95: Chapter 95 Coarse Pottery Five Poison Jar

Shi Xiaoya hurriedly pulled her hand back: "Boss, what's wrong?"

"There's a trap," Han Jingyang said, staring at the seemingly ordinary items in the safe, not daring to lower his guard in the slightest.

That guy named Xue was indeed cunning.

There were so many places in the entire room where a trap could have been set, yet he hadn't set any, as if he were just bluffing.

Yet, he had set a trap specifically in the most valuable safe.

He was certain that an intruder would lower their guard.

Although cunning, it was certainly effective; he could learn a thing or two from this.

There is no such thing as a good or bad move; if it's used in the right place, it's a good move.

There were quite a few things in the safe. Aside from cash and jewelry, the rest were all sorts of odds and ends, but what made Han Jingyang the most vigilant was a pottery jar.

The surface of the dark red, coarse pottery jar was sketched with simple strokes of scorpions, toads, and centipedes; he couldn't see the back, but it should be the traditional "Five Poisons," plus a venomous snake and a gecko.

Geckos are non-venomous.

But this "Five Poisons" wasn't categorized by the severity of their toxicity, because if one were to truly discuss toxicity, these types were clearly not the most poisonous—some were even non-venomous. The ancients couldn't possibly have been unaware of this.

Therefore, this "Five Poisons" was most likely categorized by their medicinal properties.

In the field of traditional Chinese medicine, all five of these can be used as medicine, and their medicinal properties are extremely potent. Compared to the properties of conventional herbs, they are quite fierce, hence they are referred to as "poison."

"Poison" does not just refer to toxicity on a physical or chemical level.

It also carries meanings of intensity and severity, such as in the phrase "the sun is scorching" (literally: the sun is vicious/poisonous).

Therefore, "Five Poisons" actually refers to the extremely fierce medicinal properties and potent effects of these five medicinal ingredients.

Anyway, in the minds of the Chinese people, there are only two standards for judging whether something has value: Can it be eaten? Can it be used as medicine?

Can it be eaten? How does it taste?

Can it be used as medicine? How are its medicinal properties?

However, the Five-Poison jar in front of Han Jingyang was clearly not some medicine jar, because it was filled with a dense, extremely Yin energy—a pure black aura. Although only a tiny bit leaked out, it looked very dangerous.

It felt a bit like a liquid nitrogen leak.

To touch it is to be harmed.

This was Han Jingyang's intuitive feeling.

But the more that was the case, the more it proved that this Five-Poison jar was extraordinary.

Ordinary objects couldn't contain such pure Yin energy.

Han Jingyang waved his hand at Shi Xiaoya and Liu Jing: "You two, step back. Further away."

After the two women retreated to the doorway, he stepped forward and slowly reached out his hand.

He lightly touched the jar with his fingertip.

In an instant, the pure black aura seemed to find its target, spreading lightning-fast toward Han Jingyang's palm; it seemed slow but was actually fast.

Han Jingyang didn't react at all, only feeling his palm instantly freeze, almost losing all sensation.

At the same time, the Appraisal Technique prompt sounded immediately.

Appraise!

Contain!

Fast!

The thought flashed through his mind, and before he even had time to look at the appraisal results, he saw the black aura, like a soldier receiving an order, slowly retreat back into the pottery jar, with not a trace leaking out anymore.

Han Jingyang let out a long sigh of relief.

That was close; he almost tripped up.

Although he had several items for self-defense, it was better to save a skill whenever possible.

Still, this jar was truly powerful.

The Yin energy came as soon as it was triggered, latching onto him the moment he touched it.

Fortunately, it was him.

If it were anyone else, they wouldn't even know how they died.

Han Jingyang looked down at his palm; aside from the color being slightly grayish, everything else was normal.

Overbearing!

Putting it in terms of traditional Chinese medicine, this was fierce toxicity, specifically Yin poison, with Yang poison as its counterpart.

Thinking about it this way, traditional Chinese medicine was easy to understand: as long as there is an imbalance, it can be called poison. An excess of Yin and deficiency of Yang is Yin poison, an excess of Yang and deficiency of Yin is Yang poison; intense fire is fire poison, intense water is water poison. It is a concept based on the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements balance.

Han Jingyang's thoughts wandered and shifted, drifting toward traditional Chinese medicine.

Then he realized something was wrong.

Damn it, he didn't know anything about traditional Chinese medicine; it was all just stuff he made up in his head.

He'd better just honestly stick to playing with his Appraisal Technique and items.

At least impersonating a Feng Shui Master wouldn't land him in jail.

Impersonating a doctor was a crime, and if he accidentally caused someone's death, he would definitely go to jail.

Hmm, in the future, he should worry less about that messy stuff and focus on swindling, without dabbling in other fields.

Even if he were to save someone, it must be in the name of Feng Shui.

And not in the name of traditional Chinese medicine.

Han Jingyang drew a red line for himself, and only then did he check the attributes of this pottery jar.

"Name: Ming Yongle Coarse Pottery Five-Poison Pattern Jar."

"Grade: Fifth Grade."

"Attribute: Pure Yin +9."

"Skill: Pure Yin Energy."

A good item.

Although he didn't know what it was useful for at the moment, with such pure attributes, it would be handy for whatever he needed.

He just had to wait until he figured out the function of this Pure Yin Energy.

Plus, this was a Fifth Grade item—a good one.

Although he already had Third and Fourth Grade items, Sixth and Seventh Grade items were still the mainstream, and Fifth Grade items were still considered top-tier.

Han Jingyang put the jar away.

Then he checked the other items.

Appraising them as soon as he got his hands on them.

If they could be appraised, he kept them; if not, he threw them to Shi Xiaoya to handle.

In the end, he managed to clear out seven appraisable items. Among them, four were Seventh Grade with no skills, and the remaining three were quite good.

Aside from the pottery jar he had already appraised, two others were Sixth Grade—one had a skill, and one had good attributes.

"Name: Qing Guangxu Hetian Jade Carving of Shennong Tasting the Hundred Herbs Tablet."

"Grade: Sixth Grade."

"Attribute: Poison Resistance +5."

"Skill: None."

"Name: Republic of China Purple Clay Cricket Jar."

"Grade: Sixth Grade."

"Attribute: Gu Insect +5."

"Skill: Heart-Devouring Gu."

Han Jingyang was startled.

Heart-Devouring Gu?

It sounded terrifying just hearing the name.

Whether in folklore or movies and TV shows, those who play with Gu are never good people, and even if they are good, they don't have a good ending; both good and bad people run the risk of being backlashed.

Moreover, their methods are bizarre and impossible to guard against.

Most importantly, the Gu arts one practices are often harmful to the body; before the Gu art is even mastered, one has already become neither human nor ghost.

However, he wasn't afraid.

He wasn't going to practice it anyway.

At most, he would occasionally use this thing to deal with bad guys.

It's just that this thing sounds really scary.

If it really conjured five insects to gnaw on an enemy's heart, it would definitely cause panic.

Fortunately, it was highly likely not physical insects, but rather a phantom image like the one of the True Martial Emperor, and only he could see it.

Hmm, thinking about it that way, it was much better.

Whatever, he'd put it away for now.

Who knows when it might come in handy.

The three of them worked together to sweep through the room before leaving.

Returning to Jiguang Zhai.

Han Jingyang slumped onto the sofa, looked at Shi Xiaoya, then glanced at Liu Jing, and coughed: "The matter with the He family can be considered closed for now. There are no other tasks for the time being; you two can relax, take a vacation, or handle personal affairs. Three days, that's enough, right?"

Shi Xiaoya raised her hand: "Boss, I don't need a vacation. Besides, the matter with the He family isn't over yet; that dharma instrument I told you about hasn't been located, so I still need to stay at the He family's."

"That matter isn't urgent. As long as you have a suspected location, that's fine. Take me there, and I'll find it in a minute."

"Oh, I see. Then that's fine. I can pack up and start work. I won't take anything He Dingkun gave me—I went in empty-handed and will come out empty-handed. I will also turn over that house He Dingkun gave me to the investigation team, including those bank cards." Shi Xiaoya said this, then looked pitiful: "Boss, I'm penniless and have no one to rely on now. You can't just abandon me."

Before Han Jingyang could say anything, Liu Jing let out a "humph": "Boss, I don't need a break either. I've already contacted a renovation team, and they can come to the shop to start work at any time. The foreman is from our village, so the price can be a bit cheaper. Boss, when do you think is appropriate?"