"What are you planning to do?"
From the car heading back to Donglin Pawnshop from the airport, Lin Ying looked at Li Chonglou with a face full of shocked confusion.
She was undoubtedly the most worried when she heard Li Chonglou wanted to challenge Lu Weishen.
Many years ago, Lu Weishen had a confrontation with her father, and he lost, of course, but that was in secret.
It was like a private sparring match.
Later, according to her father's recollection, he had won that match by a very narrow margin.
After so many years, the resources Lu Weishen had access to were beyond ordinary people's reach.
His foresight and insight were also far beyond that of ordinary people.
Although she had always felt that her junior disciple was a rare genius, comparable to a monstrous prodigy, compared to a thousand-year-old fox like Lu Weishen, he was still very immature, at least in age.
Without a reasonable plan, the possibility of success was almost zero.
"No plan, and no confidence," Li Chonglou smiled.
From a personal perspective, his knowledge came from a much larger and more advanced system from years later.
The number of antiques he had encountered in his life would not be less than Lu Weishen's.
His experience and that pair of Heavenly Eyes were not comparable to ordinary people.
It was not underestimating the opponent, but having seen too much of this, he no longer worried unnecessarily.
But these words, falling into the ears of Lin Zhendong, who had been silent all along, could not help but cause some concern.
He said softly, "Chonglou, many years ago, I had a battle with Lu Weishen!"
"His character is indeed not good, but his eyesight and intuition for antiques are rarely seen in the world."
"After all these years, I am not sure if I can defeat him."
"However, I can give you some reference."
Lin Zhendong's tone was extremely humble, not mentioning his past victory over Lu Weishen at all.
He was just worried that his disciple might be careless and lose the battle.
Ultimately falling into Lu Weishen's hands and ruining his future.
"Master, please proceed," Li Chonglou was delighted. While he didn't take Lu Weishen lightly, he didn't deny Lu Weishen's abilities.
In battles between masters, victory often hinges on a hair's breadth.
Even a slight difference could lead to him losing to the opponent.
Since his master had fought with Lu Weishen, regardless of the outcome, he understood Lu Weishen thoroughly.
Knowing oneself and the enemy, one can win a hundred battles.
He was not confident in this battle, but he could not afford to lose.
"Unlike people who are only proficient in one or two categories, Lu Weishen has touched upon and mastered all categories of antiques," Lin Zhendong nodded and said. "It is as difficult as reaching the heavens to make him make a mistake now."
"Conventional methods are all out of the question."
"But you have something in your possession that he might not recognize!"
Upon hearing this, Li Chonglou's eyes flashed with brilliance, and he took out the base of the Stone Bo Qiong. "Master, are you referring to this?"
"Exactly!" Lin Zhendong smiled slightly. "Lu Weishen's research on the Stone Bo Qiong is not as thorough as mine, because he has no urgent need for it."
"But over the years, he has been arranging for people to monitor me in prison, so he is aware of our conversations."
"But precisely because he is aware, he would never have thought of the origin of this base."
Deception within deception, darkness under the lamp.
Li Chonglou and Lin Ying suddenly understood.
Humans are creatures of habit, and all the knowledge they have learned becomes a wall that forms their cognition.
This wall can make a person appear tall and mighty, or it can block that person's vision, confining them to a corner.
The height of everyone's wall is different, and the scope of their area is different, but the only constant is that this barrier will always exist.
If it disappeared, then they would have become saints.
Li Chonglou and Lu Weishen were both mortals, and neither could remove this constraint.
How could someone who studied antiques believe that antiques possessed supernatural abilities? If Li Chonglou hadn't experienced it himself, he wouldn't have believed such a thing even if he were beaten to death.
Just like a firm materialist, without experiencing a great setback or event, it is impossible for them to suddenly believe in Buddhism or spirits.
Lin Zhendong's obsession with saving his wife led him to try anything as a last resort.
But Lu Weishen did not.
This inevitably determined the limitations of his knowledge and vision.
"Marvelous," Li Chonglou was inwardly delighted.
As expected, a master is a master. His treasure appraisal skills might surpass his predecessors, but in terms of grasping human nature and the principles of heaven and earth, he was still ten thousand miles behind.
At this moment, he decided to use the base of the Stone Bo Qiong as his primary means of attack.
However, putting himself in Lu Weishen's shoes, Lu Weishen would never make it easy for him. The two must set up countless obstacles for each other to make this competition break out of Qin Province and have an influence nationwide.
"I have a treasured item that hasn't been seen for many years. To be safe, I'll lend it to you," Lin Zhendong, with his meticulous thinking, wouldn't rely on just the base as a single means. "In addition, you yourself need to find more rare antiques that are deceptive in appearance and reality, and you must not be careless."
"Alright, I still have a few days to prepare, and I will collect them as soon as possible." Li Chonglou's eyes gleamed with sharpness.
At their level of thinking, they would never put all their eggs in one basket.
For this battle, they must use all their might.
To win, one must first find hidden treasures!
Lu Weishen's collection and wealth accumulated over the years were by no means comparable to his current situation.
With less than twenty days until the competition, time was tight.
After discussing this matter, the three of them turned their conversation to the trip to Shangluo.
"As we predicted, Mother Du is indeed Du Wu after he changed his identity. However, his tomb has been robbed for who knows how many years," Lin Zhendong sighed. "But judging from the paintings in his tomb, it can be inferred that he was likely a重生者 (reborn person) like you."
"A soul that was many years ahead of its time, which is why he created tools that were beneficial for agriculture and water management."
"The Stone Bo Qiong must have been obtained by him."
"The general outline is now clear."
As Lin Zhendong spoke, his eyes began to show sadness. This cold and mysterious man, ultimately, could not withstand his longing for his deceased wife and revealed emotions common to ordinary people.
Lin Ying looked at her father, knowing he couldn't continue, and took over the narration. "My father deduced that back then, the King of Qin ordered alchemists to collect celestial meteorites to make the Stone Bo Qiong and its base. After the Qin Dynasty fell, the Stone Bo Qiong was taken to the Western Sea by Qin Qiang."
"As for the base, it fell into the hands of the common people."
"Wang Mang established the Western Sea Commandery not to complete the Four Seas, but for the Stone Bo Qiong."
"The ignorant Qiang people presented it to Wang Mang. Wang Mang intended to use it to seek immortality, but he died within a lifetime."
"In the end, he was killed by an unknown soldier who took away the supreme treasure he carried with him."
"And that soldier, knowing the principle that an innocent person with a treasure is guilty, fled back to his hometown and lived in anonymity, eventually becoming the 'Mother Du' spoken of in legends."
"According to the traces in the tomb, the robbery likely occurred during the Republic of China period."
"That era was filled with warlords, chaos, and disorder, making it difficult to trace any actual clues."
"This lead is probably going to be broken..."
Lin Ying's tone also lowered at the end. This was her father's lifelong wish, but it was becoming increasingly dim.
"Master, Senior Sister, you don't need to worry. Have you forgotten that I myself was reborn through the Stone Bo Qiong?" Li Chonglou comforted them. "Since I obtained it in my previous life, it must exist in this world in this life. We just need to find a way to make it reveal itself!"
"Perhaps this competition with Lu Weishen will be the catalyst. After all, with the base revealed, how could the person who possesses the Stone Bo Qiong not be tempted?"