125: Chapter 125 The Bird-Shaped Clan Emblem Bronze Spear

Elder Zhou paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up. His previously tense face instantly relaxed, and a noticeable smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Ah, Hu Tian!"

The voice escaped his lips louder than expected, causing the two old men inside to turn their heads and glance toward the door.

Elder Zhou Bo had already started walking, quickly heading toward the door. He grabbed Hu Tian's wrist, his tone both urgent and low. "You've come at just the right time. Hurry, come inside with me!"

Cousin Zhang Fei stood nearby, looking a bit dazed. She quietly tugged at Hu Tian's sleeve and mouthed a question to him: What's going on?

Hu Tian didn't have time to answer her, letting Elder Zhou pull him inside.

Jubao Pavilion wasn't large. A few pieces of calligraphy and paintings hung on the walls on both sides, while some porcelain and jade items were displayed in the counters. The lighting was soft, giving the entire shop a quiet, antique atmosphere.

Right in the center of the counter, a piece of dark velvet was spread out. An object rested on the velvet, reflecting a dim, dark greenish-gray light under the lamps.

It was a dagger-axe.

Cast in bronze, it had a regular shape with a slender body and a perforation in the internal part. Patterns left behind during casting were faintly visible near the opening. Under the erosion of time, the surface was covered with a layer of uneven patina, its color deep, oily, and not at all jarring.

Elder Zhou pulled Hu Tian to the counter and pointed at the dagger-axe. His voice was lowered, yet it carried a hint of irrepressible urgency. "Little Hu, help me take a look at this. Tell me, what period is it from?"

The two old men standing on either side of the counter now shifted their gaze to Hu Tian.

The one on the left was slightly taller, with square features and completely white hair at his temples. He wore a pair of thin gold-rimmed glasses and looked like someone of importance. His eyes swept over Hu Tian, and his mouth twitched. He didn't speak, but his expression clearly said: Just this young fellow?

The one on the right was shorter with a round face and a tuft of grizzled short beard. His gaze was more direct than the man on the left. He fixed his eyes on Elder Zhou Bo's face, his brow furrowed. "Old Zhou, you're..."

Elder Zhou Bo waved his hand at the two men. "Wait a moment, both of you. Let this boy take a look."

The round-faced old man swallowed his words, though his expression was far from pleasant. He exchanged a look with the man on the left. Neither spoke again, but they each took half a step back, maintaining an air of either waiting for a show or being hesitant to speak.

Cousin Zhang Fei followed behind Hu Tian, glanced at the dagger-axe, then sized up the two old men. She quietly leaned into Hu Tian's ear. "Cousin, who are these two?"

Hu Tian's eyes didn't leave the dagger-axe as he whispered, "The one on the left is Professor Su Hongru, a retired professor from the Archaeology Department of Magic City University. He's published over twenty papers on bronze appraisal and has handled at least eight hundred to a thousand items. The one on the right is named Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui. He runs a decent-sized antique business and is somewhat famous in the East China region, specializing specifically in bronzes."

Cousin Zhang Fei's eyes widened. "You know both of them?"

"I've never met them,"

Hu Tian said, "but Elder Zhou mentioned them to me before."

Cousin Zhang Fei pursed her lips and stole a glance at the two men. Both were white-haired seniors. Standing there watching Hu Tian, one looked reserved while the other frowned, both possessing significant presence.

She glanced at Hu Tian again. He stood before the counter with a calm expression, his gaze fixed on the dagger-axe. He watched it quietly, as if the people around him didn't exist.

Hu Tian didn't rush to reach out; he first leaned down to observe closely.

The system interface expanded deep within his consciousness, and information surfaced line by line.

[Item Name: Bronze Ge with Sub-Bird Clan Insignia] [Era: Late Western Zhou, approximately between 850 BC and 771 BC]

[Source: Unearthed in the Guanzhong region, specific location unknown. Suspected to be a cultural relic scattered among the people in the early years, entering the antique market after changing hands several times.]

[Condition Rating: Good. Moderate corrosion, complete shape, clan insignia cast characters clearly preserved, no signs of later repairs.]

[Relic Grade: National Grade Two Cultural Relic standard, possessing high historical research and museum collection value.]

[Valuation: Current market reference price between eight million and twelve million RMB. If put up for auction at a formal auction house, the premium could exceed thirty percent.]

[Note: The holder's clan identity is preliminarily judged to be a military noble within the capital region during the late Western Zhou. There is a possible connection with several unearthed items featuring sub-shaped frame clan insignias from the same period; further comparison with Bronze Script genealogies is recommended.]

The body of the dagger-axe was about twenty-two or twenty-three centimeters long, with uniform width and smooth curves. Although the blade was worn by time, the fine craftsmanship of the casting was still visible at the edges.

The internal part was square, the perforation clear, and the hole walls smooth, with no signs of secondary drilling.

The decoration at the opening was a modified animal mask motif. The lines were concise and not complex, yet they possessed a robust power, completely different from the delicate air found in the traced patterns of later imitations.

The patina was the most crucial part.

He narrowed his eyes, carefully examining that layer of green.

On genuine bronze ware buried for over a thousand years, the patina grows into the metal rather than just being attached to the surface. The colors overlap in varying depths—some areas are bluish, others nearly black. When pressed lightly with a finger, the texture is hard and won't easily fall off, nor will it have a powdery, loose feel.

The patina on imitations is manufactured. The color is often overly uniform or deliberately made mottled. But upon close inspection, that mottling is intentional and lacks the natural transition formed under true erosion over time.

Hu Tian straightened up, reached out to gently pick up the dagger-axe, weighed it, and turned it over to look at the inner side.

On the inner side near the opening, there were several faint characters. They were heavily corroded, but the outlines of the strokes remained. They were cast characters, not engraved.

He narrowed his eyes to identify them for a moment, then placed the dagger-axe back on the velvet and slowly straightened his back.

Elder Zhou Bo had been staring at him and couldn't help himself now. "Well?"

Hu Tian looked at Elder Zhou Bo. "This dagger-axe is from the late Western Zhou, dating back two thousand seven or eight hundred years. The shape and casting process are correct. The patina is genuine rust. The cast characters on the inner side are clan insignia symbols, not decoration; they are the clan marks of the user. They are preserved intact, which is rare."

He paused. "This isn't an ordinary weapon. Judging by the casting precision and the specifications of the decoration, the holder at the time was of high status—at least a middle-ranking noble or above."

After hearing this, Elder Zhou Bo slapped his hands together. "I knew it! I knew it was real!"

He turned to the two old men, his face carrying a hint of triumph. "Gentlemen, what about now?"

Professor Su took off his glasses, wiped the lenses, put them back on, and shifted his gaze from Hu Tian's face to the dagger-axe, then back to Hu Tian. He spoke slowly, his voice low and carrying a touch of scrutiny. "Young comrade, I don't believe I know your name?"

"This junior is Hu Tian."

Professor Su nodded. "Hu Tian, you said just now that the cast characters on the inner side are clan insignia symbols. Can you be more specific?"

Hu Tian picked up the dagger-axe again, turned the inner side toward Professor Su, and gently traced the edges of the characters with his fingertip. "Here, there are three characters in total. The one on the far left has a shape close to the 'sub' (ya) frame in Bronze Script, and the symbol inside is a bird shape, somewhat simplified. This is a common way of expressing a bird totem in clan insignias. The middle character's strokes are the most heavily corroded, but you can see it's a human figure holding an object, likely denoting an official position or status. The character on the far right is the clearest; it's a variant of the 'bow' (gong) character. In Western Zhou Bronze Script, bow-shaped symbols were sometimes used to mark military positions. Taken together, the three characters are the mark of a certain military noble clan. As for which specific branch it is, it would need to be compared against Western Zhou Bronze Script genealogies, but there's no question about its authenticity."

After hearing this, Professor Su fell silent for a moment. He took off his glasses, twirled them in his hand, and didn't speak, but his brow had already relaxed.

On Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui's side, his previously furrowed brow also slowly smoothed out. He took two steps closer, glanced at the dagger-axe again, then looked at Hu Tian and let out an "Mhm" in acknowledgement.

Professor Su leaned down again, looked at the dagger-axe for a long while, then straightened up and looked at Hu Tian. "Are you a student of archaeology?"

"No,"

Hu Tian said, "just a hobby."

Professor Su glanced at him again but didn't ask further.

Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui also stepped closer now, looked down at the dagger-axe for a moment, and raised his head. His expression was more relaxed than before, but he was still a bit stubborn. "What I said earlier was that there was an issue with the patina of this dagger-axe; the color is too uniform, unlike something naturally formed."

Hu Tian flipped the dagger-axe over and tilted it toward the light. "The uniformity you're referring to is on this side."

He tapped the middle section of the blade with his fingertip. "The color here is indeed overall greenish and looks too uniform."

Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui nodded. "Yes, right there."

"This is because after this dagger-axe was unearthed, it was given a simple cleaning at some point. Part of the surface floating rust was removed, leaving behind the deeper-attached rust layer, which is why the color looks more uniform than the surrounding areas,"

Hu Tian said, "but notice here,"

He moved his finger to the edge of the dagger-axe. "The patina on the edge wasn't cleaned. The color here is original, with overlapping depths and black layers between the blue and green. This is a typical feature of natural oxidation. If it were a forged antique, these overlapping layers couldn't be made, and even if they were, they wouldn't be this thin and pressed together so uniformly."

Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui looked down again.

After watching for a good while, he straightened up and stroked the beard on his chin. He didn't speak, but the stubborn tension in his face had loosened considerably.

Standing nearby, Elder Zhou Bo couldn't help but ask, "Boss Qiao, Professor Su, what do you two say now?"

Professor Su pushed up his glasses and looked at Elder Zhou Bo, his tone steady. "I retract my previous judgment. This item is genuine."

He paused, then turned to Hu Tian. "This young comrade has a good eye. That analysis just now was clear-headed and well-founded. It wasn't the talk of a layman."

Coming from Professor Su's mouth, these words carried significant weight.

Hearing this, the smile on Elder Zhou Bo's face deepened, and he gave Hu Tian a big thumbs-up.

Antique Dealer Qiao Yougui coughed. "I didn't say it was fake either. I just said there was a problem with the patina and told Old Zhou to find someone else to look at it. I didn't expect..."

He stopped halfway, glanced at Hu Tian, and swallowed the second half of his sentence, simply nodding. "His eye is indeed very good."

Cousin Zhang Fei was stunned as she listened. She leaned into Hu Tian's ear and whispered, "Cousin, did one of them say it was real and the other say it was fake just now?"

"No,"