Chapter 432 Visiting Bole, Black Lotus’ legacy
It was midday, and it was not the annual auction season, so the auction house was very deserted during the off-season.
In the hall, except for a few permanent appraisers, no one comes here to hang out.
"Da da da,,,"
Footsteps sounded from outside the door, and when they walked in, no one wanted to get up and pay attention. They were all taking a nap.
Lin Shan looked at the familiar layout of the hall and felt inexplicably relaxed.
He looked at the appraisers one by one and found that no one recognized them. They were probably all newcomers in recent years.
At this time, a maid came up to him and asked him if he wanted something to be appraised or if it was to be mortgaged and auctioned. She came to receive the whole process.
Lin Shan smiled slightly, spread his consciousness out, and after exploring the huge pavilion, he withdrew his consciousness and said thank you.
"No need, you go and do your work, I can just walk by myself."
The maid had stayed in the auction house for a long time and had met some big shots. She could feel the extraordinaryness of the people in front of her and stepped back voluntarily.
The appraisers in front of the counter seemed to have come to their senses at this time, but none of them moved in their seats. They were secretly nervous in their hearts, and kept asking this visitor not to come to them.
Because this young man walked calmly and they couldn't tell clearly about his cultivation. At least he was in the foundation building stage and above, so he probably had a lot of background.
Ordinary appraisers like them will definitely not be able to see the things that this kind of people use for appraisal or auction.
It’s normal to think about it.
A disciple of a large sect has received systematic education since childhood and is from a major. His knowledge and vision are definitely far beyond those of others. Do you still need your appraisal?
What others can't see, you probably can't see either.
In the profession of appraiser, if a large number of sect disciples are really willing to condescend to grab food, casual cultivators will have no way to survive.
Although performance is also very important to them, if the identification is wrong or cannot be identified, they will also have to bear responsibility, so no one wants to take the job.
If you want to find it, you can only go to the chief appraiser to check it.
But the chief appraiser.
Basically, everyone has the same kind of virtue. On weekdays, they either stay in the cave to practice or go out to enjoy the mountains and rivers. They don't need to stay in the auction house at all. They only come to take a look occasionally and don't sit on the stage during non-auction periods.
Fortunately, Lin Shan had no intention of looking for them, so he bypassed the counter and went directly into the backyard and went upstairs.
The number one appraiser in the world of cultivation is here, why do I need you guys to appraise me?
joke!
The group of appraisers breathed a sigh of relief at their respective counters, turned their heads and stopped paying attention, and leaned back on their chairs to doze off.
Lin Shan went up one level and found that there were really no people in the off-season, not even a doorman.
It can be seen that the auction house's business has declined in recent years, and the business is bleak. It is probably due to the impact of the war between good and evil in the Song Dynasty decades ago, which led to the economic downturn, and the monks tightened their pockets.
Everyone is no longer willing to consume, and they keep the spiritual stones firmly in their hands. The capitalists in the cultivation world have no choice but to tighten their belts and lay off workers. The unlucky ones are the workers at the bottom.
Lin Shan just arrived at the fifth-floor attic step by step without any obstruction.
Through the beaded curtains, you can see at the end of the big red carpet inside, an old man with a haggard face, sitting cross-legged and meditating.
"My fellow Taoist is a guest from afar. I apologize for the inconvenience of greeting you. Please come in."
Lin Shan did not hide himself, Zuo Zhenren could naturally sense it.
Compared to those years ago, this old man is now visibly aging, with all his hair falling out, brown spots covering his face and arms, and his skin being loose and wrinkled.
His eyes were cloudy and dull, and it was a bit difficult to hold up his eyelids.
At this moment, he raised his head with difficulty and looked outside the curtain.
Lin Shan walked in step by step, bowed and gave a salute. He could feel that Zhenren Zuo was on the verge of passing away, with leaks in his body and loss of essence. This probably happened in the past two months.
But what he didn't expect was that the other party's presbyopic eyes recognized his identity after studying him for a moment.
"Hey, it turns out it's your boy"
Zuo Zhenren's words were hoarse, his voice was uncomfortable, and his teeth were almost gone.
Laughing is uglier than crying.
However, I could feel that he was genuinely smiling.
"Junior Lin Shan, meet the real person!"
"Well, well, get up."
Zuo Zhenren wanted to raise his hand, but found it difficult to do so, so he simply stretched out his hand, slowly tilted his head, and motioned for Lin Shan to sit down.
I found a futon next to Lin Shan and talked about old times with Master Zuo.
Because their cultivation levels were similar, the two chatted quite smoothly, with no sense of estrangement. For a while, they were like old friends for many years, chatting happily.
Zuo Zhenren was not surprised that he broke through to the golden elixir stage, probably because he felt that he was not a creature in the pool and would soar to the sky sooner or later.
It is also possible that the person who is too old and is about to die has become calm.
It was only when I learned that he had taken the life-extending elixir that he was rejuvenated, that he showed a hint of envy.
Only by truly experiencing the helplessness and pain of reaching the end of your life span can you realize how precious the life-extending elixir is.
The two talked about how in the past, Zuo Zhenren, Xiao Linshan, always advanced his salary in advance. This was the first time he had seen such a young man in so many years. He thought it was interesting and approved it for him.
Lin Shan expressed his sincere thanks and asked about the subsequent situation of the auction house.
Zuo Zhenren looked melancholy and slowly told him what happened after he left.
Because Mr. Zhang and Lin Shan left one after another, Yichuan Auction House did not have anyone qualified to be the chief appraiser, so it could only leave this position vacant temporarily.
Until later, wars broke out in the Song Dynasty. Many casual cultivators were afraid of being implicated, so they left the city and fled into the mountains, hiding from the world and waiting for the right time.
The auction house's business has been bleak since then, and it has not been able to hold an auction for twenty consecutive years.
Later, the righteous path finally showed a chance of victory and drove the three demonic sects back to the East China Sea. The sects on the Dayan side took the opportunity to make a surprise attack and captured the sixteen states of Yanyun.
At that time, in order to deploy a cross-sea attack and drive the cancer of the three evil sects out of the East China Sea, Zhengdao could only hold his nose and admit it.
After the East China Sea was recovered, they hurriedly transferred their troops and went north to defend Yan from the south.
Now on the front lines of the two sides, in the area further down from Yanyun, Yichuan and the surrounding sect families have already completely surrendered to the Yan Kingdom.
They have to surrender. Their spiritual veins, property, and ancestral home are all here, and they can't escape at all.
It's said that it's hard to leave one's homeland, but actually it's because I'm afraid that I won't be able to make a comeback in another place.
Zuo Zhenren is also very aware of current affairs and has already invested in it with his family and property.
At that time, he had become the only real Jin Dan in the family and the backbone of the whole family.
He was originally a casual cultivator, but later became the son-in-law of a cultivator family. Later, he crossed the class ladder and became a shareholder of the auction house, and was gradually promoted to the elder of the Yichuan Internal Affairs Office.
It can be said to be a typical case of a casual cultivator turning around in the northern cultivation world!
Many poor boys also want to get something for nothing, follow the example of Zuo Zhenren and get close to the rich woman, and then reach the pinnacle of life. Without countless detours, they will reach a height that others cannot reach after a lifetime of hard work. However, the old head of the aristocratic family was willing to cultivate the young Zuo Zhenren, and he must have taken a fancy to his potential, so he left his daughter and the family in the hands of outsiders.
Without a few brushes, the most a young lady from a cultivation family would ask is, what kind of toad are you?
Since the old family leader passed away early, Zuo Zhenren has become a true dictatorship of his relatives, controlling all the power and property of the family.
But in recent decades, he has been under unimaginable pressure.
The demonic sects of Yan State came one after another, exploiting and extorting non-stop, and they were all untouchable.
Zuo Zhenren was forced to keep giving in, but the other party only intensified his efforts, and there were even more complaints within the family.
At the same time, bad news also came from the outside. His title as the elder of the Yichuan Internal Affairs Office was removed and replaced by Jin Dan, the real person who was airborne from the Yan Kingdom.
After a long period of hard work and old age, he finally became exhausted mentally and physically.
When his enthusiasm waned, he simply delegated power and returned power to the original family members. He returned to Yichuan Auction House and guarded the place where he made his fortune alone.
Just as he was waiting to die, Lin Shan happened to come back.
After a conversation, both of them were filled with sighs.
"I have withdrawn from the family and given up all family assets. It can be regarded as leaving the family. From now on, I have no connection with the outside world."
"Yichuan Auction House is an industry that I have worked hard on for most of my life, been busy for most of my life, and worked hard both outside and in private. I cannot just watch it collapse so easily."
"So. Cough cough cough."
"Ahem, cough, cough."
Master Zuo was holding a handkerchief tremblingly, coughing up blood and looking into the distance.
"I want to pass it on to my illegitimate son to protect him on his way to adulthood!"
Lin Shan's eyes widened: "What? Illegitimate child?"
Good guy!
You are a surrogate son-in-law, you are staying with a rich woman and you don’t take good care of your mother-in-law, and you are still waving colorful flags outside?
Why am I not so lucky!
His eyes were red and sore here, but Zuo Zhenren did not show any shyness. Instead, his eyebrows were sharp and righteous, and his words were stern.
"Although I have married into a wife, I also know that there are three types of unfilial piety, the worst is not having children!"
"The children born in their mother's family take their maiden name, but I, the Zuo family, can't give up the heir apparent!"
"I leave seeds outside just to comfort my ancestors and continue the incense. It is not half-hearted. This is what it should be. Why should I be surprised?"
Awesome!
It was as if Lin Shan was meeting Zuo Zhenren for the first time. He spoke of finding a mistress outside in such a fresh and refined way. It seemed to make sense and occupied the righteousness!
I have never seen such a shameless person!
But why am I so envious?
You have married a rich woman, you have a son-in-law, you have a mistress, you have arranged for illegitimate children, the red flag of the family is not down, and the colorful flags are flying behind you.
In Lin Shan's eyes, his life was worth it.
When Zuo Zhenren said this, he was not satisfied. Instead, he became worried about his illegitimate son!
"Oh, this rebellious son spends all his time traveling around and ignoring worldly affairs. I have tried to persuade him many times to no avail. How can I inherit the family business in the future!"
"I arranged a baby marriage for him when he was a child. She is the legitimate daughter of a cultivating family, but he looks down upon her!"
"I tried to smooth things over for him and join a sect to practice, which can be considered a spiritual mountain blessing with a complete inheritance, but he is still not interested!"
"As a last resort, he was given the position of chief appraiser to familiarize himself with the industry and pave the way for taking over in the future. He left without saying a word, and it took another three or four years for him to leave!"
"I'm old. I can't move or control myself. It's really sad for me."
Master Zuo sighed, feeling old and feeble.
The dignified Jindan Master is as helpless as he can be, and he can't even control his own son.
Lin Shan had no choice but to comfort him with kind words to make him feel at ease.
"You don't need to worry, sir. Your son is young and vigorous now, and it's time for him to be rebellious and stubborn. When he grows up and has more experiences outside, he will be able to understand your good intentions."
Zuo Zhenren shook his head and told him that things were far more than that simple.
"If Nizi was just being naughty, that's it! Before he left, he seemed to have met a wandering Taoist who passed through Yichuan, and he heard some rumors about the Black Lotus Sect!"
"From then on, I got out of control and had to go to the mainland of the Song Dynasty to find the secrets of the Black Lotus Sect for thousands of years!"
"You said he was full and full. If he didn't come back and inherit the family business, what would he do with those people from the Demon Cult who eat people without spitting out their bones?"
"What? Black Lotus?"
Lin Shan was also surprised. He didn't expect to hear information about the Black Lotus Sect here.
Didn’t the three righteous sects of the Song Dynasty have already expelled all the demonic forces, or killed them all?
The last time I heard about the current Black Lotus Sect was when the Zhenzhi Academy of Lu State was destroyed.
"According to reports from the Mainland of the Song Dynasty, it seems that there are still some Black Lotus Sect that went underground after the war between good and evil. They are still operating secretly, waiting for another counterattack from the outside world."
"These remaining troops are said to be part of the original local Black Lotus sect. They did not want to follow the demonic path and evacuate the East China Sea to the Lu Kingdom, so they continued to stay and lurk in their homeland."
"The traitor heard that there is a Seven Evil Soul Locking Technique in the Black Lotus Sect. It is so miraculous and powerful, so he got excited and went to find it on his own!"
"He doesn't even want to think about how he can find the other party with his little cultivation. Even if he finds him, how can he learn the magic from the Black Lotus Sect's accomplices? It's good if he doesn't have his bones knocked dry!"
"What a traitor, that's all. Let him die outside."
Zuo Zhenren became more and more angry as he spoke. He was so angry that he kept coughing. His anger echoed throughout the fifth floor.
Lin Shan quickly comforted him while secretly paying attention in his heart.
The Black Lotus Sect actually still has a local faction remaining in the Song Dynasty!
It seems that among the team that evacuated from the East China Sea that year, not all of them left their hometowns like Protector Yan. In the six regions of the Song Dynasty, there were always people who couldn't leave their hometown and went underground to continue their activities.
Now that I have reached the golden elixir stage, maybe I can look for the Black Lotus Sect and see if there are any Black Lotus Buddha statues that I can miss?
When it comes to ancient charm, he is more energetic than anyone else.
Master Zuo also revealed his purpose at the right time. What he said just now was also to raise the topic and make a request.
"Little friend Lin, if you meet that traitor in Song Dynasty someday, how about giving him a hand without delaying your work?"
"At my age, I can live one day at a time. If I hadn't been obsessed with it, I might have left last month."
"I can't hold on much now, so I can only ask you."
Lin Shan's face straightened and he responded solemnly.
"The real person has helped me a lot. This is just a trivial matter. Whenever I encounter it, I will not stand idly by if I can do my best!"
Zuo Zhenren couldn't help crying and wanted to stand up to say thanks, but he couldn't stand up at all.
Lin Shan quickly stopped him from making any big moves and just sat there, then asked.
"I wonder what your master's name is?"
"Zuo Ning."
"What are the characteristics?"
"Like me, I was born without eyebrows, so I am very easy to recognize."
(End of chapter)