The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#778 - Seven-piece exquisite box

With the clothes Cai Wuyang gave him, it was much easier for Lu Jing to go out; he could just stuff everything into his sleeves.

Not only his ten flying swords, but even his zen staff could be stuffed in.

Lu Jing even brought his Yukihira pot along.

Thinking that if he had to spend the night in Mei Zhou, he could also make some midnight snacks.

Now, the one hundred and twenty most outstanding supervisors of the Department of Celestial Observation had completed their assembly. Some who were going to relatively distant secret realms had already set off, and their trip would likely determine the survival of the cultivation world and the human world.

It must be admitted that in this serious and tense moment, Lu Jing, as a colleague, was still planning how to treat himself to a late-night snack, which was a bit...

But who told Guo Shouhuai to push the main quest without him?

Lu Jing was still brooding over it.

You say it's okay for this game to play a sentimental animation at the end, but how can there be animations inserted before the boss battle, and continuing until the grand finale, while he, as the protagonist, can't even manage a basic attack?

Did he grind monsters, level up, and farm equipment for nothing?

Lu Jing was now filled with regret.

But he still had to eat. Even if the world was going to end tomorrow, it wouldn't affect enjoying a good meal today.

No, it should be said that precisely because the world was going to end tomorrow, every meal from now on should be enjoyed, because you might not be able to eat it in the future. Even if you could, you wouldn't have the same mood.

So Lu Jing even brought Amu and the black cat along on this trip. It was a good opportunity for them to stretch their legs, like a spring outing together.

As a result, just as Lu Jing finished packing, he ran into Wen Xiaoqian, who came to find him for an outing.

Upon hearing that he was planning to go to Mei Zhou with Xia Huai, Wen Xiaoqian clamored to go play together.

Lu Jing frowned, feeling that things were not right. Originally, this trip to Mei Zhou shouldn't have been too difficult; it was just to retrieve the True Explanation of the Mad Demon One Hundred and Eight Staffs left to him by Master Honglian.

Moreover, Lu Jing roughly imagined the scene of the three of them sitting in the carriage together and already felt a bit suffocated.

No, he had to think of a way to survive.

...

Half an hour later, Xuanji sat awkwardly in the carriage, first turning her head to look at Wen Xiaoqian on the left, then secretly glancing at Xia Huai opposite her, and finally casting a somewhat resentful glance at Lu Jing diagonally opposite, who was pretending to look at Amu frolicking on the ground outside the carriage window.

Finally, she sighed in her heart and stroked the black cat on her lap.

The four of them arrived in Mei Zhou through the [Well], but the county where the Tongbao Bank branch was located was relatively small, and the Department of Celestial Observation had not set up a separate station there.

So Lu Jing rented a carriage from a neighboring county, which was about half a day's journey.

And because he had invited Xuanji to come along, Lu Jing no longer had to worry along the way.

It was true to the old saying that when someone is more embarrassed than you, you are not the most embarrassed person.

However, Lu Jing then realized that he seemed to have misunderstood Wen Xiaoqian.

The latter seemed to really just want to go out for a walk. She focused on enjoying the scenery along the way and didn't provoke Xia Huai. She even took the initiative to sit with Xuanji after getting into the carriage.

She gave up the opposite seat to Lu Jing and Xia Huai, which made Xia Huai a little embarrassed. The atmosphere between the two eased a lot, and they even started chatting later on.

This also allowed Xuanji, who had been caught in the middle and worried all the way, to breathe a sigh of relief.

Because it was almost dark when the carriage entered the county town, Lu Jing simply stayed in the town first.

The next morning, the four of them went to the most famous restaurant in the town for breakfast before arriving at the Tongbao Bank branch together.

Xia Huai's father was the Vice Prefect of Mei Zhou. This official position was almost the second-in-command in the officialdom of Mei Zhou, second only to the Prefect. Moreover, the Vice Prefect had the responsibility of supervising all officials in the state, including the Prefect, and had the power to directly report to the Emperor. He was a very important figure in the local officialdom.

So when they heard that Vice Prefect Xia wanted to find something, Tongbao Bank was very cooperative.

The branch's manager, surnamed Sun, came forward to receive Lu Jing and his group.

After they were seated and tea was served.

Manager Sun had people carry out a large box from the vault.

"These are all things left behind by Taida Bank. They were all deposited by guests at the time and have not been taken out yet. In fact, most of them have exceeded the storage time. According to the bank's rules, we can dispose of them ourselves. In fact, we have already disposed of some of them."

"The rest of these are things whose value we are not sure of, or the depositor's background is unclear. We are not sure if there are any very important things, so we have kept them all and put them in this box."

"Manager, you have put your heart into it," Lu Jing praised.

Manager Sun waved his hand, "Opening a bank, considering the guests is what we should do."

As he spoke, he had people open the box, and the things inside were dazzling and seemed to be quite old.

Manager Sun took out an account book that had been weathered for many years, opened it, and stopped after flipping through a few pages.

He handed the account book to Lu Jing, "Is this the one?"

Lu Jing first looked at the number on it and saw that it was exactly the same as the one on the key, then he looked at the picture below.

It was an ordinary-looking iron box. Looking at the deposit time, it had been more than twenty years since then, but the depositor column was empty.

Seeing that he couldn't see anything of value, Lu Jing returned the account book to the manager. He nodded and said, "That's right, it's this box."

"Please wait a moment, guest," Manager Sun searched in the box and quickly found the iron box from the bottom. "It will put our minds at ease if the guest can take this thing away."

"Oh, why do you say that?" Lu Jing asked casually, taking the box.

"This thing has a name, called the Seven Apertures Exquisite Box, which can only be made by Seven Apertures Villa. And as far as I know, Seven Apertures Villa has only made three Seven Apertures Exquisite Boxes in total. Just this box alone, if sold in the Jianghu, is worth at least this much."

Manager Sun held out four fingers.

"Four hundred taels?"

"Four thousand taels," Manager Sun added, "of gold."

"Is this thing so valuable?" Lu Jing was surprised.

"Of course, this is the most outstanding mechanical box of Seven Apertures Villa. Unless someone has the key, otherwise, if outsiders want to force it open, the contents will be damaged immediately."

"But isn't this key from Taida Bank? There are words engraved on it."

"Those words were engraved later. How could Taida Bank be capable of creating a Seven Apertures Exquisite Box?" Manager Sun shook his head.

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