Folklore and Strange Tales: At the Start, You Retrieve the Sea-Suppressing Black Iron

Chapter 64: Boss Lin sets a price, demanding he lead the way

Tie Chi was dragged out of the private room, his shoes leaving two wet streaks on the carpet, still emitting the fishy smell of the bottom of a water tank.

After the vermilion-lacquered door closed, the room was no longer occupied by the mad old man, but the gloomy atmosphere in the air still lingered.

Cheng Xiaojin leaned back in his chair, his right hand hidden in his sleeve, and his left hand picked up a teacup, brought it to his lips, took a sip, and then put it down.

The tea has gone cold.

Boss Lin sat in the main seat, his silver ouroboros ring on his right ring finger pressing down on the teacup lid as he slowly scraped the rim of the cup, the sound echoing through the private room.

The noise was unpleasant to hear. Cheng Xiaojin glanced at the gray water on the ground and then looked at Boss Lin.

"Mr. Lin, the hygiene standards of your club are quite characteristic of Southeast Asia. Guests spit water, and the carpet absorbs it, so there's no need for a mop."

"I'll write you a promotional slogan later: Houhai immersive water tank experience, one person pays, the whole room is there to soak with you."

The secretary stood by the door, her face still pale.

The guy who grabbed her earlier had a really strong grip; he left five marks on the secretary's wrist, and the marks were covered in grime that he couldn't wipe clean no matter how hard he tried.

Mr. Lin didn't respond to that. He put the lid back on the teacup and removed the ring from the porcelain surface.

"Boss Cheng, what happened to Tie Lao was an accident."

"The word 'accident' is good," Cheng Xiaojin nodded. "When I was a child, I fell into a ditch, and my grandfather also said it was an accident."

"Later, when he found out that I stole five cents from him to buy candy, he chased me for two alleys. That's not an accident, it's cause and effect."

Boss Lin looked at Cheng Xiaojin.

"Do you think today's events are a matter of cause and effect?"

Cheng Xiaojin smiled.

"I think it's because you hired too many people who touched things they shouldn't have. Anyone who deals in antiques knows that old objects have their own temperaments."

"You've done big business in Southeast Asia, so you should know better than me that you can't just touch goods from waterways, wells, or graves. Before you do, you have to ask yourself if you're tough enough."

Boss Lin tapped his finger twice on the tea table.

"Boss Cheng is really tough."

"There's nothing I can do. I was poor when I was a kid. If I hadn't been lucky, I would have ended up smoking in the toilet with the Black and White Impermanence brothers long ago."

Cheng Xiaojin knew perfectly well that Boss Lin wouldn't obediently hand over the array diagram just because Tie Chi had been defeated.

The previous scheme barely managed to fool the trouble of inspecting the goods, but Boss Lin clearly had other plans.

Mr. Lin picked up his tea but didn't drink it.

"You're right, we shouldn't have tested for iron today."

Cheng Xiaojin blinked.

That sounded nice, but there was something off about it. People from Beijing used to be afraid of this kind of politeness.

If the other party is overly polite, they'll probably pull out their ledger and start settling scores later.

Mr. Lin continued, "Since we're not going to inspect the iron, let's talk about the third point."

"Talk, of course we'll talk."

Cheng Xiaojin moved forward half an inch. "Array diagram guide, the real thing. Take it out and let me examine it."

"If it's true, I'll pay for the tea. If it's false, you have to compensate me for my emotional distress. The way Tiechi yelled just now still makes my ears feel like they're full of water."

Mr. Lin shook his head.

"The real one isn't here."

The warmth on Cheng Xiaojin's face faded somewhat.

"Mr. Lin, are you kidding me? I risked being poached by scalpers to come to Houhai, and you're telling me the real product isn't here? What are we talking about today? Ideals? Housing prices in Beijing? Well, let me tell you first, my ideals aren't grand. I just want a house in the Second Ring Road. If you want to sponsor me, I can call you my godfather."

Boss Lin looked at Cheng Xiaojin and suddenly smiled.

"Boss Cheng, your mouth doesn't quite resemble your father's."

As soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Xiaojin tapped the edge of the teacup with the pad of his left finger.

The tea spilled onto the table, but Cheng Xiaojin didn't reach out to wipe it up.

"What you said is interesting."

Cheng Xiaojin looked up. "My father has been missing for over twenty years. I've almost forgotten how loud his voice was, but you seem to know him quite well."

Mr. Lin didn't reply. He picked up a handkerchief from the table and wiped the moisture off the ring.

"I can show you the diagram of the third array, or you can borrow it."

Cheng Xiaojin didn't respond to that, and Boss Lin looked up at him and continued speaking.

"The condition is simple: you take me to Liulichang, the seventh case."

The secretary's Adam's apple bobbed as she stood behind, and Cheng Xiaojin noticed this and immediately understood what was going on.

Sure enough, Boss Lin had a seventh target in mind.

The third Zhenhai Iron Pile was used to suppress the waterway, while the Zhentu Guide was a tool used to calibrate the orientation.

If Boss Lin wants to use the array diagram of the third stake to probe the location of the seventh stake, then there will be many variables.

The seventh case was located beneath the stationery and general store in Liulichang, where Liu Bai had been staking out the place for half a year.

Master Ma once mentioned that his grandfather wrote a message in 2000 saying that the matter had been disturbed.

Since these are already tampered with, we are naturally afraid that someone might use a diagram to mislead us and take measurements.

Cheng Xiaojin picked up his teacup and blew on the floating leaves.

"Lead the way, this job is expensive."

Boss Lin stared intently at Cheng Xiaojin.

Cheng Xiaojin put down his cup and started counting on his left fingers.

"Look, in Liulichang, there are lots of people during the day and lots of dogs at night. The owners of stationery and general stores are stingy and have high entry barriers."

"If I take you there, I risk you falling, getting scolded, and being misunderstood by the old neighbors. It costs 800,000, not including walking at night."

The secretary couldn't help but say, "You're robbing me."

Cheng Xiaojin turned to look at his secretary.

"Secretary, you're being unprofessional! You don't need to quote prices to rob people; this is a legitimate service."

"Besides, what's 800,000 to General Manager Lin? You think it's too expensive to lead the way? Even you Southeast Asian capitalists have to respect the working people."

Boss Lin raised his hand, and the secretary shut up.

Money is not a problem.

"That would be a big problem."

Cheng Xiaojin leaned back in his chair. "When money isn't the problem, people are usually the problem."

Boss Lin's gaze fell on Cheng Xiaojin's cuff, where blood was seeping from the edge of a small piece of gauze.

Cheng Xiaojin quietly pulled his hand under the table. Boss Lin saw this but didn't point it out to him.

"Boss Cheng, you don't have much time now. In Panjiayuan, the water pressure has dropped and the three wells have changed color. You know better than me how serious the situation will be."

Cheng Xiaojin laughed.

"Mr. Lin's information is really accurate. Panjiayuan is recruiting neighborhood committee aunties sometime. I recommend you to go. I guarantee you'll get an advanced individual award."

Boss Lin continued talking to himself, ignoring Cheng Xiaojin's interruptions.

"You want the third array diagram, I want the seventh, let's each get what we need."

"Isn't this just like buying groceries?"

Cheng Xiaojin said, "You want a pound of cucumbers, I want two ounces of cilantro, and the proprietress rounds it down to zero. But this isn't a vegetable market; why should you be involved in the seventh item?"

Boss Lin tapped the table with his ring.

"Because I have what you want."

Cheng Xiaojin stared at the silver ring.

The silver snake bit its own tail, coiling itself into a tight circle. This reminded him of the words in his grandfather's notes: "Guarding one's way in, yet never to return."

The clue that Cheng Shouyi was investigating back then led to this organization called Ouroboros.

Boss Lin deliberately brought up Cheng Shouyi to put pressure on Cheng Xiaojin, purely to disrupt his plans.

Cheng Xiaojin reached out and picked up a melon seed, holding it between his fingers without bringing it to his mouth.

"President Lin, I'm afraid of death and greedy for money, but I'm not stupid."

"You're offering the third array diagram in exchange for the seventh one to lead the way. It sounds fair, but it's really just taking my lifeline in exchange for me leading you to another well."

Boss Lin looked at Cheng Xiaojin.

"So what do you want?"

"Introduction to the a priori array diagram."

Cheng Xiaojin said, "I need to know if what you have is genuine and whether it's usable."

"If you're trying to fool me with a piece of wallpaper, and I even lead the way, then I'm not Xiao Cheng from Panjiayuan, I'm Xiao Suicide from Panjiayuan."

The secretary stood to the side with a very unpleasant expression, but Boss Lin remained calm.

He placed his hand next to the teacup, and the ring began to rub against the edge of the porcelain cup again.

Once, twice, three times.

As Cheng Xiaojin listened to the grating friction sound, the red residue under her fingernails became restless and itchy.

"Boss Cheng, your father was also very cautious back then."

Cheng Xiaojin put the melon seeds back into the dish.

"If my father were truly cautious, he wouldn't have met you."

Boss Lin smiled.

"He found out far more back then than you do now. He knew about the third and seventh cases, and he also knew that the Eight-Armed Nezha City was not just a legend."

Cheng Xiaojin did not retort.

Mr. Lin continued, "He also left behind half a rubbing."

Upon hearing the words "half a rubbing," Cheng Xiaojin's breath caught in his throat for half a second.

Among the clues left by Cheng Shouyi back then, there was indeed half a rubbing that had never been seen.

Grandpa mentioned it briefly in his notes, but didn't specify the exact location.

Master Ma knows about this, and Liu Bai might be able to guess a bit about it, but how did Boss Lin, an outsider, get the information?

Cheng Xiaojin picked up the teacup on the table; the tea had long since gone cold.

He took a sip to moisten his throat, and as the herbal tea went down his throat, a bitter taste rose on the back of his tongue.

"Mr. Lin, please don't use my father as an excuse. Half a rubbing of a painting, the Eight-Armed Nezha City, both sound quite expensive."

"If you have real goods, then display them. If you don't have real goods, then don't try to attract investment with just words."

Mr. Lin turned to look at his secretary.

The secretary walked to the cabinet next to her, opened the drawer, and took out an ashtray.

The ashtray was small and square, its edges worn smooth and shiny, with a ring of black grime around the bottom.

This style looks out of place in the clubhouse; it's like the clutter from a factory office twenty years ago.

The secretary returned and placed the ashtray on the tea table, the brass object striking the surface with a dull thud.

Cheng Xiaojin's right hand, hidden in his sleeve, trembled slightly.

As soon as the ashtray was brought out, the restless red ash under his fingernails immediately quieted down.

The chilly atmosphere in the private room was instantly dispelled by another aura.

Boss Lin reached out and pushed the ashtray in front of Cheng Xiaojin.

"Boss Cheng, your father also sat in this position back then."