Chapter 46: Exposing the Scam
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Thaddpole&Tortex
"Tip?"
Hearing these words, 'Master Mo Yang' staggers and almost pukes blood.
Tip your head!
I am a master appraiser, I don't lack money. Like I will take your tip...
With a hardened face, 'Master Mo Yang' is on the verge of exploding. At this point, he will be placed in an awkward situation regardless of whether he takes it or not.
If he takes it, it means he would be accepting the tip of other's tip. In that case, he would be no different from a waiter or a servant. If he refuses... Just the action of the other party alone causes him to feel embarrassed!
Suddenly, a thought floats into his mind... Could the lad have foreseen this in advance, that's why he took his money so as to intentionally cause him embarrassment?
"You don't want it? Great, I can save a thousand then. You must know that one can buy a lot of things with a thousand gold coins!"
Sensing his hesitation, Zhang Xuan places the note back into his embrace and mutters by the side.
"..." Hearing these words, 'Master Mo Yang' is on the verge of collapsing.
"You sure are lucky, choosing the right one. However, this doesn't mean that you have won! Alright, I still have things to attend to, so it is about time for me to leave!"
With coldness in his gaze, 'Master Mo Yang' stands up, flings his arm and prepares to leave.
His decisive action impresses Zhang Xuan.
As expected of a professional scammer. The moment things go awry, he leaves. His decisiveness is truly worthy of respect.
Regardless of whether Zhang Xuan is lucky or he is truly skilled in appraising, he would no longer be treated as a lunatic after earning so much in an instant. Rather than grinding it out with him, it is much wiser for him to end it here.
After all, he has already profited greatly from appraising for the others.
The longer the argument carries on for, the higher the possibility of something going wrong for him.
"The results of our competition isn't conclusive yet, why are you in such a hurry to leave!" Given 'Master Mo Yang's' previous actions, there is no way Zhang Xuan can allow him to escape just like this.
"Indeed, master, don't be in such a hurry to leave! You also made a profit from the item you bought, this can't be considered as his victory!"
"Master has only underestimated his enemy, that's why he didn't choose the most valuable treasure from the start. We believe in you..."
After numerous days of effort, the master has roped in a large group of loyal followers.
"I have already said before that I have matters to attend to. Farewell!" 'Master Mo Yang' waves his hand.
"Even if you have urgent matters to attend to, I doubt that a few minutes will matter much. There are still things that I would like your guidance on!" Zhang Xuan blocks the other party's escape path.
"What kind of things?" 'Master Mo Yang' stops and harrumphs coldly.
"This friend..."
Seeing him cease his movements, Zhang Xuan smiles faintly and stares at the elderly who had obtained the slot for appraisal and bought the ornamental vase.
"What is it? The elderly walks over.
He is still hugging the artifact containing the ornamental vase as though he is hugging a precious treasure. Given its size, he will be unable to clean it up within a short period of time. Thus, he chose to stay to join in the spectacle.
"If I'm not wrong, the item you spent 80000 gold coins to purchase is an ornamental vase. Furthermore, it is a broken one and it is not even worth a single gold coin!" Zhang Xuan points to his artifact and states.
"Ornamental vase? Not even worth a single cent? What kind of joke is this? This is something the master chose for me..." The face of the elderly darkens as he chastises Zhang Xuan.
"Cleaning up such a large artifact will take a long time. At the minimum, you will require at least a day. How about this, you smash it on the floor directly and if I'm wrong, I will pay you 80000 gold coins! However, if I'm right, it means that you have fallen into his trap and got scammed. If so, you can just demand the money back from the one who scammed your money!"
Zhang Xuan offers with a grin.
"Smash it?" The elderly is taken aback by his words.
The words of the other party make sense. Cleaning up such a large artifact will surely take a lot of time. However, if he were to smash it on the floor, it would only take an instant.
If it was truly as the other party claims and it turns out to be just an ornamental vase, then he would have made a big loss.
Even for him, a loss of 80000 gold coins is enough to send him into bankruptcy.
If the artifact turns out to be a fake, he will probably commit suicide.
If the young man were to say these words a moment ago, he would simply scoff and disregard his words. However, the other party has just bought a treasure which won him a revenue of 765 times. This very fact makes his determination wavers.
"Worry not, a true treasure won't shatter that easily. Even if you were to smash it, it is very unlikely for it to break. You won't make a loss!" Sensing his hesitation, Zhang Xuan pushes on.
"Alright!"
After a short moment of contemplation, the elderly casually smashes the artifact in his embrace on the floor.
Dang lang!
With a crisp sound, the giant artifact shatters apart, and its true form reveals itself amidst the moss and mud... Indeed, it turns out to be a shattered vase.
"It is really... an ornamental vase?"
After taking a look, the crowd verifies that it is indubitably an ornamental vase.
Even if this object is an antique left behind from the ancient times, it still isn't worth much money. Needless to say 80000 gold coin, no one would buy it for even 10 gold coins.
"What is going on here..."
Seeing the broken fragments on the floor, the elderly freezes in shock.
Initially, he had placed all of his hope on this artifact to earn him big bucks, yet it all ended up like this. How can he possibly not go berserk?
"What is happening? You will have to ask this Master Mo Yang! If I'm not wrong, he worked together with the dealer to build his fame as an appraiser so as to attract everyone's attention. Then, through his appraisals, he is able to get you all to spend big bucks to buy the artifacts he decides upon, thus profiting from it!"
Zhang Xuan looks at 'Master Mo Yang' and the dealer, and the corners of his mouth creep upwards. "As for why he was able to choose objects of high value, the reason is simple. Since the cleaning process did not happen before you, they are able to switch the item inside with another treasure they prepared beforehand and claim that it is the one he had just picked out. Anyway, no one saw the cleaning process, so no one is able to refute his claims."
"This..."
"Is that true?"
...
Hearing Zhang Xuan's words, everyone's trust in 'Master Mo Yang' wavers.
After picking out a treasure before everyone else, Zhang Xuan successfully exposes a fake treasure that 'Master Mo Yang' appraised. The crowd who had complete trust in 'Master Mo Yang' a moment ago is starting to get suspicious.
Dang lang!
While they are still busy contemplating over who is right and who is wrong, another crisp sound echoes amidst the crowd. Another fellow who had received the appraisal slot smashed the artifact he bought as well. This time, it isn't an ornamental vase but a useless pottery. It is clear with a single look that it isn't worth much.
"Fake, it is a fake! I spent 60000 gold coins to buy this... They are scammers!"
Seeing the broken shards on the floor, those who bought the appraised items know that they have been scammed as well and started roaring frenziedly.
Peng! Hong! Puhe!
With the two precedents, the remaining few can no longer hold it in. One after another, towards the artifacts they just bought, they throw, smash with a hammer or cut it open with a blade.
Taking a look at what is inside, all of their faces pale.
"They are all fakes... They are all worthless trash!"
"We have been duped. This Master Mo Yang is a fraud..."
If there was only one fake, the crowd would still be able to accept it. After all, even an appraiser can't possibly pick treasures out of artifacts hundred percent of the time. However, when all nine of the artifacts that he had appraised turn out to be trash, it can only mean to say that he is a scammer!
To think that you still acted so compassionate and benevolent... Pui! You are just a fraudster!
The berserk crowd surrounds 'Master Mo Yang' and the dealer tightly as they stare at them intensely. At this moment, even the thought of killing them flashes through their minds.
After all, no one's money came from the sky.
If no one saw through the sham, and they only realized that it is a scam after they are done cleaning, who can they find to redress their grievances?
"Don't listen to the nonsense of this lad! Even master appraisers have moments when they are off, I am truly unacquainted with this artifact dealer..."
Seeing the murderous glare in the eyes of the crowd, 'Master Mo Yang' realizes that it is no longer possible to fool them and roars in anger instead.
If it was a moment ago, the crowd would have definitely listened to his words. But now... No one pays him any heed anymore.
Peng peng peng peng!
The sound of someone hitting on a human sandbag echoes from the congregation of the crowd. Following which, cries of agony can be heard. In this ordeal, not even the artifact dealer is spared.
As for the initiator of the incident, Zhang Xuan, he had sneaked off the moment chaos broke out inside.
The world is humongous, and every day, there are people who are going about scamming others, and there are people who are scammed by them. He isn't an omnipotent god, and it is impossible for him to interfere in all of them. If it wasn't for 'Master Mo Yang's' excessive mouth, he couldn't be bothered to exposing him.
Now that those who were scammed are aware of the situation, naturally, they have their own way of dealing with the problem. There is no need for Zhang Xuan to worry about them.
"Huang Yu Bookstore..."
Walking slowly along the market, a giant store appears before him. In it, there are all kinds of books filling the bookshelves within.
The store deals with medicinal herbs, weapons, savage beasts and naturally, books. That is also his main motive for choosing to enter this store.
"Let me take a look!"
Zhang Xuan lifts his leg and steps into the store.