From Evil Sect Leader to Doctor-Chapter 315 - 290: Bait

Xu Chunliang arrived at the door and saw Bai Mushan’s student, Xue Anliang, coming out to greet him. Xue Anliang was wearing a knee-length down jacket, which made him look a bit bulky. Although he wasn’t short, his habit of hunching over made him appear less tall and upright than Xu Chunliang.

Xue Anliang said, "Mr. Xu is here, the teacher is waiting for you."

Xu Chunliang raised his wrist to check the time; it was three minutes to six.

However, Xue Anliang noticed his Panda Di watch, which was quite expensive.

Xue Anliang led Xu Chunliang to a small building behind the exhibition hall. This was their office area, and Xu Chunliang had visited here on his last visit.

There was a tastefully decorated dining room at the east end of the first floor, usually used by the internal staff and occasionally for entertaining guests.

Bai Mushan was chatting happily with Liang Baxian from the Dongzhou Museum.

When Xu Chunliang entered, they were laughing heartily.

Upon seeing Xu Chunliang, the two stopped talking and stood up. Bai Mushan said with a smile, "Xiaoxu, you’re always on time, not a second off!"

Xu Chunliang said, "It’s a habit I developed from a young age."

The two shook hands, and Bai Mushan introduced Liang Baxian to him.

Liang Baxian smiled and said no introduction was needed; they knew each other from their time in Dongzhou and proactively shook hands with Xu Chunliang.

Bai Mushan said, "Things are different now; he is the director of our Longgu Museum."

Liang Baxian smiled awkwardly. He had already been appointed during his last visit here, but he had kept it hidden then. Meeting Xu Chunliang again made him feel a bit embarrassed.

Xu Chunliang said, "Congratulations, Director Liang."

Liang Baxian said, "It’s nothing to congratulate. I was retired with nothing to do when Professor Bai invited me here, so I came over."

Xu Chunliang said, "Your friendship is truly enviable; after decades, it’s still so strong."

Bai Mushan said, "I’m a bookworm with very few friends. Inviting Mr. Liang here was partly because I appreciate his professional rigor and partly because of personal reasons; I need someone to chat with regularly when he’s around."

They invited Xu Chunliang to sit down. Today, he was the guest of honor; even though he was young, they invited him to sit at the head of the table.

Xu Chunliang didn’t stand on ceremony with them. To him, these people were all culprits of Huichun Hall. Regardless of whether they had embezzled the dragon bones or not, they were responsible for their destruction if everything was as they claimed.

His grandfather had entrusted such precious artifacts to them in hopes of better preservation and research, yet everything ended up in vain.

Bai Mushan attached great importance to today’s banquet and had specially invited a chef from Jiqing Building to prepare a table of authentic Nanjiang cuisine.

The wine used was Flying Maotai. Although Bai Mushan’s income was not low, the presentation was still quite impressive.

Xu Chunliang was well aware that Bai Mushan didn’t need to pay out of his own pocket; he had various patrons, including Luan Yuchuan. Xu Chunliang was curious about how a researcher in ancient scripts got involved with a tycoon in the investment industry unless Luan Yuchuan himself was a lover of ancient scripts.

Xu Chunliang observed Bai Mushan’s complexion, which hadn’t changed much since the last time he saw him. Wasn’t it said that Bai Mushan had successfully undergone surgery in North America to remove a tumor?

While Xu Chunliang was observing Bai Mushan, Bai Mushan was also looking at him. Bai Mushan said, "Xiaoxu, I heard something happened at Huichun Hall a few days ago?"

Xu Chunliang nodded and said, "That’s right, I just returned today. How did Professor Bai find out?"

Liang Baxian said, "It’s like this: my mother-in-law is a long-time patient at Huichun Hall, and she told me."

Xu Chunliang said, "It’s true, someone broke into Huichun Hall and stole some items, including some dragon bone rubbings." As he said this, he stared into Bai Mushan’s eyes.

Bai Mushan’s expression remained calm, overly composed. He had previously entrusted his student, Xue Anliang, to deliver some dragon bone rubbings to Xu Chunliang, believing that the stolen rubbings were those?

Xu Chunliang continued, "Additionally, a piece of dragon bone is missing."

This statement indeed caught their attention, and they both said, "What?"

Bai Mushan said, "I remember Elder Xu donated all the dragon bones back then." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Liang Baxian said, "One thousand one hundred seventy-three pieces. I was responsible for the inventory at the time." He couldn’t help feeling his heart race, having counted them repeatedly. There couldn’t be a mistake unless Xu Changshan hadn’t donated all of them back then.

Xu Chunliang purposely said, "Honestly, every time I think of this, I blame both of you. You destroyed my chance of becoming a wealthy third-generation." After he said that, he laughed heartily, but Bai Mushan and Liang Baxian couldn’t laugh. Xu Chunliang was accusing them.

Xue Anliang said, "Although I wasn’t personally involved in the dragon bone incident, you can’t blame them, right? It was the museum’s poor management back then that led to the loss. The one most distressed was the teacher..."

Xu Chunliang sneered and looked at Xue Anliang, saying, "Xiaoxue, what kind of logic is this? Something went missing from our family, and outsiders are more upset than I am? According to your logic, if someone in your family died, would I be sadder than you?"

"You..." Xiaoxue was left speechless by Xu Chunliang’s words. This guy’s remarks were venomous, practically a curse.

Bai Mushan chuckled, "Why are you arguing all of a sudden, An Liang? Go and check on the dishes."

Liang Baxian silently drank a glass of wine, noticing that Xu Chunliang had come with ill intentions, showing no intention of giving Bai Mushan any face. As for Xiaoxue, he didn’t even regard him; Xiaoxue should not have interjected at this moment, which conveniently gave Xu Chunliang an outlet for his anger.

Xiaoxue stood up and headed out; Xu Chunliang said to Bai Mushan, "Professor Bai, you must teach students not only academics but also how to behave. A PhD student who can’t distinguish right from wrong is simply laughable."

Bai Mushan laughed, "Xiaoxu makes a valid point."

Coming with ill intentions, good intentions do not come; Xu Chunliang wasn’t here as a guest today. The brat was audacious enough to reprimand him face-to-face.

Of course, Bai Mushan didn’t truly invite him either, but he probed indirectly, "You just mentioned that some rubbings and a piece of dragon bone were lost from Huichun Hall?" Xu Chunliang’s previous words had undoubtedly piqued his interest.

Xu Chunliang nodded, "At the time, my grandfather did donate all the dragon bones, but when I was reading, I happened to find a page marker in a book. That marker was made of dragon bone."

Bai Mushan said, "A page marker?"

Xu Chunliang took a thin piece of dragon bone from his bag. He brought it today to throw Bai Mushan off guard. Bai Mushan wanted to take a closer look, but Xu Chunliang put it back in, sighed, and said, "Originally, I found five pieces in the book, but four were stolen this time, leaving only this one piece. So it’s very precious."

Liang Baxian said, "Are you saying the theft at Huichun Hall was mainly to steal dragon bone?"

Xu Chunliang said, "That I don’t know, but dragon bone should be quite valuable now, right?"

Bai Mushan thought to himself, what’s this guy’s intention? Does he want to sell the dragon bone to me?

Liang Baxian said, "The value of the dragon bone depends on the text on it. The more important the recorded text, the higher its intrinsic value. Ordinary oracle bones, in current market trends, range from a few hundred to a few thousand."

Xu Chunliang said, "So cheap?"

Liang Baxian suggested, "Why don’t you let Professor Bai appraise the dragon bone you brought?"

Xu Chunliang nodded, "Sure!"

Bai Mushan felt a thrill inside, his eyes lighting up. No matter how a person disguises, desires in the heart will reveal themselves to some extent.

Xu Chunliang said, "By the way, Professor Bai, didn’t you say you had photos for me?"

Bai Mushan was reminded and exclaimed, "If you hadn’t mentioned it, I almost forgot." He got up and fetched a file bag from the side.

The bag, though large, contained only two photos.

If not for wanting to see these two photos, Xu Chunliang wouldn’t have come today. These two photos were the bait Bai Mushan used to lure Xu Chunliang. But Bai Mushan hadn’t expected Xu Chunliang also had bait, and it was even more irresistible.

There were still dragon bones at Huichun Hall, according to Xu Chunliang, there should be five pieces. He brought one today but displayed a high degree of caution and didn’t directly show the dragon bone.

Xu Chunliang put the photos into his bag, opened the photo album on his phone, located a photo, and handed it to Bai Mushan.

Gazing at that photo, Bai Mushan secretly cursed, Xu Chunliang was too sly. The photo captured only a part of the dragon bone, the kid’s machinations were too deep, with only eight characters in total.

Xu Chunliang’s intention was very clear, to show you but not completely reveal, keeping your desires dangling.

Bai Mushan was entirely absorbed in examining the photo.

Xu Chunliang said, "Professor Bai, how much do you think this dragon bone is worth?"

Bai Mushan said, "With just this part, I can’t make a judgement. Xiaoxu, can I take a look at this piece of dragon bone?"

Xu Chunliang looked into Bai Mushan’s eyes and caught the uncontainable desire within.

From the side, Liang Baxian said, "Are you saying you can’t even trust Professor Bai?"

Xu Chunliang laughed heartily, and Bai Mushan and Liang Baxian laughed along.

"I don’t trust him!" Xu Chunliang retrieved his phone, "Back then, because my grandfather trusted Professor Bai, he donated our dragon bones. And the result? They were all destroyed. If I’m not mistaken, this piece should be quite valuable, right?"

Bai Mushan silently considered Xu Chunliang’s implication. Could the kid be after money? From a normal psychological standpoint, he should be. If Xu Changshan hadn’t donated that batch of dragon bones, their current market price would be in the millions at least, not to mention the content.

Bai Mushan said, "As Director Liang mentioned, the value is connected to the content. On your piece of oracle bone, there are three characters I’ve never seen before, the research value is quite high. How much do you want to sell it for?"

Xu Chunliang said, "Two million!" This piece of dragon bone was the only one left from Huichun Hall. Xu Chunliang wouldn’t sell it, not even for twenty million, especially not to the two culprits who destroyed the "Tian Yang" script initially.