Wandering Sword Seller's Life in the Qin Dynasty

The situation in Zhao was different. Guo Kai had held immense power in Zhao for many years and was extremely greedy. In private, he accepted bribes from various countries, and the treasures in his mansion had become incredibly rich over the years.

Even for Xu Qing, it wouldn't be realistic to take all of these things with him.

But it doesn't matter, he'll take the most valuable things himself.

Over the years, Xu Qing has developed his own methods for identifying precious artifacts.

In the past, we relied on our eyesight and experience.

Today, we still rely on eyesight, but what we see is completely different.

What I saw in the past was only the outward appearance of the treasure; what I see now is the inner essence of the treasure, the "qi" that exists within it, whether it be the aura of treasure or the aura of spirit.

Some rare items do indeed possess a unique aura.

After advancing to the fourth rank, Xu Qing's perception of heaven and earth reached an unprecedented level, and the aura within the treasures could not be hidden from his eyes.

Using this ability, Xu Qing managed to collect all the truly precious treasures in Guo Kai's treasury in a short period of time.

He is very fast.

After collecting all the treasures from this hidden treasure site, they quickly moved on to other places.

In just one night.

All of Guo Kai's treasured possessions were looted by Xu Qing.

Most importantly, those guarding the treasures were completely unaware.

When Xu Qing returned to Jing Ni's side, Jing Ni couldn't help but ask softly upon seeing him, "Did you succeed?"

Xu Qing nodded.

"Should we leave here?" Jing Ni asked Xu Qing again.

"This matter is not urgent."

Xu Qing said calmly, "I suddenly feel that if I just leave like this, it would make me seem like I'm afraid of Guo Kai."

"I want to see how Guo Kai reacts!"

Jingni raised an eyebrow, feeling that Xu Qing's behavior was somewhat unreasonable.

If the goal was financial gain, now that you've obtained what you wanted, you could choose to leave.

But Xu Qing chose to stay here.

If Guo Kai discovers that the loss of those treasures is related to Xu Qing, it will be very difficult for him to leave this place again.

Jingni had a lot to say, but in the end, she remained silent, just like before.

……

Guo Kai stayed in the palace all night, and it wasn't until the afternoon of the next day that he dragged his tired body back to his residence.

Dealing with King Qian of Zhao was far more tiring for him than handling state affairs. The State of Zhao was already on the verge of collapse, but he dared not tell King Qian the truth.

Once Zhao Qian realizes that he has been kept in the dark for so many years, he will surely vent all his anger on him.

Therefore, he could only keep fabricating lies, claiming that although the Zhao state was at a disadvantage, the Qin state's expeditionary force was running out of supplies and would soon withdraw its troops. He went to great lengths to barely convince Zhao Qian.

Back at his residence, Guo Kai hoped to relieve his fatigue with the treasures, but as soon as he stepped into the treasure vault, the sight before him struck him like a thunderbolt: most of the treasures in the vault were gone!

"Outrageous!" Guo Kai's roar instantly echoed throughout the mansion.

Anyone would be furious to see their life's treasures vanish without a trace.

In an instant, Guo Kai's residence was thrown into a state of heightened vigilance. The gates were tightly shut, and all servants and guards were gathered together for a thorough search.

Guo Kai was filled with suspicion and disbelief. Although Handan was in chaos due to the war and bandits were rampant, his mansion was not only guarded by elite soldiers, but also riddled with traps and mechanisms. How could ordinary bandits have sneaked in silently? Was it an outsider or an inside traitor? No matter which answer it was, it sent chills down his spine.

If treasures can vanish into thin air today, will one's own head disappear into thin air tomorrow?

"Investigate! Investigate thoroughly! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find the thief!" Guo Kai trembled with rage, his voice hoarse with fury.

Under such strict scrutiny, even if Xu Qing and Jing Ni used disguise techniques, they would still be exposed if they were the focus of the investigation and no treasures were found on their bodies.

But what Xu Qing wanted was precisely this chaos. The previous orderly appearance of the mansion had actually hindered his actions. Now that Guo Kaifa was furious and all the mansion's staff had been mobilized, everyone was insecure and suspicious of each other, which gave him an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

"Bang bang!"

Two figures fell to the ground.

Jingni stood beside Xu Qing, watching his actions, and gradually understood his thoughts.

"Your claim of stealing the treasure is a pretense; you're actually trying to create chaos and get close to Guo Kai?"

Her words were somewhat ambiguous. If this guess was true, it meant that Xu Qing's previous claims about his purpose were all lies.

Xu Qing smiled but didn't say anything.

Some things, if explained too much, even he himself will stop believing them.

In short, all you need to know is that he came to the State of Zhao and to Handan to cause trouble for Guo Kai.

After undressing the two, Xu Qing changed into a different set of clothes and then tossed the other set to Jing Ni.

Seeing that Xu Qing was unwilling to speak, Jing Ni did not ask any further questions.

After changing into the clothes of Guo Kai's personal bodyguard, the two quickly headed towards Guo Kai.

Because the mansion was in chaos and everyone was being investigated, Xu Qing and Jing Ni were able to successfully get to Guo Kai's side.

Inside the room, Guo Kai sat alone, his face ashen.

Suddenly, there was a gentle knock on the door.

"who?"

"Prime Minister, those treasures..." A hurried voice came from outside.

Upon hearing this, Guo Kai thought of the treasures he had lost and was immediately heartbroken. He quickly got up, walked to the door, opened it, and wanted to hear the latest developments.

He was greeted by a deep gaze.

Under that gaze, Guo Kai was first stunned, and then he fell into a daze.

……

"Did you manipulate Hou Sheng using this method back then?"

Inside the room, Jingni watched as Xu Qing manipulated Guo Kai at will, issuing numerous orders to him. Guo Kai suddenly became obedient to Xu Qing, his mind filled with memories of what he had witnessed in the Prime Minister's residence in Qi State.

During that meeting in Qi, she learned that Xu Qing was hiding in the Prime Minister's residence in Qi. She originally thought that Xu Qing had gained Hou Sheng's trust and become Hou Sheng's confidant by relying on his sword-making skills.

But later, as she was leaving, she vaguely noticed something unusual through her own observations.

Today, seeing Xu Qing use magic to influence Guo Kai, transforming him from a treacherous minister furious about the loss of a treasure into someone almost like a puppet in a short time, is truly bizarre.

Within the Luo Wang organization, there are methods for brainwashing people.

Through such methods, Luo Wang cultivated many people who were completely obedient to the organization.

However, the brainwashing methods used by Luo Wang (a criminal organization) are carried out through drugs, mental torture, and special training, which is definitely not as easy and effortless as Xu Qing's methods.

"more or less!"

Xu Qing wasn't surprised to hear that Jing Ni had guessed the truth about Qi, since besides Jing Ni, the former Consort Yan had also seen through the truth.

This is also one of the reasons why he chose to leave the Prime Minister's residence in Qi.

"Tell me, where are all the treasures in your mansion hidden?"

In a short time, Xu Qing used his superb illusion techniques to control Guo Kai's mind.

Then, his first question was about where the treasure was.

Reading Guo Kai's memories would reveal the location of all the treasures here, but Xu Qing preferred that Guo Kai tell her himself.

The reason was that upon seeing Guo Kai, he couldn't help but recall Guo Kai's incredibly arrogant demeanor from years ago.

Guo Kai was stunned. After listening to Xu Qing's words, he quickly revealed the location of his treasure.

Xu Qing had visited most of these places.

But there were still some things that even Xu Qing hadn't anticipated.

There are actually some special treasures hidden in this room.

After Guo Kai finished speaking, Xu Qing glanced at Jing Ni, who immediately understood. She then searched the room and found a hidden compartment. Opening the compartment, a small treasure chest came into view.

She picked up the box and opened it.

I thought it was just an unusual treasure, which is why Guo Kai kept it so closely and hid it in such a place.

But when she finally saw what it looked like, Jingni was the first to be stunned.

"This is……"

Inside the treasure chest was a small box.

The box was made of bronze and decorated with star patterns. For someone knowledgeable in astronomy, these stars would be easily recognized as the seven constellations in the eastern sky.

"The Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon!"

Before Xu Qing could speak, Jing Ni revealed the origin of the item.

The reason she was able to recognize it was because she had accepted a mission when she was in the Net years ago.

The mission to hunt down the nameless man was to find a similar bronze box. She later tried to understand what the bronze box was related to; it was the Seven Constellations of the Azure Dragon, a secret that had been circulating in the world for thousands of years.

"What a pleasant surprise!"

Jing Ni recognized the Azure Dragon Seven Constellations, so Xu Qing was naturally familiar with it as well.

During his first trip to Korea, he attempted to find the Azure Dragon's Seven Mansions, even going so far as to eliminate the vulture beforehand and steal Liu Yi's secrets.

Unfortunately, even though he obtained some clues, he was ultimately unable to find the location of the Azure Dragon's Seven Mansions.

Later, in the Confucian library, they obtained some more clues, but they were not the real bronze box. However, they did not expect to obtain the Azure Dragon Seven Constellations Bronze Box from Guo Kai.

Chapter 234 The Great Thief of the Nation

Xu Qing took the bronze box from Jing Ni's hands and examined it carefully.

Although I was familiar with this object, this was the first time I had actually seen the real thing.