Chapter Sixteen: The Wooden Box Worth Tens of Millions

  "Thousand... thousand years imperishable, ten thousand years indestructible - Golden Camphor"

  "What?" Mr. Jin and several other experts exclaimed as they suddenly stood up.

  Several experts and teachers looked at each other, and saw deep shock in each other's eyes.

  "It's impossible... it's impossible..." Mr. Bai sat on the chair in a daze, muttering to himself.

  Xiao Yu and others saw the appearance of several experts, they all knew that this wooden box was definitely not simple. Xiao Yu had never been in contact with antiques and had never heard of golden nanmu wood. But Fang Yuan, as the general manager of the antique city, had also studied some antique materials and knew about golden nanmu wood. Precisely because he knew, he felt very strange and couldn't help but ask: "Experts, teachers, according to my knowledge, golden nanmu wood is rare and valuable, but with your vision and insight, you shouldn't be so flustered over this golden nanmu wood?"

  Upon hearing their inquiry, Teacher Cai sat down as well and after a moment of contemplation, gazed directly at the wooden box and slowly said: "Jinsi nanmu is also known as 'yumu', it has been exclusively enjoyed by emperors since ancient times. In the past, officials from the Sichuan region considered presenting jinsi nanmu as a top priority, if done well, it could even be used as a standard for promotion. Ordinary civilians who presented a single piece of jinsi nanmu could also receive rewards and official appointments from the imperial court."

  Because the golden nanmu only exists in the deep mountains and old forests of Sichuan, and there was no modern transportation in ancient times, the phrase "Shu Road is difficult, more difficult than ascending to heaven" expresses the difficulty of traveling on Shu Road. Often, a single golden nanmu tree had to be transported to the capital at the cost of dozens or even hundreds of lives. During the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, Qianlong wanted to build a palace made of golden nanmu wood and sent an army to transport the timber. When they returned to the capital, only half of the men were still alive, while the other half remained forever on the Shu Road. This is why there was the saying "thousands of gold cannot buy golden nanmu" in ancient times.

  "Teacher Cai, I heard that the dragon chairs of ancient emperors were made of golden nanmu wood. Is it true?" Fang Yuan asked after hearing Teacher Cai say that golden nanmu wood is precious, and suddenly thought of a piece of information he saw on the computer.

  When Fang Yuan asked the question, Xiao Ye also leaned in to listen. Mr. Cai nodded slowly and confirmed this statement, then said: "This is true, the dragon chair currently on display in the Forbidden City is made of golden nanmu wood."

  Upon hearing Teacher Cai's introduction, Xiao Yu learned about the preciousness of Jin Si Nan Mu and suddenly thought of the dead air floating out from the wooden box he observed under the yin-yang eye. He curiously asked: "What is the effect of this Jin Si Nan that makes it so precious?"

  "Thinking for a moment, Mr. Cai smiled and said: 'When I studied the dragon chair in the Forbidden City, I summarized the three major effects of golden nanmu wood: anti-corrosion, anti-insect, and anti-deformation. Anti-corrosion means that even if you bury golden nanmu wood in soil or soak it in water for thousands of years, it will not rot; anti-insect means that things made from golden nanmu wood will never be bitten or bored by insects, which is why ancient emperors' coffins were often made of golden nanmu wood to prevent their bodies from being damaged; anti-deformation means that the material properties of golden nanmu wood are excellent, it does not deform, its texture is smooth, and no matter how large the temperature difference is, whether hot or cold, windy or sunny, it will not easily crack or deform. Generally, doors and windows made of ordinary wood will deform after being exposed to sunlight.'"

  Here is the translation:

  "Actually, Jin Si Nan Mu has another biggest characteristic, that is, it's as hard as iron stone, and knives and swords can't hurt it. It's precisely this characteristic that makes us see the wooden box in such a state. Although Jin Si Nan Mu is precious, we've seen quite a few of them, but things carved out of Jin Si Nan Mu are still rare to see. In ancient times, skilled craftsmen would try their best to carve out the most delicate things, which were dragon chairs. At that time, there weren't as many high-tech tools for carving like there are today, so it was all done by hand. It often took craftsmen ten or more years to complete a dragon chair. And yet, carving such a delicate box is simply unheard of."

  "Yes! Old Cai is right, so when we first saw the wooden box, we didn't examine its material carefully. This thing is a Ming dynasty wooden box with an open door, so we thought it was just ordinary nanmu wood, because in our understanding, ancient people couldn't have carved such intricate things out of golden nanmu wood." Teacher Mao took over and said. The other experts all nodded in agreement.

  Xiao Yu listened to the expert's words, nodded calmly with a peaceful expression, but thought a lot in his heart: "Is it because of the slow dispersion of the dead energy that the golden silk nanmu wood is resistant to corrosion? Who carved this wooden box? Suddenly Xiao Yu thought of a possibility, since Zhong Kui really existed, then other immortals, demons and monsters should also have existed. Since ancient people couldn't carve such a thing, could it be them...?"

  "Uh...how much is Dr. Xiao's wooden box worth now?" Fang Yuan stuttered and asked.

  "It's hard to say, there's nothing like it on the market, so the price is hard to say, but I estimate at least tens of millions!" said Mr. Bai, holding up one finger.

  "Ah!" "What! Ten million?!" Zhang Xiaoqing, who had been standing beside her all along, exclaimed with her hand covering her mouth. Although Zhang Xiaoqing didn't understand antiques, she often watched treasure-hunting shows and knew that a good item was normally worth one or two million, so when they first said it was worth one million, she wasn't too surprised, just envying Dr. Xiao's good luck. But in just a short while, the value jumped to ten million, at least, which made her unable to help but exclaim in surprise.

  Fang Yuan sat there as if he was stunned, thinking to himself, why wasn't it his own? One million! Not one thousand yuan, even in a lifetime, he wouldn't be able to earn that much!

  Xiao Yu was also very surprised, but he remained calm in his heart. Since merging with Zhong Wei's memories, although he didn't view wealth as dirt, his mental endurance had increased significantly. He thought to himself: "This thing is good and precious, but keeping it for myself would be useless. It's better to sell it and exchange it for money, so Mother won't have to work so hard."

  Xiao Ye smiled and said: "Everyone, I'm going to take action on this matter. Can you guys with wide connections help me get in touch?"

  After Xiao Ye said to sell the wooden box, all the experts were stunned, and the room fell silent. In their opinion, such a good thing should be kept in one's own hands.

  Finally, Teacher Cai couldn't help but say: "Xiao Lao Di, are you considering selling such a priceless item......"

  "Even the best things are useless to me, I don't understand or like these things, it's better to sell them!" Xiao Yu said with a faint smile.

  "Xiao Lao Di..."

  Teacher Mao wanted to persuade him further, but was interrupted by Teacher Cai waving his hand: "Forget it, Old Mao, don't try to persuade him anymore. Since Xiao wants to sell, he must have his own ideas. Let's just help him find a buyer!"

  "Alas, okay!" Teacher Mao sighed and shook his head helplessly.

  "Xiao Lao Di, we have to rush for the plane, let's go first and I'll contact the seller and notify you later!" Cai Laoshi said. Cai Laoshi is a miscellaneous goods expert, handling the most diverse and numerous items, so in Beijing, his connections in this aspect are also the broadest.