"The Dragon Kingdom needs more demons."
...
There are many posts, some positive and some negative. Of course, Ma Xiaoniu doesn't care. Freedom of speech is the purpose of opening a comment section; otherwise, what's the point of having this section?
After closing the forum and opening Baidu to search for auction houses, Ma Xiaoniu wanted to dispose of the gems he had retrieved from the shipwreck. However, he was unfamiliar with the auction industry and needed to do some research first.
The world's most renowned auction houses are, firstly, The Forbes auction house in the United States, with offices in almost every country; secondly, Christie's in the United States, also a very large company; and thirdly, Dragon Soul auction house in China. The top three auction houses are roughly equal in strength, so Ma Xiaoniu naturally chooses Dragon Soul. (Recently, there has been a serious issue with transcoding, which motivates us to update faster. Please exit reading mode if you find this helpful. Thank you.)
Chapter 36
After quickly finding out the address of Dragon Soul, Ma Xiaoniu teleported to the county town and bought a Calabash Brothers mask. Although he already had a Demon Mask, it had long been exposed to the world, so he couldn't wear it. Wearing the Calabash Brothers mask and carrying his backpack, he teleported to the most bustling area of Shanghai. Walking a little over a hundred meters along the street from where Ma Xiaoniu was, he reached the Dragon Soul headquarters.
The headquarters of Dragon Soul has a vermilion gate. The gate was wide open, and Ma Xiaoniu, wearing a Calabash Brothers mask and carrying a backpack, walked into the hall. Immediately, a female service staff member walked over with a smile on her face.
"Welcome to Dragon's Soul. How can I help you?" The waitress smiled broadly, showing no surprise at Ma Xiaoniu wearing the Calabash Brothers mask. After all, it's normal for some people to conceal their identities when auctioning items of dubious origin.
Ma Xiaoniu's description of "auctioning items" was concise and to the point, without any unnecessary words.
"Okay, please follow me." The waiter led Ma Xiaoniu up the elevator and straight to the ninth floor. Most of the rooms on the ninth floor were open, with only a few doors closed. The waiter led Ma Xiaoniu to an empty room. The walls of the room were covered with gold wallpaper, and there was a coffee table in the middle with two rows of sofas on either side of the coffee table.
"Dear guest, please have a seat here for a moment. Our appraisers will be here shortly," the waiter said to Ma Xiaoniu with a smile, then bowed and left.
The sofa was very comfortable, and Ma Xiaoniu leaned back comfortably on it, closing his eyes to rest.
Less than a minute later, a well-off elderly man dressed in black casual clothes strode in. The waiter behind him closed the door. The elderly man in black casual clothes smiled at Ma Xiaoniu and said, "Welcome, sir. Do you have any good items to auction? Please take a look." After saying that, he sat down opposite Ma Xiaoniu.
Ma Xiaoniu nodded to the old man, took off his backpack and placed it on the table. Then he took out a red gem the size of an egg from the backpack. The gem was irregularly shaped and shimmered with a faint halo.
When the portly old man saw the red gemstone, his face first showed surprise, then suspicion. This was understandable; in his entire career of appraisal, he had never seen such a large gemstone. Moreover, to his knowledge, no known gemstone in the world was this large. For someone to suddenly produce such a massive gemstone, and judging by its top-quality appearance, inevitably aroused his suspicion. Could it be a fake? Was this young man a fraud? It was well known that the Dragon Soul Auction House showed no mercy to fraudsters; once discovered, they would be handed over to the police.
Ma Xiaoniu smiled slightly and placed the red gemstone in front of the other person.
The old man nodded, took out a set of appraisal tools, and carefully examined them. The more he examined them, the more shocked his expression became, until finally even his hands and lips trembled slightly. This was absolutely true! He was rich!
"Honorable sir, I have confirmed that your gemstone is genuine. If you wish to hold an auction, our firm will be hosting a large-scale auction on April 15th. What do you think?"
Ma Xiaoniu nodded, it didn't matter. He had many more gems like that, and if he had the chance in the future, he would have a whole ship full of gems.
"Alright, we'll send you the certificate of consignment for the auction shortly. After the auction, you just need to bring this certificate to collect your proceeds," the old man said, nodding to Ma Xiaoniu. He then took out his phone to make a call. Ma Xiaoniu waved his hand, and the old man's heart tightened. Could it be that the auction was canceled? But then he saw Ma Xiaoniu smile slightly and take out a blue plate from his backpack.
"A plate? Porcelain?" The old man nodded to Ma Xiaoniu, then picked up the plate and examined it closely. However, the more he examined it, the more his brows furrowed. After a while, he placed the plate on the table and shook his head. "Sir, I'm sorry, I can't authenticate this plate. Judging from the 'Great Yu Turbid Dragon' inscription on the bottom, it seems to be an artifact from the time of Yao. However, there is still controversy in history about whether the Xia Dynasty actually existed, let alone porcelain from the Yao, Shun, and Yu periods. This is simply unheard of. If you don't mind, you can entrust our firm to continue the authentication. Perhaps this plate will change our understanding of Chinese history."
Ma Xiaoniu was naturally certain that the porcelain was genuine, but he couldn't be sure which dynasty it belonged to, given his limited knowledge of history. So he simply put it in the Dragon Soul Auction House for appraisal. After all, this item was rare to others, but it was just commonplace to him; the shipwreck had a whole layer of bowls and plates, and he didn't know how many there were.
Ma Xiaoniu nodded, and the old man immediately showed excitement, taking out his phone to make a call. Then he continued to carefully examine the gemstone using the appraisal device. He wanted to confirm it further. He knew that if it was real, he could make a fortune, but if it was fake, the loss would be unbearable. Therefore, caution was always wise.
A moment later, a waitress came in carrying a very high-end-looking box and a power of attorney. In the future, as long as she has the power of attorney, she can receive the auction proceeds.
There are two authorization certificates: one for the gemstone and one for the plate. The plate can only be auctioned after it has been authenticated. Of course, Ma Xiaoniu can take it back at any time with the authorization certificate, and there will be no fees involved.
The old man excitedly wrapped the gemstone carefully in a piece of silk and placed it preciously in a mahogany box. Then he took out his business card from his pocket and handed it to Ma Xiaoniu with both hands: "My name is Zhen Tao, a first-level appraiser at Dragon Soul Auction House. If you need any business in this area in the future, please feel free to call me anytime."
Ma Xiaoniu put away the business card and authorization certificate, nodded, and turned to leave.
Once they reached a secluded spot, Ma Xiaoniu teleported home in an instant.
...
It was already past noon. After lunch, Ma Xiaoniu sat on the sofa in the living room and logged into the Demon Forum. He started by looking at the comments section.
"Speculation on the Demon's Identity"
"A murderer dies violently in his home; is the one who punishes him a demon?"
"The Ultimate Truth—The Devil"
"Behind the Extreme Bloodshed"
Why can't we find the demon?
"Support the devil"
"Demon-like behavior is unacceptable"
No one has the right to disregard the law.
...
Ma Xiaoniu casually clicked on the post titled "Speculation on the Identity of the Devil".
"Hello everyone, I'm just an ordinary employee. Lately, I've been following the Demon Forum and what the Demons are doing. I've made a few discoveries that might make you laugh:"
First, the demon is from Feng County, X City. Why am I so sure? Because although the subsequent cases are scattered across the country, we need to note that among all these cases, those occurring in Feng County are the most numerous and the earliest. What does this mean? It means the demon is definitely closely related to Feng County. So, let's continue our analysis. If the demon is from Feng County, then where in Feng County would he be from? We need to start with the earliest cases. The earliest case on the demon's forum is the 'Song Laopi Case,' and where was Song Laopi from? He was from Songzhuang Village, Feng County. Before Song Laopi, there was absolutely no information about the demon. What does this mean? It means the Song Laopi Case is very likely the source of the demon! So, I boldly speculate: could the demon be from Caoxiang Township, Feng County? Or perhaps from Songzhuang Village in Caoxiang Township or several surrounding villages? I think it's highly likely!
Secondly, the perpetrator is definitely not a single person. Please note that I'm saying "definitely not a single person," meaning the perpetrator is likely part of an organized criminal group, not just an individual. Some may scoff at this, but hold on, let me explain. From the initial "Song Laopi case" to the "Kong Jinlong case" and then the "Chang Youfu case," these all occurred in Feng County, which is relatively close and somewhat normal. However, from the "Huang Dahai case" in X City to the "Baihuo Temple case" in Myanmar, then to the "Wang Brothers case" in DH City, and then to the "Liu Youli case" in MH City, this is highly unusual. The reason is that these cases are separated by a very short period of time, but the distances are vast. If it's not a single group, how could the perpetrator have managed to commit crimes across such a long distance in such a short time? Is he a god?
Third, if the demon is indeed a person, then I think this might shatter my understanding of the world. I think only gods or monsters could have such abilities, right? Of course, I absolutely do not believe this third point; it's simply impossible. I added this point just to make it three points, hahaha…”
Ma Xiaoniu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Goodness, China truly lives up to its reputation as a populous nation; it really doesn't lack talent! After this analysis, he realized he was left with nothing but his underwear! Actually, his third point was true, but, hehe, who would believe it? But he had to be careful in the future; if he were exposed, it would be all over. Ma Xiaoniu didn't think he could withstand a hail of bullets by himself.
Open the case submission area.
"Seeking help: Searching for relatives for over a decade has yielded no results."
"Help! Stranded in America!"
"Seeking help: I've been harassed for years since my divorce."