?

"Don't listen to this kid's nonsense! Even master appraisers make mistakes. I really don't know this stall owner..."

Seeing the murderous looks from the crowd, "Master Moyang" knew he could no longer hide it and shouted hoarsely.

Before, the crowd would have listened to him, but now... no one did.

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

Soon, the sounds of human punching bags rang out from the crowd, followed by continuous cries of pain. The stall owner didn't escape either.

As for the instigator, Zhang Xuan, he had already quietly slipped away during the chaos.

The world is vast; every day people cheat and are cheated. He wasn't a god and couldn't manage it all. If not for this "Master Moyang" running his mouth and causing trouble for him, he wouldn't have bothered.

Now that the victims knew the truth, they would handle it themselves—no need for him to worry further.

"Huangyu Bookstore..."

Walking slowly through the market, soon a large room appeared before him, filled with bookshelves lined with all kinds of books.

The market sold herbs, weapons, and savage beasts, naturally also had a place selling books—this was his main purpose for coming to the market.

"Let's go in and take a look!"

Zhang Xuan stepped inside.