The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 280 Leave a message
Only Du Yuan suddenly frowned as she looked at the piece of gold.

A moment later, as everyone pressed him for details, Du Yuan interjected and said:
"Sir, I have to say something unpleasant to you."

"Oh, what do you want to say?" The man didn't take it seriously at first.

Until Du Yuan looked at him and said:
"You'd better tell the truth, otherwise it might be too late to save him!"

After hearing this, the man chuckled and weighed the gold dog-head in his hand, saying:

“This gold is clearly a nugget from the mountains. There’s no rumor of gold panning in He Jun’s area. Tell me, if it wasn’t given by that monkey, where else could it have come from?”

The people around nodded in agreement. There had been a gold rush years ago, and all the prospectors had left except for He Jun.

Because there really is no gold there!

Du Yuan shook her head, then pointed at him and said:

"You certainly didn't find this gold, but it certainly wasn't given to you by that monkey either!"

The man's expression changed as he said:
"You scoundrel, are you trying to accuse me of stealing or robbing? Let me tell you, I have a clear conscience!"

Seeing that he was still being stubborn, Du Yuan had no choice but to point to the gold dog's head and say:

"Your gold was clearly obtained from a ghost. If you don't tell the truth, then you're truly beyond saving!"

They neither said it was stolen from a tomb nor that it was robbed; instead, they said something that was the most impossible and absurd according to common sense.

But just that one sentence instantly changed the man's expression.

Looking at Du Yuan, who was extremely serious in front of him, and then at the gold dog head in his hand.

He swallowed hard, then immediately hardened his neck and said:
"Nonsense! Nonsense! Come on, do you dare to come with me to see the official? We don't even need to take you to the main hall of the government office, the residence of the Commandant of the Central Guard is not far ahead!"

The Commandant of the Central Army, also known as the Local Military Commander, was a semi-official, semi-civilian figure whose role was to act as an intermediary between the government and the people.

It can make one appear approachable among the common people and also be useful to the government.

Seeing that he remained stubborn, Du Yuan said no more and simply shook her head. Then she turned back to drink her hot tea.

The man had intended to shout a few words, but he was actually scared.

But he just couldn't bring himself to say it.

After all, only Heaven, Earth, you, and I know, which perfectly aligns with the saying "Heaven and Earth have a clear conscience!"
He only mumbled a few words: "Hmph, what a disappointment, what a disappointment, I'm leaving!"

Having said that, he threw down a few copper coins with a "thud," then turned and left.

This caused everyone to look at each other in surprise, but in no time, the tavern returned to its usual lively atmosphere.

But just as Du Yuan got up to pay the bill and leave, the shopkeeper quickly stepped forward and stopped him, standing in front of him and saying sincerely:

"Sir, my friend is a bit impatient, but he's not a bad person. I'll apologize to you on his behalf."

Du Yuan hadn't taken the matter to heart, but upon seeing this, she immediately cupped her hands and smiled, "The shopkeeper is truly a kind-hearted person!"

The shopkeeper waved his hand, but immediately lowered his voice and asked:
"Although we wouldn't call ourselves best friends, we do know each other's temperaments. His current state suggests you were right about something. Could you tell me what happened? Otherwise, I can't just stand by and watch him get into trouble!"

Du Yuan gazed at the shopkeeper, her surprise growing, and her admiration increasing. After a moment, she smiled and replied:

"Since I've met such a kind person as the shopkeeper, who's willing to find a way out for him, I should naturally lend a hand! But shopkeeper, you must remember that I'm helping him entirely because of you. Even if something really happens to him later, you have to wait until he's suffered enough before you offer your help! After all, this suffering is what he deserves!"

Du Yuan's words sounded more and more convincing, and the diners nearby, who were already listening intently, couldn't help but crowd around, chattering and urging her on:
"Sir, please stop keeping me in suspense and tell me what happened to him!"

Du Yuan pointed in the direction the man had left and slowly said, "The problem isn't with the story he just told. That story might actually have some truth to it. The real issue lies with that piece of gold!" This short sentence instantly piqued everyone's curiosity, and they all pressed for more information:
"Sir, please tell me in detail!"

Du Yuan smiled and continued:
"Hehe, that piece of gold is enveloped in a very strong aura of yin. For a living person to carry this thing for so many days and still have such a strong aura of yin, it means that the gold was clearly obtained from the hands of a ghost."

"But if that's the case, why did he insist that the gold was given by a monkey seeking immortality? After much thought, it must be that something unexpected happened, making him afraid to tell the truth."

"And the most troublesome thing is that the yin energy on that gold seems to be getting stronger and stronger. If this continues, he may be in for a terrible disaster!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately understood.

The shopkeeper then asked another question:
"Sir, do you have a way to break this?"

He doesn't actually believe in these things, but so many people are talking about them. And then this happened today.

He decided to see it through, firstly for peace of mind, lest something really happened to his friend. Secondly, he wanted to take this opportunity to see if he was just being paranoid, or if the world had truly changed.

After thinking for a moment, Du Yuan smiled and said:
"Does the shopkeeper have writing brushes and ink?"

"Yes, yes, yes, everything in the ledgers must be there!"

After saying that, the shopkeeper quickly fetched a pen and ink and respectfully delivered them to Du Yuan's table.

Looking at the paper and pen in front of her, Du Yuan thought for a moment and then wrote four large characters on it with flowing strokes.

His calligraphy skills were only passable at first, but over the years, and after experiencing so many things, despite not having studied much, his calligraphy skills have indeed improved day by day!
Therefore, as soon as he put pen to paper, those around him couldn't help but praise him:

"Beautiful calligraphy! Truly beautiful calligraphy!"

"Yes, yes, I've seen the calligraphy of the third-ranked scholar, and it seems similar to this one!"

"Nonsense! The calligraphy of the top scholar is displayed in my Han clan ancestral hall, but I feel it's not as good as this one!"

Du Yuan ignored all of this, and simply handed the completed piece to the shopkeeper, saying:

"Once he's suffered enough, shopkeeper, you can bring this out!"

The shopkeeper hurriedly accepted it with both hands.

Just as I was about to ask a few more questions, I saw that Du Yuan had already left the tea money and gotten up to leave.

This left the shop owner and everyone else somewhat disappointed, as they still didn't get many inquiries.

But when I turned around and walked into the kitchen of the restaurant, I was suddenly jolted awake.

No, it was just a short time when I lowered my head.

How did this gentleman end up walking so far?!

The distance between Du Yuan and him had just changed from being within arm's reach to being several steps apart.

Could it be that we've really encountered a master?

Startled, the shopkeeper hurriedly turned around and chased after her, but when he got to the spot where Du Yuan had just sat down, there was no one there anymore.
This left the shop owner feeling extremely frustrated. He had been longing for this moment his whole life, and now he had finally encountered it. Why hadn't he realized it before?

But then, he had a sudden inspiration and found something to make a rubbing of the four characters that Du Yuan had written.

I plan to use this to explain to my wife when I get back!

(End of this chapter)