I Am Your Natural Enemy

This seal, my strength isn't enough yet, I can't fully appraise it.

All I can confirm is that it's probably from the time of Emperor Guangwu, and likely related to some major figure from that era.

But it's definitely a valuable item. Everything I can't fully appraise always turns out to be something good.

As for those other fragments, I gathered them bit by bit myself.

Some I collected in the Divine Land, some I traded for over in Europa.

They're fragments of a particularly powerful weapon—so strong that it was cursed and shattered, scattered to the ends of the world.

I've spent so many years collecting them, and now I've got more than half.

The ones I haven't gotten yet should be in the Scorching Sun Department, but I don't know which commandery they're in."

Wen Yan didn't react, quietly switched on Precision Appraisal.

The price of that seal turned out to be three thousand Big Yellow Fish, and those rusty-looking fragments, even more outrageous—added together, they're actually worth more than the seal.

This time, Old Meng really bled himself dry.

Wen Yan didn't reach out for them, purely because he felt Old Meng was being weirdly generous this time.

Even if he wasn't happy about it, they're still acquaintances after all, and Old Meng went on the run, finally found a way back, could he really just slaughter the guy?

Even if some foreigners really did dare to chase him all the way here right now, Wen Yan would definitely be the first to off the outsiders.

Old Meng, sly bastard that he is, bleeding himself dry like this—this isn't how he usually plays.

Wen Yan was just tapping him for fun anyway, can't let Old Meng make this a habit; he has to lay down the attitude.

As for what he could squeeze out of Old Meng, Wen Yan honestly didn't care that much.

The more Old Meng bleeds, the less Wen Yan dares to just take it.

He crossed his arms, stood there, sneered coldly, said nothing, just stared.

Old Meng instantly sensed trouble—Wen Yan was not so easy to fool anymore. His mind raced and suddenly he realized—maybe his offer was too high and Wen Yan had noticed something was off.

After a long silence, when he saw Pei Tugou getting more and more impatient, a bloody rope appearing in his hand, Old Meng finally couldn't hold it in any longer.

"There's definitely nothing wrong with the seal, and it's a lucky item, brings good fortune by itself.

Those fragments are cursed, full of bad luck; The Holder might find his luck plummets, all sorts of crap happening.

So, they've always been scattered everywhere, never been brought back together.

But if you do put them together, it's definitely one of the top treasures throughout history.

Placed together with the seal, they can definitely be held in check."

Wen Yan sneered—now it all made sense, why Old Meng had to give both things at once.

"You just got your hands on these things and almost got killed right away—so you basically don't dare let them stay with you, huh?

Now you're making use of the trash and redirecting the misfortune my way, and I should thank you for handing over the seal too, right?"

Old Meng wanted to argue, but seeing Pei Tugou already getting down from the pillar, he gave up on explaining and spoke honestly.

"I really was a bit spooked. I had some fragments before and nothing ever happened in all these years.

But this time, I gathered too many. As soon as they landed in my hands, I got hit.

I figure I'm just not qualified to hold these fragments.

But I wasn't lying before, these fragments really are powerful.

I never sell fakes or junk."

Wen Yan pondered for a moment—something that's already shattered into bits yet still worth several thousand Big Yellow Fish? Of course, if he could, he wouldn't want to pass that up.

As for all that "disaster" talk, it felt like a stretch. After all, even before Old Meng got ahold of them, the Church people were already lying in wait there.

And saying the seal brought good luck and let Old Meng escape by the skin of his teeth—wouldn't it make more sense to say it was because Wen Yan had lately added even more unique treasures at home?

Old Meng had been here twice, was already familiar with the coordinates here, and then with the coordinates being repeatedly reinforced, that's what let Old Meng sense them even while lost.

Wen Yan touched his chest—actually, what made him want to try most was that the Heart Protecting Mirror at his chest had a touch of gentle power spilling out, spreading through his whole body.

This was the first time the dragon scale given by King Guilong had reacted since he got it.

The closer he got to those fragments, the stronger the reaction from the scale.

When he reached out and touched one of the fragments, the force within the scale at his chest spread completely through to his hand.

As soon as he picked up a rusty fragment, Wen Yan seemed to hear wailing from far away. Everything before his eyes seemed to fade and slowly transform into an ink-wash painting unfolding scene by scene.

Twilight in late autumn, the world all dusky and bleak, everything seemed to be at the end of its rope, pervaded by a sense of powerless desolation—even the wind felt like a dying man's last gasp.

Standing there, he seemed to see a Divine Dragon of unimaginable size falling to earth, breathing its last.

The wailing, mingled with that last dying breath, swept out, pushing the world one step closer to silence and death.

Yet the gentle power in the scale at Wen Yan's chest rippled up, shielding him, so even the bleak autumn winds slid past, unable to penetrate his body.

The vision faded. Wen Yan looked down at the rusty fragment in his hand, touched his chest with the other hand—the gentle power from the scale still flowing steadily throughout his body.

Wen Yan was a bit surprised. The dragon scale from King Guilong—he'd only ever used it like a Heart Protecting Mirror and mostly ignored it. He'd actually planned to use it to take a hit from Hu Yuan, but never needed to.

But now, it actually came into play.

"I'll keep the stuff. As for you bringing trouble near my home, I can let it slide, and I'll put in a word for you with my big bro.

So, let's talk about the rest. You made such a big fuss in the middle of the night and put that glass coffin right out in the open street.

And since we helped you solve the tracking problem, let's talk all that over properly."