Chapter 2: The Ancestor from 1,000 Years Ago

Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The Ancestor from 1,000 Years Ago

Xing Sheng Pawnshop.

"Uncle Zhou, could you help me check if this gold leaf is real?" Hua Buwan asked the boss behind the counter as she pushed the door open and walked in.

She placed the gold leaf on the counter. Zhou Guodong picked it up nonchalantly, but the next second, his eyes went wide!

The price of gold had soared to over seven hundred a gram. Of course, a single gold leaf wouldn’t normally provoke such a dramatic reaction from him. The catch was... this gold leaf looked like an antique! Its value would be...

Zhou Guodong narrowed his eyes slightly and cast a stealthy glance at Hua Buwan. Then, regaining his composure, he placed the gold leaf on the electronic scale and said, "This is indeed a real gold leaf. However, it’s only one gram. The recovery price is five hundred. If you want to pawn it, I can offer you a bit more."

To his surprise, Hua Buwan immediately snatched the gold leaf back. Smiling, she said, "Thanks, Uncle Zhou. I won’t pawn it for now. I’ll come to you later if I need to."

With that, Hua Buwan left without looking back.

Zhou Guodong’s face paled. He immediately hauled his big belly out from behind the counter and shouted, "I’ll give you five hundred and twenty yuan!"

"Thanks, Uncle Zhou, but I’ll find you if I need to!" Hua Buwan still didn’t turn back.

This shop was notoriously shady in the local area. Even if she wanted to pawn it, she wouldn’t do it there. She would definitely shop around and go to a pawnshop further away.

She only went next door to confirm that it was real gold.

Watching Hua Buwan enter the supermarket and not come back out, Zhou Guodong’s face darkened, his eyes darting shiftily. That was an antique!

Meanwhile, back in the supermarket, Ling Qianjun had already stuffed all the goods into his bag.

He had heard what the shopkeeper next door shouted just now. This gold leaf was worth five hundred and twenty yuan, which was more than enough to pay for what he was buying. He now had a basic understanding of the local prices.

"Your gold leaf is real, so I’ll count it as five hundred and twenty yuan, just like the pawnshop next door said. Do you want to buy anything else? If not, I’ll give you your change." Hua Buwan planned to visit other pawnshops later. Making a trip to earn the price difference wasn’t a bad idea.

Ling Qianjun thought for a moment and replied, "May I leave the money with you? I will come back to buy more later."

He wouldn’t be able to hide it if he took too many things back at once. It was better to carry them in batches. He wanted to make another trip later.

Hua Buwan shrugged indifferently. "Sure."

Ling Qianjun smiled and nodded, then carried his things toward the back door.

"Hey! The door is over there! Why are you taking your things into the restroom?" Hua Buwan frowned, speaking in displeasure.

Hua Buwan walked up suspiciously and knocked on the door. "KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. Handsome, if you need to use the restroom, you can leave your things outside first. Come out quickly when you’re done, and remember to flush."

There was no sound at all from inside.

Hua Buwan waited for a moment, then took a deep breath. "I’m coming in." She pushed the door open and walked in.

"Holy crap! He’s gone!" Hua Buwan bounded backward a couple of meters in shock. Trembling, she leaned against the edge of a shelf and carefully inspected the restroom from top to bottom. Let alone a person, not even a ghost could be seen! That man had vanished into thin air!

Her legs gave out, and Hua Buwan slumped onto the floor, rubbing the gold leaf in her hands.

Fortunately, the ghost was gone, but the money was still there. She hadn’t taken a loss, though it was a bit hard on her heart.

Wait! Did he just say he was coming back later?!

Terrified, Hua Buwan immediately scrambled to her feet. She wanted to close up shop and run to a temple to ward off the bad luck. But just as she reached the door, she stopped in her tracks.

Bathed in the setting sun, the gold leaf in her hand reflected a brilliant, golden light.

She dragged her heavy footsteps back to the counter and sat down.

"If I take a ghost’s money but refuse to do business with it, won’t I be haunted?" she worried.

After struggling for a moment, she silently took out a photo of her grandparents from the drawer and placed it in front of her. Clasping her hands together, she muttered, "Boohoo, Grandpa, Grandma, you have to protect me!" ℯℯ𝑙.

Her prayer finished, Hua Buwan planned to continue watching Calabash Brothers to distract herself from her fear. However, when she refocused, she found seven hairs laid out neatly on the desk... looking as solemn as a row of corpses.

With furrowed brows, she grabbed a tissue, wrapped up the hairs, and tossed them into the trash can!

"Why would there be hairs on the counter? Did I lose some hair? But my hair isn’t this short... How bizarre!"

"Hiss!"

Seeing her bleeding finger, sliced open by the gold leaf, Hua Buwan gasped.

Perhaps because she had been too terrified just now, she had unconsciously gripped it too tightly, cutting herself on the gold leaf.

The gold leaf was now stained with her blood.

Just as Hua Buwan was about to grab a tissue to wipe off the blood, her vision went black, and a loud buzzing echoed in her brain.

Before long, she found herself in a boundless, golden space. The gold leaf hovered in midair, spinning and jumping ceaselessly.

As a veteran web novel fan, how could she not understand what was happening? The gold leaf had recognized her as its master through the drop of blood and unlocked a spatial dimension!

But she didn’t know...

"System, are you there?" Hua Buwan threw her head back and shouted.

The next second, a mechanical voice replied, [I’m here!]

Completely caught off guard, Hua Buwan shuddered in terror and jumped a meter into the air.

[The Space-Time Supermarket’s Any Door has been activated. The corresponding era is the Dongxuan Country from one thousand years ago. The corresponding client is: Ling Qianjun.]

[Space-Time Supermarket System Functions: 1. Appraise the attributes and value of space-time items acquired by the host through trading. 2. Help the host legitimize earned currency. 3. To be unlocked.]

[Detected that the host has acquired a gold leaf from the Dongxuan Country of one thousand years ago through trading. This is a rare antique from a millennium ago, bearing the official seal of the Dongxuan Country’s government. Total value: twenty thousand yuan.]

"What? Any Door? One thousand years ago?"

"This gold leaf is worth twenty thousand yuan?!" Hua Buwan suddenly remembered the pawnshop boss next door offering her five hundred and twenty yuan. What a profiteer! He was black-hearted to the core!

She viciously pinched her own thigh, the pain bringing tears to her eyes. "Oh, my god!"

It was real! She wasn’t dreaming!

That ghost was actually from a thousand years ago! Her restroom door had become an Any Door that traveled through time and space—that was why the ghost had vanished into thin air!

But when she opened the door, it was still just a restroom. So, only that ghost could open it to travel through time; no one else could.

Ling Qianjun? The name actually sounded quite nice. It felt cultured and imposing.

Having attended college, Hua Buwan naturally knew of the Dongxuan Country. It was a nation that had existed within the Huaxia Civilization.

However, because its existence had been relatively short-lived and plagued by endless wars, very few artifacts had survived. Even historical records only contained a few brief paragraphs about it.

It was only in unofficial histories that one could find more detailed descriptions, though it was hard to tell truth from fiction.

To this day, the Dongxuan Country remained veiled in mystery.

At this thought, Hua Buwan felt even more thrilled.

With this Any Door, she might even be able to contribute to history and reveal the true face of the Dongxuan Country!

However, the gold leaf was the key to unlocking the spatial dimension. Even though it was worth twenty thousand yuan, Hua Buwan didn’t even need to think about it—she definitely wouldn’t sell it.

A spatial dimension was worth far more than twenty thousand, not to mention she now had the System as a golden finger.

Suddenly, she found herself looking forward to that ghost—ah, no, that ancestor from a thousand years ago—coming back to buy things. Everything he paid with was an antique! She was going to be rich, so rich! Ah, wait, no, she was purely doing this to contribute to the history of the Dongxuan Country!