Chapter 3 Testing
Chapter 3 Testing “Little Tang, now that it’s only the two of us and my employees left, would you like to tell me how I offended you before? I would like to apologize and make up for it,” No. 23 said politely. Tang regarded this as a specific live show, for his parents were somebody. Without answering his question, Tang took a look at the two bodyguards standing behind them, and asked, “Daoists, is it permitted behavior in your religion to gouge out someone’s eyes?” The three were frightened by his words. No. 23 took off his mask of kindness; his stare became malevolent. Tang guessed that he just had the idea of killing him when he was doubting if he’d really seen their murder. Tang smiled as if he was innocent and knew nothing about their schemes. “Good insight, my little friend. You have found out that they are Daoists in such a short time,” No. 23 said without showing his true emotions. “Oh, yes, I have the special superpower Tianyantong, which means I can see things common people can’t. For example, I can see the two Daoists’ history and their future.” Tang tested them with something they might be interested in. On the night he was kidnapped, he had heard them mention this word, a kind of superpower, when they were wearing the clothes of Dao and murmuring some spells written on the charms they’d pasted to an altar. It was on the altar where his eyes had been taken out later. Before his death, Tang Jingzhi was an employee of Xinsheng Pawnshop. Though he was not as rich as this body’s owner, Tang Jing, he had never been short of money. His ancestors passed on the family business of antique collections to him. Besides, he had inherited the secret skills of repairing antiques. Once a guest came to visit him bringing a broken porcelain bottle and asked him to fix it with the skills used in the Song Dynasty. He did such a perfect job that even the people living in the Song Dynasty could not have told the difference. This simple change made the bottle even more valuable than before, because many people took for granted that old things should have some traces of their age. They were assured that this bottle was not a new counterfeit. No one found the wear of old age newly planted. Taking two to three orders like this, in just one year, he could earn enough money to buy a house in the core area of Beijing. So, although he did not need any job, he wanted to know more people in this circle and see more rare treasures. The pawnshops were the best platform. He never thought that he could be kidnapped by these people and murdered for no reason. Tang knew nothing about the Dao practice, but he heard that a small bunch of these people used some evil secret practicing methods to get superpowers. Most of the secret practices required sacrificing human beings in a certain way. He once searched on the Internet about an old murder case of a five-year-old Chongqing boy who died in a miserable way with a weird a red dress covering him. That boy was rumored of being killed in order to turn into a ghost servant after death by an evil Daoist someone had hired. But rumors were rumors; he had never met any of those people. Only when he was caught by No. 23 and sacrificed on the altar, had he come to realize that this kind of secret ritual really existed. And he guessed that the superpower they wanted to get from his eyes was the so-called Tianyantong, the ability to see the inner essence of anything. Now he used this word to test the three to confirm his estimations. He once owned the nickname Tianyantong, because he was good at gambling jadeite stones. They must have mistaken him for having been born with this kind of superpower. How he wanted to avenge them immediately．But today was not the correct time．He’d wait and tolerate the murderers. If his real identity was exposed to them, he could be killed again in this room． “Hey, look at you. Why are you so serious? I just made a joke.” Tang pointed to one of the bodyguard’s trousers, which was rolled up and showed a section of his black Dao boots. “In fact，it is my habit of giving special concern to the legs of girls.” All three of them relaxed． “Little friend, if I did not do anything bad to you，how about we reconcile here and be friends?” “Oh sure. In fact，it is me who offended and I beg your forgiveness for all the stupid things I did today．But you can’t say we are strangers and I did this with no purpose．Maybe you have forgotten，so let me give you some clues．” “Really？” “A banquet，a charity banquet．” No. 23 tried hard to remember such a situation where they had met each other and finally he thought of it．He once took a secretary，who was also his lover, to a charity banquet，where Tang Jingzhi had fallen in love with that girl and hit on her right in front of him．This action irked him and he had kissed the girl to show his power over her and took her away from Tang. The next day he had fired that woman．But he forgot about Tang．Now he realized why he’d done all those things to him．He laughed out loud and patted his shoulder. “The old saying taught us that your wife is as a dress but a true friend your arms and legs．She was only a woman. It is all my fault．I deserved it．” After the reincarnation of this rich boy，Tang Jingzhi had kept the boy’s memories．When he saw No. 23 in the pre-exhibition hall，all the boy’s memories about this president came to his mind and that he had the courage to test him that way．He did not mention anything else, though he knew that the two enjoyed a more complicated relationship than what he described, for he also found some scenes of the boy having an affair with the girl. “President Xu, please forgive me for all my impolite behavior. I know you won’t take them seriously.” “Fully understood. I know you are an honest person，and you don’t save secrets in your mind. You should have told me earlier that you loved that girl and I would have already asked her to be with you.” “That’s not necessary. I don’t lack money or a woman. Save your dirty money from the innocent shareholders.” “Wow.” No. 23’s face changed to a very bad expression． “Bye! Never see you again.” Tang ignored his reactions and waved his right hand to say goodbye and turned to leave the room. Tang Jingzhi moved to the back door because he knew that there was still a banquet in the front. Those girls who had sent him admiration pears may be waiting for him. He disliked such kind of social activities. Unlike the rich boy, he was born into a purely traditional family whose education was justice and strict, not allowing any playboy activities．Though sometimes people used his reparations to make money，and he himself also lived by this skill, it was acceptable in the collection industry from the ancient．Fake antiques were mixed with true old treasures，and it was your own responsibility to differentiate between the two. So, you needed an expert. But experts made mistakes, too. If someone hired Tang Jingzhi to check out the antiques, he would not let them lose money，yet at the same time he would not teach them the secret ways he used to distinguish the real old things from the counterfeits. The back door of the five-star hotel was luxurious and heavy. Tang Jingzhi opened it and a sudden rain burst dropped on him. He subconsciously drew the door back to avoid the rain, but a hand stopped him. “Wait！Don’t you see me？” A girl entered the hall with wet hair and clothes. It was she, the assistant of the auctioneer whose name was Xia Bing. “You？Why are you here？I thought that you were in the front and busy with the banquet.” “Thanks to you，I was fired.” “What happened？” “Your bank did not contact us to confirm the wire for your final payment, so your money was not transferred to us. My boss wanted me to come urge you, but I didn’t. Besides，I refused to give the company the Flower God Teacups because it was a private present.” “So he still wants to sell the set to No. 23. They did have a secret dirty deal, right? If I bought this set, your manger will loss money.” Xia Bing answered him with her eyes. Tang Jingzhi took out his phone and called his bank. “Yes, that was me who bought an antique and used the P.O.S. machine to wire money.” Hanging up the phone, he said to Xia Bing, “Now you can go to your boss to get your things back.” “You are serious? You did give that set to me as a present?” Xia Bing looked surprised. She had taken his deeds as a joke or a way for him to irritate No. 23. “I don't lie. When I said it belonged to you, I meant it.” Though it was the correct way to pursue a girl，Tang Jingzhi had no intention of doing that to her. He had a fiance, Gu Meng，who was looking at his portrait and mourning, he guessed. He felt guilty about his fiancée, though his death was not his fault. The girl was the only one who gave him a warm feeling，and that was all. Tang Jingzhi changed his mind and walked toward the front door. Those rich girls waiting there were the best weapon for him to break the romantic dreams the little assistant had for him. He did not understand why he gave her the expensive present, nor he did want the answer. “I am going. Bye!” Tang Jingzhi gave her a flirty smile and moved ahead toward the front hall before Xia Bing stopped him. “Wait!” she called to him. “What else？” Tang Jingzhi pretended to be interested in her, and looked up and down her body，trying to make her aware of what might happen if she kept on teasing him, hoping to frighten her away. He tried to act like a playboy who had suddenly lost interest in a girl but not refusing the attention she gave him. “Could you . . . ? Could you give me some cash? The Flower God Teacups are good, but I have no way to get them back.” Tang Jingzhi was surprised by her direct request. He walked closer to her, forcing her back to press against the wall, and spoke with his face close to hers. “Are you inviting me to share tonight with you, in exchange for the ten million?”