Chapter 74 The Trouble Caused by the Buddha Head

"Are you here for Prince Fu tonight?" Pan Yueqing took a deep breath and tried her best to calm down. Qi Sian's voice stopped abruptly. He stood up and casually glanced at the paper that was already filled with questions and answers. He picked it up with his fingers and threw it into the censer. Watching the paper curl up in the fire and finally blend with the incense ashes, he raised his eyes and shouted angrily towards the door, "Who is it?! Don't you know that young master is having a good time?!"

The timid and fearful voice of a maid came from the door. Through the white window paper, the outline of the person outside was clearly visible: "Master Bai... asked... asked this maidservant to invite Third Master..."

Qi Sian cursed under his breath. He adjusted his robe with a big movement, deliberately feigning anger at being interrupted. He put on his mask, reached out to grab Pan Yueqing, and hugged her in his arms. When he opened the door, he picked a 'green jade grape' from the plate held by the maid and affectionately pushed the grape into Pan Yueqing's mouth.

Out of the corner of her eye, Pan Yueqing saw that although the maid had her head lowered, she was still looking at the two of them. Immediately, she also picked a grape, put it into Qi Sian's mouth with a loving look, ran her finger over his thin lips, and placed her index finger on Qi Sian's mouth. She said charmingly, "A Lang~" Just then, she turned her back to block the maid's view.

Qi Sian looked at Pan Yueqing's extremely charming appearance. His Adam's apple couldn't help but move up and down. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva imperceptibly, and a hearty laugh came from under the fox mask, full of meaning: "Naughty."

When they turned the stairs on the fourth floor, Pan Yueqing's face turned cold and she pushed Qi Sian away. Qi Sian looked at Pan Yueqing, whose expression changed faster than turning a page, through the mask. He involuntarily put his arm around Pan Yueqing's neck. Before she could resist, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "If you're going to act, act the whole way. There might be eyes on us in the dark." After that, he gently kissed the earlobe from which she had taken off the earring.

Pan Yueqing felt a shiver run through her from head to toe. She raised her eyes and met those peach blossom eyes that were so close and clearly visible. Seeing the teasing in them, she took a deep breath and tried to persuade herself to calm down. Then she laughed perfunctorily three times, put her arms around Qi Sian's waist, pinched him hard without leaving a trace, and her smile became sincere as Qi Sian let out a low cry of pain: "A Lang, let's go. I still want to see the treasures!"

Qi Sian smiled with his mouth but not his eyes and placed his hand on Pan Yueqing's. The two of them appeared beside the treasure appraisal platform on the second floor looking "inseparable". At first, the treasures didn't catch Qi Sian's eye. He stood by with his hands in his sleeves, watching those people wearing Kunlun slave masks around him bid up the prices and scramble for the items.

Master Bai clapped his hands and slightly raised his eyes towards Qi Sian's direction: "Third, you're unusually quiet tonight!"

Everyone turned around and looked. Inside the curtain in the corner, Third Master Hu was leaning against a beauty couch with a handsome young man in his arms. Qi Sian's sonorous voice came through the entire second floor from under the mask: "Big Brother, don't take out these pieces of junk. If there's nothing good, I'm going back!"

"Third Master Hu! So Third Master is here too!"

"Third Master! You must help us appraise the items!"

As for who Third Master Hu was, Pan Yueqing had no memory of him at all. Just like this Long Night Underground Palace was only a place in her memory before. From the words and demeanor of these people, she already understood the importance of Third Master Hu.

She had always known that there must be filth hidden in the dark corners, but she had never expected that there would be hidden treasures here.

"Third Brother, everyone knows that you have high standards, but you can't belittle my things like this!" Master Bai laughed heartily and raised his hand to signal the two tall and fully armed personal guards behind him to bring up tonight's item: "If you say this isn't good, I won't be convinced!"

Qi Sian slightly raised his chin, chuckled, but didn't say anything. Master Bai stroked his small beard and looked at Qi Sian with a bit of pride. Soon, the guards brought up a box that was extremely luxuriously wrapped. Qi Sian changed to a more comfortable position and ordered, "Go and lift the curtain."

Pan Yueqing got up from the soft couch, stretched out her fair hand, and nimbly lifted the thin gauze curtain. She slightly raised her eyes and timidly glanced in Master Bai's direction, then lowered her hands, lowered her eyebrows, and slowly turned her back and sat back beside Qi Sian.

Master Bai pulled the red silk beside the box, and the four walls of the box opened outwards. A Buddha head carved from white jade, which was extremely smooth, was slightly lowering its chin, with kind eyebrows and a compassionate expression, as if looking at all living beings with pity. Everyone around couldn't help but gasp. They instinctively thought this was a "White Jade Buddha Statue".

It was said that in the former dynasty's Ledai Kingdom, which had perished hundreds of years ago, the monarch during its heyday revered Buddhism. To celebrate the Buddha's birthday, he ordered the creation of eighteen thousand white jade Buddha statues. Among them, a three-zhang-high statue of the Buddha of the Sun, the principal body of the Buddha, was the most top-notch. As time passed, not to mention the statue of the Buddha Shakyamuni, even the other small Buddha statues had been lost in the continuous wars hundreds of years ago.

And this one in front of them should be the "Buddha of the Sun", one of the three bodies of the Buddha Shakyamuni that had been lost for many years! Pan Yueqing couldn't help but gasp when she looked at the Buddha head. Qi Sian also held his breath the moment the Buddha head saw the light of day again. Master Bai winked at Qi Sian: "Third Master Hu, does this meet your standards?"

"Big Brother, this is really a good item," Qi Sian stood up, raised his hand and couldn't help but clap. He shook his head and praised it several times. He walked closer to the Buddha head, slowly bent down and carefully examined it all around. He straightened up and said calmly, "It was made in the Ledai Kingdom. However... this Buddha head came from below, right?"

"Below" of course meant from a tomb.

Master Bai nodded: "It's said that an emperor-level tomb was discovered in the northern border. What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"It seems that this Buddha head was taken underground by an unknown monarch of the Ledai Kingdom. There's no problem. The whole Buddha statue is a rare treasure. Looking at the color of the soil seeping into the cut, it seems that it was cut off by someone who didn't know its value and taken underground." Qi Sian spoke methodically and shook his head with a bit of regret: "It would be even more valuable if it were the whole Buddha statue."

"However, now, only this Buddha head of the Buddha of the Sun remains. It's definitely unique and extremely rare in the world," Qi Sian rested his chin in his hand and smiled at the group of people who were already eager to act: "The starting price is fifty thousand taels of gold. Once the deal is made, there's no going back. It's definitely a good deal."

After that, he laughed loudly, walked towards the direction where Pan Yueqing was, gracefully closed the curtain, put his arm around Pan Yueqing's waist, leaned against the soft couch, and leisurely picked up a luminous cup filled with grape wine.

Pan Yueqing looked sideways at Qi Sian with a probing look in her eyes. If the Buddha head was really as good as Qi Sian said, why didn't Qi Sian buy it himself... Qi Sian seemed to sense Pan Yueqing's question. He smiled slightly and whispered in Pan Yueqing's ear, "That thing has already become an evil object."