Bạch Tịnh and I went inside. This room was quite a bit smaller than mine, and the balcony outside was smaller too, but it was still very luxurious.
A man in a dark blue pinstripe suit was sitting on the living room sofa. He looked at me, stood, and smiled as he held out his hand. “A distinguished guest from the penthouse suite. You’re most welcome. I’m Chu An Hạ, regional director for Huaxia at the Giai Đức auction house. May I ask your name?”
“Hứa Tâm. I run an antique shop near Phan Jia Yuan. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Chu.” I held out my hand and shook his politely.
His hand was slightly cold, and the base of his thumb was rough, with a layer of calluses.
After hearing my introduction, Chu An Hạ opened his mouth slightly. “Boss Hứa of Tâm Trai, a well-known figure on the antique street in the capital. I’ve heard of you for a long time.”
“That’s right.” Tâm Trai was my shop.
I looked Chu An Hạ in the eye. “Mr. Chu, you’ve probably been in the antique business for many years. You must know what I do.”
Chu An Hạ smiled and asked, “A few days ago, someone gave me a box of pre-rain Longjing tea. Would you care to try some, Boss Hứa?”
I nodded. The short-haired woman immediately went to brew the tea.
Chu An Hạ led me to the sofa and sat down with me, giving a slight nod. “Boss Hứa’s reputation as a ghost market merchant has spread throughout the antique streets of Huaxia. How could I survive in this business if I didn’t know that? To be honest, I wanted to work with you two years ago, but never had the chance. To meet you today is a great honor.”
“You’re too kind, Mr. Chu.” I got straight to the point.
“I came to see you about something urgent. We don’t have much time, so I’ll be direct. This ship will sink tonight. I suspect the sinking may be connected to some of the antiques in this auction. I hope you’ll make an exception and let me see the auction items, Mr. Chu.”
Chu An Hạ raised an eyebrow. “The ship will sink? Are you joking, Boss Hứa? The Princess Rose is one of the safest cruise ships out there. Its lower decks are divided into watertight compartments. It would be hard to sink even if it hit an iceberg.”
“What if it’s haunted objects?” I asked urgently.
Chu An Hạ’s expression changed, and he sat up straight. “I won’t hide it from you, Boss Hứa. Company policy doesn’t allow me to open the safe ahead of time. Even if what you’re saying is true, I’d still have to report the situation to my superiors and wait for special approval from headquarters. That would take at least two hours…”
“Two hours?”
It was almost nine at night. There were still at least eight hours until dawn, but who knew when the ship might sink? With fifteen hundred lives at stake, I said anxiously, “Mr. Chu, there are twenty-six items in this auction. If any of them are a problem, I can light the sky lantern.”
“Light the sky lantern” was a term in the antique auction business. It meant that no matter how much someone else bid for any of the twenty-six items, I would top their offer to buy it.
Hearing this, Chu An Hạ took out a cigar and slowly lit it.
The short-haired woman brought tea over to us.
“Please wait a moment, Boss Hứa. I’ll contact my superiors.” Chu An Hạ held the cigar in his mouth, took his phone, and stepped out onto the balcony.
I took a sip of the pre-rain Longjing tea and watched him from behind as I waited.
Ten minutes later, Chu An Hạ came back into the room. He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Boss Hứa. This concerns the auction house’s reputation. In principle, I can’t open the safe ahead of time.”
“In principle?” I was taken aback.
Bạch Tịnh immediately stood up, her eyes wide with alarm. “This is bad, Mr. Chu. I forgot to tell you—the ship’s staff heard banging sounds coming from the safe just now. Could someone be trying to steal the auction items?”
“Anna, tell all the guards to go to the safe and inspect the auction items.”
Chu An Hạ stubbed out his cigar and invited me along. “Please come with me, Boss Hứa.”
So this was what he meant by “in principle, I can’t”?
I looked at Bạch Tịnh. She smiled. “Miss Hứa, come on. We’re helping Mr. Chu. If anything really is missing, he’ll suffer a huge loss.”
We headed to the elevator together. Walking beside me, Chu An Hạ asked quietly, “Boss Hứa, is what you said about haunted objects true?”
“Have you never seen a haunted object, Mr. Chu?” I asked, puzzled.
Chu An Hạ smiled wryly. “I grew up overseas and only came back two years ago. I’ve heard about haunted objects, but I’ve never seen one.”
“You came back from overseas?” I pondered that for a moment.
“Haunted objects are even more terrifying than you’ve heard. If you ever run into something you can’t explain, Mr. Chu, you can come to me.”
“I will.” Chu An Hạ nodded.
The elevator reached the ship’s fourth deck. Chu An Hạ led us to the valuables room, where the Giai Đức auction house’s security team had assembled.
The head of security said to Chu An Hạ, “Mr. Chu, are you sure you want to open the safe now? This is against the rules.”
“Special circumstances call for special measures. I’ll take full responsibility.” Chu An Hạ’s voice was cold.
The head of security nodded and took out a key. Chu An Hạ took out another one.
The first lock was electronic. Chu An Hạ unlocked it, then led me, the head of security, and Bạch Tịnh into the valuables room.
There was a large safe in the room. Chu An Hạ and the head of security nodded to each other and used their keys to open it.
Inside the safe were twenty-six auction items. The largest was a two-handled porcelain vase; the rest were small antiques and paintings and calligraphy.
Chu An Hạ explained, “Boss Hứa, these are our twenty-six auction items. You may look, but you can’t touch them. Of course, if you really want to touch one, you’ll have to buy it for ten times its market value.”
I glanced over the twenty-six auction items and saw only a small box wrapped in pitch-black resentment. Just as I was about to step toward it, a commotion suddenly erupted outside the valuables room.
Before I could react, several cylindrical objects rolled into the room.
“Gre—grenades!” Chu An Hạ screamed in terror.
Bạch Tịnh pulled me behind the safe and covered my ears.
BOOM!
A blinding white flash and a ringing roar filled the room. My head spun, and the smoke made me cough uncontrollably.
It took a long while for my head to clear somewhat.
“Miss Hứa, are you all right?” Bạch Tịnh asked me.
I checked how I was feeling and finally shook my head. “I don’t think I’m hurt, but I got a bad lungful of smoke.”
“The auction items… They’re gone!” Chu An Hạ’s horrified voice rang out from the other side.
Bạch Tịnh helped me over to the safe. The auction items inside had all been cleared out; only two small boxes remained.
Chu An Hạ approached unsteadily and opened them to check. There were still items inside: one was a snuff bottle, and the other was a seal.
“Most of the items have been stolen. These two were so small that the thieves didn’t have time to take them.”
Chu An Hạ turned back to look at me, his eyes bloodshot.
I narrowed my eyes at the two auction items that remained and said, “I told you: if anything happened to the twenty-six auction items, I’d light the sky lantern. Send me the bill. These two items are mine from now on, too.”
“Two billion six hundred million. That’s our original estimated value for them.”
Chu An Hạ asked urgently, “Are you sure you can pay the whole amount at once?”
I took a deep breath. “Send me the bill and account number. I’ll transfer the money within an hour.”
In the antiques business, cash flow is very important. Of my tens of billions in assets, half is cash. Two billion six hundred million is nothing to me.
Chu An Hạ hurriedly told the short-haired woman beside him to prepare the bill.
I stepped forward and picked up the small snuff bottle, sensing the power within it. I gently sniffed at its opening, and at once I felt completely alert, as if all my worries had vanished and my thoughts had become extraordinarily clear.
“Miss Hứa, are you all right? Do you need to go to the infirmary for a checkup?” Bạch Tịnh reminded me.